With Gratitude
Dear Church,
I would like to thank all of you for your incredible patience and support as we have attempted to navigate through the uncharted seas of the coronavirus pandemic all the while keeping both Archdiocesan and State directives. All of us have had to learn to deal with the extra inconveniences, restrictions and fears. We have learned a lot about ourselves, our community and other areas of life. Thank you for your many replies and emails expressing your support ! It has been a source of strength and we are grateful for all of you.
As you know, church offerings support church utility costs, office expenses, maintenance expenses, ministries expenses as well as staff salaries and benefits. We have done our best from the outset to limit expenses and to not permanently lay off staff. However being the second largest church, sacramentally, in the Archdiocese, the absence of free-will offerings at Mass since the closure has had a dramatic negative impact. Funds for the maintenance of the parish don’t come in evenly during a good month under normal circumstances. As for the Church budget, it's average need was being met however that wasn't the case when The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was suspended.
At the beginning of the suspension, we immediately cut utility costs and all expenditures to save the parish money. Staff was placed on temporary leave, and we operated the parish on a skeleton crew. Recently, parishes were advised by the diocese to review staffing and operational costs as we don’t know what the future holds for many parishes. In an attempt to make further cuts to maintain the financial integrity of Saint Patrick Parish, we have had to make the difficult decision to place some employees on permanent leave and cut other employee’s hours across the board. All of this was done in order to ensure the financial future of Saint Patrick Parish. Since the Pandemic affected the Parish, we have experienced a $100,000 shortfall in the offertory. Therefore, difficult decisions had to be made.
As we continue to forge forward in faith we ask for your continued financial support. Since attendance at Mass is limited due to physical distancing and other factors, and the Diocese has now established a summary of Parish Insurance renewals and rates, most have which increased by 10% to 15%, I encourage those of you who can take advantage of our online giving program to please do so. Visit our Parish website stpatrickstoneham.org and click on the donation tab to make a one-time donation or set up a recurring contribution. If you would like to make your donation through your bank account, simply set Saint Patrick Parish up as a payee using our mailing address, 71 Central Street, Stoneham, MA. Be sure to include your envelope number in the memo field so your contribution can be posted to your account. You can also mail your weekly or monthly donation to the parish office.
Once again thank you for all that you do !!!
Fr. Mario & Fr. Frank