June 14, 2020
Dear Parishioners:
It has been a great two weeks seeing everyone happily coming back to the daily and weekend Masses. We have had much to celebrate including our first communicants, the neophytes who joined the Catholic faith, and the good health of our parishioners. I am so grateful to open our doors to you again. I hope you understand we are all learning as we go in this new environment and my hope is to get back to normal, as soon as possible.
Now that we have had time to enjoy our restart, it is time to address the challenge our parish faces due to the event of covid19: an offertory deficit. Just as businesses are facing revenue shortfalls because of being closed for ten or more weeks, St. Joseph Parish is also experiencing a revenue shortfall as our offertory collection was down by 24% during those 10 weeks. As well, other parish donations were down 14%. Here is a comparison of this year’s offertory to that of 2019:
2020 2019
March $48,515 $61,805
April $16,096 $73,577
May $76,999 $50,348
Total $141,610 $185,730
This deficit affects our ability to pay our bills and keep our parish staffed. I would like to do all we can to address this deficit now so we do not begin the next fiscal year at a disadvantage.
Our staff is working to create an offertory recovery program to assist in making up the difference, but we will need everyone’s support. Because of the covid19 crisis, we are not able to use live events as fundraisers or fellowship. We will need to be creative when it comes to activities that can unite us as well as raise money simultaneously. We are open to ideas and welcome your thoughts. We will most likely be kicking our offertory recovery campaign with our annual raffle in July.
As well, your continued weekly/monthly giving always helps and we thank all of those that have continued to give and even gave a little more during these past weeks. If you were unsure about how to submit your weekly envelopes while St. Joseph Church was closed, here are ways you can do so now:
- Drop your weekly envelopes, even if they are from past weeks, in the offertory baskets at the doors of the Church the next time you are at Mass. OR...
- Drop off/Mail envelopes to the rectory at 215 Falls Avenue, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio 44221. OR...
- Give online at saintjoe.org/giving.
If you have continued your offertory support through this crisis: THANK YOU. If you are unable to give due to financial hardship: WE ARE HERE FOR YOU. For those in our community who have the opportunity to give at this time, I ask you to consider a gift above and beyond your regular weekly giving to help address this budgetary deficit. Any amount is a tremendous gift to us, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
As we continue to move through these next phases of the Covid19 crisis and navigate these troubling times, please know I pray daily for your safety and that of your loved ones. Thanks be to God for the promise of the resurrection that God is always with us – through our trials and in our joys. Please be assured that the parish staff and I are here to support you where we can.