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Anatomy of Our Collection
As parishioners, we give every week. But where is the collection going? Each week the church bulletin shows actual collection amounts for the past three weeks. Over the next several months, we will share how those collection amounts are used by our ministries and administration.
Routine maintenance encompasses not just the buildings on campus, but the heating and cooling systems, campus grounds, and equipment. Maintenance comprises 6% of the parish’s annual operating budget.
As homeowners are aware, the costs of maintenance items and projects can add up quickly. Monthly, we order cleaning supplies, trash bags, light bulbs, batteries, paper towels, and toilet paper. In addition, we have to address repairs that arise unexpectedly.
The heating and cooling systems are serviced twice a year to keep them in good working condition. Once again, however, unexpected issues may present themselves.
To keep the grounds looking their best all year, additional costs are incurred. We pay for snow removal in the winter and mowing and other lawn care throughout the spring, summer, and fall.
As we are in the midst of our many spring maintenance projects, we’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you for your monetary contributions. We could not maintain our facilities and beautiful campus without your generosity.
Why do we attend St. Alphonsus Liguori? Ultimately, it is the liturgy that draws us together. Although the liturgy is the most important part of our spiritual lives, spending for the Worship Ministry represents only 2% of our annual operating budget.
The Body and Blood of Christ, tangible in the form of bread and wine, is the most important expense budgeted through the Worship Ministry. It is also responsible for purchasing books and missals used at Mass, both on the altar and in the pews.
You may have had occasion to visit the Blessed Sacrament Chapel or the Marian Shrine to light a candle for a special intention. These candles and others used in the church are recurring Worship Ministry monthly expenses, as are the plants and flowers that beautify our altar each week.
Scheduling liturgical ministry volunteers is crucial to this ministry, and in an effort to assist the parish staff, a software program is implemented. This software must be licensed, which is an invisible cost.
We are truly grateful for your generous monetary contributions: we couldn’t make it without you!
Please be aware, the need for liturgical ministers, ushers, readers, sacristans, EMHC, and altar servers, is great. Contact the parish office to become involved: 317.873.2885.
The Catholic Moment is a non-secular newspaper provided each week to members of the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana, which includes members of St. Alphonsus Liguori. This newspaper is an outreach effort from the bishop to all parishioners in the diocese.
The Catholic Moment is paid for by the parish, and amounts to 2.25% of our annual operating budget.
Billed monthly, the annual charge per family is not excessive. Although there is a separate collection for the Catholic Moment, it only offsets our cost by 10%. The remaining 90% comes out of our budget.
The contribution made by our parishioners to this subscription is greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your generosity!
Adult Bible study | RCIA | Marriage on Tap | Parish Mission | Christ Renews His Parish
What do the above programs have in common?
These adult formation programs fall under Evangelization, which is .9% of this year’s budget.
Other programs that fall under Evangelization are Religious Education, Family Life, Youth Ministry, and Young Adult Ministry. These ministries, however, have their own annual budgets, as will be discussed in future articles.
The key to adult formation lies in programming. For RCIA, program materials are the primary cost; Christ Renews His Parish has new material and formation guides that must be purchased for participants;
An interesting and successful parish mission relies on a dynamic speaker, the cost of which comes from the Evangelization budget; Marriage on Tap also seeks out quality speakers to present to couples attending those events.
Although we have parish staff dedicated to evangelization efforts, each one of us plays a role in evangelizing our community. As with all ministries in the parish, there are opportunities to volunteer your time and talent with Evangelization programs and ministries..
Please contact the parish office if you’d like to volunteer.
Engaging our middle school and high school students in their Catholic faith is the role of Youth Ministry within our parish. Although much of Youth Ministry is funded through program fees, there are costs associated with programming that consume part of the annual parish budget.
Games are included in the Youth Ministry budget, as well as food and beverage. In addition to hanging out with other Catholic teens and sharing their faith, students also enjoy snacks and activities during each week’s program: some of our students attend Youth Ministry after Sunday evening Mass and are ready for refreshments to help them stay the course. Snacks are also provided to middle school kids on Wednesday nights.
Youth Ministry takes small groups on annual mission trips and, every two years, the NCYC conference. And while parents pay for these trips, there are some costs that the parish incurs. Mission trips and youth conferences are great experiences for those who have the chance to attend.
Youth Ministry also oversees the Sacrament of Confirmation. The costs for the Confirmation celebration, retreat and materials are part of the Youth Ministry budget.
This important ministry engages volunteers in several capacities. If you feel called to help with our youth, please contact the parish office: 317.873.2885.
If you work in an office or have an office in your home, you know that office operating supplies are essential to getting the job done. The parish office is no different, and maintains our office operation supplies at 4.8% of the annual budget.
The office uses a wide variety of supplies, from Acco fasteners to zip-top folders. Here’s an idea of what else is included:- Although kept to a minimum, copies are a necessity around the parish office. In addition to the cost of copy paper and toner, we have the monthly cost of leasing the copiers.
- Keeping the postage meter filled allows the parish office to send mailings, such as year-end tax statements, to parishioners. Stamps are also kept on hand for mailing items such as Mass intention cards and welcome postcards for new parishioners.
- Technology is a fact of life today, and the parish office relies on current technology to help the parish run efficiently. Computers wear out or become obsolete and need to be periodically replaced. Licenses for software used to maintain parish records have to be renewed annually.
Religious Education (RE) consists of four pieces:- Weekly RE classes that meet 23 times per year
- Sacrament preparation for Confession and First Holy Communion
- Vacation Bible School (VBS)
- The Christmas Eve Pageant.
Each year our VBS team chooses an engaging theme. This summer, the theme was Time Lab. The team receives a creative kit that has themed materials in it which is adapted to fit our program. A portion of the VBS budget includes promotion, snacks, and a T-shirt for each participant. Our children love this week of summer interactive fun and learning where they create new friendships and discover more about their faith.
Much preparation is involved in guiding second graders towards the Sacraments of Confession and First Holy Communion. Part of that preparation is retreats for each sacrament. Costs include snacks and supplies for various projects that take place at these retreats. In addition, the RE Ministry hosts a reception for the children and their families on the morning of First Communion.
Volunteers are always needed for successful RE programs. Whether you feel called to be a catechist, to spend a day helping with VBS or to help out in another way, we welcome you!
EMAIL recoordinator@zionsvillecatholic.com or call 317.873.2885.
Imagine what Mass would be like if it were without any Sacred Music. Familiar Sacred Music enhances our celebration of the Mass and only adds .9% to our annual budget.
When our organist/choirmaster Lee Barlow is away for a weekend, the music must go on. Substitute organists are brought in for the weekend and are compensated for their time. Most of the musicians who assist with Music Ministry are volunteers, but we do have occasions where we must bring in professionals, and those musicians are compensated for their talent and expertise.
At Mass, we pick up the Gather Hymnal to join in song with the cantor or choir. On certain occasions, worship aids are provided. There are costs involved with obtaining proper licenses to use the music that we sing and play at each Mass.
If you have musical talent and would like an opportunity to share that talent with the parish, please CONTACT LEE BARLOW to discuss volunteer opportunities.
The reason some of us enjoy living in Indiana is that we have four distinct seasons during the year. The different seasons are reflected in the utility costs of the parish.
Winter is reflected in our natural gas bill: although we keep the temperatures cooler when buildings are not in use, the parish’s natural gas bills do increase during winter months.
Summer is reflected in our electric bill: running the air conditioning in five buildings increases our electric bill during this season of the year. We try to minimize the impact by keeping the buildings a little warmer when not in use. During the remainder of the year, our electric bills become more stable, reflecting normal business usage.
Spring and fall are the wild cards: we may run air conditioning or heat at times we would not normally have to use the system.
Throughout the seasons, we also have water, trash and wastewater costs. These are consistent each month.
As good stewards of our utility costs, we proactively look for issues within our systems and have them repaired in order to keep them efficient. Utility costs are monitored each month in the office. This allows us to identify problems and resolve them before they become costly.
From the priests who are in front of the congregation to the ministry personnel who guide the programs to the administrative and maintenance teams who work behind the scenes, the parish could not function well without our parochial staff.
To envision the structure for the parochial staff, picture an umbrella.
At the top point of the umbrella are the clergy. As the umbrella curves down, there are the Pastoral Associates of Evangelization, Worship and Administration. The tips of the umbrella are the staff who work with each of the Pastoral Associates.
The Pastoral Associate of Evangelization is responsible for those who coordinate the many ministries that make us a parish community. The staff working in Evangelization include the RE Coordinator, the Marriage and Family Coordinator, the Director of Youth Ministry, and the Director of Young Adult Ministry.
The Pastoral Associate of Worship is responsible for the staff who make our liturgy run as smoothly as possible. They are the Director of Sacred Music and the Worship Coordinator.
The Pastoral Associate of Administration is responsible for all the behind-the-scenes activities that support the ministries of the parish. This staff includes the Ministry Secretary and Parish Secretary, the Business Manager, the Director of Communications, the Administration Coordinator, and the Maintenance Team.
As a staff, we would like to thank you for your generosity and support.
Investing in the future of our parish campus is a long-term commitment that requires planning and saving. The way the we invests in our future is through the biennial Fruitful Harvest Campaign.
Fruitful Harvest is a two-part campaign: Part one goes towards meeting our parish goal set by the diocese to allow for programming and operations at the diocesan level; Part two allows us to raise funds to go towards our investment in the future of the campus.
Every dollar collected, over and above the diocesan goal, comes back to the parish. These funds are then invested and used for major renovations or building projects.
Our goal for this investment money is to build an activity center where the white barn is now located. It would provide space for activities for all ages. Imagine a facility where your children or grandchildren could gather for sports, families could gather for movie nights, and the Young at Heart could come use exercise equipment during the day. The possibilities are unlimited.
If you have any questions concerning Fruitful Harvest, send an email to fruitfulharvest@zionsvillecatholic.com or call Jolaine Hill at 317-873-2885.
Thank you for investing in the future of St. Alphonsus Liguori Catholic Church.