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FINANCE The early years were difficult to handle financially, the greatest portion of income being required to meet debt payments and school assessments, leaving barely enough to meet parish expenses; yet, oddly, the special collections averaged better than the weekly collections. This shows that there was generosity and spiritual awareness in the parish. While Fr. Martin was parish priest, he insisted on keeping all the recording duties in his own hands so that only he would know what or how much parishioners were giving, his explanation being that he respected the secrecy of parishioner donations. He used as much from available funds as possible to reduce the debt even to his own personal detriment. His sacrifice must have been considerable as his total food bill in his first year as parish priest was just over one hundred dollars. When Fr. Henye took over, more people became involved in the financial situation of the parish and consequently more people became aware of the fact that there was a financial situation that would not take care of itself. Fr. Henye made arrangements for the Parish Council to meet with the Catholic School Board to discuss financial aid to the schools and project future requirements so that the parish could prepare to meet them. The meeting ended in a very unsatisfactory situation that was not beneficial to either party, making parish financial planning difficult for a number of years. At that time the Social Club organized a parish party that was not a real success, but it did make people more aware that the parish was not just a Sunday gathering for an hour or so and that efforts at fund-raising were sorely needed to carry on parish work. Each succeeding party was better attended and a feeling of unity and cooperation became evermore apparent. We were becoming a parish in the real sense of the word. During the brief period that Fr. Heyne was with us, a feeling of excitement was germinated in the parish. The growth of oneness and respect, mounting understanding and cooperation were catching and - presto! - the weekly collections began to increase mightily. Fr. Mulvihill inherited the growing excitement within the parish and encouraged it in every way. Soon there were more activities in the parish and more and more people became involved in parish functions, some in the areas not attempted before. It was becoming more obvious at every meeting that the accommodation we were providing for our priest was far below the standard we would accept for ourselves. A seemingly never-ending series of meetings was held on financing and building a new rectory which eventually ended in the construction of the present rectory on Fuller Avenue. The original loan was paid off and an appeal was made, without pressure, for donations to a building fund or alternatively an increase in weekly donations. The building fund met with moderate success an a loan was obtained to meet the residue of the rectory cost. The loan repayment was estimated to take eight to ten years, but the generosity of the increase in weekly donations, and some cutting down on expenses, made it possible for the loan to be repaid in five years. Even before the rectory loan was paid off, plans were being made to build a hall and make alterations to the church, and we were able to go ahead immediately the rectory loan was cleared. The same appeal for funds was made for these projects as for the rectory, with the same results. The projected repayment time was ten years; the debt was cleared in eight. The building of the rectory and hall stimulated the generosity of the parishioners, but the greatest gain by far was the improvement in spiritual growth. We were now a parish family instead of a group of individuals, and love and happiness were becoming more evident every day. Reference: Bill Walton, Our History, 1986 When Fr. Martin left the parish in 1967, Bill Walton took complete charge of the parish financial records and kept them meticulously for thirteen years. In the first years when parish income was most uncertain, he made quarterly statements. As the financial situation improved, bi-annual statements were thought sufficient; and later still, Bill prepared year-end statements which were published in the parish bulletin. Bill was convinced that people respond to a perceived need, and that keeping parishioners informed about parish finances would result in an increase in donations without pressure from the pulpit. Keeping the financial records almost automatically entails keeping a hand on the parish purse strings, which means attending countless meeting especially when major projects are involved.
Finance Committee
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