SJB New Fiscal Year

Dear Friends in Christ,

“If you have no money, be polite” – Danish proverb

It’s that time of year again, the time we report to you our financial status. With the end of June we come to the end of a fiscal year, and you’ll find our financial report on an insert in today’s bulletin. As you can see we don’t have a very fat bank account. That’s because we have been making payments on our parish debt this year. Debt! What debt? Perhaps you forgot but the debt of our church renovation still hangs over us. However, we are making some progress on paying it off.

This year’s PSA was better than last year (and last year we were recognized by the Diocese for making 2.5 times over our goal). Since last month we have been receiving rebate checks from PSA because we have already reached our goal. As you continue to complete your pledges all the money now returns to our parish to help pay the debt and other important improvements like the re-paving of the parking lot.

More good news is the fact that our newly envisioned parish festival netted over $49,000. This compares very favorably to $30,000 and $31,000 for 2005 and 2006. Not having to pay a large rental fee for carnival rides made it possible for us to realize a greater profit on other aspects of the festival. People really enjoyed themselves, there was more parking, and we didn’t have to change the Sunday Mass schedule. I look forward to our next festival which I’m sure will be
another great celebration of the St. John’s family.

As we complete one fiscal year and begin another I want to recognize all the members of St. John’s parish family who have supported our ministries so faithfully. You have shown yourselves true stewards of God’s generous gifts. At this time I would like to challenge all of us
to renew our commitment to the parish and its apostolate to the Catholics of Costa Mesa and surrounding areas. All of us are disciples of the Lord; He asks us to be good servants and stewards of his many gifts. Our reward for this cannot be measured by silver or gold.
It is the reward of the good and faithful servant who enters into the joy of the Lord.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Hildebrand