Five Stars, Matt Jackson and Finance Team!

Five Stars, Matt Jackson and Finance Team!
            In last week’s bulletin article, I introduced parishioners to a few of our three-year Archdiocesan Procedural Audit results that will impact some of our outstanding parish organizations like men’s clubs, and Nativity’s PTA and Boosters. 
It is important for me to be clear that the auditors were most impressed with the hard work and acuity of Matt Jackson and our finance team of bookkeepers Judy Elmore, Denise Stemen and contracted bookkeeper Ed Aug.  They were especially impressed with the many Beacons of Light processes and standardizations put in place, which the audit team does not even evaluate since such approaches are too new to even do so.  
Most of the areas for improvement named in this recent audit were also on the report three years ago, when previous administrations and finance teams were unable to make such improvements a priority.  
I am most grateful that Matt and our team are already accomplishing the fixes or coming up with strategies to do so within the next year.  Thanks again to parishioners who cooperate with the process and bear the burden of necessary change!  
Please see Matt’s article below, where he connects Jesus, Eucharist and grace with the Archdiocese’s mercy and generosity to Crescent Parishes!!
Sincerely and with Love in Christ,
Fr. Pat
 
Dear Crescent Parishes

 Over the past few months, staff have been posting articles about what the Eucharist means to them. I have grown up as a Catholic my entire life and the Eucharist has always been the center. When I joined high school youth ministry is when the fire ignited, and I was able to see who Christ was to me. From that point on the Eucharist was an essential part of every decision in my life from playing music in a band, finding my wife, and raising our children. It is essentially everything I am and everything I live for! 
 
One aspect of the Eucharist that I find amazing is the grace that He provides. If you can recall a few months back Fr. Pat discussed certain debts that our parish family had including the substantial amount that Holy Trinity owed to the archdiocese. Fr. Pat and I met with the CFO and Chancellor to discuss options and ask for grace regarding the loan that Holy Trinity has and the burden that the parish endures to make their monthly payments on the loan. 
 
The first part of the grace that we have been given that Fr. Pat mentioned in his article is that the archdiocese will forgive the debt once we become one fiscal parish family in lieu of the property if Holy Trinity is not one of our future buildings. They also stated that the parish family would not have to pay on the debt once consolidated. 
 
A new grace of Jesus’ mercy offered to us by the Archdiocese is that currently Holy Trinity pays $9,302 a month towards the loan. This is broken out as $6,800 in principal and $2,500 in interest back to the AOC. This amount is detrimental to Holy Trinity’s finances and would eventually bankrupt the parish if continued over the next couple of years. The good news is that after some talks with the archdiocese they have agreed to the terms of $4,000 a month for 36 months interest-free. This will allow Holy Trinity to save money while paying down a pure $144,000 in principle over the next 3 years or until the parishes merge. God is good… All the time!!
 
Lastly, I want to give a huge shout out to Denise, Judy, and Ed who do amazing work for all our different parishes. We have surely accomplished a lot together to get where we are today. The findings of the procedural audit in July showed we have some work to do but are headed in the right direction.  I am in the process of creating an action plan so that the next one will be even better. 
 
In Christ,
Matt Jackson, Director of Administration