"Celebrate our Legacy" Questions
I sat in on the “Celebrate our Legacy” final report meeting this past Sunday morning. During the meeting there were questions raised about the purchase of the Youth Ministry house across from the church on 8th Street…Did the money used to buy the house come from the “Celebrate our Legacy” funds and if it did, was that appropriate and consistent with what the campaign funds were set up to be used for? Was it borrowed and to be paid back? At the beginning of the meeting, they played the promotional video they had used during the campaign. I heard it mention a youth minister’s salary and architectural studies, but nothing about paying for the construction or purchase of facilities. Someone read the words from the original literature used for talking to potential donors and it sounded to me like it said the same thing the video explained. The pamphlet handed out at this meeting summarized the results of the campaign and the purchase of the house was listed under the heading, “15% to Youth Ministry/Architectural Studies”. Someone else can comment on the numbers part of it, but I think that looking at the language of the campaign, any major purchase or construction project would not fall under these funds. At the meeting, I didn’t hear anyone oppose the idea of a “Youth House”. That wasn’t the point. I understood the point to be that the way it was purchased was not how it should have been done. If you know more about the campaign and/or the purchase of the house, please comment.
posted by Marie @ 7:18 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
My impression from the meeting was that there are people who were involved with the campaign that are still convinced that the Youth House should not have been purchased with funds from the Endowment account. Someone at the meeting tried to brush the whole issue off with a "it really doesn't matter". Luckily, others tried to explain that the purchase of the house did matter because it was a misuse of funds. How can people be expected to donate their money to an organization that won't keep its word? Especially a church? Maybe this is one example of why people won't give money to the church the way they used to. The whole thing is again about trust.
There was a woman (new to the parish) there Sunday who was invited in for doughnuts and fellowship by a parishioner. Ironically, she had first hand knowledge of the endowment fund at her former church. She said that the person in charge was not a financial wiz and kept spending beyond the interest, tapping into the base. She said that the endowment fund was now gone!
I am not familiar with the specifics of this fund, nor am I a financial wizard, but let's use a litle common sense. By definition, an endowment is an account that is invested to earn a return of income and growth of which a percentage of the account value is used each year for a specified charitable purpose.
Historically, endowment funds have been managed to preserve capital while providing high current income.
ie:Leaving the principal fund intact, spending the interest.
So if this was set up as an endowment, does that mean that 15% of the "earnings" were set aside or used for youth ministry/arcitectural studies?
or that 15% of the "principal" (donated money) was set aside or used for youth ministry/architectual studies?
Common sense would tell us that if an organization taps into the principal of an endowment, eventually that would deplete the endowment.
So yes, it DOES matter how a fund is set up and how it is intended to be used.
"Who is a Christian steward? One who receive's God's gifts gratefully, cherishes and tends them in a responsible and accountable manner, shares them in justice and love with all and returns them with increase to the Lord."
from"Stewardship: A Disciple's Response" Pastoral Letter, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
I sat here and wondered why that definition of 'Christian stewardship' touched me? Then I realized that 'God's gifts' were the parishioners. One must receive each and everyone as a gift, to be cherished and taken care of. That concept was taught to many by a very compassionate priest. Father Bill used to say that other priests would ask him how he kept his parish out of financial problems. He said, "I told them that it was easy, I never asked for money." That concept must have worked for he returned many people with 'increase to the Lord'.
Witness that for over 100 years the people of the parishes that now make up Transfiguration of the Lord have been faithful, practical stewards. They have maintained and supported their parish through the Depression, through lean farm years, through the closings of local factories and businesses.
All that is asked now is for honesty, transparency, and accountability in the administration of that support.
Father did have a short meeting during the week, before the Saturday sale of the house. The Finance and Pastoral Councils met together and were told about the plans to buy the house. I think that most of the people there were surprised at what the meeting was about and that the decision seemed to have been already made. They were told that the house was to be used for the Youth and thus paid for using the Celebrate Our Legacy money. I don't think that most there were aware of the Celebrate Our Legacy restictions about how the money was to be used. Some did bring up the fact that there was a large house already owned by the parish in Kirby that was sitting unused at the time. It was felt that that house could be used for the same thing. The councils were advised not to say anything to anyone about the potential purchase on Saturday because the staff felt that someone might use the information to "run the bid on the house up'.
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