How much of St. James’ Diocesan Stewardship (DSP) was pledged?

Below is the last numbers published in parish bulletin in beginning of November 2011.

 

A slightly larger number is obtained by using the numbers published in The Observer on November 4, 2011. (See Below)   St. James had one of the lowest Percentage of Parish Goal Pledged—55.4%.  That number (.554) times the parish goal of $103,313 equals $57,235.  Of course the remaining $46,078 becomes a debt to the diocese which the parish as a whole will have to pay along with the assessment for Boylan High School and the assessment for The Observer.

Click on the photocopy to enlarge.

How does the Rockford Diocese Calculate the DSP Goal?

The most recent publication regarding this calculation (shown below)  is available at:  http://www.stewardshiprockford.org/capcamp/AssessmentSystem.pdf

You should note that this policy was last REVIEWED in 2011. Nothing within the policy indicates that parish size or number of parishioners being a factor.     Basically approximately 10% of a parish “Ordinary Income (regular collections) are determined to be the parish’s DSP goal.  The parishioners will donated that amount to DSP  during the DSP pledge drive and the parish will pay any remaining unpaid amount.

Noteworthy is the very last statement:  “5) Parish support to its own elementary, area high school, or payments of current or past-due diocesan assessments will not be considered as a deduction to Ordinary Income before diocesan assessments are calculated.”  Thus a parish which needs to make sizeable contributions to its parish-operated grade school receives no more consideration than a parish with no school.

 

Click on the photocopy

Current status of the St. James DSP Drive

UPDATED 10-23-2011 Collections, Pledges and DSP for St. James Parish

The following is taken from the bulletin published for Sunday, October 23, 2011

SUNDAY COLLECTION............................$11,945

Building Fund Campaign
Total Pledges..................................$2,215,597
Total Paid..........................................$776,279.24
Number of Families Pledging....................604
Collected this week 10-15/16-2011.....$28,621

The following is taken from the bulletin published for Sunday, October 16, 2011. It is available at: http://content.seekandfind.com/bulletins/01/0294/20111016B.pdf


August 28, 2011 DSP statement.

The following is taken from the bulletin published for Sunday, October 9, 2011. It is available at: http://seekandfind.com/directory/st.-james-church_273.html

The following is taken from the bulletin published for Sunday, October 2, 2011. It is available at: http://seekandfind.com/downloads/01/0294/20111002B.pdf


Total Pledges falls $7,845 from $2.223,437.44 to $2,215,592.44
The following is taken from the bulletin published for Sunday, September 25, 2011. It is available at: http://seekandfind.com/downloads/01/0294/20110925B.pdf


The following is taken from the bulletin published for Sunday, September 18, 2011.


Here are some previous Campaign figures:
“The Campaign goal is $5,500,000”. “The Diocese of Rockford has generously offered to allow construction to begin once $3,000,000 is pledged for the project and the first $1,000,000 has been received in cash”



A small withdrawal of pledges for week ending August 15, 2011.


Apparently some pledges were withdrawn. See the higher amount pledged as of July 11, 2011

DSP–“mostly on track”

No comment on the calling campaign which was advertised “large”  in the Observer on September 9, 2011; see:  http://boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/2011/09/has-rockford-diocese-ever-done-this.html

 

The following taken form the diocesan website:  http://observer.rockforddiocese.org/Archives/2011Archives/October72011/Stewardship/

 

Click on the photocopy to enlarge: 

St. John’s (Johnsburg) Census: Will it reduce the parish assessment from the diocese?

The following is taken from the parish website.  Trying to take parish census numbers down from 1500 to 900.

 

 

Holy Angels, Aurora, Il: FY 2011 Financials in Spread Sheet form appears in Sunday bulletin

Holy Angels, Aurora, Il

A spread sheet of the annual income and expenses appears in the September 25 bulletin.

Click on the photocopy to enlarge:

Has the Rockford Diocese ever done this before?

Apparently the Diocesan Appeal is not meeting its projected goals and will begin some sort of telephone follow-up.  Below is what St. James, Belvidere owes:

The above was taken from the September 11, 2011, bulletin of St. James parish, Belvidere, IL.

How good are the finances at St. Peters Cathedral, Rockford?

All figures are from:  http://www.cathedralofstpeter.org/bulletins.php

 

As of end of June, 2011

As of July 31, 2011

DSP reaches nearly to its goal: 91.21% of its $88,132 goal.

Regular Collections are 17.8% below budget for FY ending June 30, 2011

 

New FY information: As of September 4, contributions short $8,230.38 or 7.4% below budgeted $111,033.

8-29-2011 The New St. James Church: Many Questions; Few Answers

Since January 2011 parishioners have been asked to support the campaign for a new church. However since then there have been many changes some of which only a few parishioners are aware. Just to clear things up --here is what you should be aware.

• The capacity of the new Church is now 850
• It is being planned to be located at the old convent/parking lot on Church Street and Caswell Streets. The main entrance doors will be on Caswell. [NOT on the 22 acres West of Belvidere on Town Hall Road]
• The new church will have steps at the front and at all side entrances. The church will be handicapped accessible only for the front. The handicapped ramp will be much less steep than the current ramp however it will be approximately twice as long. And it will require the walker to enter on the school side Church Street side of the church. See drawings at: http://boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-st-james-church-will-be-very-bigyou.html
• A number of neighbors have signed formal protest requests regarding the parish’s zoning request. None of the adjacent neighbors have agreed to sell their property to the parish. Only the property owners on the side of the school parking lot have signed sales contract. See: http://boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-much-does-bird-housecost.html
• Type of roof on the new church: Despite what the application for zoning stated and what Father Geary stated earlier, the roof apparently now is standard shingles—not a metal roof. (Metal roofs have a much longer life) Mr. Linkenheld at 8-23-2011 meeting stated that standard shingles were always planned for the roof.
• The old church will be torn down to make a parking lot. The new church will be five stories tall. There will be four inches (basically zero) set back on the Church Street side of the building. The new church is now seven feet shorter (63 feet at peak relative to ground). The baptistery is now on the parish center side approximately 12.5 feet from parish center.
• The Parish will pay all city expenses for rebuilding the 300 block of Church Street to make diagonal parking alone the new church building. for widening Church Street to accommodate fire trucks. Parking will be in the same parallel style but may have handicapped parking on the church side of street.
• The parish will now have 170 on parish premises parking spots. The rectory will be torn down and converted to parking. The parish will be buying two parcels adjacent to the school playground/parking lot to accomplish this goal--548 Caswell Street and 402 Laurel Court..
• When will Father Geary or Bishop Doran communicate with St. James Parishioners? First communication in bulletin on 8-7-2011; To see this, click on following: http://boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/2011/08/insert-to-parish-bulletin-8-7-2011.htmlFew of the changes (such as those listed above) have been published in the weekly bulletin or any other written source. Father Geary has orally stated many things which “the Bishop will not approve or Diocese demands” but such things have not been written nor has the pastor, the parish finance committee or the parish council disseminated the information in written form to the parish. Other than continuing to solicit funds, parish administration has little desire to communicate with the parish members concerning changes to the new church.

  Is the Church still going to have a basement? NO, IT WILL NOT See 8-7-2011 Insert; click on following: http://boonecountycatholics.blogspot.com/2011/08/insert-to-parish-bulletin-8-7-2011.html

  Many heard that the project was running over the $5.5 limit [maybe this is $6,000,000, see insert] and no basement was being planned even though at public meetings an unfinished basement was stated. If there is no basement St. James Parish will have even less storage. The school and organizations are already complaining about storage. Where will the old stain glass and other sacred items be stored?

  QUESTIONS that remain unanswered:
  How much money does the campaign have in the Parish DIAL account?There have been many expenses for the campaign management firm, architect, surveying and legal. The campaign needs $1,000,000 in the DIAL account. How close are we to that requirement?
• What happens if the pledge goal of $3,000,000 is not reached?Will any funds be returned to the donors?
• Will the expenses for the campaign and pre-construction be shown in the parish’s June 30, 2011 annual statements to the parishioners?If not, what type of public accounting will parishioners receive and when?
• Will St. James be a good steward of the Earth in the building of the new church? Will modern ecological/energy-savings devises and systems be employed to lessen heating, cooling and lighting bills? Can a church with 50 feet ceilings ever be consider energy efficient? Will the demolition, constructions and operations be earth friendly?
• What is the projected cost of the total project now?Rumor says the church building will cost $6.4million and if there is a basement $7.5 million. And now there is talk that the parish will be buying the houses of the landowners who have signed formal protests. Could that be another $1,000,000?  9-9-2011. A budget limit of $5.5 Million is still in effect, based upon my personal conversation with Father Geary. 

  I have been told by Father Geary that he will answer questions when he deems the parish should be told.

Boone County Journal Devotes Pages to St. James Zoning

September 2, 2011’s Boone County Journal is out at retailers across the county.  Seven Letters to the Editor, a half page advertisement and an editorial are all devoted to the St. James zoning request.  This coverage again illustrates the divisiveness of the issue and how important it maybe to the future of not only St. James Parish but to the Boone County community.

Shown below are photocopies of the BCJ articles.  In addition to being available at news outlets across the county, an electronic version will be available soon at: http://www.boonecountyjournal.com/  Please check these sources for many other interesting articles and support BCJ advertisers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the photocopies below click to enlarge: