In Lent of 2023, Bishop Zubik initiated the pastoral planning process in every parish in the diocese. A Parish Pastoral Plan is a roadmap that guides the work of the parish to invigorate and grow our ministries and to encourage parishioners to live out their baptismal call to bring others to Jesus. During Lent of 2023, we participated in the Disciple Maker Index Survey to assess our spiritual needs and how we hope to grow in our faith lives.

At that time, our parish assembled an Envisioning Team to begin pastoral planning by analyzing the Disciple Maker Index Survey results and identifying parish strengths and opportunities for growth. Our new Parish Pastoral Council will continue this process by serving as our Envisioning Team. They will work with me to create a vision statement for the parish that describes our hopes and dreams for the next three to five years. The Parish Pastoral Council Envisioning Team and I will identify three parish pastoral priorities to focus our efforts for the future and achieve our parish vision.

At the end of this month, on June 30th at 1 PM after Mass, we will hold a parish assembly focusing on finances and our facilities. The concrete data we will discuss as a parish will provide a solid foundation to begin the parish pastoral planning process. Next Sunday, in this bulletin, I will summarize the parish's financial status and outline our budget for the upcoming fiscal year. On June 23rd, a summary of the facilities report on the condition of our property and strategies for addressing our future capital expenses will be published. I urge everyone to prepare for our June 30th parish assembly by thoroughly reviewing the summaries of these reports. There are challenges ahead but we are up to those challenges. We have much to look forward to and be thankful for. We will continue our journey together.

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Matthew Hawkins

To prepare for our parish assembly on June 30, I am releasing this draft of our budget for the next fiscal year. Please review this budget before our assembly at the end of this month.

A Balanced Budget

Our objective is to achieve a balanced budget by January 1. Although it's an ambitious goal, recent trends in parish attendance and the weekly offertory make these projections feasible. Our target for a balanced budget assumes a 15% increase in the weekly offertory, which is already happening, and a 10% increase in the parish appeal offering compared to last year. We have other plans to enhance revenue for the parish that we are currently negotiating.

We will also implement significant cost-saving measures in the next fiscal year. Failure to implement these changes would result in a budget deficit similar to this year, ranging from $67,000 to $70,000. This would deplete our savings from $200,000 to only $130,000. This underscores the necessity of a combination of revenue enhancement and cost reduction in the coming fiscal year.

Upcoming Capital Expenses

Over the next two years, we will face the challenge of repairing the damage done to the building due to weather and the passage of time. We are currently developing a strategy to tackle this challenge. I will provide more details on this next week as I discuss the engineer’s report on the building's condition.

Action and a Vision for Future Generations

The road ahead will not be easy, but it is surmountable. St. Benedict the Moor is a resilient and growing parish family. We need to continue our growth for the benefit of our faith community and to enhance our ability to address these challenges. Even an increase of 30 more families would significantly contribute to securing our future. I will address this further in future bulletins.

Attached is a draft of our budget for the next fiscal year. It also includes our year-to-date budget for the current fiscal year. The third column presents our forecast as we close out the year at the end of this month. The final column compares next year’s budget against the current fiscal year based on our forecasts. This table lists major income and expense categories for the parish but does not itemize them due to space constraints. The full budget is available to parishioners upon request.

As we embark on this journey towards financial stability and growth, let us remember that we are a community of faith and support. Together, with open hearts and minds, we can overcome these challenges and emerge even stronger. Your continued dedication and contributions, big or small, will make a difference in securing the future of our parish. Let's continue to work hand in hand, lending our time, talents, and treasures as we build a vibrant and thriving community for generations to come. Thank you for your unwavering commitment to our shared mission. As always, without a vision, the people perish.

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Matthew Hawkins

Parish Budget Draft

Without a Vision, the People Perish

Our parish has a vision for the future. That vision includes evangelization based on our unique Eucharistic celebration, our homilies, music ministry, and other parish ministries. It also entails growth by reaching out to Catholics in the Diocese of Pittsburgh who appreciate our unique, lively, and participatory liturgical celebration and making a special effort to appeal to the cultural experience of Catholics of African and African Diasporan heritage while welcoming everyone who wishes to enter into communion with Jesus Christ. We also envision working closely with the Extra Mile Foundation for the growth and expansion of St. Benedict the Moor School as it increases its impact in the Hill District and the City of Pittsburgh.

Parish Pastoral Planning

To fulfill this vision for the future, we will continue to pursue our parish pastoral planning process facilitated by the parish pastoral council as our “envisioning team,” in consultation with the Catholic Leadership Institute and periodic parish assemblies. We will hold our next parish assembly after Mass on June 30th. It will begin promptly at 1:00 PM and end at 2:30.

Challenges and Goals

We must meet several financial goals in the months ahead to achieve our vision. Last week, I spoke and wrote to you about the prospect of having a balanced budget or reducing a significant portion of our annual debt if current trends in the offertory, Mass attendance, and parish membership continue. This will be accompanied by cuts in unnecessary spending and implementing strategies to enhance revenue. This goal, while challenging, is well within our reach.

However, we face additional challenges due to the cost of maintaining our nearly 140-year-old church building. We recently had an engineer assess the property, and he identified several significant costs we must tackle over the next two years. We must address three items in particular: the repair and replacement of our roof, the repair of the rose window in the front of the church, and the repair of the erosion of sandstone in the basement.

These repairs will be costly, but we are also developing strategies to address them. We can take steps in our budget to forestall our larger expenses while we buy time to raise money to complete this undertaking. Over the short term, we will have to spend $50,000 to prevent leaking from the roof and secure the rose window frame. Over the long term, after balancing our budget, we will embark on a $1 million capital campaign to ensure everything is done correctly and carry us forward into the next generation.

The Next Generation

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, as a vibrant and growing parish offering a unique liturgical and communal experience within the diocese, our vision and goals are not beyond our reach. They will take time, careful planning, patience, hard work, and faith in divine providence. We must work at these challenges, confident that our labors will honor our past and create a lasting legacy that will benefit future generations and that they will enjoy.

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Matthew Hawkins