Letter of Appeal from Fr. Franz

Parishioner
Parish of Sait Stephen
Located at W54 th. Street
Cleveland, Ohio April 27, 2007

Dear Parishioner,

I am writing to ask your help for St. Stephen Parish. For the last three years, our parish income has fallen below what we need to run the parish. This has not happened because our parishioners have not been generous. Many have been outstandingly so. It has happened because our bingo game, which for many years was our principal income, has not been bringing in as much as it was formerly. For the past two years, the parish has run a deficit of over $120,000. Nine months into the current fiscal year, we are at a deficit of $38,000. As a result, we have been dipping into savings to help pay our bills. As you realize, this situation cannot continue indefinitely. We need to raise our income, cut our expenses, or both.

During the past year, we have been making a constant effort to cut expenses. We have changed toilets and faucets to save on water in our buildings, changed light bulbs to save on electricity, added insulation to the church and rectory to cut heating costs.

Staff expenses were sadly reduced when one of our full-time employees, Elaine Marquard, died. A part-time employee, Frank Mielnik, replaced Elaine. Volunteers have replaced our paid housekeepers in the rectory. At the end of this fiscal year, June 30th, Ana Matos, our full-time Director of Religious Education will leave us. Her work will be picked up by myself and parish volunteers. Our bookkeeper will also take a cut in pay. All of these things add up to reduced expenses, but it is doubtful that they will be sufficient to bring us into balance. We need to increase income.

Since our bingo game has become less productive, some of our parishioners are planning to begin a second bingo game to augment income. We are also exploring other avenues of support from our alumni and our German-American friends. Whatever help we might receive from outside the parish, we must be sure that we, the members of St. Stephen Parish, are ourselves doing our best to meet the challenge. We must look to our own personal sacrificial giving.

In the coming weeks you will hear and read about our efforts to increase the Sunday Offertory collection. I will be asking parishioners, in so far as they are able, to raise the amount of their Sunday offerings. I will also be asking for your prayers for the success of our Offertory enhancement campaign.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Father S. Michael Franz
Pastor