Annual Parish Report. St. Agnes. Catholic Church. Parish Statistics. Sacraments Celebrated. A message from Father Edlefsen, Pastor

Transcription

1 St. Agnes Annual Parish Report Fiscal Year : July 1, 2016 June 30, 2017 A message from Father Edlefsen, Pastor October 9, 2017 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, During Bishop Burbidge s Installation Mass last December 6th, he proclaimed, As God's servants first, we are to bring the truth and joy of the Gospel into the public arena with conviction and always in love. At St. Agnes, we strive to do just that by drawing parishioners and the surrounding community more deeply into parish-life, with a view to encountering Christ in the Catholic Faith and in the Sacraments. Once again, as a part of our commitment to communication and stewardship, we are publishing an Annual Report that summarizes our parish s work in the areas of faith formation, religious education, sacramental preparation, evangelization, outreach and community building. This includes a financial report for the fiscal year that ran from July 2016 through June I continue to stress the importance of aligning our parish resources with our missionary priorities. These include cultivating a healthy parish community life, supporting outreach and ministries, and investing in needed capital and maintenance projects. As I ve mentioned often, actively casting a wide net by reaching out to people through parish-wide events is key to the mission of any healthy parish. For example, our feast and holy day celebrations last year hosted 975 people, many of whom were newcomers and, in some cases, people with no connection otherwise to the Catholic Faith. We are also intentional about creating a welcoming parish for visitors and new parishioners. Our Welcome Team hosted and maintains contact with almost 100 people, sharing information on parish-life at St. Agnes and the foundations of our Faith. Financially, we showed a surplus for Collections remained fairly consistent from the prior year, while income from one-time bequests unexpectedly increased. Overall expenses were similar to the prior fiscal year. Our surplus, which is mainly due to bequests, will be saved for needed capital improvements. However, budget planning is based on projected offertory giving, as bequests vary from year to year. As you review this report, take a few moments to reflect on your level of offertory giving. Prayerfully consider increasing your support. Your offertory commitments help us plan for the daily workings of the parish, ministry and sacramental preparation, our excellent St. Agnes School and Religious Education programs, giving to the poor and marginalized, catechesis and missions, community building, and lots of essential behind-the-scenes parish administration, without which I could not fulfill my priestly duties. They also help us to allocate resources most fruitfully toward the Church s mission. I also ask you to consider using our easy and secure online giving program, Faith Direct, at saintagnes.org under Online Giving. I am grateful for all who work tirelessly to support our parish. It takes many hands and hearts to carry on Christ s mission until the End of Time. Thank you for your monetary support as well. Your sacrifices are greatly appreciated. Yours in Christ and His Mother, Fr. Frederick Edlefsen Parish Statistics Registered Parish Families 2012 Registered Members 5306 Religious Education Enrollment (Grades K-8) 358 School Enrollment (PreK 8th) 450 Altar Servers 98 Sacraments Celebrated Baptisms 68 Received into the 21 First Communions 88 Confirmations 81 Weddings & Marriage Preparations 26 Funerals 22

2 One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church - The Nicene Creed Over 0 Parish Supported, Volunteer Ministries: A Few By the Numbers Outreach and Evangelism Welcome Team: Served 95 visitors and new parishioners at 6 Welcome Dinners. Provided information on parishlife and foundations of the Faith. Contact: Shelly Marstall or Emily Paxton at welcome@saintagnes.org. Sodality of Celebrations: Hosted 975 parishioners and newcomers at feast and holy hay celebrations, including All Saints' Day and The Feast of St. Agnes. Contact: Michaela Herndon at celebrations@saintagnes.org. Growing in the Faith Sodality of St. Monica: Twenty-one candidates for Confirmation participated in the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA). The Sodality of St. Monica accompanied them, hosting social events throughout the process and committing to pray for them by name. Contact: Helen King at lizydrp@va-kings.com. Walking with Purpose: A Catholic Bible study which served 145 parishioners and community women, helping deepen their faith and ties to parish-life. Contact: Kristen Allen at stagneswwp@gmail.com. Mission and Service Brother Dennis: St. Agnes financially supported 50 missions, providing $90,000 annually. Recipients included the Order of Friar Servants of Mary and Jesuit Refugee Services. Contact: Jean Shirhall at jshirhall@gmail.com. St. Agnes Scouts of America: The Boy Scouts (Cub Scout Pack 111 and Boy Scout Troop 111), as part of St. Agnes Charter, have nearly 200 scouts. The Girl Scouts from grades K-8, constitute 130 members. Scouts are active in community service projects, including food drives, supporting the Marine Corps Marathon, stuffing backpacks for refugees, and wreath laying at Arlington Cemetery with Wreaths Across America. Boys Contact: Mark Allen at mallen@americanpublic.us. Girls Contact: Cristina Marcus at cristina.portuondo@gmail.com. Lay Ministries Homebound Visitation: Eucharistic Ministers of Holy Communion visited homebound parishioners 780+ hours. Contact: Marga Pirozzoli at homebound@saintagnes.org. Liturgical Ministries: 200+ served countless hours as Lectors, Sacristans, Flower Committee and Choir Members and more. See individual contacts at saintagnes.org. On the Horizon Migration and Refugee Outreach: 600 refugees are expected to arrive in the local area this year. St. Agnes has begun a full-scale effort to help welcome the refugee families and get them on their feet by providing much needed goods and volunteer services. This is under the leadership of Catholic Charities Diocese of Arlington, Migration and Refugee Services. Youth Ministries: Weekly small group Bible Studies, open gym nights and monthly "Mini-Mission Trips" are coming. New enewsletter, The Signal: A monthly publication highlighting parish news and events, as well as interesting happenings around town. Sign up to receive The Signal at saintagnes.org. Vocation and Service Opportunities for the Faithful Project Help: In January, we hosted our inaugural Project Help to connect Confirmation students with parish service projects. Twelve ministries presented to 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students from the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) and 7th graders from St. Agnes School, as an opportunity to meet their 15 hour community service requirement, resulting in 900 hours of service. Parish Help: In May, building off of the concept of Project Help, we hosted Parish Help. The event, akin to a full-scale job fair, featured booths for 43 of the parish's 64 ministries. Fully staffed after each Mass, volunteer leaders answered questions and offered materials on their ministries, signing up new volunteers. Parish Help resulted in 385 new volunteers.

3 Cast the net over the right side of the boat... Utilizing Social Media and Retooled Traditional Media to Effectively Communicate with Parishioners and the Larger Community Website: The St. Agnes website (saintagnes.org) underwent a complete overhaul, making it more user friendly both on stationary and mobile devices. The new site prominently provides information and key resources on foundations of the Faith, including the Sacraments. The homepage hosts recent news and articles from the pastor, upcoming events and other current details of parish-life. Facebook: We developed the St. Agnes Facebook page to reach the searching, providing updates on events and parish happenings on the most heavily utilized social media platform. Check us out at stagneschurcharlington/. St. Agnes Catholic School: Preparing the Next Generation -John 21:6 - John 21:6 Sunday Bulletins: The retooled bulletin engages parishioners with more color and images, supporting the liturgical message of the week and highlighting upcoming events. Parish App: While we reach beyond our walls, we also aim to provide liturgical information and support to parishioners through the Parish App. On it, you can find the weekly bulletin, parish events and the Mass schedule, as well as schedule planned giving or your next Confession. enewsletter and Electronic Updates: St. Agnes sends church and school information on all events and news via blasts. Flocknote: Keeping the youth connected, Flocknote is used to drive updates to youth and to receive youth related questions by Clergy and staff. School Financial Aid: $161,250 supported 50 children. $86,250 came from parish sources including United Way/ CFC donations, Denise Ferguson Memorial Fund, Golf Open proceeds and Endowment earnings. Professional Development: 24 teachers spent over 900+ hours learning and growing as educators to bring new skills to the classrooms. Technology: Continued enhancements including Dash & Dot robots, new Computer Lab PC s, additional short throw projectors and Chromebooks allowing for 1:1 ratio of Upper School students to computers. Logo on the Gym Floor: If you ask the kids, the biggest improvement was for school spirit adding the school logo to the gym floor. Go Lions!

4 FY Stewardship Information Many Parts, One Body: Many Gifts, One Parish Social Giving (from Offertory) Brother Dennis grants $90,000 Giving to the Poor or Charitable Organizations $24,662 U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Directed National Collections Catholic University of America $4,002 World Mission Sunday $5,150 Retirement Fund for Religious $9,746 Campaign for Human Development $4,140 Church in Latin America $4,871 Aid to the Church in Central & Eastern Europe $4,686 Black & Indian Mission $5,348 Catholic Relief Services (March Collection) $7,958 Holy Land Shrines $5,974 Catholic Home Missions Appeal $4,318 Catholic Communications Campaign $3,254 Archdiocese for the Military $6,455 National Collections (Cont.) Rice Bowl $2,376 Church in Africa $4,290 Total National Collections $72,568 Diocesan Directed Collections Bishop s Lenten Appeal Pledges $505,197 Propagation of the Faith $7,901 Catholic Charities Christmas Collections $14,298 Diocesan Retired Priests $7,983 Catholic Relief Services (Hurricane Matthew) $13,820 Total Diocesan Collections $549,199 Parish Directed Collections Little Sisters of the Poor $13,407 Our Lady of the Blue Ridge (Thanksgiving) $2,998 Total Parish Collections $16,405 Annual Fund $56,286 Total Parish Giving $809,120 The Annual Golf Open: The Golf Open takes place on October 16, 2017 at the Army Navy Country Club, and proceeds benefit the parish and school. Arts & Crafts Bazaar (November 4) and Boutique (December 2nd and 3rd) The Arts & Crafts events are community-wide fundraisers which take place at the Parish Hall. Come see our parishioners gifts and stock up on Christmas gifts! Advent Giving Tree: 450 Ornaments were taken from the Advent Giving Tree to benefit parish and diocesan families in need. The gifts went to diocesan missions such as the Gabriel Project, Migration & Refugee Services, St. Margaret of Cortona Transitional Services and Catholic Charities. St. Agnes School Auction: The School Auction is March 17, 2018 at the Knights of Columbus Hall. Thanksgiving & Lent Food collections: Aggressive campaigns were run to collect food for those in need at Thanksgiving and Lent to Benefit Our Lady of the Blue Ridge Parish. Baby Bottle & Diaper Drive: St. Agnes hosted a baby bottle and diaper drive for A Woman s Choice and their work to support the right to life and mothers and their babies. On the Horizon: Fundraisers All are welcome! See saintagnes.org for details on our full list of events. Serving the Community: Special Initiatives Infrastructure: Annual Fund donations were utilized to provide a much-needed new roof for the Parish Center and Rectory, support Youth Ministry efforts and scholarship funds for the Denise Ferguson Memorial Fund.

5 FY Financial Information

6 For it is in Giving That We Receive Offertory Giving - St. Francis of Assisi St. Agnes parishioners and visitors support our parish and its ministries by their weekly offertory contributions at Sunday Masses. We are also blessed to occasionally receive one-time gifts. However, the Sunday collections are our most important and vital source of income. When parishioners make offertory commitments in advance, this helps us to better plan our ministries. Therefore, during the Sunday Masses of October 14th-15th, Fr. Edlefsen will ask everyone to reflect on their offertory commitment for We are most grateful to everyone who gives of their time and talents. If you have not contributed to our weekly offertory in the past, we invite you to join your brothers and sisters at St. Agnes in doing so. A contribution of any size is helpful. If you are already contributing, please consider increasing your offertory support. If everyone increased their giving by a few dollars a week, this would make a big difference. The fiscal budget for reflects our commitment to our priorities: Liturgy and Faith Formation Reaching Out and Fostering a Welcoming Community Service to Others Infrastructure to Support Our Needs These charts may be helpful in planning your pledge: Suggested Giving Based Upon Income Suggested Giving Based on Percent Increase From Current Level Annual Income 5% Yearly Pledge Annually/Weekly 3% Yearly Pledge Annually/Weekly Your Current Contribution 25% Increase 30% Increase 40% Increase $100,000 $5,000/ $100 $3,000/ $60 $75,000 $3,750/ $75 $2,250/ $45 $60,000 $3,000/ $60 $1,800/ $36 $50,000 $2,500/ $50 $1,500/ $30 $40,000 $2,000/ $40 $1,200/ $24 $30,000 $1,500/ $30 $900/ $18 $25,000 $1,250/ $25 $750/ $15 $5 $6.25 $6.50 $7.00 $10 $12.50 $13.00 $14.00 $15 $18.75 $19.50 $21.00 $20 $25.00 $26.00 $28.00 $25 $31.25 $32.50 $35.00 $30 $37.50 $39.00 $42.00 $35 $43.75 $45.50 $49.00 $40 $50.00 $52.00 $56.00 $50 $62.50 $65.00 $70.00 $75 $93.75 $97.50 $ Finally, we encourage the use of Faith Direct for your weekly contribution to St. Agnes. Faith Direct is the most effective means of offertory giving, safely and securely ensuring that your offertory pledge is available to support St. Agnes all year round even when you re away. Go to saintagnes.org and select Online Giving, Faith Direct to enroll.