AN OPEN LETTER TO PARISHIONERS OF TRINITY EPISCOPAL CATHEDRAL
From Bam Gressette, Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Vestry
The Finance Committee has undergone the most difficult budgeting process in which I have
ever participated over 2 vestry terms and 6 years on the Finance Committee. After reviewing
the pledge payments from 2007 and the 2008 annual pledges, the Finance Committee
proposed and the vestry approved a significant across-the-board budget cut versus the initial
2008 spending plan.
The cuts are primarily the result of two factors:
1.) The total of 2007 pledges that have not been paid is more than $100,000. (Use
actual)
2.) We have not received pledges for 2008 from over 100 pledging units that
pledged last year.
Because we have received significantly less income than was pledged last year, and we have
not received the usual number of pledges for 2008, the Finance Committee had no choice
but to make some serious cuts in the budget. If you have an outstanding balance on your
2007 pledge, please make every effort to complete your pledge as soon as possible, preferably
by May 30th. Statements reflecting 2007 balances were recently mailed to those with
an outstanding balance. Even if you cannot fully complete the pledge immediately, please
let us know if we can count on receiving the balance over the course of 2008.
Many of us find it uncomfortable to discuss money in a church setting, and ideally we
should not have to. I generally feel this way. However, the reality is that if we want to have
first class programs, worship, facilities, music, mission, clergy, etc., it takes money. Just
like every family has to pay its bills, the church has to pay utilities, insurance, salaries, and
so forth. To take our experience at Trinity to an even higher level (such as enhancing our
outstanding and growing youth programs), it will take even more money. We need your
pledge.
It also means paying what you pledge on a timely basis, and sending your pledge card
in PROMPTLY so the Finance Committee knows the approximate amount of funds from
which we can budget. We would love to be able to expand the programs and mission work,
but to do that, we need prompt pledges and payments. Many parishioners wait until yearend
to make the bulk of their pledge, which further strains the budget. However, if you are
able to pay throughout the year, doing so would significantly help the Cathedral’s cash flow
which could further enhance the overall programming for the church. We are grateful to
those of you that pledge and pay promptly, and we are equally grateful that so many have
already made pledges to the Restoration Project.
While this letter does not apply to most parishioners, I feel that it is necessary to let everyone
know our current financial situation and the cumulative effect everyone’s pledge
and the payment thereof has on our church. The Finance Committee thanks you for your
support.
Respectfully Submitted,
L. M. Gressette III
Chairman, Finance Committee
Hat/tip: David Bailey
Comments:
I have no sympathy for L. M. Gressette III, Chairman, Finance Committee. He would love to expand the programs, love to expand the missions, love to have first-class facilities - and he could probably do it all, too, if he and his overlords would do one thing: cut off the gravy train to 815. Should be a simple call for a Christian, really; 815 isn’t doing anything for his diocese, anyway, and what comes along with it are witchcraft books and pagan liturgies being retailed on the national website, enablement of the National Unitarian Tour of the Presiding Officer, etc.
But no.
All that stuff L. M. Gressette III, Chairman, Finance Committee, would love to have gets priority number 2 - right after 815. And so it seems, as in the case of the larger Anglican Communion, the decision has been made by certain parties, even though their howls of rage are directed at everybody else but themselves.