The following letter was mailed to all registered parishioners on or about November 17, 2011. If you have not received a postal delivery of this letter, please contact June Methe at (912) 756-3343 to make sure your address information is correct in our parish records.
Dear St. Anne Parishioner,
I want to take an opportunity to review the progress we made this year as we build our community of faith. It has been an outstanding year in many regards, and I want to share with you our achievements and challenges, but most importantly to thank you for being part of our parish family.
Since the beginning of this year we have worked to achieve our dream of a new church, and we have accomplished several important goals to bring that dream to reality. We have recently completed the detail design for the new building, and thanks to the generosity of many parishioners, the work for this important milestone has been paid in full. This achievement is particularly significant because it positions us to start the construction phases as we raise sufficient capital to proceed.
Another important objective this year was to pay down our existing building loan balance which, thanks to your donations to the offertory, and the good work of our Auction Committee, was reduced by $103,000. The financial controls in place for the day-to-day administration of our parish expenses have also contributed to improve our financial outlook.
Since January our parish has grown by more than 90 families, which we warmly welcome. To accommodate this growth in attendance, I have moved our Sunday 8:30 Mass from the Sanctuary to Holy Family Hall. Consistent with the growth in the number of families, our religious education program enrollment has also increased to 414 students (includes pre-kindergarten through confirmation). Considering the growth of our education program, we are truly fortunate to have Sister Mary Ann Fazakerley join our administrative staff as a Pastoral Assistant.
Recent Bryan County census data estimate that our Bryan County population will grow by 28 percent to nearly 40,000 between 2010 and 2015. We can expect that Richmond Hill will experience a significant share of that growth, and it is reasonable to expect that our parish family will also continue to grow consistent with county projections. These growth projections are a blessing, and a challenge. Fortunately for St. Anne Church, we have a parish family that has always accepted the challenge, and personal responsibility for stewardship of our community of faith.
We are now planning the next phase of our building project for the new year with the expectation that with God's grace, and your continued support, we will continue to achieve our goals. Although economic uncertainty may test our resolve, our faith and the commitment to building our new church will guide us to our success.
With the approach of year end, I have included a calendar for Advent and the Holiday Season. I have also included a prayer card designed by Anthony J. Fisher, one of our many talented parishioners. Please pray often so that we may achieve our dream of completing the construction of our new St. Anne Catholic Church.
God Bless you and your family.
In Christ,
Rev. Joseph Smith
Pastor
St. Anne Email Newsletter March 18, 2011
Letter Mailed to all Registered Parishioners:
Father Joe mailed a letter this week to all registered parishioners regarding the status of our important building plan initiatives. The letter provides an overview of the work done since the start of the new year:
meeting with our architects and engineers to review structural, electric, plumbing, and air conditioning designs for the new building
clearing the building site adjacent to Holy Family Hall to conduct soil quality testing
requesting revisions of interior drawings depicting the addition of a balcony for our choir and our new organ.
We respectfully request that all parishioners read the letter so that everyone is informed on this very important project at St. Anne's.
Building Fund Status:
Our building fund donations now exceed one hundred thousand dollars. This is a substantial amount of money, but still considerably short of our goal of $250,000 needed to pay for the expenses anticipated through the end of this calendar year. Again, we prayerfully request that if you have not made a building fund donation, please do so. A gift of $500 from each registered family in our parish would pay for this phase of the project. If you can make a larger donation, please do it in consideration of those less able to contribute at this time.
Collections Reporting: Each week in the bulletin, we report three important figures under the heading, "Weekly Collections". Weekly Offertory: The outstanding building loan balance is the residual The goal for the weekly budget is based on the budgeted parish operational expenses set by the Parish Finance Committee, then reviewed and approved by the Parish Council and Father Joe. St. Anne is totally dependent on the generosity of our parishioners to support the budgeted operational expenses. Your weekly contributions are vital to meeting our approved financial obligations. Outstanding Building Loan Balance: The outstanding building loan balance is the residual of a nearly $1,500,000 debt that resulted from the building of Holy Family Hall (opened in 2004) and the acquisition of 18 acres of land (south of Francis Meeks Way and adjoining Holy Family Hall). Our new parking lot, playground, and access road to Francis Meeks Way were built on this land, and this is where our new church will one day be built.
All of these improvements are included in the balance of the bank note. The remaining balance due for this note is approximately $305,000. Every month we try to pay the $7,500 note to the bank out of the weekly/monthly parish offertory. In past years, the proceeds of the annual parish auction have also gone to reduce that debt?last summer?s auction netted $38,000 and was used to lessen the debt. Building Fund Balance: The building fund is newly established to pay for the expenses anticipated through the end of this calendar year to complete the detail design stage of the new building project. This is an essential stage which must be completed before construction can begin, and requires an extensive amount of work. Included in this effort are soil testing, designs for plumbing, air conditioning, sound system, and review/approvals from local government agencies. Thanks to your generous donations we have exceeded $101,000 of our goal to reach the $250,000 needed to pay for this work.
Make a Donation:
Please send a check by mail, stop by our parish office, or contribute using Paypal. Please note on the check that the donation is for the building fund.
St. Anne Building Update December 6, 2010
With Bishop Boland's permission, the parish is being encouranged to move on with our plans toward building a new church for St. Anne's. The next stage necessary, which must be completed before we move any further, will be to contract with the architects. They will coordinate the surveying, the soil borings, and testing, the contacting of the engineering specialties involved with such a project, completing in detail the specific design and materials for inside of the church, and finally the architects contracting for a cost study of what the total project should cost using today's prices. This is an essential stage, it is an extensive amount of work, and without it we can go no further with the project.
To accomplish this stage in our building program, as the pastor of St. Anne's I will be asking for your monetary assistance with the project. I myself am making my personnal 1st donation of $500.00 to the parish for this sole purpose, many other parishioners are also choosing to do the same at this time for tax purposes (before December 31, 2010). However, our 1st stage gift program will not officially begin until February of 2011. I need to make it clear that this is a 1st stage of a two stage gift program!
I clearly understand Christmas is at hand, and that any financial outlays require both planning and consideration on the part of each parishioner and their family. For me, living on a priest's income I must do the same, however, I have chosen to give early. As pastor, I have to always be planning for our future, and I do believe that we must move forward to meet the needs of the parish. I am announcing this effort before the end of the year to both take advantage of end of the year giving efforts and at the same time allowing our parishioners time to plan themselves.
I know you will have questions regarding the amount being requested, what the 2nd stage of the gift giving program will involve, and the future plans for the building programs. Over the next few weeks more extensive information will be published in the bulletin regarding these ongoing plans. Please also know that I am available to discuss these programs with you personally.
May God bless us as we move further towards our goal in the building of a new church at St. Anne's.
