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Offertory Challenge

Offertory Challenge - How You Can Help
- 1. Increase Your Offertory
  
  Offer God 1 or 2 hours of your weekly pay
  How much are you spending on your worst habit each week? Are you offering this much to God?
  Qualified Charitable Distribution - learn more . . .
  If you currently give $1 to $10 per week, consider increasing your offering to $10 to $20
  Add 10% to 30% to your current amount
- 2. Sign Up for Online Giving
  
  THE CHALLENGE: Sign up for Online Giving by clicking on this link:
  Sign Up Today!
  A huge benefit of online giving is the ability for you to set up steady support despite being away on vacations or other absences.
  Setting up scheduled giving allows you to be faithful and consistent in your generosity, and allows us to plan and budge consistently as a church.
  If you need assistance, we are happy to help! Please call the Parish Office today!
  781.944.0490
  
  This resource that explains How to Create a Recurring Gift.
- 3. Invitation to Mass
  
  Invite a neighbor or family member who left the church to come back
  Share with them the sense of community you receive when you attend mass
  Remind them it is the place where Jesus dwells among us in the Eucharist and where He pours His grace into our lives
  Following is a beautiful prayer with which each of us can hold up to the Lord people we know and love who have fallen away from a life of closeness to the Lord. No one is beyond the reach of God’s love and mercy:
  Eternal and merciful Father, I give you thanks for the gift of
  Your Divine Son, Jesus Christ, who offered His life
  on the Cross for all mankind.
  You gave Saint Monica a spirit of selfless love, manifested in her constant prayer for the conversion of her son, Augustine. Inspired by boundless confidence in Your power to move hearts, and by the success of her prayer, I ask for the grace to imitate her constancy in my prayer for (N.).
  In Your mercy and kindness, O Lord, grant that (he/she/they) may be open to the promptings of Your Holy Spirit to return to Your love and mercy, in the communion of Your Church. Grant also that my prayer be ever hopeful, and that my witness be ever joyful. And grant me, O Lord, the grace never to judge the motives of another person, for You alone can read what is in our hearts. I ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
  (Diocese of Bridgeport)
- Offertory Challenge
  
  October 7, 2024
  
  Dear Friends in Christ,
  
  It has been four months since I became your pastor at Christ the King parish. I have really enjoyed meeting with many of you, at Mass, at welcoming coffee, at the parish picnic, at Faith and Fellowship meetings, and in your homes.
  Our Parish Financial Council aided by our staff met in August and September to brief me on our financial health. These meetings and my prayers led to this letter sharing a brief overview of our parish finances, and what I see as the best path to address our financial well-being.
  Attached is a summary of Christ the King’s Income and Expenses (Operating and Capital) for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2024. Here are some important facts about this summary:
  In FY 2024 (Ended June 30, 2024) our Net Loss was $ 105,000 including capital expenditures.
  In FY 2024, our average monthly offertory was $65,694; which only covers 66% of our operating expenses
  In FY 2023 and 2024, we received many one-time unrestricted gifts from the estates of parishioners who had passed away. (Averaging an amazing $ 22,000 per month!) As a result, we experienced positive operating cash flow. By contrast, in the first four months of FY 25, we have received only $8,400 in gifts and bequests.
  Our diocesan fiscal year (FY 25) began July 1, 2024. Through September 25^th, we have accrued a $52,000 operating deficit.
  If this trend continues, we will need to dip into capital savings to fund operations.
  Attendance at daily and weekend Masses has modestly increased over last year’s numbers, but our offertory income has decreased.
  The Boston Metro inflation rate from 2018 to 2024 was 22%.
  2018 was the last time we asked for an offertory increase in either church.
  It’s clear that we need to increase our collections so that they cover at least 90% of the operating expenses of the Parish (they are currently projected to only cover 66%). To meet that goal, we need to increase our collections by $292,000 for the fiscal year or roughly $24,000 per month.
  The Parish Finance Committee asks that all parishioners give serious consideration to joining the nearly 50% of our parishioners using Online Offertory Giving. Our Parish expenses are with us 52 weeks of the year. When you go away Parish income goes down while expenses remain the same. Finance Committee members will discuss why they recommend online giving and how easy it is to sign up.
  A second matter they will discuss with you are ways to evaluate your offertory contribution. While in the end, you must prayerfully discern what you can afford to support your parish, some find various analogies, formulas and examples helpful.
  Nobody likes to talk about money, especially a new pastor. Inflation is hitting our parish family as hard as it is hitting your individual family. Christ the King is our Church, and I want you to know where we stand on paying our bills. Just as no family would withdraw from the children’s college or retirement savings to pay the electric bill, we cannot sustain operating losses on an ongoing basis.
  I am encouraged by the vibrant activities engaging our parishioners including Faith and Fellowship Groups, Men’s and Women’s Groups, Faith Formation, Music Ministry, Saturday Night Socials, Welcoming Sunday, Altar Serving, Lectoring, Eucharistic Ministry, and our Sanctity of Life Committee. We are also launching a Monthly Youth Mass, service opportunities for our youth, a Young Adult Group, and a renewed effort for Eucharistic ministry at Winchester Hospital. I am truly moved by and grateful for the way our parishioners continue to step up and support the church and one another. Christ the King Parish is our spiritual home where Jesus dwells among us in the Eucharist and where He pours His grace into our lives. Let’s continue to pray for one another and for our parish, that we may be a witness of faith, hope and the love of Christ to Reading and beyond.
  
  May God bless you and your loved ones.
  
  Fr. Bobby LeBlanc, Pastor
- God, we acknowledge that
  everything we have comes from you.
  Help us give generously and cheerfully, knowing you will multiply what we offer.
  
  May these offerings be
  a blessing to others,
  and may they glorify your name.
  Amen.
- FY2024 Income and Expenses Summary
  
  FY2024 Net Loss
  ($104,588)
  
  Total Income
  $1,280,821
  
  Total Expenses
  $1,385,409
  Our offertory collections covered only 2/3 of the monthly expenses
  So far, this trend is continuing for our current fiscal year
  We need your financial help
  Christ the King’s Income and Expenses (Operating and Capital) for the FY2024 fiscal year ended on June 30, 2024 are summarized below.

	FY2024 Net Loss		($104,588)
	Total Income		$1,280,821
	Total Expenses		$1,385,409