Parish Finance Report for 2022

Published on November 9, 2023

PARISH OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST, BLACKROCK.

FINANCE REPORT 2022

PARISH FUNDS

  • Firstly, thank you all so much for your continued support of the Parish. Our Income from contributions and donations continues to decline due to the changing demographics of our Parish.
  • Our Expenses increased significantly in 2022 mostly due to the carrying out of building and maintenance projects that had been deferred during the COVID restrictions. Increased electricity and gas costs and a changed staff structure were also factors.
  •  The Parish continues to run an annual deficit of expenses over regular income. The deficit in 2022 was EUR -143,000.
  • The Parish is fortunate to have cash reserves from the sale of the presbytery at 23 Barclay Court, in 2021 , which is for the time being funding the ongoing deficit.

DIOCESAN COLLECTIONS

  • The First and Second Collections at Sunday Mass, and Christmas, Easter and Summer Dues, continue to be very well supported, thank you.
  •  All Dues, along with the First Collection, are used to maintain the priests of the Diocese, including those of our own Parish.

PROJECTS

  • We undertook to provide public access to toilet facilities in the Church. This work began in late 2022 and was completed in early 2023.
  • The wooden entrance doors to the Church required significant repair and repainting, having been closed and exposed to the elements for long periods during the Covid restrictions of 2020 and 2021.
  • Other painting projects were undertaken during 2022, including parts of the interior of the Parish Centre, and the Church porches.

APPEAL

  • The ongoing deficit is not sustainable and to address this, we will be introducing the following measures over the coming months:
  • We will be re-introducing the Outdoor Collection for the Parish Maintenance Fund, for the maintenance of our buildings.
  • We are investigating the introduction of another tap machine at the back of the Church, whose proceeds would go directly to the Parish. By way of reminder, the proceeds from the existing tap machine at the back of the Church as well as the two Sunday basket collections go to the Diocese and not to the Parish.
  • We will include an envelope with the Christmas and Easter Dues for donations to the Parish. The Christmas and Easter Dues also go to the Diocese and not to the Parish. We are providing Standing Order Forms at the back of the Church (and attached to the 2022 Accounts) for those who would like to commit to a regular donation to the Parish Support Fund.

We would urge parishioners to support these measures as much as possible.

The Financial Accounts can be views by clicking on the Link below:

2022 Accounts