Dear Brothers and Sisters of Our Lady of Mount Carmel,
The Finance Committee of our parish and I are pleased to present the financial report for the fiscal year July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018. You will see that we have recorded a small operating loss of $36,394 versus a profit from the prior year of $66,028. Compared to last year, operating revenues were lower by $20,494 and operating expenses were higher by $81,929, which was mainly attributed to the cost of repairing the south parking lot at a cost of $62,368.
Our endowment, which is largely invested in a balanced portfolio of ETF funds generated a positive total return of approximately $198,000. The endowment resulted from parishioner gifts and bequests over the years and is drawn upon when needed. We also received a very generous “restricted use gift” from the Chynn Family Foundation to support two specific school related projects over the next 20+ years.
Additionally, some other parishioners have been very generous by providing “restricted use” donations that have been used solely for the specific purpose intended (e.g., church grounds repairs). The “restricted use” funds are not used to pay the Archdiocesan assessment or the routine operating expenses of the parish and are not subject to the annual Archdiocesan assessment. In recent years, a few parishioners have made generous donations of securities (e.g., stocks) as part of their year-end tax planning. Please speak with me should you wish to make similar forms of contributions before year-end.
Unfortunately, the sexual abuse crisis continues to impact the entire Church. Caring for victims, removing the credibly accused, and defining a new path forward must be a priority. Locally, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, we need to acknowledge that the impact of the ongoing crisis includes a decline in attendance, resulting in lower Sunday collections. However, you must know that our church is alive and well. The transition from Peter Coll to Andrea Covais in music ministry has been very positive. Additionally, thirty of us spent a week on medical mission in Peru, funded largely from contributions from our parish. It was the proudest thing I have been associated with since coming here as your pastor four years ago.
Therefore, we keep the faith. We face our challenges and we keep on going. We are the Church family of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Tenafly. We thank you for walking with us and for being one of us.
Sincerely yours in Christ and Our Lady of Mount Carmel,
Fr. Dan writing for the Finance Committee:
David Oaten, Tom Izzard, Chip Clingham, Daniel Lee, Phil Reicherz, and Ken Kaufmann