Welcome back to our Sunday and Greek school students and their teachers, along with any other ministries that take a summer hiatus! We look forward to a wonderful year, with increased participation in our programs; both current and those coming in the future.
Following is a recap of the August Parish Council meeting:
The treasurer (Antigoni) reported that we are currently ahead of our budgeted amounts for stewardship ‘other’ and hall rentals. Additionally, our expenses are below budget by $18K! To further explain, stewardship ‘other’ consists of anonymous stewardship donations, donations given to the church from visiting guests and donations received with no direction to a restricted fund or specific item. The parish is currently below budget for fund-raisers, stewardship and rental income from the school. Planning the 2023 budget, we budgeted for no school income for 6 months. It was August before we saw our first rent payment. Those two months without rent, along with the negotiated half payment of rent for the first months of the new lease account for that shortfall. As we continue to develop financial stability, we will use funds from the EIDL loan (I referenced in the letter to parishioners about the roof repairs and maintenance) to cover that shortfall; while we plan fund-raisers and continue to build our stewardship ministry.
Continuing that note, I’d like to remind you about our request for donations to the ‘roof repair fund.’ The first bid accepted was to complete maintenance on the flat roof sections of the community center and the church itself. These repairs are not optional and are being completed today (9/19)! If you can donate, please write ‘roof’ anywhere on your check or credit card receipt and those funds will go directly to the restricted account we have in place for those repairs. Your assistance is appreciated.
The red (no parking) curbs outside the church and community center were re-painted per a directive from the State Fire Marshall.
Stewardship statements were sent to parishioners in July (donations through June 30). This has (and will continue) to generate phone calls to rectify any errors in recording donations or allow us to discover those parishioners that failed to complete a 2023 stewardship form. The statements also tend to generate donations as parishioners realize they haven’t donated as much as they thought they had so far this year. Please continue to stay current with your donations as it’s much easier to plan financially when the cash flow to the parish comes in with a regular frequency, rather than everything coming in at year-end. Your budgeted donations assist the treasurer with a consistent cash flow, while also allowing a more regular payment schedule for you.
Bids are still being gathered for improving the security of our campus. As reported previously, we secured a grant from the federal government that allows us to improve our security (walls, fences, doors, lighting, etc) and have the costs paid with the funds from the grant. This is a blessing that Jeremy Gonzales and Dr Nick Kouchis have worked hard to attain for us. Jeremy applied for the grant and Dr Nick has been instrumental in getting the bids and working with the local government liaison to fulfill the project. Dr Nick has supplied a short summary of the work planned and a map to show where our new walls and fencing are to be added. I will add that to the end of this message.
News and dates:
Our Taverna Night fund-raiser has been changed from October 21 to November 4. It will be a one-day event similar to the last one.
General Assembly – November 5
St Katherine Feast Day – November 24 – Philoptochos and the PC will host a reception following Great Vespers that night. It is a service typically well-attended by our parish and many local Orthodox also attend, to celebrate our feast day with us. More details to follow on help they may need.
Stewardship month is November and Stewardship Sunday will be December 10.
A Ladies brunch is being planned for February 3, 2024 with all proceeds going to All Saints Camp. A committee of representatives from each parish convened to discuss our local camp and how important it is to nurture that ministry for our children in the Phoenix area. Father Timothy and I were in attendance representing St Katherine. Some members of our youth attended the camp this past summer and many of you have heard their stories of what it meant to them. A Board of Directors is being formed to assist the volunteers in their efforts to raise awareness of the camp, help raise funds and organize all facets of the camp. It is my hope we can add a line-item to our budget next year to assist all interested youth in our parish to attend the camp at a reduced cost to their families.
I continually say, many changes are coming. And they are! God bless you for your continued support of St Katherine and your patience while we work to implement maintenance projects, build ministries, and continue to establish and maintain the financial security of the parish.
John Chrisagis – Parish Council President
FEMA Grant Update – Four projects have been approved with a $150,000 reimbursable grant to improve the security for our St. Katherine Church campus. The projects will begin in September and will be completed by December 2023.
- Doors- Replace 9 doors in the Community Center (6 parking lot entry doors & 3 kitchen doors) and 2 entry doors in the Education Center for more secure and emergency standards.
- Lighting- Replace and add parking, pole, flood, (82) and exterior (23) lights with LED.
- Fence/Wall- Extend the block wall along the west to the north up to Comstock Dr (green line) and east along Comstock Dr (blue line). Add block base with ornamental iron fence and gates along Comstock Dr (blue line), our north border, and along the north entrance drive bordering the 4th Acre side and back yards (orange line). See photo-
- Surveillance system/cameras- Replace existing cameras in the Church and Community Center and add additional cameras and alarm sensors.
AND WHILE MENTIONING WALLS AND CONSTRUCTION – ONE FINAL THING:
On Saturday morning (9/23) Lee Bowen and I will be working along that blue line on the map (on Comstock) removing the bushes and shrubs growing in (and through) the chain-link fence. The contractor will remove the fence, but not the bushes. To save money, we started the process on the Monday of the Labor Day weekend and got about halfway finished. This time, we’ll finish the job. And with some assistance, we might be able to finish sooner and not be dragging by quitting time. We’ll meet @ 7am and get started. BRING WATER!!! Come out and sweat a little bit! 😊
Caution: I would wear a long-sleeved shirt if you can join us. Those branches tend to scratch and scrape arms!
jnc
