Contact Us
281- 479 - 4298
Search
-
August 16, 2016
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As we celebrate our 51 st anniversary, Now it is time to renew the flame of our burning hearts to assure we continue the mission of Christ for all following generations. We must face the challenges and opportunities of the next 51 years with one unequivocal mission: Saint Hyacinth is a Catholic Community bearing witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are nourished by his sacraments, committed to the service of one another by living and teaching gospel values. Our journey in faith and love calls us to walk with others through service and prayer. We will continue the mission of Jesus Christ to bring about the kingdom of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit using the gifts of time, talent and treasure. And thus, through the example of our patron, St. Hyacinth, we will serve Christ and his Church.
On July 1, 2016 we began a new fiscal year at STHY as did all of the parishes in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. One of the chief responsibilities of a pastor is sound management of the Church’s temporal goods and prudent and balanced management of all financial responsibilities. I can report that we are in very good financial health at STHY. Yet we can all ways do better as a parish, due to the challenges we face here at St. Hyacinth.
Last year (FY 2015) due to the Pre- K (Day Care) program that left us with a shortfall of $40,000 and we began the new fiscal (FY2016) with this deficit. Yet, the Church bills are being paid, we are in good standing with all of our Archdiocesan obligations. The people of STHY are primarily responsible for that being the case. You continue to be generous stewards of God’s gifts to you and in turn we do our best to be good stewards of the gifts you share with the Church. I thank each of you for your continued sacrifice, week in and week out, to support the ministries and operations of our parish. Only with your support are we able to do the work of the Gospel. Thank you very much.
We watch it carefully just as you do your family budget. Just as cost of living expenses hit us at home so too do they impact our parish family. The staff does a great job throughout the year of being prudent with spending. Like you, they want to be good stewards.
The projected 2017 budget is drastically conservative in nature, with collections remaining basically flat for the year. However, the budget cannot account for all of the increase in the costs and expenses to take care of our 46 year old Church building and our 31 year old Guyot Hall building. The Church and parish hall infrastructures are aging and need major attention and repairs in the very near future. This is main reason and objective goal for our Building Faith, Family and Future capital campaign. I pray that you’re continued giving will exceed our forecast. As our parish and ministries continue to do the work commissioned by Christ, we must all continue to be good stewards of God’s gifts so we can effectively serve those who seek to encounter Christ at STHY.
I ask that you prayerfully consider your weekly giving to the parish, and if it has remained at a constant and consistent level the past few years, please consider increasing it.
However I do want to address the approximately 886 registered families here at STHY that we have no record of your giving to the Church. We do acknowledge that many are giving to the Church through the weekend collection; however, STHY needs you start using your envelopes or move toward electronic giving. In this way we can account for all those who are a part of the parish that are truly giving and it is an expense of the church for envelopes to be mailed to registered families. We currently spend close to $10K a year on offertory envelopes and if we could use our electronic giving, this would reduce the expense of mailed offertory envelopes dramatically.
Everyone’s gift of a weekly tithe in the offertory is a great act of Stewardship. And remember, you can do in two ways, through your parish envelopes that are mailed to you or electronically through www.faithdirect.net by entering parish code TX 526. It’s fast, easy and, yes, very secure, and a great way to support the work of your parish.
I want to share my sincere thanks to all of you for your generous financial stewardship toward STHY. Thanks as well to our dedicated Finance Council for their wise counsel and planning. I am especially grateful for Elena Rodriguez, our Bookkeeper and her detailed work on the budget.
The 2016-2017 stewardship Campaign will be starting soon and the theme this year is ‘Faith, Family and Future in Action’. As we begin our exciting campaign and continuing to work to build and renew our parish, it is important to keep our ministries at STHY strong and vital. Your generosity allows STHY to continue to transform lives. Thank You.
God Bless,
Fr. Reginald Samuels