Thank you to everyone who came to our “Conversations with Father Aaron on Music.”  I have a lot to think about and  am grateful for the input. Remember, we also have an open forum for all sorts of questions — Bible, theology, church life, whatever — on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023, at 7 p.m. at the Father Keaney Center on the IHM campus.

Today we’ve published a report on the state of parish finances. Questions about finances are always welcome! Send them to me ([email protected]) or to business manager Jim Boeger ([email protected]), or bring them to anyone on Finance Council. Below, I’m answering some questions I’ve received about finances. 

How many staff members were let go at IHM or SJB on August 1? Why was the staff at SSP affected the most by the changes on August1?

Initially I hoped to keep all staff members at all three parishes for at least the first year of the parish. There would be plenty of work to do, I had enjoyed meeting them and getting to know their gifts, and it would be great to have their knowledge of our community to help guide us. In June, I learned that the combined SSP parish finances would show a large deficit for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2023. After consultation with the SSP Finance Council, I decided I could not responsibly wait a year to reduce our personnel costs. That meant I faced difficult decisions about staffing.

I decided that a balanced staff with about equal numbers of staff coming from SJB, SSP, and IHM to the new combined SSP parish staff would best serve the parish. IHM had 2 full-time (FT) staff members, and 2 part-time (PT) staff members. SJB also had 2 FT staff and 2 PT staff. SSP had 5 FT staff and 2 PT staff. Additionally, SSP had a school, and its school principal would be an important figure in the leadership of the combined parish. My decision to seek a balanced staff meant that most of our reduction in staffing would come from staff members of SSP. I chose a plan with 4 manager-type staff members: 2 from SSP (our school principal and our communication manager), 1 from IHM (our ministry manager), and 1 from SJB (our business manager). I chose a plan with 3 support-type staff members: 2 from IHM (our interim worship leader and our executive assistant) and 1 from SJB (our administrative assistant). I chose a plan with 4 people on our maintenance team: 2 from SSP, 1 from SJB, 1 from IHM.

I am grateful for everyone we have on staff. They serve our community from their hearts, and I benefit from their wisdom. We lost some good staff members in the transition. It was not financially possible to keep them.

How are we using the buildings on our three campuses?

We use SJB, IHM, and SSP churches for Mass and worship. We use the meeting spaces at all three campuses for our parish organizations and ministries. We have some community groups using the meeting spaces (neighborhood associations, 12-step groups, regional or Archdiocesan faith groups). SSP School uses the SSP school building, and the South City PSR uses the elementary school building at SJB. We would love to find a tenant to rent the IHM school building. If you know someone who might be interested, direct them to business manager Jim Boeger. The Billikin Teacher Corps rents the convent building at SJB. St. Francis Community Services, Forai, IHELP, and IFCLA all rent space the high school building at SJB. Msgr. Bommarito lives at the IHM rectory, I live at the SJB rectory, and we use the SSP rectory for staff offices.

Please keep praying for all of us! God bless you!