Dear Beloved Community,
As we begin 2023, Mary Magdalene Apostle Catholic Community finds itself at a crossroads that is both exciting and challenging. The challenges are both pastoral and financial. On the one hand, we have the need and the opportunity to seek out and bring aboard a new pastor or team to continue and to enhance the ways in which the prophetic, liturgical, and pastoral care needs of the community are met. On the other hand, we face unprecedented financial challenges which are likely to place constraints both on what we are able to offer a new pastor in terms of compensation as well as on the other ministries that our community cherishes, such as education, social justice, and community giving.
Please consider a few crucial facts regarding our financial situation. For a variety of reasons, including the aging, illness, or departure of a number of our members, and the continued impact of the pandemic on our ability to stage fundraising events, the total amount of income for MMACC has been in decline since 2019. Whereas our income in 2019 was about $183,000, it dropped to $165,000 in 2020, rose slightly to $172,000 in 2021, but declined again significantly in 2022 to about $151,000. Meanwhile, our costs have risen steadily, primarily driven by payroll, which amounted to $142,000 in 2022. Our rent increased in 2022 to $10,800, insurance went up to about $2,000, and we have several other major fixed costs for things like music and Zoom licenses, our website, etc., which account for several thousand more dollars. Obviously, these items already exceeded the total income amount, so despite strong efforts to be as economical as possible about everything else, it was necessary to utilize $10,000 from our reserve account in order to meet all expenses for 2022. In summary, our total outlays for 2022 were $167,000 versus $151,000 in total income, so our
annual deficit was almost $16,000.
Clearly, if these trends continue, it is not sustainable. Therefore, the Community Leadership Council (CLC) is looking to this year’s Pledge Drive to provide us with critical information to help us to make wise and realistic decisions regarding the use of our resources as we move forward. We are asking that every individual or family that is a member of MMACC submit a pledge form this year and that you be as generous as your means and commitment to our community permit. From this, we hope to gain a clear picture of the resources we will have to work with this year. This will be enormously helpful as we make hiring decisions, such as whether we can really afford a full time pastor, and whether we can also hire a critically-needed technical person to manage and improve our Zoom liturgies, as well as setting other priorities, such as how much we can dedicate to community giving, etc.
In Service and Appreciation, the MMACC Community Leadership Council
Jen Bonakdar Nancy Corran Roger Hassett Mike Martin
Paul Prine Colleen Sharp Carol Spong
If you have any questions about the information above or about the Pledge Form, please do not hesitate to contact
CFO Mike Martin at (586) 295-1629 or mrmartin0619@gmail.com.