PARISH ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE ENEWS
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“A mark, a buck, a yen or a pound…
by Louis Fuertes, Canon for Mission Finance & Operations
…money makes the world go round!” It also comes in handy for making major improvements in parish buildings.
Parish financial discussions normally focus on the operating budget (will contributions and fund-raisers cover our payroll and pay the heating bill?), but every few years it is not uncommon for a major property management issue to pop up and call for financial resourcefulness. Parishes with sizable endowments have the option of self-financing the new roof, pipe organ refurbishment or parking lot repaving, but might understandably be reluctant to do so. Parishes without large endowments have no option but to start quickly exploring financing options.
ECCT offers parishes in good standing the option of borrowing up to $100,000 from our Revolving Loan Fund to finance capital improvements and major repairs. Applications and information on this program are available
here
. In a nutshell, loans must be repaid in 10 years, the current interest rate is 3.5% and applications for loan approval are reviewed on a Quarterly basis by ECCT’s Finance Committee with final approval from ECCT’s Bishops and Mission Council.
Another financing option is the Episcopal Church Building Fund. Since 2010, ECBF has been offering loans of up to $500,000 which can be repaid over a 15 year period. Information on the ECBF program can be found
here
, and current information on interest rates and approval process can be obtained by calling 708-738-9142 or emailing
info@ecbf.org
.
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For even larger borrowings, some banks in Connecticut make loans to parishes, typically with real estate as collateral, but sometimes with parishioner pledges as collateral. Be prepared to shop, because bank policies and lending appetites are as Changeable as New England weather. You’ll be wise to put together a leave-behind document explaining the nature of the building project, the financial profile of your parish and how much and for how long your parish is seeking financing.
Also be prepared to get plenty of coffee hour suggestions of the banks you should be talking to and the neighbor/brother-in-law/niece/friend from college who will be answer to your financing quest. You’re likely to come out of this odyssey with some amusing tales (given how boring they are supposed to be, banks and bankers can act in pretty weird ways), and you might even be able to line up some financing for your project.
One other thing you will definitely need to do is get approval from ECCT’s Bishops and Standing Committee for any loan that is secured by collateral (such as the real estate or parishioner pledges mentioned above). Secured loans represent “encumbrances” on parish assets, and all encumbrances must be approved by ECCT Bishops and Standing Committee (more information on gaining approval for encumbrances,
here
.
Good luck in your financing adventures! Dare we say “Happy Financing”?
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HR Matters
Kayla Tubolino, Human Resources
Employee relations can be a challenge to manage in any work setting.
ECCT Clergy are invited to join Kayla Tubolino, Human Resources Administrator for the Clergy Day on
June 7, 2018
at St. Mark’s Church, New Britain for a case study and conversation on how to handle many types of situations to avoid a lawsuit or Title IV case and to maintain a healthy work environment.
More information to come in the next issues of Clergy eNews.
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Bishops & Confirmands Dinner, April 26 at The Commons in Meriden
The Bishops will offer an opportunity for all who are preparing for Confirmation from a particular to meet with them and to talk about God's Mission and what it means to be a disciple of Jesus in the 21st Century.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact Bonni McKenney at 203-639-3501 (ext. 116), or email her at
bmckenney@episcopalct.org
.
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A note about Confirmations & Receptions:
Confirmation services are offered two ways. Either by Region confirmations, offered multiple times during the year, or, at any of the bishop’s visitations to a parish.
All confirmations must be followed by the submission of the
confirmation log which must be
printed and mailed
to ECCT for archival purposes.
To join a parish for a Region confirmation, please email or phone the contact person listed to see if there is space available for your confirmands. Once space is confirmed, please contact the
Office of the Episcopate
to register the number of confirmations and receptions for your parish. Bishops pre-signed confirmation/reception certificates are sent directly to participating parishes prior to the region confirmations from the Office of the Episcopate.
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ECCT’s Mission Council Has Approved New Reporting Requirements!
As of this writing, over 130 ECCT parishes appear to have completed their Parochial Report submissions (some parishes haven’t yet indicated that their Parochial Reports have not yet been approved by their Vestries). It’s a safe bet that most of these parishes have wrapped up this important reporting task*.
In addition, Tax Day is rapidly approaching, after which our accountant friends will need to take a week or two of recuperation time. By the beginning of May, smart Parish Administrators, Treasurers and Finance Committee members should pounce and start scheduling kick-off meetings for their annual audits or financial reviews. But what should it be? An audit or a financial review? Veteran parish finance gurus might give you the wrong answer, because things have changed as of last month!
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The canons of The Episcopal Church and ECCT both require parishes to submit reviews performed by outside accountants of their prior year’s financial results by September 1 every year. Since 2001, ECCT has required parishes with total revenues in excess of $500,000 to engage Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) to perform full audits of their balance sheets, income statements and financial risk management practices. Parishes with total revenues below $500,000 have been permitted to engage independent accountants to perform more limited (and less costly) reviews of their balance sheets and financial risk management practices.
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Cost of Living mavens will be quick to point out that $500,000 in 2001 would translate into an amount in excess of $700,000 in 2018 dollars. At its March 17 quarterly meeting, the Mission Council approved a recommendation from ECCT’s Finance Committee to increase the total revenue threshold for full audits from $500,000 to $750,000. Parishes reporting Total Revenues of more than $750,000 on “Line D” of their 2017 Parochial Reports will be required to submit full audits of their financial statements and risk management procedures, but parishes with total revenues below $750,000 will be permitted to submit financial reviews.
ECCT’s financial staff at the Commons is evaluating an expansion in the scope of both financial reviews and full audits that would address parishes’ Parochial Reporting practices. The evaluation under consideration would expand accountants’ process review questionnaire and summary of findings report, but is not expected to have a significant impact on the cost of reviews and audits. This possible expansion in scope is intended to increase the accuracy of Parochial Reporting of parish financial information. ECCT staff will update
audit and financial review requirements on our website
following feasibility and cost discussions with outside accountants.
* Parishes have until June 1 to make revisions to their 2017 Parochial Report submission.
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Insurance FAQ
Matt Handi has put together a list of frequently asked questions regarding all things insurance. Such as: who to call when initiating a property loss claim or who to contact when signing up a new employee for health insurance.
That list, along with all information regarding insurance can be found
here
.
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Celebration of New Ministry:
- April 12: Charles Hamill at Grace Church in Old Saybrook, 7:00 p.m.
Ordination to the Diaconate:
- April 28: Armando Ghinaglia, Dana Capasso Stivers, and Thom Peters at Christ Church Cathedral at 3:00 p.m.
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Industry Appraisals for 2018
Industrial Appraisals has started work on performing appraisals of all parish real estate and valuable contents. IA has started work throughout Connecticut and will continue to work through 2018 to ensure all parishes have been appraised by the end of the year.
The following parishes have had their appraisals completed:
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St. Paul, Plainfield; St. Paul, Bantam; St. Thomas, Bethel; Christ Church, Bethlehem; St. Stephen, Bloomfield; St. George, Bolton; St. John, Bristol; Grace, Broadbrook; Trinity, Brooklyn; Church of the Holy Advent, Clinton; St. Alban, Danielson; St. Paul, Darien; Church of the Epiphany, Durham; St. Gabriel, East Berlin; St. Stephen, East Haddam; St. John, Essex; St. James, Farmington; St. David, Gales Ferry; St. Martin, Hartford; Church of the Good Shepherd, Hartford; Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford; St. Monica, Hartford; Grace, Hartford; St. Peter, Hebron; The Middlesex Cluster Ministry, Higganum; St. James, Higganum; All Saints, Ivoryton; St. Andrew, Kent; Emmanuel, Killingworth; Camp Washington, Lakeside; Trinity, Lakeville; Trinity, Litchfield; St. Michael, Litchfield; Christ Church, Middle Haddam; Holy Trinity, Middletown; St. Mark, Mystic; St. James, New London; St. John, New Milford; St. John, Niantic; Christ Church, Norwich; All Saints,
Oakville; St. Ann, Old Lyme;
Grace, Old Saybrook; St. Mary's by the Sea, Old Saybrook; St. John, Pine Meadow; St. Paul, Plainfield;
Church of Our Savior, Plainville; St. James, Poquetanuck; Trinity, Portland; St. Philip, Putnam; St. Andrew the Apostle, Rocky Hill;
St. John, Salisbury; Christ Church, Sharon; Berg Home, Southport; Grace, Stafford Springs; Calvary, Stonington; St. Mark, Storrs; St. Peter - Trinity, Thomaston; Trinity, Torrington; Grace, Trumbull;
St. John, Vernon; St. John, Washington; St. Paul, Westbrook; Trinity, Wethersfield; St. Paul, Willimantic; St. Paul, Windham;
St. Paul, Woodbury; The Glebe House, Woodbury; Grace, Yantic
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Please contact
Matt Handi
at 203-639-3501, x107 with any questions
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Ongoing Parish/worshiping community surveys
Thank you to the 75 parishes that have completed their 2017 “summer project" from ECCT - the parish/worshiping community surveys. (And a reminder and advance thank you to those still working on them!)
ECCT published a special eNewsletter (link
here
to read) and mailed out print information packets about the survey over the summer. You can also read more
here
.
We believe the information will help by documenting the ministries that are active at ECCT parishes, and identifying parish leaders. This will help you and all of us participate more fully and more collaboratively in God's mission. We encourage other parishes to join this list so they, too, can gain access to the information from participating parishes!
If you have your login information, please click
HERE
to access the survey welcome page.
If you have any questions about completing the survey, please email or call our Operations Manager, Matt Handi, at 203-639-3501, ext. 107, or
mhandi@episcopalct.org
.
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Thank you to the following parishes and worshiping communities:
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Christ Church, Ansonia; St. Paul's, Bantam; Christ Church, Bethany; St. Thomas', Bethel; Old Saint Andrew's, Bloomfield; St. George's, Bolton; St. Mark's, Bridgewater; Grace, Broad Brook; St. Paul's, Brookfield; Trinity, Brooklyn; Trinity, Collinsville; St. James', Danbury; St. Alban's, Danielson; St. Luke's, Darien; Church of the Epiphany, Durham; St. Stephen's, East Haddam;
All Saints, East Hartford;
St. John's,
East Windsor;
Christ's Church, Easton; Holy Trinity, Enfield; St. John's, Essex;
St. Paul's,
Fairfield;
St. Timothy's, Fairfield; St. James', Farmington;
St. David's, Gales Ferry;
St. James', Glastonbury; Christ Church, Greenwich; Christ Church, Guilford; Trinity, Hartford; Church of the Good Shepherd, Hartford;
Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford;
Grace,
Hartford; St. Monica's,
Hartford;
St. Peter's, Hebron; St. James', Higganum; Emmanuel Church, Killingworth; St. Andrew's, Madison; St. Mary's, Manchester; St. Andrew's, Meriden; Christ Church, Middle Haddam; Church of the Holy Trinity, Middletown;
St. Peter's,
Monroe;
St. Mark's,
Mystic; St. Michael's,
Naugatuck; St. Mark's, New Britain;
St. Paul and St. James,
New Haven;
St. James', New London;
St. John's, New Milford; Trinity,
Newtown;
St. John's, North Haven; St. Paul's on the Green, Norwalk; Saint Ann's,
Old Lyme; Grace,
Old Saybrook;
Church of the Good Shepherd, Orange; St. James',
Poquetanuck; Trinity,
Portland; Christ Church, Redding; St. Stephen's,
Ridgefield; St. Paul's, Riverside; St. Andrew the Apostle, Rocky Hill; Christ Church,
Sharon; St. Alban's,
Simsbury;
St. Luke's, South Glastonbury;
St. Peter's,
South Windsor;
Church of the Epiphany, Southbury; St. Paul's, Southington;
Grace, Stafford Springs; St. Mark's Chapel,
Storrs; Trinity, Torrington; Christ Church, Trumbull; Trinity, Trumbull;
St. John's, Waterbury; Church of the Holy Spirit, West Haven; St. John's, West Hartford;
St. James's, West Hartford; Christ & Holy Trinity Church,
Westport; Trinity, Wethersfield;
Grace, Windsor; All Saints, Wolcott; Grace, Yantic
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Parish Directory
We have recently compiled a parish directory that now includes parish information received as part of the parish survey initiative. You will note there are now listings for multiple forms of contact, parish partnerships, and parish ministries. If your parish has completed the survey, you will now see such data listed in the updated directory. Please click
HERE
to take a look! We welcome your feedback and are happy to let you know how you can edit your parish information!
Please contact
Matt Handi
at 203-639-3501, x107 with any questions.
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Bishops' upcoming visitation schedule
April 15
- Ahrens: Emmauel, Killingworth; Douglas: St. John's, West Hartford
April 22
- Ahrens: St. John's, New Milford
April 29
- Ahrens: St. John's, Essex; Douglas: St. Paul's, Westbrook
May 6
- Ahrens: Grace, Stafford Spring; Douglas: St. Thomas, Bethel
May 13
- Ahrens: Christ Church, Tahsua; Douglas: Christ Church, Bethlehem
May 20
- Ahrens: Christ Church, Pomfret; Douglas: St. Stephen's, Bloomfield
June 3
- Ahrens: Trinity, Tariffville; Douglas: Christ & Holy Trinity, Westport
June 10
- Douglas: Christ Church, Greenwich
June 17
- Ahrens: All Saints, Meriden; Douglas: Grace/St. Peter's, Hamden
June 24
- Ahrens: Emmanuel, Weston
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Parish admins invited to join a listserve
Want to chat with colleagues about ACS vs PowerChurch? Offer tips on more successful mail merges? Get suggestions on names for a new campaign?
Alison Hollo
, Senior Administrator for the Office of the Episcopate, invites parish administrators to forward her their names and email addresses to be added to an ECCT listserve for parish admins.
As a member of Bishops' Executive Secretaries Together (B+E+S+T), Alison has participated in their listserve and wants to make the same opportunity available for parish admins in ECCT.
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2018 Treasurers' Newsletter can be found
here
:
Included: Clergy compensation, Insurance, Lay Pension, Church Records, Supply Clergy, Tax and other IRS information, and other management operations.
2017 Treasurers' Newsletter can be found
here
.
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The next issue of the Parish Admin & Finance eNewsletter will be published mid-June
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