Mike Sutila, Treasurer

It is always a pleasure to share good news about the church's finances and that is certainly the case today.  While there were some cause for concern at times, St. Mary of the Harbor concluded 2019 on a solid financial footing.  This was due in no small part to two unexpected financial gifts from parishioners totaling $30k and an outstanding combined Easter and Christmas collection of more than $26k. Together, these helped offset a $16k drop in pledge and plate income and an $8k combined drop in revenues from the previous year's Art & Spirit Auction and  Summer Fair.  As a result of parishioner's giving, St. Mary of the Harbor was able to contribute a record $33,582 to Outreach, $7070 over our 10% standard of giving. For 2019, the church's Outreach was 12.7% of $265,122 in total revenues.  St. Mary's also ended the year with a strong Balance Sheet reflecting cash and investments totaling $723k.

Going forward into 2020, we have so far received 61 pledges totaling $125k compared to last year's 66 pledges totaling $137k.  Sunday collections are historically lower during the winter months when so many of our parishioners are away and the first three weeks of January bear that out.  That means we will closely monitor both the church's cash reserves and its expenses.  

As always, we encourage either prepayment when possible or to contribute on a regular schedule so that we can plan accordingly. If you haven't made your pledge, it is not too late.  To request a pledge form, contact the church office at 508-487-2622 or email us at [email protected] or contact me personally at [email protected].

Thank you for your generosity.  With your help, we can continue the church's ongoing ministry of love.

Wind Damage 

Some of the church's shingles were ripped from the roof during recent gale force winds.  Weeks ago, the rectory incurred wind damage. Repairs have been scheduled to repair the damage to both.

Water bubbling up from the ground is never a good sign, something we discovered near the back entrance to the rectory.  Provincetown's DPW was immediately notified and within minutes a team arrived to shut off the water supply.  Although it was a holiday, Cape Cod Excavating showed up shortly afterward.  After digging through several feet of sand, they found a small hole in the water supply line.  A temporary line was subsequently installed and we have since scheduled the installation of a new permanent waterline.

Rectory Task Force 2.0 Update

After receiving the first Rectory Task Force's report outlining available options, the Vestry commissioned a second RTF to gather additional detailed information in order to make a more informed decision regarding the rectory's future use.  The first RTF reported three options for the parish to consider: 1) continue as we have done in the past and make repairs and improvements on a piecemeal basis, 2) renovate the property as a single occupancy property or renovate the property by creating two separate housing units, or 3) sell the rectory.  As detailed in RTF 1.0's report, each option comes with its own set of challenges.

With the receipt of this report, the vestry then commissioned a second RTF lead by Deidre Malloy, Gerri Spinella, Bruce Cagwin and Mark Weinress to followup on the first two options. RTF 2.0 was specifically tasked with gathering information from professionals who would 1) evaluate the structural integrity of building 2) identify deficiencies and obtain recommendations to correct them, 3) develop draft architectural plans as a single use property and also as a dual unit property and 4) obtain ballpark costs for the work from independent contractors.

Deidre Malloy engaged Boston architect Bill Winder who graciously provided us with a set of draft plans at no cost to the church.  An engineer was subsequently engaged to perform an onsite review of the rectory's structural condition and his report has since been given to two contractors with project experience on the Outer Cape. Both contractors have since made site visits to look at the property.  At this point, we are waiting on their preliminary estimates. Once we have these in hand, they will be forwarded to the vestry for their rev iew and a detailed followup report will be made available to the parish.

Vestry Actions October through  December  2019:

• Designated 10% of recent Howe bequest to go to the Homeless Prevention Council of Cape Cod
• Appointed Julia Perry and Mary Jo Avellar as co-chairs for the Winter Lunch Program
• Authorized distribution of $2000 to Baobab Children's Home & the Steven Tito School 
• Designated 2019 Thanksgiving offering to go to Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod
• Designated 2019 Christmas offering to pay for a new church computer, to fund upgrades to the church and parish hall audio system and for a new altar frontal and matching vestments
• Authorized salary adjustments for staff and the rector

Minutes of vestry meetings and monthly church financials are available in the church office for parishioners to review.  

 

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