St Charles Borromeo 2023 Annual Report

 

Dear Parishioners,

I am happy to offer you this annual report, an extraordinary report on where we have been and where we are going as a parish. This moment–especially considering we are preparing for the redevelopment of our parish site–offers a unique challenge and opportunity for personal and parish renewal.




You will find that this report contains the following important information:

 

I hope you will read this attentively, since it is a timely focus on our mission to proclaim, to celebrate and to live the Gospel in the heart

of Arlington. I remain,

Your servant in Christ,

 

Rev. Donald J. Planty, Jr. , Pastor

Click here. for PDF version of the report.

 

parish redevelopment

where our project stands

  • We continue to plan for the complete redevelopment of our parish:  we will maximize the extraordinary value of our urban location and build an inspiring new church as well as a parish center with a variety of gathering spaces, with offices, and with a rectory–all on the eastern part of our site; we will place all parking underground; and, we will lease the remaining portion of the land to a development partner to help finance our project.  While we anticipate that most of our costs will be met by the proceeds from a long-term lease with our development partner, still, parishioners will be asked to contribute to our effort through a capital campaign focusing on beautiful memorial gifts.

     

  • While the past year’s economic environment created some unexpected challenges, we continue fruitful negotiations with our development partner, and collaborative planning with diocesan staff, attorneys, architects, engineers, brokers, and other contractors.  I hope to offer you a more comprehensive presentation on our project soon in the new year.

     

  • Our project represents a challenge–but also an opportunity for personal and parish renewal.  Everyone in the parish, individually and together, has a stake in our redevelopment and will be involved.  We are blessed to have the chance to build an inspiring work of art to give glory to God and to be a sign of his Church’s presence in the heart of Arlington–the most visible church in Northern Virginia–and to build a new parish center that will support our apostolate to bring the Good News to the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor.  As we enter this time of great transition, it is crucial that we all work together to further our parish’s mission.

 
 

ministry highlights

how we accomplish our mission

Our vibrant parish continues to proclaim, to celebrate, and to live the Good News of Jesus and his Church–but much remains to be done. Below is a summary of the good things that happened at St. Charles over the past year. As you reflect on this year’s parish appeal, consider how you participate in and support our mission.

learn

Education & Formation

  • 84 Adults in faith formation programs

  • 263 Religious education & youth ministry students

  • 40 Catechists & youth leaders

Preschool

  • 143 Students enrolled

  • 33 Staff

Pray

  • 130 participants in 40 Hours of Adoration

  • 90 hours chapel is open weekly for prayer

  • 75 hours of adoration in one year at P3

celebrate

  • 6 Weekend Masses, 2 weekday masses

  • 132 Liturgical Ministers (36 Lectors, 8 Cantors, 24 Ushers / Greeters, 41 EMs, 15 Altar Servers)

  • 65 Baptisms

  • 58 Confirmations

  • 55 First Holy Communions

  • 16 Marriages and 8 Convalidations

  • 27 Additional couples prepared for marriage (to be married elsewhere)

  • 14 adults received into the Catholic Church (8 unbaptized and 6 baptized Christians of other denominations)

Share

Community

  • 2,055 Registered households

  • 301 Newly registered households

  • 3,527 Total parishioners

  • 223 Participants in fellowship groups

  • 75 Average attendance at P3 pub time

Giving

  • 2,055 Registered households

  • 576 Households giving to offertory

  • $137,000 Donated to parish charities

  • $87,000 Donated to sister parish in Haiti

Serving

  • 100 Volunteers involved in charitable works

  • 47 Households served by our food pantry

  • 25 Attended Coffee Hour/Dinner for All

  • 1,100 Giving Tree gifts given to needy children

 
 

annual financial report

For Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2023

Our mission is supported by the sacrificial financial offerings of our parishioners.  Fundamentally, a parish runs on its offertory collections:  everything we do is thanks to your generosity.  Below is a report on Fiscal Year 2022-2023, a summary of our current financial situation.  As you reflect on this year’s parish appeal, consider how you support our mission with your sacrificial monetary gifts.

  • Thanks to you, our offertory (“collections”), our primary source of income, increased this year–although the 2% increase did not keep pace with inflation. 

  • Parish charities income was lower relative to the previous years–but in those years people responed to the extraordinary needs resulting from the Covid pandemic.

  • The projected closing of our preschool in 2025 in preparation for our redevelopment resulted in a decrease in enrollment and in revenue, yet it remains profitable.

  • Our balance sheet indicates we have enough liquid assets (cash available) to handle our upcoming liabilities (things we need to pay for), which is important as we continue to invest in upfront “soft costs” related to our redevelopment project.  Funds that are more than required for our normal operating needs are kept in the “DIAL” (Diocesan Savings and Loan) account  to earn higher interest.

  • We recently changed eGiving platforms, transitioning from FaithDirect to Pushpay.  Though most of our parishioners made the change, and a number of new parishioners signed up for eGiving, we experienced an overall decrease in electronic giving.

We are always fully conscious of the fact that we are accountable for the stewardship of funds raised through your hard-earned sacrificial gifts, and we pledge to you that we will continue to manage the parish responsibly and transparently.

 
 

annual parish appeal

lOGIN, give, serve, gather

Our parish mission is accomplished–the good things we do that are described in the next section–are thanks to your generous financial and volunteer support, and to our unity in fellowship. Consider how your financial gifts, service time, and fellowship gatherings contribute to our unity in charity.

  1. LOGIN TO OUR NEW PLATFORM

    I ask all parishioners please to login to their profile in our new portal, ParishStaq.  It is the best way to stay connected and to receive the customized information you need:  update your registration information; review your online giving; sign up to volunteer; access parish schedules and calendars; and much more! 

    For a step-by-step guide click here

  2. GIVE

    Giving to your parish offertory collections is a wonderful, tangible expression of your gratitude to God for his many blessings, of your love for others, and of your desire to support the mission of your parish. I ask you, please, to take time prayerfully to consider how you can best respond to God’s love for you by committing to a regular, sacrificial, financial gift to our offertory collections by eGiving using Pushpay (part of the Parishstaq platform & app).

  3. SERVE

    Our ability to proclaim, to celebrate, and to live the Gospel is directly affected by what you do: the more people volunteer, and the more time they give, the more we can grow the Church in the heart of Arlington. There are many ways you can serve your parish and you can explore all of them online, but I especially ask you prayerfully to consider serving in one of these ways:

    • Ushers. Ushers welcome parishioners to Mass and serve them by answering their questions, assisting them in finding seats, guiding communicants, and managing the offertory collections.

    • Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. “EMs” assist our priests and deacons in distributing Holy Communion at Mass, and take Communion to the homebound and nursing home residents.

    • Sacristans. Sacristans ensure everything is prepared for Mass, including setting up and checking in our liturgical volunteers.

    • Welcome & Hospitality Committee. Members welcome new parishioners and introduce them to all our parish has to offer, integrating them into our faith community.

      The link to these and many other service opportunities is here:  https://www.stcharleschurch.org/volunteer

  4. GATHER

    Our Small Communities of Faith (“small groups”), our Borromeo Brothers men’s group, our Walking with Purpose women’s Bible study, and our Teams of Our Lady couples’ groups meet regularly to enable members to support one another as they grow together in faith, living the four pillars of Christian discipleship: praying, learning, celebrating, and sharing the Christian life. Consider filling out an interest form so we can connect you to the groups you are interested in getting involved in!

 
 
 

the gift you have received GIVE as a gift

I encourage you to allow these words of our Lord Jesus (Mt 10:8) to inspire you to spend some time prayerfully reflecting on how you should give back to the Lord and his people, on how you can embrace personal and parish renewal by committing to registering for our new engagement platform and app, by giving generously to our collections through eGiving, by serving as a volunteer, and by gathering in a group fellowship.

I am most grateful for your continued support of our parish, and I ask you please to join me in praying daily to our patron, St. Charles Borromeo, for our parish renewal and redevelopment. I assure you that I pray daily–especially in the Mass and in the Rosary–that God may bless you abundantly!

Fr. Don