Responding to tough economic times

Cutting back and giving more

By Patricia O’Connell
CFP Correspondent

St. Mary of the Assumption Parish is a 3,200-family parish in working-class Milford. The economic downturn has had an effect.

Collections at the parish dipped last year. But heating and other costs have risen, forcing St. Mary pastor, Father Daniel R. Mulcahy, to trim his budget.

He chose to save on heat, rather than eliminating paid positions.

“I didn’t want to lose the folks we have,” he stated.

So, in an unprecedented move, Father Mulcahy will close the parish center for several weeks in December and January. The center will also close for two weeks in February – the week prior to and during school break.

It sounds like an easy way to save money. But Father Mulcahy pointed out various groups and committees won’t be able to use the center during the shutdown. Also, during this time, the center won’t be available for religious education classes and bereavement gatherings after a funeral.

As a blue-collar community, Milford, and St. Mary Parish, is perhaps on the frontline of the economic battleground. Father Mulcahy hears plenty of stories of individual struggles.

“People have lost jobs,” he explained.

Yet, he said, his parishioners have also responded to the rising costs of running a parish.

“Well, I think the parishioners seem to be trying,” he said. “People are really chipping in. Several people have responded by giving their first hour to God (an hour of their weekly pay) or by increasing their weekly giving by $5. I’m really proud of the people.”

Expenses have been reduced, at St. Mary, in other ways as well. Recently, the lower church needed painting. So, parishioners donated all materials and did the job themselves.

“It was the house that love painted,” said Father Mulcahy, noting that all ethnic groups in a parish with Masses in four languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese) worked together.

Father Mulcahy believes these types of group efforts are just what’s needed right now.
“Instead of a malaise or a depression, people are really enthusiastic about pitching in and helping out,” he stated.

Sterling is a fairly affluent community just south of Leominster. Father Thomas B. Garlick, pastor of St. Richard of Chichester, so far, hasn’t noticed any economic fallout.

“Not that I can really see,” he said.

Collections are steady, he added, except for seasonal fluctuations, when people leave town on vacation.

“I don’t see any major stress points at this point,” he said. “I don’t know of any foreclosures. There’s no sizable loss of jobs. We haven’t had any of that at all. We’ve had the exact opposite.”

Already, according to Father Garlick, many parishioners are inquiring about entire families they’d like to “adopt” (buy presents for) at Christmas. They want to do it this way, he explained, so all family members receive an equal allotment of gifts.

“Anytime there’s a cause, they’re there – Katrina Fund, the Retirement Fund for Religious,” he said of his parishioners.

He expects parishioners to come together, in the weeks before Christmas, to prepare between 300 to 400 packages of gifts, which will be given to Catholic Charities to distribute to the families it serves.

Because of the steady cash flow at his parish, Father Garlick ended up with a financial surplus last year. He said he keeps the church fairly cool in the winter. A timed thermostat helps reduce wasted heat.

“Things are under control,” he said. “I think we’re always vigilant about good stewardship.”

Still, Father Garlick is concerned that some parishioners may be suffering financially, and he just doesn’t know about it.

“A lot of people, when they are affluent, when they hit bad times, they don’t want to broadcast,” he stated. “For some reason, they can give, but they can’t receive.”

Father Garlick also suspects some financial needs may be handled, more locally, in the neighborhoods. He believes this may be one reason he isn’t getting direct requests for help.

“The constant issue is trying to identify where a need is because a lot of people don’t want to ask,” he noted.

Father John F. Madden, pastor of St. John in Worcester, said hard times haven’t hit his parish.

“We certainly haven’t seen anything in the collections, any decrease in the collections,” he explained. “We finished with a surplus last year. There’s no immediate need to do cost cutting.”

Some of the healthy collection figures he attributes to recent parish mergers. Last summer, Ascension Parish, on nearby Vernon Street, closed and many parishioners joined St. John. St. Casimir Church, which is only open for one Mass a week in Lithuanian, is slated to close completely next summer, and many in the community there also have joined St. John.

Father Madden believes one reason St. John is fiscally sound is because there’s been a history of frugality.

“We are pretty cost conscious just in general. We don’t have a huge staff,” he stated. “I think most parishes, even before the latest difficulty, had to be very cautious about their finances.”

Father Madden said any monetary concerns, presently, are coupled with concerns of the spiritual welfare of his parishioners, some of whom may be adjusting to the merger.

But he has heard tales of financial hardship from his flock, as families race to stay ahead of the bills.

“I’m not hearing doomsday,” he said. “Still, there is real anxiety about the present and the future.”

Yet, Father Madden sees a possible bright side to the sinking stock market and looming sense of financial insecurity. “This might be an opportunity to get our priorities arranged,” he stated, echoing a theme in Bishop McManus’ pastoral letter on the economy.