1/7/2010
Parish financial councils charged with fostering wise stewardship
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Ed Langlois
Some priests have business savoir-faire. Others don’t know their spreadsheets from their W9s.
That’s why the Catholic Church requires parishes to have a committee of laity with financial know-how. Financial councils help pastors and parish business managers come to sound decisions on internal controls, budget, payroll, investment, real estate, fund drives, building campaigns and poor funds.
Many Catholics find it distasteful to combine talk of money and religion. But the link goes back a long way. The Apostles availed themselves of the hospitality of villagers to sustain their mission and it seems they pooled their resources.
Jesuit Father Jack Morris, who has served in the Northwest for decades and was a missionary in Africa, famously calls money “the life blood of the church.”
Jesus’ apostles had a treasurer — Judas Iscariot. Today, the church aims for better financial advice-givers. Canon law calls for parishes to have a council of at least three experts in financial affairs. Members are to be “outstanding in integrity.”
Appointed by the pastor, financial council members are usually accountants, professional investment advisors, tax attorneys or property managers.
“They need to have some expertise and some smarts,” says Leonard Vuylsteke, describing good financial council members. “Hopefully, the pastor will use the advice. But the pastor has the last word.”
Vuylsteke has served as director of financial services for the Archdiocese of Portland since 1996. He has helped pilot the church through several recessions and a bankruptcy.
Vuylsteke pulls out a book of canon law and sets it on a table in his office. He’s placed tabs in the many spots that mention parish and diocesan finances.
Vuylsteke suggests that parishes make links between the various councils. A member of the pastoral council and school board ought also to be on the financial council, he says.
But people with conflict of interest should not serve on the finance group. That could mean the spouse of a parish employee or a builder who may bid on a parish construction job.
Financial councils should meet at least quarterly, but monthly would be better, Vuylsteke says.
Vuylsteke is big on letting parishioners know the financial picture. While there is no reason to open the books to worshipers, they should get at least an annual report, if not quarterly. He lauds parishes that each week list the amount needed to operate the parish next to the amount brought in from the collection.
“A lot of people don’t know how their parish is doing,” Vuylsteke says. Such reporting, he adds, can help parishioners embrace their responsibilities for keeping ministries afloat.
Many parishes in western Oregon weathered archdiocesan bankruptcy and recession well, but many others had to cut budgets and even reduce personnel. Bad weather around Christmas 2008 kept people from Mass, meaning those important collections were missed. Across western Oregon in the last fiscal year, offertory collections were down by $500,000.
That means financial councils and pastors have faced hard choices.
Vuylsteke says that most pastors want frank advice, so finance council members should have the stomach to say what they think. Historically, that has been a problem in churches, where the laity tend to go along with whatever the pastor says.
“You’ve got to have council members who are candid,” says Larry Latuszek, business manager at Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Lake Oswego. “You can’t have people just shaking their heads because the pastor is speaking.”
Latuszek says his pastor, Father Joseph McMahon, is a man with business know-how who wants a highly collaborative council with diverse skills.
“We look for people of varying occupations and expertise, someone who knows finance, accounting and legal aspects, a contractor, an HR type — a good mix,” Latuszek says.
The Our Lady of the Lake finance council has been busy of late. The parish has just launched a campaign for an environmentally-friendly $16 million school and parish center.
When it’s time to launch an annual offertory campaign or a building effort, pastors often ask their finance council members to speak from the pulpit; that’s the way it happened in Lake Oswego.
“Our role is to make sure we are stewards of the parish funds, to make sure they are spent wisely,” says Rob LeChevallier, an attorney who sits on the finance council at Our Lady of the Lake. Communication with parishioners is vital, he explains.
“It’s the lay people’s responsibility to make sure the parish is adeqately supported,” LeChevallier says, adding that stewardship needs to be expressed not just as a financial reality, but as a spiritual one. The entire task has been hard for the past two years, even at a more affluent parish like Our Lady of the Lake, where middle managers and other workers have lost their jobs.
Many pastors cherish their financial councils.
“We have a wonderful group,” says Father Dave Gutmann, pastor of Holy Trinity Parish in Beaverton. “They are wise, thoughtful, committed — and fun to be with.”
Father Gutmann has relied on the group for perspective in the course of making hard decisions.
“I can’t imagine pastoring well without a group like them,” he says.
The Holy Trinity finance council meets six times per year, keeping the sessions to an hour. Kenya Palmer, the business manager, chairs the meetings and is responsible for keeping the conversation efficient.
From the pastoral center, Vuylsteke notes that many parishes list their financial council members in the bulletin. That’s good, he says. It enhances parishioners’ sense of responsibility. But parishioners with questions about church finances should probably go to the pastor first. Though he may refer questions to his advisors, the buck stops with him.
Vuylsteke knows some parishes have no financial council, or have one that is inactive. He aims to address that soon and is preparing a document on the canons for parishes to consult.
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