St. Richard Parish
Church Renovation Debt Reduction Program
The St. Richard church renovation project was completed in March 2008. The images below show the fruits of our labor.
The St. Richard Debt Reduction Program was developed and implemented to address the financing of the church renovation project. The much needed renovations of the church cost the parish approximately one million dollars. Our available capital campaign funds totaled approximately $459,000. The Archdiocese provided the parish a $550,000 line of credit to fund the remainder of the project.
This line of credit carries an interest rate of 8% and requires St. Richard to make regular monthly debt payments over a period not to exceed 10 years. Utilizing this line of credit required us as a parish to implement a debt reduction program specifically targeted at retiring the $550,000 in debt. It is extremely important to note and understand that the funds required to pay off this debt are in addition to the funds required to meet our normal monthly operating expenses, which are funded from the weekly offertory collection.
So how do we plan to pay off this debt? First and foremost we must come together as a community of believers and each of us step forward to do our part to help provide the funds necessary to cover the required monthly debt payment of $6,673. The debt reduction program developed by the project Finance Committee takes into account the past giving history of the parish, the number of registered families and our desire to payback the loan in less than 10 years.
Stewardship, as you know, is the process of returning to God some of our TIME, TALENT and TREASURE in appreciation for all that God has given us. Truly everything we have been blessed with, our health, homes, family, jobs and personal possessions have been given to us by God. In return God simply asks that we take all these things, care for them and share them with others. Only when we really understand that everything belongs to God, can we realize we are not asked to GIVE God anything. Instead we are requested to RETURN to him a portion of what he has GIVEN us.
The program can be summarized as follows:
- A monthly debt repayment goal has been established at $8,000.
- Our targeted repayment period is 8 years, which will save the parish approximately $62,000 in interest expense.
- Our parishioner participation goal has been established at 420 families or 66% of registered parishioners.
- We are requesting each participating family consider and commit to a monthly gift of just $20.
- The first Sunday of each month will be set aside as "Debt Reduction Sunday" during which a second collection will be taken to specifically collect debt reduction gifts.
- Parishioners are asked to use the special debt reduction envelope or provide their gift via Faith Direct.
- Monthly updates on the progress of the program will be provided in the bulletin and on the parish web site.
The project Finance Committee feels the established goals and objectives of the debt reduction program are realistic. In addition we are confident, we as a parish can meet and/or exceed the progam's established objectives. We ask every parishioner to take some time to prayerfully discern your family's participation in the debt reduction program.