CHARLOTTE — A significant number of parishes are seeing robust offertory collections despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and offertory giving on average is at about 80 percent of what it was this time last year.
Churches have been closed to public Masses until only recently, so parishes have had to shift to online giving for parishioners to continue providing financial support to their church. Weekly offertory collections provide the largest source of operating income for parishes.
More than three-quarters of the diocese’s 92 parishes and missions now offer online giving options, and these efforts are making it easier for people to give.
In April, 21 parishes collected more than 90 percent of their weekly offering compared to the same month last year, including 16 parishes that received offertory amounts over and above what they had received in April 2019. Another 18 parishes received between 80 and 90 percent of their weekly offering compared to last year.
Queen of the Apostles Church in Belmont is among the parishes seeing strong stewardship through its online giving program, which uses ParishSOFT. In fact, they are seeing offertory levels slightly higher than last April.
“I would like to commend our church members for continuing to support the church and thank the members that have signed up for our online giving program since the closure began,” said Susan Colone, parish business manager. “We are pleased that they are finding this program a convenient way to donate. I also want to say ‘thank you’ to the members that have been longtime users of the online giving program.”
St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte has also seen sustained support for the parish via online giving. In a livestreamed message, Father Matthew Codd, pastor, appealed to parishioners to continue supporting the parish if their circumstances allowed for it.
“I am grateful for the response,” Father Codd said. “I shared with them how much I missed seeing them at Mass and at the church. I told them I was praying for them and to please not forget us in their giving.”
However, more than a dozen parishes have seen a steep decline in their weekly offertory amounts, receiving 50 percent or less compared to their collections in April 2019.
The diocese is supporting parishes that are experiencing strained finances with financial advice and relief grants.
Jim Kelley, the diocese’s development director, and Bill Weldon, the diocese’s CFO and chief administrative officer, have been communicating frequently with pastors to connect them with resources, share ideas and troubleshoot problems.
Through the diocese’s Coronavirus Relief Effort, grants are being awarded to cash-strapped parishes to cover their operating costs for the duration of the pandemic. The relief funding is available to qualifying parishes that continued paying staff their regular wage (for those that have them) during the period that churches were closed.
Weldon explained, “This effort is designed to provide parishes with the cash needed such that they retain at least 75 percent of current unrestricted reserves or enough to cover one month’s expenses, whichever is greater, after absorbing losses due to the curtailment of offertory.”
So far, four parishes have received this financial relief, provided in the form of a grant that does not have to be repaid.
The good news, diocesan leaders report, is that many parishes around the diocese have been able to weather this financial storm due to sound fiscal planning in place before the pandemic.
“As our churches continue to provide the sacraments, to educate and to serve, we are grateful to those who are giving regularly to support the work of the Church,” Kelley said. “We also pray for those affected by the coronavirus, as we look for ways to provide them hope, encouragement and support.
“If you haven’t given yet to financially support your parish, please consider the options of giving online, through the mail or by dropping off a gift at the church.”
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter