By Renée St. Martin Wizeman

With the daily fluctuations in the ongoing national and global economic crisis, the outlook seems only grim and unpredictable. It may seem even more dire when considering how critical donors are to the ongoing ministries and programs of the Catholic Church in western and north-central Montana.

But take heart! Numbers are in from across the diocese, and while there has been an overall decline in parish offertory collections of 2.52 percent – which represents $132,474 – between the July 1-Dec. 31, 2007 period and the July 1-Dec. 31, 2008 period, five parishes have actually experienced a double digit percentage increase in their offertory collections. On the other hand, 13 parishes experienced double digit percentage decreases in their collections.

All 59 parishes responded to the survey request issued by Financial Services in February. And while the data yielded some interesting results, it is important to note that each parish in the diocese is unique, and the number of parishioners vary widely, as do the donor demographics – i.e., one parish may have 50 parishioners and all 50 participate in parish stewardship, including gifts of treasure, while another parish may have 800 parishioners and 275 are currently giving gifts of treasure to the parish. So the numbers must be considered as one source of information among an entire array that measures the dynamics of parish collections.

As indicated in the chart, the parishes were arranged according to the number of registered households. Here are the breakdowns (by percentages) for largest decrease and largest increase, by parish size, between 2007 and 2008 parish collection figures.

0-99 households: largest decrease 23.47%; largest increase 57.61%
100-199 households: largest decrease 15.91%; largest increase 15.05%
200-450 households: largest decrease 20.22%; largest increase 7.93%
450-households: largest decrease 11.05%; largest increase 8.16%

From the first round of data, there do not seem to be any hard and fast rules as to parishes’ outlook. Both small and large, and rural and urban parishes have experienced both increases and decreases.

Father Bob Noonan, pastoral administrator of Living Water Mission in Seeley Lake, with 78 households, said he wasn’t entirely certain what was behind that community’s double digit increase from 2007 to 2008. He said it may have been that they started running donations that parishioners made to the local food bank through the parish books, whereas those donations had previously gone directly to the food bank. He did note that there was a big push to support the food bank around Christmas of this year.

And Father Jeff Fleming, pastor of Christ the King Parish in Missoula, said they are tracking about 5 percent behind what they had budgeted for the year to date, but that parish expenses are also under budget at about 5 percent. He said the Easter collection met what had been budgeted.

“We’re doing a piggyback capital campaign and are doing pretty well with that, and people are keeping up with their pledges. Thus far we’ve only had one or two people who’ve had to adjust their pledges,” he said, noting that the parish’s piggyback campaign is at 72 percent of goal, with 38 percent parish participation from the 655 registered households, figures that are particularly impressive given that the piggyback campaign was literally launched as some of the worst economic news came out last fall.

“There is anxiety around the economy, and we’ve had some of our parishioners lose jobs or experience pay deductions. We’re hopeful that as the economy rebounds, we will also experience that effect. As a parish, we are looking at contingency budgeting for next year, and hope that we do not get to that point,” he said, noting that the largest expenditure is salaries, and that they hope to avoid cuts to staff or services.

“Part of it is also we are really emphasizing stewardship and the notion that we share God’s blessings and gifts, even in difficult times. And part of stewardship is to trust that God will provide what we need, which we are then called to share with one another,” Father Fleming said.

In logging and ranching country, decreasing commodities’ prices coupled with increasing fuel prices have hurt some parishes’ collections. Vicki Burgmeier, parish administrator for Flint Creek Catholic Community, with churches in Philipsburg and Drummond and 68 registered households, said that fuel prices are a driving force in a rural community, and with the fuel costs being so high, it affected the ranching and logging communities, as well as others that are dependent on fuel to do their work.

“We have a lot of people that commute into bigger cities – Butte and Missoula – and when you start looking at paying the fuel as high as it was last year, people may need to back off their other expenses, especially when the bottom drops out of the commodities markets, like cattle and logging,” she said.

In Bozeman, Holy Rosary Parish has experienced a decrease from 2007 to 2008 collection figures. The 930-household community has had a handful of parishioners suspend their capital campaign pledges due to economic strain. Office manager and bookkeeper Nadine Tribble said there isn’t one easily identified factor behind the decrease in the parish’s collection, but that general anxiety about the economy seems to be a reason.

Marie Offerdahl, bookkeeper for St. Francis Parish in Valier, attributed the parish’s increase to an increased awareness of the parish’s needs and the struggle to make ends meet.

“I think those who were giving gave more; our people were made more aware of the finances of the church and seemed to have it in their hearts to give more,” she said. Offerdahl praised the parish community for responding to the need. She also noted that the overall community of Valier seems fairly stable, without the boom/bust fluctuations that other communities may be experiencing.

Financial Services Director Pete McNamee said his office will continue to provide quarterly reports on a cumulative basis for the fiscal year compared to the next fiscal year, as long as the financial uncertainty persists.


Published in The Montana Catholic, Vol. 25, No. 4, April 17, 2009.