Please find attached the current bulletin.
Fr Okeke’s appeal is as follows
No doubt, we are living in hard times. Given the worsening condition of the nation’s economy and the global economy at large, the standard of living is getting higher and higher and, as such, more difficult to cope with. These however, are the aftermaths of the covid-19 pandemic. Although it is not yet completely over, we are very grateful to God that we are still alive. We cannot thank God enough for His blessings and favours upon us. We will ever remain grateful to our parishioners who still find time to come and worship with us and make their weekly donations; those who work assiduously in various aspects of the parish life to keep us going; those who donate through direct debits and still worship with us and those who, for unavoidable circumstances cannot come and worship with us by physical presence and, yet make their donations and contributions. We pray that God continues to sustain your efforts and to be your strength and support these hard times.
However, it is pertinent to make you aware of the current and ongoing situation regarding parish finances. We have a dwindling number of parishioners and consequently a dwindling income. As we are all aware inflation and the cost of living is rising and as a parish we are not immune to rising gas and electricity increases. About two decades ago, an hourly rate was £5 but now, the national minimum wage is £9.50 p/h and above. So, some bit of a raise in our income will place us in a better position to achieve a balance between our income and expenditure and thus sustain parish life and finance on a sound footing. We therefore, appeal to our parishioners, that is, those who can, notwithstanding the difficult economic situation, to please add a little to their weekly donations both those on direct debit and those who donate by cash on weekly basis. May God continue to bless you all in all your genuine endeavours of life.
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Moorends and Stainforth Catholic Parishes 
I find this appeal disturbing.
It contains a number of errors
1. The standard of living is decreasing as prices outstrip wages, not increasing.
2. Covid is only one factor, the western response to Putin’s aggression, Brexit and poor economic planning by the Conservatives are the other major factors.
3. The quoted wage increase is inflated. More pertinent is the rise in prices, the RPI has increased by 60% over the last 20 years, not doubled.
Stainforth have similar problems. They called a general parish meeting (which you attended). They decided to look for ways of reducing spending, and reduce the financial pressure on parishioners by limiting the excessive number of second collections. They did not ask parishioners to increase contributions as they are aware that many of them are already finding it difficult to afford the rising cost of goods and services and cannot afford going further into debt by increasing contributions – in fact they should consider temporarily suspending or reducing contributions to the parish until their financial position has improved rather than borrow money at high rates of interest to maintain them. Moorends approach is diametrically opposite, no mention of making economies, but instead appealing for more money from the pulpit and on the website.
Over the past few years Stainforth have worked tirelessly to eliminate their parish debt, which they finally achieved, though essential maintenance has put them back in the red.
Moorends by comparison have worked tirelessly to eliminate a healthy surplus. The last financial statement shared with parishioners relates to the calendar year of 2016, when there was a closing balance of £56,000. Income for the year was £23,149.33 with outgoings of £17,437.11. The last meeting of the Finance Committee was held in November 2017. Now it seems the parish is running out of money and either has gone into debt or will shortly do so. So what has happened over the last 5 years to transform a democratic, well-run prosperous parish to a failing parish which is now rattling the begging bowl?
The diocese parish administration handbook states quite clearly that the finance committee must hold at least three meetings a year and must publish a summary of the annual accounts to the parish annually. Why has this fallen into abeyance?
I call upon you to publish summaries of accounts for the years 2017/18/19/20 and 21 without delay (these should have been submitted to the Finance Department of the Diocese by the end of February annually, so should be immediately available) and to call a meeting of the Finance Committee to decide how to reduce outgoings significantly – all parishioners should be invited to attend and express their opinions. When this has been done parishioners will have a better understanding of the true financial state and will be better able to judge the amount they should contribute, if they are able to afford to do so. Until then one can fully sympathize with anyone who decides that it is pointless throwing money into a bottomless pit and withholds any further contributions.
I am sure you know that the Parish Administration Handbook is available on the diocese website, but the following extracts may help refresh your memory.
Extracts from the Parish Administration Handbook – as revised February 2020
Section 1 – Parish Finance Committees
P1 1.1 Duties & responsibilities of the Parish Priest
In Canon Law, a parish priest is the Administrator of the parish and acts in the person of the parish (Canon 532). Subject to the limits set by the Bishop (Canon 1276) he holds responsibility to administer parish goods in accordance with Canons 1281 –1288 and he must ensure that the temporal goods of the parish are administered correctly.
In Civil Law the parish priest is the agent of Diocese of Hallam Trustee, a trust corporation administering the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hallam Trust (Registered Charity No. 512021). He is delegated with the responsibility of administering the temporal goods of the parish in accordance with the purposes of the charity as stated in the Trust Deed of the Diocese.
The parish priest must ensure that an effective Parish Finance Committee is formed in accordance with Canon Law and Diocesan guidelines, and that all relevant information is made available to its members. Whilst the parish priest is encouraged to delegate many parish financial and administrative matters to people with relevant expertise, it is his duty to keep himself fully informed of all material matters relating to the parish. He must ensure that all necessary documents are completed accurately and on time. He is ultimately responsible for the administration of the juridical person – the parish. That responsibility cannot be delegated.
P3 Accounts
The Parish Finance Committee will have full access to the books of account, bank statements and other documents necessary at every meeting, and at other times as required. The annual accounts must be presented to the Finance Committee and then published to the Parish. The Parish Finance Committee may decide on the form in which this will be done, so long as they conform to the minimum regulations made by the Diocese. The Parish Finance Committee shall assist the parish priest in submitting the Financial Return to the Finance Department of the Diocese by the end of February annually. The parish priest shall always sign the Financial Return and Accounts, together with one member of the Finance Committee.
P4 The Parish Finance Committee shall ensure that the parish is conscientious about income and payments, and keeps accurate records. They shall also ensure that the parish preserves in suitable archive the documents and records establishing the rights of the Church and its goods.
P5 The Parish Finance Committee shall hold at least three Ordinary meetings in the course of the year. They should consider the budget, consider the accounts and measure progress regarding the budget. Extraordinary meetings may be called by the parish priest or two other members. The business to be discussed at an extraordinary meeting shall be declared in advance, and seven days written notice shall be given unless a shorter time is agreed by all the members.
P9` 2.2 Parish Financial Returns to the Diocese
The Diocese issues Financial Returns to each parish in January each year. The financial year-end is 31st December. From these forms the Diocese prepares the statutory accounts required under civil legislation. These completed forms should be returned to the Finance Department by the end of March.
2.3 Publication of Parish Accounts
Canon 1287 states that administrators should render accounts to the faithful concerning the goods they have given to the Church. To discharge this duty, an annual financial statement must be made available for all parishioners. Examples of the format of parish accounts are given in the appendices. Published parish accounts must show total income and total expenditure, i.e. transactions through the parish bank account and through the Parish Ledger system. The bank balance as at 31st December and the parish’s position with the Diocese in the Parish Ledger system (the parish debt or parish deposit with the Diocese) should also be published.
It is strongly recommended that the total of all donations, i.e. Offertory plus standing orders and special collections, is published, for example in the weekly parish newsletter, notice board, or website. To comply with civil legislation the words “A branch of the Diocese of Hallam – Registered Charity No. 512021” or “A branch of the Diocese of Hallam – A Registered Charity” must appear wherever such financial details are published.
P14 Occasional collections may be taken at the discretion of the parish priest for CAFOD, Missionary Appeals, etc. Frequently there is a visitor who makes the appeal. The collection should first be banked and the full amount passed on as soon as possible by cheque to the beneficiary.
It is important that all collections on behalf of third parties are paid out of the parish bank account within one month, and certainly by 31st December annually.