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Annual Report
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For the Fiscal Year July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020
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Dear Parishioners,
With a wry smile we look back at the opening of our Annual Report 2018 – 19 and our characterization that it had been an interesting year. We had no clue that after three “normal” quarters, the remainder of our reporting year would be nothing less than unparalleled, unprecedented, and unimaginable! Our lives changed dramatically in mid-March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Until then we’d been engaged in the normal day-to-day. As a community, after waiting with bated breath, we were celebrating milestones forward as our Development project received approval from the diocese and later the Vatican. We’d worshiped together, hugged one another in greeting and farewell. Little did we know that months later our prayers of petition would call for a return to “A time to embrace,” after languishing so long in “a time to refrain from embracing.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)
Later in that chapter, Qoheleth observes:
God has made everything appropriate to its time, but has put the timeless into their hearts so they cannot find out, from beginning to end, the work which God has done.
I recognized that there is nothing better than to rejoice and to do well during life.
As our beloved community began this experience of exile and pandemic, so we have sought to move through it together, albeit apart. You have continued to be generous with your gifts of time, of talent, and of treasure. Together we have done what we could “to rejoice and to do well.” Knowing that your gifts are made with sacrifice and gratitude, particularly in this difficult time, we report on our combined efforts to use that generosity to further our mission in this place and this time.Fr. Charles Kullman, Pastor Kelly Bodu Tarrant, Chair Mario Espinoza, Chair
St. Austin Catholic Parish Parish Pastoral Council Parish Finance Council
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Our Parish Mission Statement
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St. Austin Catholic Parish,
guided and served by the Paulist Fathers,
is a dynamic, urban, Roman Catholic faith community of the Diocese of Austin.
Empowered by the Word of God,
formed and nourished by the Eucharist,
and made bold by the Holy Spirit,
we strive through prayer, education
and service to others,
to manifest God's transforming love in the world;
and to deepen our relationship with God,
one another, and the universal Church.
Inspired by our patrons St. Paul the Apostle and
St. Augustine of Canterbury,
the “Apostle to the English,”
we dedicate ourselves to Jesus Christ and to
His continuing mission to
teach, heal, reconcile and serve.
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In This Report
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Scroll along or use the links below to read about our efforts in...
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We Strive Through Prayer
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Our Efforts in Liturgy & Music
Until March 2020, as many as 2,000 parishioners and guests gathered each week for daily and weekend Masses, weddings, funerals, baptisms, anointing of the sick, and reconciliation. More than 200 men, women, and youth volunteered as liturgical ministers serving as Hospitality Ministers, Lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, Cantors, Choir and Contemporary Ensemble members. Many others worked in the background making sure our vessels and linens were clean, our candles and holy water fonts full, and more. Although the pandemic halted many of these ministries, we continued to offer various liturgies to our St. Austin community not only in person, but also virtually.
Our last in-person Mass before the pandemic shutdown was on March 17. Since then, we’ve reached households across the United States through our livestreamed daily and weekend Masses, and celebrated weddings and funerals, bringing family and friends together who would otherwise be unable to attend. We also began community-wide preparations for the first ordination in a century at our parish, and the first to be broadcast online. Here’s an overview of our adventures in broadcasting through June 30, 2020.
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We Strive Through Education
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Our Efforts in Faith Formation
In addition to our legacy of support for our parish’s St. Austin Catholic School, voted as the "Best Private School" in Austin in the Austin American-Statesman's annual 2020 "Best of the Best" awards, St. Austin offers a strong Faith Formation program for adults and children.
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Our adults in RCIA continued their formation online after the pandemic began, receiving their sacraments of initiation at our celebration of Pentecost.
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Other adults deepened their faith through book studies and online discussions.
For the 2019-20 school year, 260 children and youth were enrolled in our parish program for children. We were scheduled to meet 24 times during the academic year, but due to the coronavirus we met until Spring Break, finishing the year virtually. Among the highlights of our year were:
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Coordinating with our parish and school to have second graders participate with Faith Formation in the retreats for First Reconciliation and First Communion.
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Supporting parish Social Justice activities by making cards for the people on the border, nursing homes, and to accompany our Christmas Baskets.
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Participating in group activities including Family Orientation, the Holiday Fair, Isaac Hecker's Birthday, and our Epiphany celebration. Despite cancellations during Lent and Easter, Faith Formation families joined with parishioners in our Pentecost Saintly Video.
An unexpected blessing arising from canceling our First Communion Mass has been our joy in witnessing the First Holy Communions of children one at a time or in small groups throughout the year!
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We Strive through Service
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Our Efforts in Social Justice
Our parish Social Justice Ministries: Thursday Outreach, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Gabriel Project, and Micah 6 of Austin responded to the heartbreaking stories and immense need of the people we serve. The effects of the Coronavirus pandemic and the racial justice movement brought out the best in our parish. Our committed volunteers, generous donors, and steadfast staff recognized and responded to their Baptismal call to discipleship. The community also came together to learn and advocate for greater justice at the systemic level in our efforts to dismantle racism and request federal assistance for struggling families during the pandemic.
Because of the dramatic increase in need for rental assistance that we could clearly see from our Outreach guests, SVDP neighbors, and Gabriel Project families with the coronavirus pandemic, Social Justice Ministries encouraged parishioners to participate in housing advocacy this summer. At the time, the local moratorium on evictions was scheduled to be lifted in late July. (It was later extended.) In coordination with efforts by RESULTS (an organization which works to end poverty worldwide), parishioners contacted members of Congress to advocate for food and rent assistance for low-income US households in the next COVID supplemental funding bill. We also advocated for increased efforts to fight preventable diseases worldwide, so that historic gains are not lost while countries also fight against the pandemic.
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We Deepened Our Relationships with One Another
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Community Life in our Parish
Life in our parish was rich and vibrant in 2019 - all went as planned. Parish traditional events like the Blessing of the Animals, Holiday Fair, and several dinners for various visiting priests all went beautifully. We began 2020 with hope and prayers for another wonderful year. Then COVID-19 changed life, as we knew it. Our community could no longer gather and serve. However, it would take more than a pandemic to keep our ministries down! While pandemic changed how we operate, it provided us with an opportunity for a resilient response. Our groups gathered virtually by phone, in Zoom, and on other platforms. We see through new eyes and realize we are capable of so much more than we ever believed. We’re blessed and grateful for our ministries and their amazing volunteers – we salute your many accomplishments!
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What It Took to get the Work Done – Communications
Longtime parishioner Mitzi Patiño Eastman joined the St. Austin’s staff just two weeks after pandemic restrictions began. With no in-person worship or gatherings, communications to keep parishioners “together while apart” became essential. Mitzi began that work. We also needed a reliable platform for broadcasting our liturgies. Our website host, eCatholic, offered a livestreaming feature compatible with the needs identified as critical to providing worship reliably online. In 35 days, we re-designed and built our parish’s new, updated website for the first time in 10 years, launching on May 27, the feast of our patron, St. Augustine of Canterbury. We listened to feedback from focus groups before going live and then from the community. We’re committed to making continuous improvements to the site.
While presenting information from the current fiscal period, the following charts reflect the growth of our web audience over time. We don't have engagement figures from FY 2019-20 as we began tracking with Google Analytics in August of 2020. Our August 2020 viewership peaked at just under 1,500 visitors. Since then our viewership continued its steady growth to a peak viewership in December 2020 of nearly 3,000 viewers on Christmas Eve.
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What It Took to Get the Work Done – Your Generous Stewardship
When the giving got tough, you kept on giving. Our Stewardship Year runs from May 1 to April 30 each year. Our 2020 Stewardship Campaign was interrupted by the COVID-19 shutdowns. While pledge forms continued to trickle in, we didn’t have the opportunity to invite and encourage all to pledge their support on Pledge Weekend scheduled for March 28 - 29. Instead, that weekend was one of the first we spent together apart. Despite the circumstances of the pandemic, your gifts to the Offertory totaled $1,619,692. That generosity arrived in the form of over 9,169 gifts. Without your giving of time, talent, and treasure the many accomplishments summarized in this report would not be possible! Thank you for making a difference.
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What It Took to Get the Work Done – Keeping the Buildings Standing & the Lights On
Our Parish Pastoral Council, the Property Committee, Finance Council and Staff were diligent stewards of the resources YOU provide throughout this fiscal year of worldwide pandemic. Our buildings are aging, as a result we responded to unexpected and unavoidable maintenance demands, including several significant air-conditioning repairs, water heater and circulating-pump replacements. A city mandate required the installation of backflow preventers in a building we plan to bring down in 2021.
Maintaining this venerable physical plant necessitated costs in excess of $91,000 this fiscal year, with utilities totaling $166,000. These expenditures underscore the need to replace our facilities as the cost to maintain and operate our physical plant grows as the facilities age and the infrastructure becomes inefficient.
Significant events, also impacted our operations. Some, as noted, were related to the pandemic ~-
Our tenant, Taco Bell restaurant, closed its doors on April 1 due to the pandemic. They will not re-open. However, they continue to pay the lease and assist us in the search for a replacement tenant. We're optimistic that this situation will end positively.
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Through the pandemic, our front office remained open to phone calls and deliveries. We've heard often that reaching a person, a real person, by phone was novel and much appreciated.
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While most members of our staff continue to work remotely from their homes, several are working safely in the office following all CDC guidelines.
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We applied for and received federal funds in the form of a Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loan of $125,000 to allow us to meet payroll during the shutdown. Following program guidelines, we're in the process of seeking forgiveness of that loan.
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Our interior church sanctuary project began late in the fiscal period, financed in large part with our portion of the proceeds from the Diocese of Austin Encountering Christ Capital Campaign.
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The Finance Council worked with the Diocese to restructure payments on our outstanding debt to minimize potential federal income tax liabilities and refinanced the debt at a lower interest rate. These moves maximize funds available to realize our mission of prayer, education, and service.
The figures presented below represent our annual revenues and expenditures from the Fiscal Year along with an allocation of expenses by ministry or other cost center.
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* Expenses combined as follows: Salary/Benefits includes Salary & Wages, Employment Taxes, and Employee Benefits; Physical Plant includes Repairs, Furniture & Equipment, Depreciation & Utilities; Professional Services includes reimbursable Project Development expenses.
**The cathedraticum is paid by Catholic parishes to their diocese in support of the work of the bishop and the diocese. In the Diocese of Austin, parishes pay 10% of their income. Parishes with schools, like St. Austin, receive a discount, paying 9%.
Please Note: St. Austin Catholic School maintains separate finances and financial reporting. While subsidies that the parish pays the school are included in the parish’s Annual Report, the school releases its own annual report.
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Parish Ministry & Other Expenses
(Unaudited Figures)
Clergy
$189,099
Liturgy & Music
$131,546
Faith Formation
$82,535
Social Justice
$214,561
School Support*
$261,957
Community Life
$34,482
Stewardship & Communications
$340,320
Operations/Administration
$173,750
Building and Grounds
$259,528
Commercial Properties
$860,077
Cathedraticum, Parish
$170,457
Cathedraticum, Commercial Properties
$9,000
Cathedraticum, Capital Campaign
$3,786
Total Expenses
$2,731,098
*Support of our parish school includes a $60,000 cash subsidy reflected on both the parish and school financial statements. The figure represented in this reporting includes “in kind” allocations for employee parking, other benefits, and rent.
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Moving Our Mission Forward
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Our Parish Development Project
At the end of the fiscal year, our Development Plans were on hold as our partner in developing our property, GreyStar, asked for additional time to consider the impact of the pandemic on prospective investors. Recently, activity on the project is back on the move. We hope you’ll take time to catch up on all the latest developments at Our Property Development Journey. The highlights include receipt of Vatican and Diocesan approvals for our building project. As we focus on this report on things of one short period in the long life of our parish, it is good to consider the long view for a moment.
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The Long View
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Prophets of a Future Not Our Own
It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
That is what we are about:
We plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for God’s grace
to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.~By Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw, Michigan/
Often Associated with Archbishop Oscar Romero,
Canonized October 14, 2018
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The Finance Council welcomes your feedback, questions, and observations on the Annual Report.
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