Though small, the congregation of Holy Cross is committed to meeting the financial goals of our church, and maintaining its physical assets. We give much of our time and talent, and more important, energy and enthusiasm, to church events that help meet the monetary needs of the parish. These two aspects of our church life, financial support and involvement, complement each other and have worked well for us in the past.
Our stewardship program currently consists of Pledge Sunday, which occurs in mid-October, at which time a letter outlining our goal and a pledge card is sent to our members. Based on the response, a budget is formulated by the treasurer and is then submitted to the Advisory Board for approval in January.
Our self-evaluation indicated that the majority of our congregation feels it is important for each family to pledge and to review their pledges annually. One of our goals is to encourage more families to make the commitment to pledge, regardless of how small they feel their contribution might be. We currently use announcements during church services to remind everyone of the importance of pledging, but at this time we do not conduct an every member canvas.