Dividends on Investments £ 20,600 Gift Aided Offerings £ 5,328 Gift Aid Repayment £ 4,064 Non Gift Aided Offerings £ 7,515 Special Collections £ 282 Refund from Utilities £ 1,572 Hall/stall/200 Club £ 414 £ 39,775
Expenditure
Utilities & Council Tax £ 11,802 Youth Programme £ 3,052 Insurance £ 6,001 Church and House Repairs/Furnishings £ 734 Special Collections £ 282 Diocesan Taxes £ 1,150 Salaries £ 2,282 Divine Service £ 496 Housekeeping £ 1319 Stall & Papers £ 32 Travel £ 602
£ 27,752
Income less Expenditure £ 12,023
Due to the extraordinary Covid-19, coronavirus pandemic, ordinary income has diminished considerably during this financial year. The lockdown associated with Covid-19 began at the beginning of our financial year, eased a little in August for four - five months and then was very severe until the end of the financial year in March 2021. During the period of relative relief from lockdown, such were the restrictions, we operated at only one third of our normal participation.
The Catholic Church in Scotland, the Archdiocese of Glasgow and Our Holy Redeemer's parish, Clydebank, in particular, has, to date, co-operated fully with government requests to close our doors and then to operate under the severest of restrictions. We continue to do so. The fact is that, unlike many other churches or ecclesial communities in Scotland, the greater part of our income and, therefore, our ability to operate is directly connected to the numbers of people coming through our doors on a Sunday; this was put to the side in favour of the public health crisis. No complaint or unwillingness to participate on the part of the Church or parish can be detected, nor any easy stirring up of populist movements to see churches left open and worship uninterrupted.
The natural, responsible and cooperative behaviour by the whole Catholic Church in Scotland and Our Holy Redeemer's parish has left us financially diminished. We have paid a high financial price for our part in ensuring the safety of everyone and its consequences will only be seen in the years to come.
Looking at the figures for this financial year, heaviest hit income streams were the Non Gift Aid Offerings and the Votives. This is the money that is offered in the Sunday plate and offerings at candle stands. A few parishioners switched to giving by direct debit or using the debit card facility advertised in the bulletin. Some parishioners handed in their Sunday offering at the presbytery door.
Remarkably, the stock market recovered later in the financial year when it was announced in December 2020 that a vaccine was on the horizon, and this allowed us to liquidate some of our modest investments, amounting to around £20,000. It was decided to disinvest at this stage as we simply could not predict how long the lockdown would continue and how severely. This proved to be a good decision. These funds will allow us to proceed in 2021 - 2022 with a measure of comfort before things, hopefully, return to something like pre-pandemic numbers in financial year 2022 - 2023.
Total income outstripped expenditure this financial year by £12,000. However, when the investment return is removed we can see this is, in fact, an operating deficit of £8,000. A deficit is not new to us. Insurance and Utilities are substantial for a property like Our Holy Redeemer's and there are basic costs associated with us being able to open our doors safely. We have no problem maintaining a small deficit because we have investments and we are not here to build up vast reserves but to spread the Word. A deficit is fine when it is supporting our normal pastoral activity and our tools for evangelisation. We have not been able to engage in much of that this year due to the lockdown.
Nonetheless, we continued to invest in our youth program to the tune of £3,000, but spent little on fabric and decoration of the properties. This undoubtedly will have to be addressed once the restrictions around Covid-19 begin to ease. Savings were made in almost all other areas meaning the operating deficit, excluding our choice to fund the youth program, was around £5,000.
In my view, as parish priest, this is a remarkable result in this most extraordinary of years and demonstrates concretely the commitment and dedication to Our Holy Redeemer's parish of its parishioners. Despite the fact that services, both divine and practical pastoral, were so limited, parishioners stayed faithful to the parish and its apostolate.
As a parish we continue to move forward. Our ties with St Margaret’s remain strong and stable and will not be undone. Our pastoral life is wholly bound up with St Margaret’s and financially we benefit greatly from the sharing of resources. It is only a matter of time before the parishes are formally joined by the Archdiocese.
Our Holy Redeemer is a Parish of the Archdiocese of Glasgow, a Designated Religious Charity, Number SC018140