6-Month Financial Update

Dear Cathedral Community,

We are deeply grateful to all of you for supporting this Cathedral and praying with us through this pandemic. This letter provides an update on the state of our finances. The events of 2020 have impacted our ability to adhere to the balanced budget we adopted, and we’ve made changes to adjust to this new reality.

While many continue to give regularly, overall giving is down. Much of our revenue depends on our physical presence together. We’ve lost grants and revenues related to the use of our space. Many parishioners are facing difficult financial circumstances. Fortunately, a grant through the federal Payroll Protection Program kept staff salaries stable through June.

The Vestry and I have approved an immediate expense reduction of $115K. I have cut my salary as have Fr. Bob and Fr. Jon. Forrest Andrews, Facilities Manager, will work part-time. Instead of hiring a Stewardship Manager, we have re-purposed Pam Searcy in that role. We have had to furlough the Parish Life Coordinator.

Even with these cuts, if giving continues to decline, St. John’s Cathedral could face a $200K deficit by year-end. Should this happen, we are preparing to administer a second level of budget cuts that will include staff.

To address this immediate financial need, we will launch a unique 18-month Pledge Plus campaign in August called “Count on Me!” This campaign’s goal is to allow us to finish the remainder of this year and create a realistic budget for 2021. We hope not to draw on “rainy day” funds unless absolutely required.

Should you have questions or concerns about our finances, feel free to contact the Senior Warden or Finance Committee Chair (see emails below). In addition, I will host a Town Hall on Zoom, Wednesday, July 22, at 6:30 p.m. [Zoom Meeting 89106960326].

We miss you all so much, and we remain optimistic about our parish’s future.

With love,

Kate+, Dean
John Sefton, Sr. Warden ([email protected])

Joel Embry, Finance Chair ([email protected])