By
BETH LONGWARE DUFF
Fairfield County Catholic,
November 18, 2006
Details of the Diocese of Bridgeport's ongoing commitment to improving
and enhancing financial controls at the parish and diocesan levels are
being unveiled this month to representatives of its 87 parishes at five
regional meetings throughout Fairfield County. Attendees include pastors
and members of parish finance councils and parish councils.
Vicariate Meetings
The presentations,
which began November 6 with a gathering of Vicariate 5 parishes at Saint
Joseph Parish in Brookfield, focused on six key elements of the program
in the hopes of eliciting feedback and sharing from the parishes.
Details of the program
were reviewed by Bishop William E. Lori, Chief Financial Officer Norm
Walker, and Deacon William
Koniers, the newly-appointed finance director of Parish Finance
Services.
Proposals for the
financial program were recommended by a task force appointed by Bishop
Lori following the financial scandal at Saint John Parish in Darien
last spring. The task force consisted of three priests from the College
of Consultors and three lay members of the Diocesan Finance Council,
in collaboration with CFO Walker.
"We believe we have
identified six key elements that are are essential for strengthening
parish finances," the bishop explained in Brookfield. "We began by discussing
these first in October with our pastors and priests who have principal
responsibility for the management of the parishes. Now we're expanding
the circle to members of the parish finance councils who advise and
assist the pastors in an invaluable way in the administration of parishes."
Six Key Elements
Elements for enhancing
parish financial controls include:
- Refine
and update Parish Accounting and Procedures Manual and deliver
related training.
- Provide
guidance to parishes for improved controls over income.
- Design
new parish financial reports to improve understanding and monitoring
at all levels.
- Encourage
parishioners with concerns about parish financial matters to speak
directly with pastors. The diocese will publish a procedure for parishioners
to communicate any unresolved concerns they have to Diocesan Finance
Services.
- Perform
reviews and tests of parish financial controls and meet with each
Parish Corporation at least once a year.
- Help
pastors assess capabilities of parishes to maintain financial records
and recommend training where needed.
Financial reviews
have already been undertaken in some parishes, and the remainder will
be conducted beginning in January. The updated Parish Accounting
and Procedures Manual is expected to be finished by the end of March,
with training for pastors and the designated laity scheduled to run
from April to June.
Deacon Koniers,
who is assigned to Saint Catherine of Siena Parish in Trumbull, has
more than 32 years' experience in global corporate management, finance,
and operations. He says he believes in frequent communication and openness.
"Compliance, transparency
and good communications are absolutely everything," he told the audience
at Saint Joseph's. "Everybody here has a seat at the table. We need
your help, and we need your advice and good counsel."
After the meeting,
at least one parish business manager in attendance expressed great satisfaction
with the direction that Bishop Lori and the diocesan finance team are
taking with the new program.
Work Together
"I'm looking forward
to this - I think it's exciting," says Ray Sturz of Saint Mary Parish
in Ridgefield. "The diocese is looking at its parishes in a little different
way and saying, 'We've got 87 parishes out there, let's get them to
work together and get uniform reporting. Let's make sure we're being
good stewards of the people's money.' That's how we live. If people
don't contribute, then we're out of the business of increasing the faith
and living the Gospel message in our world."
