Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church

Yesterday (Saturday) we celebrated the success of our Capital Campaign with Tacos!! It was great to be with the families who came out for this celebration!

One of our bedrock principles for the Campaign, was and still remains, to “build what we can afford.” You also tasked me with lowering the parish debt!

Today, I share with you great news: This week we paid off the remaining $1 Million on our parish debt!!! We were able to do this because of your generosity to our Capital Campaign. Since this is one of the Campaign goals, I really like the idea of clearing all debt before we take on the new projects.

Yes, this is a slightly symbolic gesture, because we are now about to sign contracts to expand the school, which will require a bridge loan. Important points to remember:

1. There is a ‘debt reduction’ envelope in the bi-monthly envelopes packets. This is because we expect to sign contracts for the school expansion ASAP, and it is important for folks who were unable to make a pledge to still have this means of supporting our parish projects. The names of envelope will not change, because of lead time on printing and it will support future debt.

2. A bridge loan will be required, as construction will begin and be completed before all pledges are fulfilled. This means that we will have some loan to cover the time from construction bills, until parishioners fulfill their pledges.

3. Paying off the debt now, even knowing that some debt will return, benefits us because we will no longer be paying interest on the loan! Doing this now could save us $30k to 50k in interest this year, depending on the timing of bills for the school expansion!

4. Because we have budgeted for $44k per month debt payment, we will continue putting that same amount into savings every month towards the new projects and the future debt!

This was an important part of our 10-year plan by which we were approved for the HCA Expansion, and allows all parishioners to continue to support our capital needs.

This small poem will prove to you that I should not give up being a priest, and it is not an exact timeline, but it did put a smile on my face as I typed it:

• Debt free in ’23.
• Adore more in ’24.
• Playground revive in ’25.
• Debt fix in ’26
• Debt heaven in ’27

Pax et bonum, peace and all good, paz y bien,

Father John Mosimann

A blessed Feast of the Epiphany to you! Unless your family is of Eastern European descent, this feast may not be on your radar with the same level of importance as Christmas and Mary Mother of God (Jan 1st). But the word epiphany means ‘manifestation’ whereby the Lord God makes Himself known to us and His glory is made visible! Some families exchange their gifts today, and not on Christmas! I don’t know that I could have waited, but it is a venerable tradition that connects gift giving to the 3 wise men!