2024-2025 Fiscal Year
Dear Friends,
I present to you the Fiscal Year 2024-2025(1) Parish Financial Report. I am pleased to announce our parish has continued to exhibit strong financial performance even in light of no parking for most of this year. Our generous Parishioners have donated ~$1.5MM in weekly offerings, Holy Day collections, special donations, and gifts for specified projects, improvements, and initiatives. We have prudently managed these gifts and, after accounting for ordinary course parish operations and execution of special projects, improvements, and initiatives, we accumulated approximately $520k for future capital projects & fund replenishment.(2)
I thank each and every one of you for your generosity and financial commitments. Annunciation will continue to radiate the light of Christ in downtown Houston and throughout the entire Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
Oremus pro invincem (Let us pray for each other),
Fr. Paul Felix
Pastor
Weekly Collections Growth (3)
Income Details
-
Weekly & Holy Day Collections, General & Special Donations, Interest Income, etc.
$1,166,670
-
Gala, Sacred Music Concert, Donations for Organ Restoration.
$65,582
-
Maintenance Fund, Repairs, Building Fund, etc.
$195,103
-
CCE Registration, Religious Articles Sales, Wedding Income, etc.
$110,722
Total Income
$1,538,078
Expense Details
-
Salaries & Benefits, Utilities, Insurance, IT, Admin Services, Cathedraticum, etc.
$(629,787)
-
Liturgy, Clergy, CCE, Music, Respect Life, Various Apostolates etc.
$(168,317)
-
Gala, Sacred Music Concert, Building Fund Expenses etc.
$(94,184)
-
General Maintenance, Electrical Repairs & Upgrades, etc.
$(124,848)
-
Restoration Maintenance, Phase 2 Capital Plan, Organ Restoration etc.
$(520,942)
Total Expenses
$(1,538,078)
My beloved Annunciation Family,
Since I was appointed to serve as Pastor of Annunciation over 12 years ago, we have made significant progress toward fulfilling our Architectural Master Plan, which was developed shortly after my arrival.
Phase 1, completed in 2019, included: Construction of a new rectory; remodeling of the William Foley House to create three small classrooms, a conference room, and parish offices; addition of a Bridal Room Annex with new restrooms and paving of a courtyard and plaza.
With these milestones behind us, we are eager to restore parish life with regularly scheduled activities, a renewed spirit of community, and a rebound in attendance. At the same time, we remain committed to fiscal conservancy as we integrate the parking garage into our daily operations, work to pay off our debt, rebuild our savings, and advance toward Phase 2 of our Master Plan. Now, in 2025, we celebrate the completion of the parking garage, a critical infrastructure improvement that supports our growing parish community.
The total cost of the parking garage was approximately $11 million, with Annunciation’s share at nearly $5.5 million. We were able to finance more than half of this amount through cash on hand, with the remainder covered by a loan from the archdiocese.
Phase 2 is to build a Parish Life Center to provide an indoor parish hall for gatherings and receptions, etc.; classrooms for catechesis and sacrament preparation for all grade levels and across the life-spectrum, group meetings, office space as needed, storage; etc. This is vital for bringing our parish into full functioning in helping our parish family, and drawing all people, to come to know, love and serve God and neighbor in the one Church founded by Jesus Christ. It’s important for carrying out our mission of aspiring to - and of making saints!
Aerial photo showing the old parochial school
The Parish Life Center will be built in the style of our historic Parochial School (1887-1994)
Our spiritual ideals are lofty – as they should be! But there is a brick - & - mortar, dollars - & - cents aspect to all this that requires our sacrificial commitment.
Over a period of years, we have been working on the conceptual design of the Parish Life Center. Now that the Parking Garage has been built and is operational, I have been working with the Construction Office of the Archdiocese and have assembled a Parish Building Committee. Our architect and our project manager will take us through the process of generating a financial estimate for the cost of the project. This will enable us to go before the Archdiocesan Building Commission to get approval for Phase 2. We will then seek to obtain archdiocesan permission to begin raising funds to pay for the project.
To begin construction, we will need to have half of the funds in hand and show how we will be able to pay for the rest of the project, including any outstanding obligations such as the parking garage loan.
“For I know well the plans I have for you… plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future full of hope” Jer. 29:11
Imagine what it will be like to be able to arrive and park in the stress-free parking garage, enter into sublime sacred worship at holy Mass, gather in the plaza or the Parish Life Center indoor parish Hall for socials or continuing adult formation Imagine what it will be like to be able to arrive and park in the stress-free parking garage, enter into sublime sacred worship presentations at holy Mass, gather in the plaza or the Parish Life Center indoor parish Hall for socials or continuing adult formation presentations, conduct service activities, and have our children and youth playing on the grounds of the courtyard and the plaza, or in classrooms at grade level for their catechesis and for their sacrament preparation classes – growing in the life of our family of faith here at Annunciation, in the safe embrace of Holy Mother Church - the “House of God and the Gate of Heaven”. This isn’t merely a dream – it is a graced reality on its way to fruition!
May God bless you and your loved ones!
Father Paul Felix
Pastor