Questions from the PowerPoint Presentation

1. How is this campaign different from the Millennium Campaign?

The Millennium Campaign was an Archdiocesan directed program. Virtually all parishes were required to participate. At Wayside we primarily used that campaign to raise money to renovate the Convent into our Parish Center. That project provided us with much needed meeting rooms, pre-school classes, and parish offices. It was also mandated in that campaign to return a portion of the funds raised to the Archdiocese for supporting such things as inner city parishes and funding archdiocesan capital projects.

With this campaign all of the money will be used in the parish. Our focus is on repairing or replacing the aging physical plant.

2. Does the weekly collection cover capital repairs?

Weekly collections fund the ongoing day-to-day operating expenses of the parish. Weekly collections have also helped maintain a savings reserve that has been used for repairs and emergencies in the past. The reserve has been depleted through the need for constant repairs to the aging infrastructure of the parish. Major capital projects have traditionally been funded through savings or special capital campaigns.

3. Are there reserves in the parish finances to pay for capital improvements and maintenance?

Not anymore. The reserves have been depleted with maintaining the aging infrastructure. Over the past four years we have spent over $800,000 on capital improvements including tuck pointing, replacement of the Mackin Center roof, fencing around the campus as required by the Village, a new parking lot, etc. The projects funded by this campaign will significantly reduce the need for ongoing repairs and patching that have gone on recently and depleted our reserves. With this campaign, we also plan on rebuilding a reserve to deal with continuous maintenance and do not foresee a need for another major campaign for a long time.

4. Is the parish spending its money efficiently now?

The parish has implemented sound financial practices and oversight to ensure that the spending is within the approved plans of the Management Council. Annual budgets are proposed to and reviewed by the Management Council before approval by the pastor. Financial statements, including detailed actual vs. budgeted spending analysis, are reviewed on a monthly basis by the Management Council. The financial statements are published annually in the bulletin.

The Management Council members, who provide consultation to the Pastor and oversee the finances, serve a rolling three year term, and then rotate off of the Council. Over the past 15 years, 45 different parishioners have served as part of the oversight of the Parish.

The parish financial statements are audited periodically. The last audit was 18 months ago. The archdiocese mandates a financial audit whenever a new Pastor is installed. A Management Council member was present at all audit meetings and the report was submitted to the Management Council. It was a favorable report.

5. Why replace pews? Why not just repair the broken ones?

This project is not the top priority of the campaign, but we realize that this will have to be addressed in the next few years. This will be a very extensive and complex project. This project will not only impact the pews and kneelers, but also have an impact on the flooring of the church.

We don’t know for sure, but it is likely that the flooring contains asbestos. Every time there is a problem with a pew or a kneeler and it needs repair, there is a risk that the flooring will be disturbed. The floor is not in great shape either. If we are going to be removing pews, either for repair or replacement, we need to be cognizant of the impact on the flooring. It may make sense to do both projects at that time.

There are some church pews that are in bad shape, others that need minor repairs, and many kneelers that need to be repaired or replaced. All of the pews need to be refinished. So while there may be “X” number of pews or kneelers that need to be repaired soon, going forward, every year more pews and kneelers will need to be repaired.

And, of course this project will have a major impact on our ability to hold masses, weddings, and funerals. Execution of any solution will require a lot of advance planning and notice to parishioners. The Pastor and Business Manager will appoint a committee to review all of the options available: repair, refinish, replacement of the pews and kneelers, along with assessing the impact and planning on our normal Parish activities.

6. How long until another capital campaign is needed?

The repairs and improvements needed now are long overdue and have long life expectancies. The Management Council’s study was to identify other areas that will most likely need to be addressed over the next five years. We do not expect that we will need another capitol campaign for years to come.

Questions Submitted on Website and at Open House

1. Suggest we put up railings at the altar to keep folks from falling.

An altar railing is part of our project list. Thank you.

2. I would like to know how much money we have in reserve now. Are we investing our cash for growth (if possible) or are we using it as it comes in. It seems we have a “campaign” about every 10 years -- what do we anticipate our next one will be for. Please re-examine putting in new pews -- these seem good and sturdy yet.

(1) We have depleted our reserves. Over the past four years the parish spent over $800,000 on various capital projects, including tuckpointing, a new roof on the Mackin Center, fencing around the property, the Park street parking lot, etc. One of our slides in the Powerpoint spelled this out in detail. (2) When any excess cash has been available for the Parish it has been invested, not merely sitting in a non-interest bearing bank account. (3) Our last campaign was the Millennium Campaign which was mandated by the Archdiocese. We completely refurbished the Convent into a much needed Parish Center and pre-school, with a portion of those proceeds returned to the Archdiocese. The previous campaign was to build the Gathering Place. This is the first time we’ve needed to raise capital to repair, refurbish, or replace major environmental and structural systems of the Parish. We do not anticipate the need for another campaign for many years to come.

3. Add a generator to the plan.

The Parish does not own a generator for back up electrical outages. We don’t have frequent electrical problems that would justify purchasing a generator. Furthermore, we don’t have a staff person that is knowledgeable, experienced or trained in using a generator. Any problems have been referred to Commonwealth Edison and have been rectified without undue hardship on the parish. Follow-up: commercial back-up generators are used for only mission critical and safety functions (e.g. to allow elevators to move to the first floor). They aren’t designed to provide full service electrical back-up.

4. What took us so long? Thanks for taking the needed leadership with this needed parish "adventure" -- the tone for this journey has been set and it couldn't be more positive!

Thank you for your support!

5. Why is there no attention to energy conservation, solid waste management, and improved recycling? The E.P.A. estimates energy use can be reduced 40% per year and water 25-30%. Poor indoor air quality is a major cause of asthma, allergies, and cancer and should be addressed as part of overall indoor environmental health.

OLW does employ several ways to conserve energy. We recycle in our school and our parish. We have replaced light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs. Our new church boiler is far more energy efficient than the original boiler. Some of the projects identified in this campaign will further increase our energy efficiencies: replacement of the 40 year old HVAC system in the Mackin Center; replacement of the elementary school heating system; replacement of the air conditioning on the church; replacement of windows in the schools.

6. In the best interest of our children and educators, can we seriously evaluate the possibility of including a modern ventilation system for our school buildings in this campaign. ASHRAE has standards that promote healthy air environments for public facilities. None of us would tolerate these air quality conditions that exist in our schools if they were present in our homes. Yet, we send our developing children into this environment. Ask them to concentrate and our educators to teach. There must be a way to either step into a comprehensive plan or construct one outright. I'm confident that parental contributions to this campaign would be affected by items such as this. Let's study our options.

Great suggestion. Nobody would want our children’s and teachers health compromised by poor air quality. The parish has studied the incidence of sickness and absenteeism at Wayside in comparison to other schools. Our incidence is comparable, if not better, than others. The School Board has included this topic in their 5-year plan. We have replacement of heating systems on our project list. As with every project, when the time comes to detail the specifications of the project, all of the options available should be on the table for review. We will use the expertise of the Archdiocese as part of our review and specification process. Most importantly for us is to succeed in our capital campaign so we can plan for these projects rather than react to a problem once the existing system fails.

7. I notice on the Summary of Parish Need List that you have listed church pews/kneelers at a cost of $241,500 - is this for all new ones, or repair of current ones?

This is based upon an estimate for replacing pews and kneelers. This project will be a very extensive and complex project. This project will not only impact the pews and kneelers, but also have an impact on the flooring of the church. And, of course this will have a major impact on our ability to hold masses, weddings, and funerals. Execution of any solution will require a lot of advance planning and notice to parishioners. The Pastor and Business Manager will appoint a committee to review all of the options available: repair, refinish, or replace the pews and kneelers, along with assessing the impact and planning on our normal Parish activities.

8. What is the truck used for? Why not replace the boiler with a furnace? Why can the church have a boiler and central air and not the elementary school?

(1) The truck is used for a number of things including picking up donations, building and maintenance supplies and other large items purchased for parish use. It is also used to transport large items between buildings and to the dumpster. It is even used to help in special projects such as compacting asphalt when we do minor parking lot patching. When we do our annual “baby bottle” fundraiser, we use the truck to haul canvas bags filled with coins to the bank. On occasion, we use the truck to deliver donations to St. Marks. (2) When we replace the elementary school boiler, we will investigate all available options. Unfortunately, it may not be practically feasible or affordable to replace the existing boiler system with a “forced air” system and air conditioning because the building was not originally engineered for such a system. If this turns out to be the case, we will also be looking at “portable” air conditioning units for the elementary school classrooms.

9. I understand we have many infrastructure needs at the parish and the campaign money will be used in those areas. However, I would like to know if we are carefully examining our operating expenses. I would like to know what we are doing to improve the efficiency of our operations. It seems to me that we have a very large office staff and that some of our office needs could be met more efficiently with better use of technology (e.g., room scheduling where everyone could see what's scheduled, direct debits for collections, email communication for lectors/EMs). I know other parishes have large staffs, too, but I don't think we should compare ourselves to others. I think we should think outside the box about ways to become more efficient.

Detailed annual budgets are reviewed by the Management Council prior to being approved by the pastor. On a monthly basis, the Management Council reviews actual expenses against the budget on a line by line basis. While one of the most significant operating expenses of the parish is for salaries and benefits, it’s important to keep in mind that no one who chooses to work in a Catholic Parish does it to get rich, and every person employed by OLW has an element of ministry or “giving back” in their job selection!

Annual salary increases and benefit options are determined by the Archdiocese and not controllable at the parish level. The parish does have control over the number of employees. Headcount is requested by each specific department (i.e. Church, School, Religious Ed, etc.) during the annual budget process, and these staffing levels are reviewed as part of the budget. Like any line item in the budget, headcount can be questioned and adjusted during the review process before it is approved by the Pastor.

While several departments have overhead positions or support staff, the actual parish office staff consists of 3 people (with hours equaling 2.5 full time employees) plus the business office staff of 4 people (with hours equaling 3.5 full time employees). There are also several part-time high school students who work during the evening and weekend hours.

The last increase in headcount on the parish office staff was in 2001. Since that time, the responsibilities handled by these 7 people have increased tremendously. The increasing number of students means a thriving parish school, but it also means more work in tuition administration. The Parish Center is a wonderful parish asset, and the facilities are used every single day by many ministries. However, the scheduling and upkeep of this building has also added to the workload of the parish office staff.

A significant amount of time is spent in administering and documenting the Protecting God’s Children program, which is the Archdiocese-mandated program to ensure that all volunteers who have contact with parish children are worthy of this responsibility. This is done through criminal background checks, DCFS checks, and VIRTUS certification training. It is the responsibility of the office staff to track the status of all volunteers and to maintain the proper documentation.

While there are certainly technological improvements available, there are some constraints that must be considered in a parish setting that are more difficult than in a business setting.

• First, OLW is a large parish with many active members. Some are on the cutting edge of technology due to their business or personal interests. Others are less comfortable in this area. So for example, instituting online scheduling would be helpful to some, but a hindrance to others, less frustrating for some, but more frustrating for others. Communicating via e-mail seems painless for those of us who live in the world of electronic communication, but those who are unfamiliar, or who don’t have ready access, could feel excluded.
• Second, the parish technology infrastructure is not exactly state of the art. The computers in use in the parish office are basic and most are several years old. Software purchases have also been basic. This is not an insurmountable problem, but the cost of technological improvements must be considered as well as the potential benefits.
• Third, the current staff is busy doing their current jobs. Finding the time to research, create and/or learn about new technology options is a challenge in an already busy work week.

Improving efficiency is an ongoing process, which does move more slowly in a parish environment than in a traditional business environment. New and improved processes can be implemented, but it’s important to be realistic about the constraints and the diversity of needs within the parish.

Specific suggestions for improvements in administrative processes or technology should be submitted to Ken Adamick, Parish Business Manager. Keep in mind that an element of volunteerism may be necessary in order to evaluate and/or initiate change. There could be a great idea, but unless someone has the knowledge, expertise AND TIME to research and implement the change, it will remain just an idea!