Thank you to all who attended our mortgage-burning celebration on October 14, 2018 – a major milestone for our parish to have completed our 15-year Capital Campaign. In follow-up, a few people asked if they should stop giving to the Building Fund.

We are called to be good stewards and part of this is maintaining the facility both for safety and to support the Mission of St. Joseph. The current Capital Campaign ends on November 30, 2018. If you do not communicate with us that you would like to continue to give, your automatic contribution will end on November 30. To continue your automatic contribution or begin an automatic contribution to the St. Joseph Facility Fund, please contact Pam at 763-544-3352 or pschmitt@stjosephparish.com.

While the mortgage is paid off, you may recall we had a list of additional obligations we hoped to cover beyond the bank payments. We have succeeded in covering some of them, but continue to have ongoing as well as deferred maintenance needs. So we prayerfully ask those who have not completed their pledges to do so, and those who are able, to keep up your contributions so we can maintain, and as needed, enhance our facilities for the good of our community.

I will use this analogy: Just because you pay off your car, you do not stop having expenses. An oil change is like our basic maintenance which comes from the General Budget. A new transmission is not a normal yearly expense or in building terms it is a Major Maintenance Expense. So what are our Upcoming Capital Repair/Replace items?

The Building and Grounds Committee has prioritized at least four:

Parish Center Main Parking Lot Lighting $35,000
Test this out and park in the upper level handicapped space at night and then in the lower space, and you will notice the difference and see the need; it’s an important safety issue.

Sidewalk Repairs Parish Center $25,000
We have multiple cracked sections around the building, including the sloping section at the main entrance by the wall, causing a slip hazard when below freezing.

Little Church Parking Lot Replacement/Lighting $115,000
Our insurance company has made it clear, for many years, it is not up to code and needs full replacement.

Parish Center Parking Lot Repairs $50,000
There are many cracks, such as the giant crack running through the handicapped parking spaces directly across from the fountain. Failure to address will only hasten the future need for a much more costly full replacement.

All people on automatic electronic contribution, and the parish at large, will be asked to prayerfully consider to continue donating to the former Building Fund, now known as the St. Joseph Facility Fund. This will allow us to take care of deferred maintenance and maintain the facilities that we have.

Our last Capital Campaign had multiple goals: to pay off the mortgage, build up a major maintenance fund and begin addressing deferred maintenance. By continuing contributions to the Facility Fund, we can achieve our goal of not having another Capital Campaign.

With Gratitude,
Father Terry Rassmussen
Parish Finance Council