Finance Council

 The objective of this ministry is to advise the pastor and the parish on all things financial in our parish.    Our mission is to safeguard the financial support entrusted to our parish by our generous congregation and to ensure that our parish assets are effectively utilized, in ways which enrich our faith journey at Saint Maria Goretti. 

The council meets regularly with our pastor and reviews all financial and administrative activities of the parish, comparing actual to budget, and focusing on the financial trends within our parish.  The council also considers all requests for future spending, and provides its guidance, in accordance with the policies of the Diocese of Gary.

Every year the council reviews and approves the closing financial statements for the parish year and submits those documents to the Diocese.  We also prepare an annual budget, in collaboration with the parish leadership.  We publish a summary of all this information to our parish annually, in our bulletin, and present it, verbally, in an annual financial recap at all Masses during one weekend in September.

Membership in this council is through appointment by the pastor. The council currently consists of six parishioners, who serve on a voluntary basis.  Our parish business manager acts as secretary to our council, recording the minutes of our meetings for future reference.

Current Membership in the Finance Council:

Barb Swanson ---   Chairperson

                          ---    Vice-Chair

Travis Shamel

Mary Murzyn

Michelle Helton

Rich Biel

Emily Vallese