Letter from Jairus: First Quarter Stewardship Report

Dear St. Paul’s Parishioners,

My name is Jairus Kleinert, and I am honored to serve currently as the chairperson of the Cathedral’s Stewardship Committee. In this Easter season, I have been reflecting on stewardship as an expression of our Christian hope. As the resurrection dramatically demonstrated the power of God’s love to overcome sin and death, our vitality as a community arises from our hope for the same powerful God to complete his good purpose for our church, for San Diego, and for the world today. When we joyfully invest our time, talent, and treasure in the work of God, we make a statement of trust in God, and we turn our hope into reality, creating the Easter world which is the aspiration of our faith.

Throughout this year, as part of the Bishop’s declaration of 2023 as the Year of Service, the cathedral is emphasizing our ministries that serve our congregation and our neighbors. These ministries help us to learn how to use the gifts and resources that God has given us to contribute to our wider community and are a form of stewardship.

Another manifestation of our communal stewardship is our cathedral operating budget—our primary method for gathering our shared material resources. The finances of the church are critical to the enablement of our mission. The cathedral’s operating budget funds clergy and staff salaries, building upkeep, and program expenses on which all our ministries rely.

Our Treasurer, Betsey Monsell, reports that we are off to a good start in the first quarter of 2023. Operating income for the quarter was higher than budgeted due to timing differences in pledge income and other offerings: 1) some members paid their entire year pledge during the first quarter; and, 2) a large annual bequeathed grant from the San Diego Foundation was received in March, a month earlier than budgeted. These differences will resolve over the year. Operating expenses are running close to budget.

Pledges are the largest source of income for the cathedral and are expected to provide 52% of the budget this year. In recent years, annual pledge income has remained steady around $1,000,000 while our expenses have increased each year due to inflation and costs associated with our new building. Our reality is that our capacity to offer ministry and outreach is constrained by the balance of our income and expenses. If our income consistently outpaces expenses, we can commit ourselves to do more, investing in adding staff, expanding ministries, and starting new ministries to reach new people. If our expenses grow faster than our income, we may have to make difficult choices to change what we are able to offer. While in the short term we can use endowment funds or one-time bequests to cover a deficit, as we are doing this year, long-term reliance on this approach will deplete these funds and reduce the associated annual investment returns, compounding our budgetary challenges.

Thank you to each of you who are making our cathedral community and our mission a priority in your personal budgets. Your faithful and sacrificial giving year after year allows us to continue to share God’s love and offer hope to the world around us. Having a front-row seat to the generosity of our congregation is truly the sustaining joy of serving as your stewardship chair. If you have not yet made a pledge of regular financial support to the cathedral, you can do so anytime at stpaulcathedral.org/my-pledge. I am hopefully anticipating the good things God will do as we continue to give.

Thank you,
Jairus Kleinert