The St. Louis paper publishes a long article on a new plan from the Archdiocese to centralize parish finances and bookkeeping. Pros and cons offered – mostly pros, I’d add – but frustratingly, no actual details as to how this plan would work. I just don’t get it. I mean, that’s the first question that popped into my mind when I read the headline. Really? Interesting. How would they do that? What does that mean, exactly, in terms of collections and so on. How would that fix the most common way to steal…skimming the cash?

No answers…

Otherwise:

The document prepared by Duffy says that "many parishes continue to employ bookkeepers who are not qualified to oversee the financial activities of a parish and or have members of the parish Finance Council who do not have the skills to oversee the finances of the parish."

Other internal documents say it will cost most parishes more money to move to centralized accounting.

That will depend on the current bookkeeping at each parish, according to Chauvin, and the archdiocese will help parishes that can’t afford the centralized service, which would be mandatory for all parishes.

The archdiocese began a trial run at centralized accounting in 2005, when it consolidated several parishes in north St. Louis County and put four of them under the direction of one centralized bookkeeping system.

That prototype has expanded to include more parishes and parochial schools, and the reaction from initially skeptical priests has been mostly positive.

The Rev. Robert T. Rosebrough, pastor of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta parish in Ferguson, one of the initial trial parishes, said both he and his finance council were nervous going in. "It was a tough sell for me, but the loss of control I feared never took place."

Some priests in the archdiocese are initially positive about the idea of centralized accounting.

"I think it’s a wonderful idea," said the Rev. John H. Schneider, pastor of St. Joseph parish in Bonne Terre. "I’m a better theologian than I am accountant, so I’m not afraid of it."