Dear Friends of the Diocese of Lincoln,
We are grateful to you, our lay faithful, as well as our clergy, priests, and religious, who have collectively sustained and built-up our parishes, schools, and institutions within the Diocese this past year. We still face many challenges but we move forward together and have made great progress in our financial recovery from the pandemic. It is inspirational to see all the faithful come together to allow the mission of Jesus Christ and His Gospel to advance in the face of adversity.
This report presents the financial results of the Diocese of Lincoln administrative office (CBL/Chancery) for fiscal year 2022 as well as an update on multi-year initiatives. CBL consists of various offices created to support parishes, schools, and ministries, organize events, monitor activities, and coordinate efforts. CBL centrally administers insurance programs for the financial and time benefit of parishes, schools, and Diocesan institutions. The activities of the Chancery are primarily funded by contributions, parish assessments, and program and service fees.
Detailed in the report:
• CBL operations were managed prudently and closely followed established budgets.
• Much needed changes were afforded to the priests’ pension plan, with improvements making long overdue modernization and enhancements to the plan, thereby making the Lincoln Diocese’s plan more comparable to other dioceses and offering more reasonable and dignified quality of life for our priests.
• CBL coordinated shared insurance plans for health insurance and property casualty. While the diocese is comprised of numerous entities, combining our resources to participate in these plans lowers our costs and provides greater efficiencies. The insurance covered the costs of all claims experienced during the year.
• Funding for the education and educational technology departments were put on solid footing, with the transition to a fee-based structure based on school enrollment.
The financial information presented in this report is limited to The Catholic Bishop of Lincoln (CBL/Chancery) and does not include individual parishes, missions, schools, and other related entities, which are organized as separate nonprofit organizations and operated separately from CBL. In the New Year, we will focus our attention on making sure our resources are used in optimal ways as we respond to inflation, market volatility and other financial risks. We are grateful for the leadership, advice and counsel from our Diocesan Finance Council.
Together, we will continue to prudently and efficiently support parishes, schools and other diocesan institutions as they minister to the people of God in the Diocese of Lincoln.
Sincerely,
Tracy Lockwood
Chief Financial Officer
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Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As Bishop of the Diocese of Lincoln, it is my responsibility to make sure we are good stewards of the money that you have given to God through your donations to the diocese and our various diocesan ministries and charities. While this report focuses specifically on the expenses and revenues of the Chancery and its agencies and programs at the diocesan level, your financial contributions to your local parish and local Catholic school are equally important as well.
I am pleased to present to you the annual Fiscal Accountability Report of the Diocese of Lincoln, which includes the 2022 fiscal year, ending June 30, 2022. This report is a reflection of part of the stewardship that each of us is called to as disciples of Jesus Christ. You answered the call and I pray God will bless you for your generosity!
Our Charity and Stewardship Appeal was started more than 50 years ago and it helps provide for many of the needs of the diocese, especially Catholic Education. The money you give also supports Catholic Social Services, the Newman Center and our pro-life and youth ministries, among other outreach programs.
Another important annual financial program is the Bishop’s Appeal for Vocations. This collection helps cover some of the costs of our seminarians, allowing us to train and form these young men into our future priests. It can cost as much as $1.5 million annually to do that. While yes, it is a high price to pay, but the fruits of it will be seen for generations to come. I am so thankful for our seminarians, who are answering God’s call in their own way, discerning their vocation, possibly as a priest.
We do face financial challenges in the diocese. We are not immune to the swings in the financial markets that can affect the funds we have invested over time, funds we rely on to create financial stability. We must work to develop strategic ways to deal with expenses like taking care of our priests when they retire, providing affordable health care to our employees, and ensuring families who need help with tuition at our Catholic schools can get it through our Good Shepherd Scholarship Fund. These are challenges for the diocese, but also opportunities for all of us to share the treasure God has blessed us with to invest in the future of our faith.
I want to express my deep gratitude to each and every single one of you, for all you give to build up the Kingdom of God here in Southern Nebraska. I know it has been a difficult few years for everyone as the COVID pandemic has affected all of us. The sacrifices you have made to contribute to the work we are doing has enabled us to continue to be a strong resource for parishes and parishioners across the Diocese of Lincoln. I pray we may move forward together to proclaim Jesus Christ and our Catholic faith to the world. With my prayers for you and your families, I remain
Sincerely yours in Christ,
The Most Reverend James D. Conley
Bishop of Lincoln
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Statement of Financial Position
Statement of Financial Activities
Review of Fiscal 2022 operations
Diocesan operations consist of: chancery operations, the St. John Vianney Association for the care and retirement of priests, and the diocesan-wide health and property/casualty insurance programs. Each of these will be highlighted below. (Note that the operations of the Diocesan Investment and Loan Trust activity is not included in these statements, as those funds are held in a trust for the benefit of the parishes and participants.)
Chancery Operations Results
Every year the Chancery goes through a detailed budgeting effort with the goal of budgeting at a break-even or better operation. For fiscal year 2022 we were within a few thousand dollars of our break-even goal.
The budget for 2022-2023 is mostly consistent with prior years with the exception of the change in the funding for the Education and Educational Technology department. The Educational Technology department provides standardized, current technology to diocesan schools. The department had been funded by a private foundation which reduced its funding over a three-year period ending December 31, 2021. The cost of operating the Educational Technology department is approximately $2,500,000 per year and is now funded through fees charged to schools based on enrollment that covers the cost of the diocesan education technology personnel, hardware, software and network infrastructure in addition to the cost of the Diocesan Education Office. The net effect of including the technology department in the budget will be negligible as fees collected will match expenses.
Expenses for the Good Shepherd Scholarship increased approximately $780,000 to account for the increase in the individual scholarship amount and to cover the education office and technology fee for Good Shepherd Scholarship recipients. The additional expense was funded by funds raised for education in the Joy of the Gospel campaign.
The diocese realized a $3.2 million gain on the sale of a piece of property in southwest Lincoln. The proceeds of the sale have been saved and will be used for future capital needs in the Diocese of Lincoln.
The tables below exclude the programs for property and health insurance and the priest retirement fund activity.
Glossary of Terms
Statement of Financial Position
Amounts due to parishes and other diocesan entities: These are primarily rebates from Joy of the Gospel and Charity and Stewardship Appeal that are payable to parishes.
Loans receivable, net: Loans issued by the Chancery to parishes or schools. These loans are from the Chancery directly and not from the Lincoln Diocesan Investment and Loan Trust.
Accrued postretirement liability: The unfunded liability for the priest retirement plan. It is the difference between the actuarial accrued pension liability and valuation of pension asset.
Statement of Activities
Operating revenue and support
Operational Assessment: Annual contribution from parish collections to the centralized ministries and services of the diocese, St. John Vianney Association for priest retirement and the SNR.
Contributions: Includes unrestricted and restricted donations to CBL from generous benefactors.
Program revenue: Funds received in fees for programs, retreats, etc.
Operating expenses
Family life and discipleship: Includes ministries of religious education and formation of children and young adults in addition to providing programs to strengthen and support family life. Programs include but are not limited to Hispanic ministry, hospital and nursing home ministries, prison chaplaincy and pro-life programs. Diocesan communications which oversees the publication of the Southern Nebraska Register, media relations, and Diocesan website content and video and audio productions is also included.
Education: Expenses of the Diocesan Catholic Education office including the Education Technology department which collectively supports the Catholic elementary and high schools of the diocese by providing equipment, guidelines, and standards for school software, hardware, connectivity, security, safety, technical support and training for staff and students.
St. John Vianney: Retirement, medical and other assistance for the care of our priests.
Vocations: Funds the education of seminarians, and provides opportunities for discernment to priesthood and religious life.
Insurance: The Diocese administers the health care insurance plan and property and liability insurance program for all Diocesan employees, parishes, schools and related ecclesiastical entities. The expense line represents premium, claim and other expenses related to these shared service plans.
General and administrative: The offices that coordinate the financial, accounting, property maintenance, and information technology of the Diocese and provide financial services to parishes by assisting with budgeting, financial management, accounting and payroll services.
Stewardship and development: Expenses related to fundraising and to managing diocesan appeals and campaigns, including the Joy of the Gospel, Charity and Stewardship Appeal and Bishop’s Appeal for Vocations. Additionally, this office coordinates the use of a standard church management platform for parishes.
Other changes in net assets
Postretirement benefits paid: Benefits paid to retired priests.
Change in present value of postretirement benefit obligation: The change in the present value of funds required to provide retirement benefits in the future.
Overview of multi-year diocese programs
Charity and Stewardship Appeal
The annual Charity and Stewardship Appeal’s mission is to proclaim the Good News; to teach and equip succeeding generations to continue Christ’s ministry on earth; and to give witness to God’s love by ministering to the needs of others. The year’s appeal began in the spring and has received pledges of $2.8 million, a decrease of 4% from the previous year’s appeal. These pledges are down 12% from 2018. Parishes are the primary beneficiary of the appeal, which returns approximately $2.0 million to parishes each year in the form of rebates. The diocese raises $700,000 through this appeal and contributes $210,000 of that amount to other apostolates in the Diocese of Lincoln. $420,000 of the amount raised is directed to support apostolates that proclaim God's Word including the offices of Evangelization, Family Life and Youth Ministry and those that perform Works of Mercy including hospital, nursing home and prison ministries in addition to other apostolates serving the Catholic community in our diocesan boundaries.
Bishop's Appeal for Vocations
The Bishop’s Appeal for Vocations raises funds to pay for the tuition, room and board and other educational costs for the Diocese of Lincoln’s future priests. 100% of the proceeds from the Bishop's Appeal for Vocations helps fund the seminarian education budget that costs $1.2 million to $1.5 million, depending on the number of seminarians, annually. Over the last five years the appeal has raised an average of $1 million. This year’s appeal has commitments of $827,000 as of November 30, 2022 and will hopefully, climb to $1 million by the end of the year.
Joy of the Gospel Campaign
Accountability
Transparency and accountability are integral to our stewardship responsibilities. Each year the Diocese subjects itself to an independent audit. Diocesan leadership has established and regularly confers with the Diocesan Finance Council. The council, whose existence is required by canon law, focuses on financial policies, procedures and activities of the Church in Southern Nebraska. Current members of the Diocesan Finance Council are:
Most Rev. James Conley, Bishop of Lincoln
Very Rev. Justin Fulton, Vicar General
Tracy Lockwood, CFO
Rev. Msgr. John Perkinton, Diocesan Superintendent of Schools
Doris Robertson, St. Joseph Parish, Lincoln
Monica Balters, Cristo Rey Parish, Lincoln
Tony Fulton, St. Peter Parish, Lincoln
Rev. Leo Kosch, St. Joseph Parish, Beatrice
Alan Slattery, Cathedral of the Risen Christ Parish, Lincoln
Pat Kenner, Sacred Heart Parish, Hebron
Tammy Beck, St. Joseph Parish, Lincoln
Sean Wolfe, St. Patrick Parish, McCook
