Annual Pastoral Reports

On July 1, 2025, we began a new fiscal year at St. Laurence, as did all the parishes in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. One of the chief responsibilities of a pastor is sound management of the Church’s temporal goods and prudent and balanced management of all financial responsibilities.

I can report that St. Laurence’s financial health is good. The Church bills are being paid; we are in good standing with all of our Archdiocesan obligations. However, St. Laurence’s finances going forward in 2025 and 2026 will be challenged by the increase in the cost of ministry obligations and the rising cost of maintaining the infrastructure of the main Church, the Parish Life Center, as well as parish facilities.

I want to reemphasize that our Church bills are being paid; we are in good standing with all of our Archdiocesan obligations. The people of St. Laurence are primarily responsible for that being the case. You continue to be generous stewards of God’s gifts to you, and in turn, we do our best to be good stewards of the gifts you share with the Church. I thank each of you for your continued sacrifice, week in and week out, to support the ministries and operations of our parish. Only with your support are we able to do the work of the Gospel. Thank you very much!

We watch the budget very carefully, just as you do your family budget. Just as cost of living expenses hit us at home, so too do they impact our parish family. The staff does a great job throughout the year of being prudent with spending. Like you, they want to be good stewards.

Everyone’s gift of a weekly tithe in the offertory is a great act of Stewardship. And remember, you can do it in two ways, through your parish envelopes that are mailed to you or electronically through www.stlaurence.org/contribute-to-our-parish It’s fast, easy, and, yes, very secure, and a great way to support the work of your parish.

I want to share my sincere thanks to all of you for your generous financial stewardship toward St. Laurence. Thanks as well to our dedicated Finance Council for their wise counsel and planning. I am especially grateful to Mrs. Suzanne Byrne, our Parish Business Administrator, for her detailed work in keeping St. Laurence on the continued track of serving God and His people.