Birmingham Al Metro Parish hits hard times.

According to Rector Neil Kaminski of St. Francis of Assisi, located in Indian Springs,
a rather upscale location .... just south of Birmingham

As of Tuesday January 20, 2009, the position of Parish
Administrator at St. Francis has been eliminated. The decision to eliminate the position was driven by budget considerations, and was discussed by the Vestry when we met to build our budget for 2009. Our Parish Administrator Sherri Sexton has been with St. Francis for eleven years, and has done a fine job for us.

One year ago, when building the budget for 2008, the Vestry made the decision to draw upon reserve funds from the prior two years in order to accomplish the goals we had set for ourselves. Our hope was that we would grow enough in members and pledges in 2008 to absorb those added expenses in 2009. While we did gain new members and see pledges increase for 2009, it was not enough to close the financial gap and maintain a balanced budget.

This is a shame to loose an 11 year employee due to financial concerns.... Let this be a warning to vestries, do not over spend, do not use faith budgets, and do not draw on reserves to fulfill current budget issues.