How We Care for Your Gifts

Eight safeguards

How the money is watched.

No single one of these would be sufficient on its own. Together they mean that no expenditure, however ordinary, passes without someone outside the staff having seen it.

• One

  An independent annual audit

  Every account of the parish is audited each year by Abare, Kresge & Associates, CPAs, an independent accounting firm in St. Augustine. This is required of us: the canons of The Episcopal Church direct that parish accounts be audited annually and the results reported to the diocese.

• Two

  An annual Parochial Report

  Alongside the audit, we file a Parochial Report each year with the Diocese of Florida and The Episcopal Church. It contains financial disclosures covering our revenue, our spending, our budget, and our stewardship campaign.

• Three

  A budget shared openly and followed faithfully

  Each year the Vestry adopts an operating budget, shaped in large part by the pledges made during the annual giving campaign. Once the Vestry has approved it, a copy is provided to the whole parish at our parish-wide meeting each February, in accordance with our bylaws, and the clergy and staff work faithfully to live within it.

• Four

  Several layers of monthly review

  Each month our financial statements are reviewed first by the staff and then by the Finance Committee, after which the Vestry receives a report from the Treasurer. Expenses falling outside routine utility bills receive particular attention, and the utility bills themselves are reviewed as well, so that nothing passes unexamined simply because it is familiar.

• Five

  Records open to you

  The minutes of each Vestry meeting, which include the Treasurer’s report and the previous month’s profit and loss statement, are available in the parish office for any parishioner who wishes to review them. You need give no reason for asking.

• Six

  Separation of duties in signing checks

  Our church accountant, who keeps our books, cannot sign checks, and our authorized signers include lay members of the parish, so that the disbursement of funds never rests with staff alone.

• Seven

  Thoughtful and measured compensation

  Salaries for clergy and staff are set within the budget the Vestry adopts. For our lay staff, we make every effort to study the compensation offered by comparable parishes, and for our clergy, we are guided by the minimum compensation guidelines of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida, which are based on parish size and years of service.

• Eight

  Clear limits on spending outside the budget

  In September 2024 the Vestry adopted a Non-Budgeted Expense Approval Protocol setting firm limits on what any one person may approve. The larger the expense, the more hands it must pass through.

  • Up to $1,500

    The Rector may approve

  • $1,501 to $2,499

    A majority vote of the Executive Committee

  • $2,500 and above

    Reviewed by the Finance Committee and approved by the full Vestry

  • Over $7,500

    Capital projects additionally require at least two quotes

  The protocol states plainly that the Vestry alone retains the right to approve or deny expenditures.