Print Issue: September 12, 2002

Lay Finance Council Members Serve As Stewards Of Archdiocesan Funds, Advisors To Archbishop

George Barrie (Photo by Michael Alexander) Gary Meader (Photo by Michael Alexander)

By Priscilla Greear, Staff Writer

ATLANTA - As the archdiocese prepares to ask Catholics in October to open their hearts and wallets to raise $5 million through the Annual Appeal, it has a finance council of laity to continually advise it on how that collection and all archdiocesan money is invested and spent.

The finance council, mandated by and following guidelines set out by canon law for every diocese, has nine lay members and three priests - Archbishop John F. Donoghue, Msgr. Tom Kenny and Msgr. R. Donald Kiernan. The council meets quarterly to provide assistance and guidance to the archbishop in the administration of the temporal goods of the archdiocese. Its subcommittees meet outside of the council meetings and report their work to the entire group. Subcommittees include audit, project review, investment, insurance/benefits and budget/operations, where members review, oversee and advise regarding needed changes with archdiocesan financial transactions and procedures in those specified areas.

George Aulbach is in his second year as council chairman and also served on the council several years in the late 1980s and early '90s. He describes the role of the finance council as "key to the financial operations of the archdiocese. It's an advisement board for the archbishop. On certain things the finance council has to approve before the archbishop can go ahead with them," Aulbach said.

"It serves a very important purpose and does oversee how the money is spent in the archdiocese. The budget has to be approved by the finance council for each fiscal year."

The archdiocesan staff is Gary Meader, chief financial officer, George Barrie, chief financial officer of Catholic Construction Services, Inc., Barbara Henderson, assistant director of finance, Kathi Stearns, vice chancellor for special projects, and Phil Miles, deposit and loan manager.

Council responsibilities to the archbishop include:

Reviewing and approving the annual budget and annual financial report as submitted by the archbishop; advising him regarding the employment of a financial officer; advising him before he makes a decision to impose any taxes or performs the more important acts of administration relative to fiscal matters; giving or withholding consent for him to alienate property within the minimal and maximal amounts determined by the Episcopal Conference; and advising him before he may invest money and moveable goods assigned to the endowment and retirement funds.

Aulbach said that the council is working to ensure the annual report of how archdiocesan money is spent is completed in September. Previously it had been completed by the end of the year.

One change mandated by the church last year is that council members now must sign the annual report before it is submitted to the governing authorities of the church. "All members have to attest to the annual report," he said.

Regarding the Annual Appeal, he added, "if anybody has any questions when the Annual Appeal comes out we encourage them to give us (the archdiocesan finance department) a call and we'll answer questions for them."

Aulbach noted that one of the archdiocese's "key" financial challenges the council assists with is assessing the financial feasibility of the many proposed building projects around the archdiocese, and for those approved - controlling costs and quality through Catholic Construction Services. The archdiocese now has a policy where parishes wanting to build must have a third of the project money up front and must prove they're able to pay back what they borrow within 10 years. This process is an example, Aulbach said, of how the archdiocese has established programs to greatly improve its efficiency in financial management since his early council days. "We have numerous requests from parishes (to build). That takes a lot of time in looking at it and analyzing their financial picture. All that takes real close review and we have to offer counsel to the parishes," he continued. "We're there to make sure each individual parish can stand on its own two feet."

Aulbach is a retired president and chief executive officer of Laing Properties, where he worked on projects totaling over $2 billion. Having attended Catholic schools from elementary school through college at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, where he earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering, he previously served on the Catholic schools implementation committee, among many other areas of service, for the building of the archdiocese's new schools, and was named a Knight Commander of St. Gregory the Great for his service, the highest papal honor for laity. He also now serves pro-bono as development manager of the Continuing Care Retirement Community project for the archdiocese. He and his wife Gertrude currently live in Lake Toxaway, N.C., but are still members of St. Andrew's Church, Roswell. They have five daughters and seven grandchildren.

Other members of the committee include:

James Kelly, retired chairman and chief executive officer of United Parcel Service. Kelly and his wife Jean are members of St. Andrew's Church, Roswell, and have three sons and a daughter and four grandchildren. Kelly, who holds a bachelor's degree from Rutgers University in New Jersey, joined the council last spring, and is also serving on the audit subcommittee. He looks forward to reviewing church finances and making recommendations on how its assets and resources can be used most appropriately. While he chaired United Way's fund-raising campaign last year, this is the largest volunteer project he's ever taken on for the church. "I'm looking forward to it. I think it's an area where I think I can make a contribution and help out the diocese a little bit," he said.

Vicki Escarra, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Delta Air Lines, Inc., has served the company since 1973. She and her husband George are members of the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta, and have two daughters. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Georgia State University. As a council member she "hopes to help the church make better financial decisions that will benefit the Atlanta community."

Michael Reilly is a financial advisor for Merrill Lynch. Before that he worked for 30 years with Procter & Gamble in various management positions. He holds a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. He and his wife Julie attend St. Andrew's Church, Roswell, and have two sons, two daughters and two granddaughters. Reilly also joined the council in the spring and is excited to serve the larger church as well as his parish, where he serves on finance and parish councils and has led fund-raising committees. "It's a wonderful privilege to be able to help in this way. I honestly am honored by being on a committee and am looking forward to being a productive and contributing member," he said. "My hopeful contribution would be like I've done at St. Andrew's to help all parishioners to recognize the support they should be giving the church and to continue to support the church in its endeavors. Every individual needs to think hard how they support the church because it's such an important institution in our lives."

Serving on the project review subcommittee, he will build on his work at St. Andrew's analyzing its budget planning to determine what makes sense. "We can only do what we can afford," he said. "When we can financially justify it I think it's probably the most effective source of help for people in need. Dollar for dollar it's hard to best the church's effectiveness."

Thomas Kitchin is chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Kitchin Hospitality, LLC, and is also chairman and CEO of Jameson Inns, Inc., which he founded in 1988, and Kitchin Construction Company, LLC. Kitchin Hospitality has grown to operate and manage more than 130 hotel properties in 14 states. Kitchin holds a bachelor's degree in business from Central Missouri College, Warrensburg. He and his wife Judy are members of All Saints Church, Dunwoody, and have six children and three grandchildren. He is also on the project review committee and is chairman of the budget and operations committee. "For 16 years of my life I was in banking. I think so much that takes place especially on the projects committee takes place around making good financial decisions around the parishes and schools so I try to bring that (banking experience) to the table," Kitchin said, adding that "I think the archbishop has done an excellent job of keeping the finances of the archdiocese in good shape."

Matt McDaniel is a former managing director of institutional sales for Wachovia Securities and senior vice president and manager of institutional sales for Interstate, Johnson Lane, with over 30 years experience in the brokerage business. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration with a minor in chemistry from Vanderbilt University. He and his wife Mariette are members of Holy Spirit Church, Atlanta, and have one son and two daughters. McDaniel also serves in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and as chair of investment policy for its Holy Family Hospital Foundation. As a council member he is on the project review committee and serves as chair of the investment committee, which is charged with reviewing the investment portfolios and managers' performance and selecting new managers as needed. He said the "performance has been pretty strong. Even in these bad indices it's been pretty strong."

Michael Mohr is a portfolio manager of 13 years with The Arden Group. Previously he worked for six years as a portfolio manager with SunTrust Banks. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics and business administration from Furman University, Greenville, S.C., and a master's in business administration from Georgia State University. He and his wife Sheila have four children and attend the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta. Mohr joined the committee this year and also serves on the investment subcommittee, where he likes what he sees. "It's terrific to see how the organization runs internally and it gives me a lot of confidence just to see the talent that's over there," he said. "I think they do a very professional job. They have a consultant that reviews all the managers on a quarterly basis. I feel like they have a very good system for overseeing those portfolios for the archdiocese."

Kiernan Quinn is the founder and president of Column Financial, a commercial real estate lender. Previously he worked for eight years in commercial lending for the First National Bank of Chicago, and was the chief financial officer for 10 years of a multi-family apartment development company. He holds a bachelor's degree from Villanova University in Pennsylvania and a master's of business administration in finance from the University of Chicago. He and his wife Donna have two daughters and attend the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta, where Quinn has served for 10 years on the finance committee, the past four as chairman. He has served one of the longest stretches on the council, four years, and is now chairman of the insurance/benefits and audit committees. While press reports in other dioceses raise suspicion of finance committees being inactive, he affirmed the laity's active participation through the committee. "We're stewards of a lot of parishioners in North Georgia and we want to give careful accounting of all the money we've collected and spent and that's why we always have an audit. We really do meet. We really do discuss issues openly. We have an outside audit and we discuss issues carefully," he said. "The archbishop has been willing to pursue any questions we have. He runs it, but he seeks advice from the members of the council and committees."

Regarding this year's audit of archdiocesan finances, "I don't think we've had any issue where there's been any suspicion. We want to put a lot more focus that things be done quickly and promptly."

He expressed his satisfaction with the appointment of Meader as the archdiocesan chief financial officer, after having served as CFO of the Office of Catholic Schools. Facing the financial problems surrounding the construction of five new Catholic schools, "I think Gary came in and provided very good statements. The schools are becoming a major component of our audits and he's got the background there."

Shelly Langa is a district manager for the Gap, Inc. Previously she worked for 17 years as a regional manager for The Limited, Inc. She and her husband Tom have two daughters who attend Holy Redeemer School, Alpharetta. The family attends St. Brigid Church, Alpharetta. She holds a bachelor of science degree in fashion merchandising and marketing from Ohio University, Athens. Having joined the council in the summer of 2001, she serves on the budget and operations committee.

Langa brings to the committee a special understanding of the challenges couples with young children face in being asked to support their parish, school, and the archdiocese. "I really enjoy being on it because I think I bring a different perspective," she said. "Just being in the business world and at the point I am in my life and what's important with my children helps bring a nice perspective."

Persons who are not council members but who serve on the investment committee include Bill Crawford, Chuck Holmes, Tom Norwood and Alex Smith. Anno Hardage is on both the investment and insurance/benefits subcommittees.

George Aulbach is in his second year as council chairman and also served on the council several years in the late 1980s and early '90s. In this 1998 photo, Archbishop John F. Donoghue, right, presents Aulbach with a certificate naming him Knight Commander of St. Gregory the Great for his service. The award is the highest papal honor for laity. (Photo by Michael Alexander.)