Meet New Business Manager Kristi Smith: Helping Our Parish Grow in Stewardship

Kristi Smith, our new St. Peter Parish Business Manager, is settling into her duties as she brings cheerful enthusiasm to serving the needs of our parish. She is a Quincy native and formerly was Business Manager at Quincy Notre Dame High School before making the move to St. Peter.

She officially began in October 2020, and despite the constraints from COVID-19, has been growing in her involvement in parish life. She serves on the Finance Committee and attends the Stewardship Committee meetings once a month. Her duties as Business Manager include handling all the accounts for the parish, meeting with families about school tuition, and overseeing the church monetary deposits. In her spare time, Kristi enjoys spending time with her husband, John, and their two children, Hunter and Kaitlyn.

Kristi has a Bachelor of Arts degree from William Woods University in Fulton, Mo., plus additional accounting coursework — and lots of experience. She also has been a member of the Quincy Service League which, among other community projects, provides scholarships and financial grants.

Over the past months, Kristi has set her sights on helping our parish grow in stewardship.

“With stewardship, I want to be part of helping to get everyone excited about coming back to church and being a part of the community — building that sense of belonging,” Kristi says.

Even though there were pandemic restrictions, Kristi shares in the excitement that our stewardship growth has been strong in that two new parishioner-driven ministries have been formed. The Soup With a Smile Ministry prepares and delivers homemade soup to those who are homebound for several reasons, such as recovering from illness or surgery, or childbirth.

The Sunshine Club is a group of parishioners who write letters of cheer and encouragement to others.

“These were parishioners who started the ministries and we see the outcome has been great,” Kristi says.

The transition from working at a high school with young students to a parish has been a bit different, but Kristi is enjoying getting to meet with the other staffers, as well as parishioners. “It’s been a great change!” she says. She will also tell you that there hasn’t been one moment of boredom since taking her post.

“My door is always open,” she says. “I’m excited to be here, and I love working with Fr. Leo — he’s amazing!”

Let us all welcome Kristi to our St. Peter Parish staff!

Kristi Smith, our new St. Peter Parish Business Manager, brings cheerful enthusiasm to serving the needs of our parish.