Church of St. Catherine Parish Pastoral Council

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Meeting Minutes

Members Present: Norma Stewart, Fr. Tom, Deb Goebel, Dan Nath, Pat Saum, Jeff Wieneke, Patrice Hohn, Mary McLaughlin, George Langford

Members Absent:

Members Excused: Gregg Gropel

Guests: Dick Smook, Helen Saum, Jerry Jensen

The meeting was called to order by Dan Nath and began with a prayer from Fr. Tom. The meeting minutes of November 19, 2008, were approved as written by a motion from Deb and seconded by George.

The agenda was approved with a motion from George and seconded by Jeff.

Old Business

A) Bishop Harrington’s Pastoral Letter (Fr. Tom) “Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant”, pages 16-18 in “Proclaim Jesus”

Reviewed pages 16-18 and set a goal to 1) form a stewardship committee, 2) promote stewardship as a way of life, 3) include a component for children and teens. It was discussed that the youth after grades 2 don’t seem to be giving monetarily but are giving their time.

B) Video Camera and TV for Sunday Mass Broadcasts (Dan)

Dan reported that he purchased a video camera that he thought might work for our use. He will be experimenting with it on the lighting and movement from side to side to see how clear the picture is. He has already tried several cameras.

C) No One Dies Alone (Helen Saum – Hospice Coordinator and Fr. Tom)

Helen gave a presentation on Hospice Care. They have an 11^th hour volunteer program so no one dies alone. It was discussed whether St. Catherine’s could do anything to help in this area.

D) Stewardship Council (Fr. Tom)

Fr. Tom talked about a Stewardship Council to continue the focus on stewardship throughout the year. He mentioned that he already has some parishioners that will serve on this committee. Deacon Leonard Fuller will be here on January 25, 2009 to preach about stewardship.

The council approved the motion to implement the Stewardship Council. The motion was made by Norma and seconded by Deb, passed.

E) Outreach to the Veterans Home Residents (Fr. Tom)

118 Christmas cards were delivered to the residents. LCCW has volunteered to sponsor Bingo every third Saturday.

F) Recipients for 1% Charitable Giving (Mary)

The second quarter recipient for the 1% charitable giving was approved as Share,

($500) Pat/ Patrice carried. At our next meeting we will decide on the next recipient.

New Business

A) Welcome Dick Smook, KC Representative on the Council.

B) Suggestions for on-going council education after “Proclaim Jesus” (Fr. Tom) it is important that the council continue with on-going education. Fr. Tom asked the council members to think of other education ideas/readings that we might be able to use and bring the suggestions to the next meeting.

C) Assessment on building maintenance (Mary)

Mary reported that the cleaning was going pretty well. The Parish Hall is not being cleaned as thoroughly as previously. The floors need to be periodically scrubbed. Mary was going to contact RCO to see what there policies are for possible assistance. George, Dick and Del have been very good about volunteering.

It was suggested that a template listing the weekly, monthly, yearly, fall/spring duties be created to ensure that everything gets completed when necessary. The snow removal is going very good thanks to the many volunteers.

Reports

A) Liturgy (Dan and Fr. Tom)

The Ministry Schedule is working well. There was lots of praise for the Advent / Christmas décor and liturgies.

B) Faith Formation (Dan)

Faith Formation started again this week with the stations/learning centers. St. Catherine’s will host a city wide ecumenical Abstinence Program for grades 9-12 on February 11.

C) Knights of Columbus (Dick)

Membership is holding about the same. The KC’s are looking for ways to raise funds. Scholarships in the amount of $300 were awarded to Lindsey Richters and Sara Doherty.

The Free Throw Contest had a good turnout with winners Brandon Kline, Matt Ahrens, Joe Baustian, Nick Overgaard, Jack Baustian, Macey Edwards, Ashlyn Curtis, Brook Theilbar, and Morgan Edwards.

D) LCCW (Norma)

As discussed earlier, LCCW will sponsor Bingo at the MN Veteran’s Home every third Saturday during the school year. They are forming a new cooking group called Catholic Cooking Women.

E) Finance Council (Mary)

$37,760 has been collected for the Parish debt for the building project; we started at $130,000 in Oct and now are at $92,000. Finance Council minutes were distributed.

F) Social Ministry (Fr. Tom)

Social Ministry minutes were distributed.

G) Pastor

Sponsor Couples for the Engaged are sponsoring a Valentine Dinner and Movie on February 15 at 5:00. The meal will be catered by Brenda Johnson and the movie will be Fireproof.

January 24 and 25, Deacon Leonard Fuller will be at SC & SM to preach about stewardship, and present a “Planned Giving” Seminar.

Articles for the next newsletter are needed by the middle of February.

H) Administrator (Mary)

New security lights will be installed. One of the fans in the Parish Hall is very loose and needs to be replaced. The steps in the link to the Church leading to the Parish Hall will be re-taped.

Mary is working on new hall and kitchen rules that will be more explicit.

Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 8:00 pm. Fr. Tom led us in our closing prayer. The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Deborah Goebel, Secretary