Church of St. Catherine Parish Pastoral Council

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Meeting Minutes

 

Members present:  Gregg Gropel, Fr. Tom, Deb Goebel, Pat Saum, George Langford, Norma Steward, Jeff Wieneke, Patrice Hohn

Members excused:  Dan Nath           

Guests:  Mary McLaughlin

 

The meeting was called to order by George Langford and began with a prayer from Fr. Tom.   The meeting minutes of May 7, 2008, were approved.  A motion was made by Deb to approve the minutes as written, seconded by Pat.  Motion carried.   

 

The agenda was amended to include nominations and election of Vice-Chair and Secretary, discussion on boy scouts and sponsor couples for the engaged.  The agenda was approved with a motion from Pat and seconded by Norma.

 

Old Business

A)   Elections – Pat Saum was elected Vice-Chair with a motion from Gregg and second by Jeff.  Deb Goebel was elected Secretary with a motion from George and second by Jeff.

B)   Bishop HarringtonÕs Pastoral Letter (Fr. Tom) The Gospel, pgs 8-9 in ÒProclaim JesusÓ  -

C)   Video Camera and TV for Sunday Mass Broadcasts  (Pat) - Pat reported that he visited another church in Sioux Falls to examine their electronic set up and came back with many good ideas and also what to avoid.  He presented a list of audio/video needs for St. CatherineÕs and categorized them into three goals for implementation; short, mid and long term.  After discussion it was decided to set up a meeting with Sim Sound & Video and have them look at what might be needed in addition to what we already have.  We have a donation of $1,000 already designated for this venture.  A motion was made by Patrice and seconded by Deb to contact Sim Sound & Video.

D)   Boy Scouts (Fr. Tom) – This was a follow up discussion on the Boy Scouts presentation by Kyle Schumacher from Sioux Falls in March.  It was voted to begin the Boy Scout program in the March Council meeting but havenÕt seen anything since then.  Fr. Tom said that a call was made to Kyle but he did not call back.  Fr. Tom will follow up again.

E)    Sponsor Couples for the Engaged (Fr. Tom) – Fr. Tom said that there were 22 couples recommended although no one has been contacted at this time.  Alma Richards who normally conducts the training has retired so Fr. Tom said that he would do the training.  It was mentioned that there were classes in Sioux Falls.  Father will check on the possibility of utilizing the Sioux Falls classes.

 

New Business

A)   Appraisal of Fr. TomÕs Pastoral Work (Fr. Tom) – Father gave us an evaluation form to complete.  Feedback is requested in the areas of preaching, liturgy, pastoral care, evangelization, administration, staff development, stewardship promotion, parish morale/unity/volunteerism.

B)   Fallfest Õ08, October 12, 2008 (Mary) – Mary gave a recap of the Fallfest activities.  Big ticket items will be cash again this year.  Bingo from 1:00-2:00, kidÕs games (no cake walk), bake sale.  Donations are needed for the big ticket drawing and the bake sale.  The letters with the raffle tickets are to be mailed on September 25th.

C)   Stewardship Renewal (Fr. Tom) – Fr. Tom would like to see display tables in the gathering space again this year promoting stewardship in the various activities at St. Catherine.  A mailing is planned for November with a cover letter, brochure and sign-up card.  We discussed the coordination of all the display tables and Father said that he would get back to us on the date.  Deb and Patrice volunteered to coordinate the project.  It was so moved and seconded by George and Gregg, respectively.  The motion passed.

Reports

A)   Liturgy (Dan and Fr. Tom) – No report.

B)    Faith Formation (Fr. Tom) – Father reported that the study of Matthew started again last week.  He also reported that there were currently 2 people registered for the Financial Freedom seminar.

C)    Knights of Columbus (George) – The schedules for the fish fries and breakfasts are now out.  They decided to go back to serving breakfast instead of lunch. 

D)   LCCW (Norma) – LCCW held their first meeting with over 30 people in attendance.  The next meeting is October 14 and a trip to the Ronald McDonald house is planned.  The Ronald McDonald houses are in need of various supplies and food.  Please see the church bulletin.

E)    Finance Council (Mary) – Mary said that the finance council met last night. The budget hasnÕt been finalized yet.  The parish is still short by about $130,000.  Father recently sent a letter to all parishioners requesting additional support for the debt and has some good results.  A second collection designated specifically to help with the debt will be conducted every week for approximately the next year. Father also suggested posting a graph showing each week how much closer we are at closing the gap. 

Father also mentioned that we will be donating 1%, approximately $500, as a sacrificial gift to various charities.  It was recommended that the first donation be given to the Food for the Poor.  Father recommended that the council members come up with 3 recommendations each on various charities for this gift and bring them to the next council meeting.  We will pool all the recommendations and come up with a schedule for the donations. The motion was made by Deb and seconded by Jeff.  It was approved.

F)    Social Ministry Committee (Fr. Tom) – Doe Appleton from Liberia is trying to build an orphanage in Liberia for 75 children who lived in the refugee camp in which he had been confined in Ghana.  This would be a diocesan project with some fundraising for this around Christmas time.

Crop Walk is September 28th, St. CatherineÕs is doing Meals on Wheels during the month of October and is in charge of the food pantry in November, October 19 is Bread for the World Hunger Sunday with a second collection, the Harvest Truck will stop in Luverne on October 28th.

Fair Trade Coffee and Tea is available in the parish store.  Fair Trade is a name given to products, usually from poor countries, which are sold in this country without the Òmiddle manÓ so that the producers receive a more fair return on their investment. 

G)   PastorÕs Report  (Fr. Tom) – Father reported that 12 new trees were planted in the cemetery.  George has been watering and applying mulch to them.  Thank you for your work.

H)   Administrator – No report.

 

Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 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