Church of St. Catherine Parish Pastoral Council

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Meeting Minutes

 

Members Present:  Norma Stewart, Fr. Tom, Deb Goebel, Dan Nath, Mary McLaughlin

Members Absent:  Patrice Hohn, Pat Saum, Jeff Wieneke

Members Excused: George Langford, Gregg Gropel

 

The meeting was called to order by Dan Nath and began with a prayer from Fr. Tom.  There was not a quorum so the minutes were not approved. 

 

Old Business

A)    Bishop HarringtonÕs Pastoral Letter (Fr. Tom) Welcome The Stranger, pages 13-15 in ÒProclaim JesusÓ

Discussed how this affects our Hispanic population.  Currently, we only have one Hispanic child in faith formation.  Elsa Olivio will be our Spanish coordinator for Hispanic ministries.

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

Dan reported that this project can be completed in four phases.  The first phase includes the purchase of the basics, not exceeding the $1,000 donation, so Mass broadcasts on local cable TV can begin by the end of December.  The committee is still waiting for Sim Sound & Video to come to St. Catherine to review the other needs and estimate the cost.

C)    Appraisal of Fr. TomÕs Pastoral Work

Fr. Tom was pleased with the response to his request for appraisal of his pastoral work.  He reviewed the results with the council.

D)    Fall fest 2008 Results

The Fallfest netted approximately $14,500 in profit.  The breakdown will be provided later.

 

New Business

A)    1% Charitable Giving

Each quarter, St. Catherine will give 1% to other charities.  Food for the Poor received the first 1% donation, $475.  Council members were asked to bring suggestions for future donations.  Some suggestions included SHARE, Will Work for Food, St. JudeÕs Hospital, ChildrenÕs Miracle Network, Helping Hands in Worthington. The council voted to give second quarter charitable gift to SHARE.

B)    ÒNo One Dies AloneÓ Handout                                                                                       This is a reading to be discussed at the next council meeting.

C)    Stewardship Council

Fr. Tom would like to form a Stewardship Council to monitor and coordinate the stewardship activities.  The Finance Council has endorsed this effort and he is already inviting membership to serve on it. This will be on the agenda for the next council meeting

D)    Outreach to VeteranÕs Home Residents

Fr. Tom questioned if we should be doing more for our veterans at the Luverne Veterans Home. Members agreed and shared a number of ideas, including a special outreach for Christmas. This will also be on the agenda for the next council meeting.

 

Reports

A)    Liturgy (Dan and Fr. Tom)

No report

 

B)    Faith Formation (Dan)

17 youth and 3 or 4 adults are going on Pine Ridge Mission trip this summer. Some parishioners have given donations to help with costs.  The after-school program is going very well.  The hours have been extended.  The freshmen, sophomores and juniors still need service hours.

 

C)    Knights of Columbus (George)

No report

 

D)    LCCW (Norma)

The next meeting will be on Tuesday December 9, with a program on Helping Hands.  Everyone is encouraged to bring something for an infant.  The Winterfest cookie sale is approaching.  Everyone is asked to bring 6 dozen cookies for the cookie sale or a cash donation. CCW will sponsor the Poinsettia plant gift to each family experiencing a 2008 death of close family member, and will sponsor and host the appreciation event for SM and SC volunteers.

 

E)     Finance Council (Mary)

They are working on improving the monthly financial statements to make them easier to understand.  The Finance Council is happy with the progress of reducing the parish debt.  The stewardship mailing is going out on Friday and the Council endorsed forming a building council.  The Finance Council will be working on a set of rules for use of the Parish Hal and kitchen that will be posted.

 

F)     Social Ministry (Fr. Tom)

Social Ministry will be hosting 10,000 Villages after Mass this Sunday. Minutes of the last 2 Meetings were distributed.

 

G)    Pastor

Father followed up on the Boy Scout proposal.  Kyle Schumacher, who presented the proposal from the Boy Scouts last spring, has been promoted and his replacement has not contacted us.  As we are half way through the year, we will wait for them to contact us again and put this on hold. Sponsor Couples for the engaged have started their training.  There are 7 couples.  The next training session will be in December.

RCIA starts tomorrow and there are approximately 9 candidates. Jill Willers is the sewing center coordinator.

 

H)    Administrator (Mary)

Fall Fest wrap up meeting was held.  Some chair volunteers have expressed a desire to help but not chair.  Many have chaired committees for the Fallfest for years and it is time to get others involved. Deacon Leonard Fuller, Diocesan Coordinator of stewardship was unable to come for stewardship due to surgery. We will invite him to come a weekend in Jan. or Feb. to preach on stewardship and possibly give a workshop on Wills, bequests and various ways of deferred giving to the Church.

 

Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 8:00 pm.  ÒProclaim JesusÓ pages 16-18 is the required reading for the next meeting.

 

Fr. Tom led us in our closing prayer.  The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 pm.

 

Respectfully Submitted, Deborah Goebel, Secretary