Notes from the Social Ministry Meeting

January 9, 2008 6 PM

Those present were Father Tom, George Langford, Bill Deutsch,Vicky Nelson, Sue Buffington, Patty Evans, Mary Lou Mulligan, Tillie Clark, Bernadine Merrill, Jackie Wieneke and Mike Jarchow and daughter.

We opened our meeting by saying the Prayer for Immigration Week from the Bishops Conference.

We discussed the upcoming Pro – Life events. We will have the Baby Bottle collection the weekend of January 19^th and 20^th. The money will benefit the Helping Hands Pregnancy Center in Worthington. We will have special music at the Sunday Mass performed by Gina Jarchow Newman and her daughters. The annual pro – life rally will be held at the LHS Little Theater on January 22 at 7 PM. The Bishops have named January 22^nd a day of penance for human dignity.

The political caucuses will happen on February 5. The Bishop's pamphlet on Faithful Citizenship will arrive soon. There will be a Day on the Hill in St. Paul on March 13. This is Minnesota's interfaith lobby day for social justice. Father suggested that Mary Lou Mulligan should attend. Harveen Gluf would like to hear what politicians have to say about stem cell research.

The Farm Bill did not pass as it was written so they may have to renegotiate subsidy caps. More information can be found on the National Catholic Rural Life Conference web site.

The Emergency Food Shelf will receive just over $2000 from the Cropwalk in Spetember 2007. Our collection month for the food shelf is February. Our parish is doing Meals on Wheels this month, January.

At Christmas we gave a poinsettia plant to each family who lost a member during the year. Mike Jarchow suggested that we might be able to get a better price from his brother at the Family Drugstore next year.

The Elizabeth Ministry was updated by Harveen Gluf who said that she has a few families to receive meals and some new volunteers to deliver them.

We handed out sheets with TEN THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP CURB GLOBAL WARMING.

Nichole Paladie, the Social Action Coordinator for the Worthington Deanery, arrived to make a power point presentation on Ministry to the Grieving and to the Home Bound. It was very interesting. She described an 8 week program for ministering to the Grieving called Coffee and Conversation. She has all kinds of aids and she will handle the training that would be necessary. As for the homebound, there is a program which will start soon in Rock County called Elder Watch. She had spoken to our Sheriff and he would like our assistance in that. Here again she would train any volunteers. We decided that we needed some time to pray and discern our decision on these programs.

We adjourned without setting a date for our next meeting but we are considering March 12 as a possible date.

Respectfully submitted, Mary Lou Mulligan, Coordinator