Joe Zolecki, the Council Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.

Present:                      Father Bob Betz, Father Steve Varghese, Joe Amrhein, John Bordak, Tracey Borzick, Joe Dulka, Gary Hamilton, Larry Haskin, Dennis Irwin, Dean Kick, Rich Lussier, Steve Raflik, Elaine Tessmer and Joe Zolecki

Absent:                       Chris Kujawa and Sean Nuyda

Guests:                       Patty Bollis, Gregory Meka and Marilyn Stewart

Opening Prayer:         Dennis Irwin distributed a prepared opening prayer and everyone read it aloud.         

Welcome/Review Agenda:

            Joe Zolecki welcomed the council members to the meeting and reviewed the agenda.  He said the sequence of topics on the agenda would be rearranged with the budget presentation being the first topic following the contemplative break, and that an additional topic of APC by Dennis Irwin would be added as the last item on the agenda. 

Open Forum/Welcome of Guests/Visitors:

The guests were then welcomed to the meeting by Joe Zolecki, identified themselves by name, and offered no other comments.

Approval of Minutes of the March 2008 Meeting:  

There being no additions, corrections or deletions to the proposed minutes, upon motion duly made and seconded, the minutes of the meeting of March 27, 2008 were approved by the Council as prepared.  

Pastors’ Reports:

            Father Bob commented about the Easter Triduum celebrations and expressed thanks to Chris Sepersky for coordinating those celebrations and to all the other ministries for their participation.  He further said the dinner and play held shortly after Easter at the 16^th Avenue hall went very well, was a good community builder and compliments were received afterward.  A resolution regarding the sale of the 13^th Avenue Hall and the parking lot to the north had been distributed and Father Bob asked if the closing date had been set; Larry Haskin stated the financing for the buyer had been approved but no definite date for the closing is scheduled as of this date; Father Bob said the aforementioned resolution from the title company is unnecessary because a proxy from the archdiocese has already been received.  Father Bob stated that the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills results were in for our school and they were all very high except for one level, but they are looking for a new math book and will be doing some further computer work; also, the valedictorians at Thomas More and South Milwaukee High Schools are from Divine Mercy.  All the staff members of the school will return for next year.  The religious ed program already has 150 families enrolled and the enrollment period continues until August. 

            Father Bob said he has some concerns regarding the upcoming Capital Campaign because of the economy and the finances with the Cousins Center and the archdiocese.  On the other hand, he said our parishioners are very generous with our monthly charities.  The report regarding our parish’s participation in the annual stewardship appeal was received and showed we are behind last year’s; the number of people giving is down but those individuals who are giving are giving more.  He wanted to publicly thank Dianne Angst for her many hours devoted to the campaign, noted that she was involved in the campaign in her own parish, St. Matthias, and has assumed many of the leadership roles in our parish.  He talked about how the collection and application of funds is handled by the very restrictive Trust Fund for the campaign; a proxy from the archdiocese signed by Archbishop Dolan, Bishop Sklba, Father Bob and each of the two parish trustees showing that our sixty percent of the funds will be used for the remodeling of the church including a narthex, a small hall and eight classrooms for the intergenerational program has been received.  [This proxy was given to the recording secretary to be attached to the minutes of this parish council meeting and filed in the parish office.]

            Father Steve commented about the many good things that are happening in our parish including the many people who are willing to sacrifice their time for celebrations.  Bishop William Callahan will confirm 71 young adults of our parish this Friday, and last Sunday those being confirmed and their parents gathered together for celebration.  He talked to Judi Backes today and she said already 160 families are registered for the next religious education program.  Regarding the capital campaign, he believes it will go well and says we need to do our part and trust in the Lord. 

            At a previous council meeting Father Steve talked about how to bring the young people back to the church.   A flyer entitled Young Adults and the Church and How to Bring Them Back was distributed.  This presentation will be given by Paul Neuberger, a parishioner who is a development director at Thomas More High School; it will be held on April 18^th at the Christian Formation Center on 16^th Avenue.  Another member opined that this person might be a good resource for suggestions and ideas for keeping our young people involved in the church.

Contemplative Break:  

The question of the week appearing in this week’s bulletin was “Who are the ones, in your household or otherwise, for whom you are a shepherd” (and why or how?)  The discussion was led by Dennis.

Budget Presentation. 

A proposed 2008-09 budget for the parish was distributed to all council members.  John Bordak stated that the Finance Committee had met the previous week and that Patty Bollis, the finance administrator, then prepared the proposed budget using the “numbers” given her and by working with other department heads of the parish and using their “numbers”; John said the bottom line is that the totals are just $372 off which is good, and he commended Patty for her fine efforts.  Some of the individual items of revenues and expenses that he briefly reviewed included statements that contributions are listed as about flat, tuitions have increased, rentals have increased, fundraisers are flat, general expenses were increased by about one-half percent, and the various ministries’ expenses were mentioned.  There is about a 10% increase in expenses for Building & Grounds, but that may be adjusted because of the sales of the 13^th Avenue Hall and the lot since no payments for insurance, electricity, etc., will be necessary.  Relative to the investment income (top of p. 2), a smaller amount is being allocated for that because of the falling interest rates.  He also said that because of operating within the parish budget, it has not been necessary to go into those funds.  It costs about $2.5 million plus to operate the parish.  John said if everyone continues to do as they have in the past, the budget should be achieved.  Patty Bollis mentioned that the parish might contract with a professional agency for the general cleaning of the sites. 

There was discussion as to whether parishioners will continue to make the same amounts of contributions to the parish as before or whether some of them will split contributions between the parish and the upcoming campaign, but that is an unknown at this time.  One of the members inquired as to whether a statement could be made to parishioners suggesting that a portion of the $600 rebates from the government be donated to the church.  Another member stated that 29 school families contribute nothing to the church; a special letter is being sent to them tomorrow reminding them again.

John Bordak said that included in the letter to all families and which is signed by the School Committee and the two pastors is the statement that each family is to give at least $15 per week or $780 per year, that 35% of the families owe their obligation to the parish, that the parish subsidizes $2180 for each student, that they made a commitment when they first registered their children, and a financial statement indicating their payments thus far on a quarterly basis.  Father Bob then stated they are not trying to make the school unaffordable to anyone who wants to send their child to the religious school, but they are concerned about attendance at Mass and, if families are having some type of financial difficulties, that they make some effort or contribution on a consistent basis. 

Again, Joe Dulka reminded everyone that the proposed budget should be studied and reviewed by the council members and would be taken up for approval at the May meeting.

Committee Reports/Updates:  

            Copies of minutes of the following committees were made available to council members prior to this meeting:  Building & Grounds Committee of 4/9/08; Life Long Formation Committee of 4/3/08; Parish Life Committee of 4/3/08; and Prayer & Worship Committee of 4/3/08. 

Building & Grounds Committee.  Tracey Borzick stated that the BigWigs would meet at the 13^th Avenue Hall to clean it out before the date of closing.  At last month’s meeting Tracey asked if Father Steve would check to see if they could go ahead with the idea of converting the College Avenue church into a combined church and a gym, and Father Steve said he didn’t think that could be done and talked further about carrying chairs into and out of the church area every time there is a Mass.  Father Bob stated that to deconsecrate a church requires a proxy from the archdiocese; further, he said he doesn’t know if it could be used as both a church and a gym because at present at least three Masses are celebrated there each week plus funerals and weddings for people originally from the College Avenue site.  Father Bob said he is not against the idea entirely but is against it at this time because he does not want it to be a deterrent before the campaign.  The matter of cost for the conversion was discussed.  Tracey said they wanted to work on the project during the summer months.  The new playground equipment, which is portable, is to be installed very soon.   

Lengthy discussion was then held regarding the present school site and why the students from the 16^th Avenue site were transferred to College to form one school if the College Avenue site wasn’t going to be the final school site.  Another explained that the original College Avenue and the 16^th Avenue schools were merged shortly after the merger of the parish and while there were still four distinct sites.  It was later determined by the Council, following the long term planning committee’s recommendation, that the parish would have just two sites, a worship site and a school site; the worship site was immediately chosen, but the final school site had not and still has not been determined. 

At this point Joe Zolecki said the Council is not ready to make a decision regarding the conversion of the College church into a combined church and gym, and Tracey was to so advise the Building & Grounds Committee.

Prayer and Worship Committee.   Elaine Tessmer referred everyone to the written minutes, and stated that any future Good Friday evening services would be discussed at a later date.  All subcommittees are doing very well. 

            Life Long Committee.   Dean Kick stated that the CCYM will use the 16^th Avenue stage facilities for future performances rather than the Cudahy school, and all storage will be moved from Marquette to the 16^th Avenue facilities.

            Parish Life Committee.  The murder mystery play and dinner was attended by about 162 people and was considered a “great” play especially seeing our own parishioners taking part in it.

            Finance Committee.  Joe Dulka reported that the envelopes and loose collections so far this month amounted to a sum $6200 over last year, and the electronic giving is $7000 this month.

            Human Concerns Committee.   Joe Amrhein reported that transportation for those in need of it is being provided but there are not that many calls.  Only three people are involved in the respect for life group and they would like more.  In June the Share Sunday collection will be for Visitation House which is a home where women can live in community for days or weeks at a time, and it is housed in the former St. John Kanty rectory or convent in Milwaukee’s south side. 

            School Committee.  A question was asked about who made the decision regarding the playground equipment, and Tracey stated it was Theresa Piraino.  It was paid for by the Home and School Association; that group pays for a number of things for the school and doesn’t come to the Council.  The next query was whether there is a written policy for purchases even though the parish per se does not pay for them.  Rich Lussier will bring the policy to the next council meeting for Tracey to deliver to the Building & Grounds Committee.  Other members opined that parishioners should not be asked to make donations for different kinds of things such as for the school committee’s fundraisers through inserts in the bulletin.

OLD BUSINESS:

            Faith in Our Future Capital Campaign.   Joe Dulka reported that of the needed 100 phone callers, they have only 58.  They will be making the first calls nest week to parishioners reminding them to pick up the campaign packets after the weekend Masses.  Elaine of the Prayer committee said they have just three members, that boxes will be placed in the back of church to receive the parishioners’ requests for prayers, and that Father Bob suggested that we use the prayer for the campaign in the liturgies.  Joe also said that the top ten percent of contributors of the parish, council members, committee chairs and campaign leaders will be invited to attend a gathering with Bishop William Callahan at 16^th Avenue on April 30^th, at 10 a.m. or 7 p.m.  On May 17^th and 18^th there will be a Special Event with refreshments and doughnuts after each Mass as well as an activity for families; these events will be held outside, weather permitting, or in various areas inside.  Posters will be made for the campaign, and the school kids will be involved in this also.  Elaine commented that with all the talk about the campaign, there are still some people who “don’t get it.”  Following another’s comment regarding the checks for the campaign, Father Bob clarified that by saying the trust checks will come directly to us; Patty Bollis has a separate account for the campaign checks; the money is electronically transferred to the archdiocese’s Campaign Trust account; that Trust then sends us our 60% of that amount about one month later; we will not lose any interest on the collected money.

Nominating Committee for Council Membership.  Dennis Irwin reported that one person has been nominated for parish trustee, and no nominations for parish council have been received as of this date.  There was discussion as to why parishioners do not wish to serve.  Some people have been asked and refused, some are involved with other committees or with the campaign and do not wish to add another duty, or they do not wish to make a three-year commitment.  Nominations for the council will be accepted until April 22^nd; it is important to remember that people must be asked if they would be willing to accept this position before nominating them.  Three of the four council members whose terms expire this year are not seeking additional terms of office; the fourth, Rich Lussier, though he would be willing to serve another term, did not believe he was eligible; after further conversation on the subject it was determined that he is eligible to seek another term and, therefore, he is now a candidate for the next Council.  It is up to the present members to ask other parishioners to serve as council members.  The discernment of the new members will take place within the next council meeting on May 15^th. 

NEW BUSINESS: 

            Evangelization.  Father Steve mentioned that at the last council meeting it was decided that the Long Range Planning Committee was to address and plan on ways to increase Mass attendance.  Dennis had a printout from some time ago on Some Ideas for Increasing Mass Attendance which would involve members of the parish council and various ministries, committees and the day school.  Some suggestions were that leaders should show personal interest in others’ needs, concerns and interests.  Father Bob interjected that Sue Repa, one of the pastoral assistants, will be working an additional five hours per week following her graduation from a pastoral program and will be working on volunteerism and probably an evangelization.  Other members suggested more participation in community-wide activities or having some advertising with the parish’s name to promote our existence in this area.

            SPA Report Review.   A copy of the report entitled Executive Summary Report of our school dated November 27, 2007 and which was reported on at the March 2008 council meeting, was made available to all council members, and Gary Hamilton urged everyone to review it.  He disagrees with Father Bob regarding the Iowa Basic Test scores, copies of which he produced for everyone; Gary said he is not impressed with those scores.  He also produced a sheet of High School Placement Test Scores for the last five years for kids coming out of our school.  He said there is a decline in different areas in the last five years; he said these would be discussed with the Home and School Committee.  Another member said there is no way to compare these scores with other schools or areas.  Someone else asked Father Bob if he could get comparisons from the archdiocese, and he said he would request them.

            Issue Relating to Case Statement.  Gary Hamilton said he was a member of the core group and said he has been asked by people, particularly school families, about what is going to be done with the funds from the sale of properties because the Case Statement is not what the Council agreed upon.  He said Father Bob was not interested in creating an endowment for the school by raising funds from the campaign, but as buildings were sold the proceeds from the buildings would be used for an endowment for the school.  At this point Father Bob interjected “when” the other costs were paid.  Steve Raflik said the Case Statement would be for the renovation of the church and also to sell church assets to help fund an endowment for Catholic education, not Catholic school, and not all moneys from the sales of assets must be used for endowments; he said the minutes stated the Case Statement accurately.  Joe Zolecki said his recollection is that as moneys were freed up from the sale of buildings, an endowment would be set up for Catholic education, not the school.  Lengthy and very heated talk followed. 

            Miscellaneous statements follow:  1) If the campaign is not successful, we will have to reevaluate the use of funds from the sales of buildings; 2)  The words Catholic education rather than school were used because it gave the greatest latitude as to how we were going to use the resources;   3)  If we sell all the buildings and put the money into Catholic education, we won’t have any place for fellowship;           4)  What is the endowment for? -– Does that mean we’re going to reduce the tuition?       5)  We must see the results of the campaign and evaluate where we are at that time;   6)  We must look forward to the remodeling of the church site first and all that goes with it; it is too early to discuss the endowment fund; we must now focus on the campaign.

APC REPORT.  Dennis talked about the District 15’s goals and objectives.  The archdiocese wants our parish to continue evaluating our buildings and their usage.  We must also have a cluster relationship with neighboring parishes to share resources, work together, such as parish nurses, free clinics, evangelization, etc.  We can either cluster with Nativity of the Lord in Cudahy or with the churches closest to us which are St. Louis in Caledonia, St. Mary by the Lake in Racine, St. Matthew’s in Oak Creek, and St. Stephen’s in Milwaukee. We must report back to the APC at the next meeting on January 9^th.  Plans and an agreement for clustering with the churches must be done by September 8^th.  The APC meets three times a year.  Dialogue with the other parishes will begin soon and the final decision will be made after meetings with their leadership.

OTHER NEWS, NOTES, COMMENTS AND/OR ANNOUNCEMENTS:

            A sign-up sheet for presentation of the Council’s report to be given at all Masses the first weekend in May was circulated before and during the meeting.

Give Thanks.

Closing Prayer:  Dennis distributed a closing prayer which was read by all.

Adjournment:  The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:38 p.m. 

                                                                        Respectfully submitted,

                                                                        Marcy Gramza, Recording Secretary