Dean Kick, the Council Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m.

Present:                      Father Bob Betz, Father Steve Varghese, John Bordak, Joe Dulka, Larry Haskin, Dean Kick, Chris Kujawa (arrived after adjournment of meeting), Matt Lemens, Rich Lussier, Kathy Mattke, Steve Raflik, Elaine Tessmer and Jen Trask

Excused/Absent:        Joe Amrhein (excused), Dennis Irwin (excused) and Sean Nuyda (excused)

Guests:                       Alice Berezinski and Gregory Meka

Opening Prayer:         Elaine Tessmer distributed a prepared opening prayer and it was read aloud by all.

Welcome/Review Agenda:

            Dean Kick welcomed the council members to the meeting and briefly reviewed the topics on the agenda. 

Open Forum/Welcome of Guests/Visitors:

The above guests were welcomed to the meeting by Dean Kick and had no comments for the open forum.

Approval of Minutes of the November 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 November 20, 2008, were approved.

Pastors’ Reports:

Father Bob reported on some personnel changes in the parish.  As said at last month’s meeting, Deacon Jim Leggett is transferring to St. Alphonsus Parish, his home parish, effective January 1, 2009.  A new class of men will be ordained as deacons in the spring.  Some “seeds have been planted there” and we hope one of those new deacons will join us at our parish. 

Father Bob also said there will be a consolidation in the office administration.  The three part-time secretaries, Elaine VerBraken, Martha Harty and Judie Wirhanowicz, will be replaced by one permanent part-time secretary whose hours will be from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., five days per week.  None of the three named secretaries who will be leaving at the end of the year chose to continue as full-time employees.  Interviewing is now being done for that new position.  Better unity and communication will result from this change.

            Father Bob reported that we have received the proxy for the second step toward the remodeling process and we will start working toward the third proxy.  He also said he hopes the coming advent season, which is a season of hope, will bring more energy and excitement of parishioners for the remodeling project as those who are presently involved on the building and advisory committees share.

            Father Steve again mentioned the good news of the parish, the wonderful ministries, the Christian Formation program, the school, and said he knows God has blessed us with these various ministries. 

            Father Steve also commented on Deacon Jim’s leaving for St. Alphonsus.  Receptions for him will be held the last weekend in December – one after the 4 p.m. Mass on Saturday and one after the 10:45 a.m. Mass on Sunday.

            Other assorted subjects on which Father Steve touched were:  The new formatted bulletin will be out the first week of Lent which is also the first week in March.  The time and talent surveys brought great responses from the parishioners.  About 44 ladies participated in the widows’ Christmas program.  He also said that the archbishop would be meeting with members of parishes’ staffs on January 19th, from 2–4 p.m. at the Cousins Center, [with council members and trustees on January 20^th from 6-8 p.m., and with priests on January 27^th from 10-Noon].

Contemplative Break: 

The question of the week appearing in the current parish bulletin was: “What parts of your life point the way to Jesus for others?”  The discussion was led by Elaine Tessmer.

Committee Reports/Updates:  

            Copies of minutes of the following committees were provided to all council members prior to this meeting:  Building and Grounds Committee of 11/12/08; Human Concerns Committee of 12/4/08; Life Long Formation Committee of 12/4/08; Parish Life Committee of 11/6/08 and 12/4/08; and School Committee of 11/13/08.  Also provided was the Weekly Collection Report for the month of November 2008, and the Holy Day and first two weeks of December 2008, as compared with the contributions for the same period of 2007.  A Faith in Our Future Report (received from the FIOF Office) showing contributions for the months of June through October 2008, and the amounts applied to the parish’s benchmark, to the parish and to the archdiocese, was also provided.

Finance Committee.  Joe Dulka reported that we are about $17,700 behind last year’s contributions, and he said the rest of the year would tell us exactly where we are.  Father Bob suggested one of the reasons is because our population is down, parishioners dying, and other people are not attending Mass.  Joe further said we must get the younger people back into the church. 

            Larry Haskin inquired as to what kind of hit the parish has taken because of the present economy.  Joe Dulka advised that previously we had a 70/30 split in stocks and bonds, but after receiving advice from managers at the bank in July, the split was changed to 53% in stock and 47% in bonds.  We started with $1.4 million and Joe believes we are still over that.  Larry believes the Council should know where we stand and requested a list or minutes with that information, especially in view of the coming building project.  Rich Lussier told Joe they would discuss that at their next meeting.

            Building Committee.  Rich noted that on January 5^th at 6:30 p.m. a meeting of the Building Committee and the Advisory Committee is scheduled at the Parish Life Center; the Building Committee will subsequently consider the suggestions of the Advisory Committee.  Rich also noted that we must emphasize the message that our goal is getting down to two sites.  We cannot request that the Long Range Planning Committee proceed with any further steps at this time.  Another council member inquired as to whether council members could attend Advisory Committee meetings as observers; the reply was in the affirmative since all meetings are open meetings and they are basically brainstorming sessions.

Life Long Formation.  Steve Raflik indicated that this committee is working on trying to get the young people back to the church.  They have already made contact with St. Matthew’s Parish and will get together in February with them to share ideas.  Answering another council member’s inquiry, he said he believes St. Matt’s may be in the same boat we are. 

Fall Festival.  Rich Lussier advised that about $22,000 was netted from the festival, and the profit was better than first thought.  Rich also stated that it was decided to continue the First Friday Fish Fry in 2009.

Building and Grounds Committee.  Matt Lemens reported that subsequent to the preparation of the minutes, the tree in front of the church had been cut down.  Another topic not included in the minutes was a member’s suggestion that automatic door openers, e.g., large buttons on the outside of the church doors, be installed because of the weight of the doors; someone else’s reply was that those door openers are very expensive and will not be considered at this time because of the impending remodeling of the church.  Matt read aloud the committee’s mission statement that is contained in the printed committee minutes. 

Prayer and Worship Committee.  Elaine Tessmer said the committee is getting ready for the Christmas season and liturgies.

OLD BUSINESS:

Faith in Our Future – Current Campaign Status.  Joe Dulka reported that Dianne Angst was able to provide the information contained in the handout received by all council members.  This information was contained in a report from the Faith in Our Future office.  Although the list is “as of December 18, 2008,” it contains contributions from June through October 2008 only.  Joe read the amount of our benchmark, the amount applied to our benchmark ($167,218.03), and the total amount of money received by our parish from the Faith in Our Future office ($100,330.82).  This list is not up to date but contains the information received from the Faith in Our Future office as of December 18^th.

Better Use of Our Website W/Paul Neuberger.  Larry Haskin talked with Paul Neuberger who is a member of our parish and a director at St. Thomas More High School.  He has a very good website which is always current.  They talked about the Divine Mercy website and how much information it already contains.  Paul is very enthusiastic about websites and would be agreeable to meeting with our parish staff and offering suggestions as to how to include additional current information.  Larry believes our website is underutilized, the staff should be more involved with the website, and it could be used as a tool for evangelization.    Dianne Angst will assume more responsibility for the website information.

NEW BUSINESS: 

            Next Steps to Take With Evangelization and Marketing Ideas.  Rich Lussier stated that there is a newspaper in South Milwaukee that does have free listings for churches, if someone would care to investigate that further.

Elaine Tessmer attempted to contact the person in charge of the Sunrise Shopping Center regarding scrolling marquee advertising.  In spite of various attempts to contact that person and in spite of referrals from store merchants, she was not successful in making such contact – even the City of South Milwaukee does not have a contact person.  After further discussion, it was suggested that Elaine contact Mike Baranowski who is a member of our parish and perhaps he could answer her questions.

At the November meeting, Kathy Mattke requested and received the Council’s permission for her handing out candy canes at the South Milwaukee Christmas Parade.  Kathy reported that she had distributed 600-700 small candy canes with labels about Divine Mercy Parish, the Mass schedule, and a message similar to “come worship with us.”  She personally heard comments about how really nice that was.

  February Meeting of Council, Finance and the Building Committee.  Rich Lussier said the Building Committee is working on a special meeting with the Finance Committee and Parish Council on February 12^th with possibly some blueprints and costs available, which would allow fund raising plans.  It was then mentioned by another council member that the next proxy requested is when we have our final plans available and the next five-year financial issues are in place - those things must be laid out for the next proxy to the archdiocese.  Joe Dulka mentioned that when we have the meeting with all three groups, we won’t have any drawings - it’s just a time when we discuss our requirements.  At this point Elaine Tessmer mentioned that some people are concerned about the location of the tabernacle, but Father Bob responded that the archdiocese has determined that the tabernacle will be in the center. 

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 January was circulated before and during the meeting.

We Give Thanks.

Closing Prayer:  Elaine Tessmer led the Council in reading the closing prayer that had previously been distributed. 

Adjournment:  The meeting adjourned at 7:42 p.m., and a social hour with snacks provided by council members followed.

                                                                        Respectfully submitted,

                                                                        Marcy Gramza, Recording Secretary