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

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

Excused:                     Joe Amrhein and Sean Nuyda

Guests:                       Marilyn Stewart and Carole Szczech

Opening Prayer:         Tracey Borzick distributed excerpts from The Universal Prayer and all council members read it aloud.

Welcome/Review Agenda:

            Joe Zolecki welcomed all the council members to this meeting and reviewed the agenda. Because traditionally the December meeting is relatively short, he announced that no oral committee reports would be given unless it is considered essential at this time and could not wait until the January meeting. 

Open Forum/Welcome of Guests/Visitors:

The guests were welcomed to the meeting by Joe Zolecki and indicated they were attending as observers only. 

Approval of Minutes of the November 2007 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 15, 2007, were approved by the Council as prepared. 

Pastors’ Reports:

Father Bob thanked all the members of the parish for the season’s cards and gifts received, for their friendship, for the Council’s and all the committees’ services, work and ministries.  He announced that the preliminary report from the SPA committee for our school’s evaluation is very good.  Referring to the religious ed program, he said that the last program for the adults was basically a social or open house with the parents visiting the various classrooms; following their visits, three parents were so impressed with the program that they spoke to Judy Backes and volunteered to become teachers in the program.

Father Bob reported that the long range planning and the capital campaign committees have come together and narrowed down the focus or statement as to where our funds would be going.  He also said that he and Father Steve had met with the architect today; they were disappointed in the plans submitted because they were for a three-level building to be added onto the church which they said would look terrible, and the price was outrageous; after further discussion and a reconfiguration of the plan, they came down to $4.8 million rather than $7 million.  This plan is just an attempt to give the people an idea of what we are talking about.  Though this latest plan hasn’t been fully studied, it will be brought to the long range planning committee to begin writing their focus.

Father Steve said he wanted to acknowledge all the good things that are happening in our parish.  He said within the last two weeks many meetings regarding the capital campaign have been held, and they have a few names of people who will be asked to work on the campaign.  Father Steve also mentioned the meeting with Mike Groth, the architect, who submitted plans over and above what had been expected.  He said we must continue to think about what we are doing and we must work together.  Referring to the Case statement, he said we don’t have to have a concrete plan in place right now. 

Contemplative Break: 

The question of the week appearing in the bulletin was:  “How will you bring the light of Christ into your home this Advent Season?”  The discussion was facilitated by Tracey.

Committee Reports/Updates:  

            Copies of minutes of the following committees were made available to council members prior to this meeting:  Human Concerns Committee dated 12/6/07; Parish Life Committee of 12/6/07; Prayer & Worship Committee dated 12/6/07; and School Committee dated 11/5/07 and 12/6/07.  Also made available was the Finance Committee’s Weekly Collection Report for the months of July, August, September, October and November 2007. 

            Joe Dulka of the Finance Committee referred to the Weekly Collection Report and said that to come up with last year’s collections for the month of December, we would need about $75,000 contributions for the next Sunday and for Christmas Day, and that would still leave us about $23,000 behind last year.  It was suggested that during the announcements before Christmas Masses the priests should remind parishioners of our shortage possibly caused by the weather on two weekends and suggest generous donations for the second collections at those Masses.  It was stated that second collections at Christmas Masses generate $4,000 to $5,000.  A council member inquired about electronic contributions, but no exact figures of people involved or contributions were available at this time.

            Tracey Borzick of the Building & Grounds Committee stated that the next Big Wigs cleaning day would be on January 19, 2008 beginning at 9 a.m. at the Parish Life Center. 

            Chris Kujawa on behalf of the School Committee reported that at its meeting they discussed the SPA evaluation which went quite well and that the written report will be received in January.  There is a renewed commitment to get the families from the school to become more involved in the church, and the committee will reevaluate some of its members.  At this point Father Steve stated that he had a meeting with members of the School Committee regarding spiritual aspects, and they discussed methods of getting the school families to attend Sunday Mass; it was decided that one or two classes of students and their families would attend a Mass on Sundays, possibly 9 a.m. Mass, and thus get the families involved in the liturgy; a definite starting date has not yet been established.

            Larry Haskin of the Long Range Planning Committee reported that it was the consensus of the committee to recommend to the Council that eventually there be just two sites – a worship site and a school site.  In addition, the committee did not believe it appropriate at this time to give too many details to the parishioners.  Another member stated that switching or trading or otherwise substituting the St. John’s Manor site for our present office site is in the talking stages and the operator of the Manor is very interested in that type of exchange.   

OLD BUSINESS:

            Faith in Our Future Capital Campaign – Core Committee Report.  Gary Hamilton said they have established a calendar for the duration of the campaign.  People are needed as leaders for the different types of functions of the campaign; among others mentioned were advancement leaders, call leaders, children’s activities leaders, and coordinators.  The core group created a list of names of people to act as leaders and the office staff is going to do the same thing; the people on those lists will be contacted by phone; a meeting is scheduled for January 24^th.  The Case has not been fully developed but the group will be following along the lines of the long term planning committee’s recommendation which will include the financial component in relation to the remodeling of the church; as the consolidation of sites and the sales of buildings occur, the Case will be further developed.  Joe Zolecki mentioned that the office staff will be liaisons with the people, and also advised that some council members have been named as leaders on the campaign.  The leaders’ positions are three-year commitments.  Gary further said everything is going well and the persons on the list whom he has talked to are excited about it. 

            Father Bob opened that this is a way to contact every member of the parish on a personal one-and-one basis; about 200 people will be needed for the telephoning portion of the campaign.  Other members said each of the some 200 telephoning people would be contacting fifteen to twenty parishioners three times during the campaign, and every member of the parish would be involved with the campaign in some manner.  The parish’s goal for the campaign is $1.2 million and we are allowed to keep 60% of that amount with 40% being sent to the archdiocese; if the parish exceeds that sum, we then retain 80%; if the parish collects over 100%, we then retain the entire excess. 

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.

            Joe Zolecki and Steve Raflik both talked about the preparation of the Council’s announcements for the parish.  After Steve has prepared the initial version and e-mailed it to the entire Council, any comments or other suggestions should be sent via e-mail directly to Steve. 

Closing Prayer:  Tracey Borzick distributed Our Christmas Prayer and all council members read it aloud.   

Adjournment:  The meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m. 

                                                            Respectfully submitted,

                                                                        Marcy Gramza, Recording Secretary