|
Minutes of Parish Council Meeting Dean Kick, the Council Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
Present: Father Steve Varghese, Joe Amrhein, John Bordak, Joe Dulka, Larry Haskin, Dennis Irwin, Dean Kick, Rich Lussier, Kathy Mattke, Sean Nuyda, Steve Raflik, and Jen Trask
Excused/Absent: Father Bob Betz (Excused), Chris Kujawa (excused), Matt Lemens (excused) and Elaine Tessmer (excused)
Guests: Alice Berezinski, Jeanine Kuettel, Steven Janiszewski, Gregory Meka, Marilyn Stewart and Carole Szczech
Opening Prayer: Dean Kick distributed a prepared opening prayer submitted by Chris Kujawa to Dean by e-mail 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. He also mentioned that a meeting of members of the Building Committee, the Finance Committee and the Council would be held prior to the next council meeting.
Open Forum/Welcome of Guests/Visitors:
The above guests were welcomed to the meeting by Dean Kick. One of the guests commented that all speakers at town hall meetings cannot be heard, and it was suggested that microphones be used by them at those meetings. Dean indicated that the members of the Building Committee would be so informed prior to the next meetings or forums.
Approval of Minutes of the December 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 December 18, 2008, were approved.
Pastors’ Reports: Father Steve welcomed the new year and said with the new year comes a time of change and commitment. With the conclusion of the Christmas celebrations, he thanked those who participated in all ministries. There is a gradual improvement in attendance at the Masses, as well as the financial aspect; there was an increase of almost $2,000 in contributions over the previous year.
A new part-time secretary, Nicole Gleason, has been hired for the parish office. She began work on January 12th and will be working Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Regarding the time and talent surveys sent to parishioners, about 650 completed forms were returned; while this is considered a good response, more completed surveys are expected to be received. Regarding the Christian Formation group, there will be First Reconciliation for 64 children on February 7th. They are also looking for teens of the parish to take part in a Youth Rally on March 28th at Mount Mary College. A new ministry for three-year-old kids during the week is being formed, and it will run from October through April. Father Steve said Catholic Schools Week begins on Sunday, January 25th and runs through the following Friday. There will be an open house at our school from Noon to 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, the 25th. Father Steve also announced that parish forums regarding the building project would be held at the Marquette church on January 27th at 7 p.m. and January 31st at 9 a.m. Council members were again thanked by Father Steve for all their help, commitment and participation in the various ministries of the parish. Contemplative Break: The question of the week appearing in the current parish bulletin was: “How do you proclaim Jesus in your life?” The discussion was led by Dean Kick.
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 1/14/09; Funfest Committee of 1/6/09; Human Concerns Committee of 1/8/09 and its Meeting Summary of January 2009; Parish Life Committee of 1/8/09; Prayer & Worship Committee of 1/8/09; and School Committee of 12/4/08 and 1/8/09.
Life Long Formation. Steve Raflik reported they are moving along with a meeting with young adults of St. Matthew’s and Nativity of the Lord Parishes on February 15th. The theme will be “Pizza and the Pope.” Though they expect people already going to church will be there, perhaps those individuals will know others who do not attend Mass, and they want to know what the young people expect in the church.
Finance Committee. Provided by the Finance Committee was the Weekly Collection Report for the month of December 2008 and the first three weeks of January 2009 with comparison contributions for the same period of the previous year, as well as the parish’s Balance Sheet as of 12/31/08. Referring to the weekly collection report, Joe Dulka reported that we are about $17,000 behind last year’s contributions, but more donations were received at Christmastime of 2008 than last year. At present we are ahead of the budget by about $11,800, but year-to-date we are behind by about $148,000; last year we were about $60,000 ahead of the budget.
Referring to short-term investments listed on the balance sheet, Joe described each of the Certificates of Deposit with their rates of interest and maturity dates. The main funds are with M&I Bank which is very strong. The recent losses which M&I experienced occurred in Arizona but they have nothing to do with money investments. Answering a question about the long-term investment, Robb Scholarship, Joe said that money is used solely for scholarships for our school children and we have no control over that money.
Building Committee. A question was asked about whether we have a restricted fund set up for the building and renovation, and the reply was only from the Faith in Our Future and estate bequests. Rich Lussier reported that the Finance Committee met last week, verified and discussed the various figures, and feels very comfortable with the figures and believes that “we could make a go of it.” They discussed all areas of contributions. Father Steve said there are thoughts about having a second collection just for the building fund, perhaps on the fourth Sunday of the month, and the archdiocese agreed that we can do that; he also said some people are not committed to the Faith in Our Future campaign and we want those people to be part of the building and renovation project; he was told there is no problem. Father Steve also said if people are committed to the campaign, they should continue and fulfill that commitment, and if they wish to contribute more for the special collection, they could do that. Another council member said it might be the same people who are committed to the campaign that will be asked to make additional donations to the building project. Joe Dulka said only 534 people from the entire parish have pledged to the campaign; there are no “large” donors, so maybe the other parishioners would wish to contribute to the building project.
Dean Kick advised that the next proxy comes up in February and the following one in August. This February proxy lists an estimate of $4 million for the project, lists the amount of cash available for the project, lists the plans for building, and requests permission of the archdiocese to proceed further. The August proxy is the one that must be done in detail with the financial plan, assessment of current buildings, any major maintenance issues coming up, and any other costs.
If was again asked if the 18% of parishioners who pledged to the Faith in Our Future campaign would also be requested to contribute to the building project. Another said we would try to raise as much money as possible before the August proxy is due. It was said that a plan should be devised to get the parishioners who have not committed to the campaign to come forward, and perhaps another push should be made for the Faith in Our Future campaign because another envelope specifically intended for the building project would include the same 18% who had already pledged to the campaign. Father Steve then suggested that we should think about this and bring the topic up at the next meeting.
OLD BUSINESS:
Faith in Our Future – Current Campaign Status. A campaign report as of 1/8/09 using figures received from the FIOF Office showing contributions for the months of June through November 2008, and the amounts applied to the parish’s benchmark, to the parish and to the archdiocese, was provided prior to the meeting. Discussion on this topic is covered in preceding paragraphs.
Signs for the Church and Door Knob Flyers. Dennis Irwin referred to the article entitled “Come Home” which appeared in the Catholic Herald on February 22nd [year??] pertaining to evangelization and the success other parishes have had after the delivery of door hangers within their boundaries. He provided copies of two samples, which come in two different sizes; the samples shown come with seasonal pictures with the words “Come Join Us” on the face of the hanger and any message we choose to be imprinted on the reverse side; message may contain name and address of church, Mass schedule, or whatever; they may be bought in any quantity; different vendors have different prices. These door hangers could be distributed more than once or twice a year. Lengthy discussion followed, including efforts for evangelization, whether there should be an evangelization committee, whether the long range planning committee should be involved in evangelization, the belief that all ministries should be involved in evangelization, and the end result that it is worth the effort and cost no matter what the number of people is who are brought back or brought into the church. Dennis will do more investigation into the door hangers and Dean Kick volunteered to help Dennis get this project underway.
Elaine Tessmer telephoned Dean Kick and advised that she is making progress with the scrolling sign. She again brought up the subject of advertising in the NOW section of the Journal/Sentinel for this area. After discussing the pros and cons of the NOW section advertising, John Bordak stated that there is a neighborhood guide in South Milwaukee with religious advertising, and he agreed to obtain more information about that.
Sue Repa is going through the time and talent surveys which contained the subject of evangelization, and some of those people may be willing to work on this project; Dean will get in touch with Sue for a list of those volunteers for marketing. It was finally determined that the door hangers and the neighborhood guide would be the vehicles used for our advertising, the proposed NOW section advertising will be abandoned, and Dean will get approval for the checks from the parish office. Joe Dulka said the Council has budgeted $1,000 for spending as it sees fit.
NEW BUSINESS:
Catholics Come Home. Dean Kick recommended that council members check out the website, www.catholicscomehome.org., to learn more about how advertising and television commercials used by the Phoenix diocese led to the return of considerable numbers of people to the church, to learn the statistics revealed in the article of how Catholic and non-Catholic advertising varied and the resulting statistics, and learn why the bottom line is that advertising is the best way to get people back into the church.
Better Use of Our Website W/Paul Neuberger. Larry Haskin reported that he received a phone call from Leslie Henry, the person presently responsible for adding data to our parish’s website, who suggested that an ad hoc committee be set up to discuss what further information could be entered to better utilize our website and mentioned a few names. The council members were in full agreement with the suggestion, and Larry said he would telephone Leslie to advise her of the Council’s concurrence.
February Meeting of Council, Finance and Building Committees. Dean Kick reminded everyone of the combined meeting of members of the Council, Finance Committee and Building Committee on February 12th at 6:30 p.m. at the Marquette rectory.
Parish Council Nominating Committee. Dennis Irwin reported on previous nominating committees and said perhaps a different approach should be used this year; he said he could supply the resources that he has used in the past; nomination forms are already available. It was suggested that Sue Repa be contacted to determine if anyone responding to the time and talent survey expressed interest in becoming a council member. In addition, present council members should ask other parishioners if they would consider becoming part of the Council. Present council members were asked to discern whether they would be interested in being part of the nominating committee and advise at the next meeting. John Bordak’s term as Secretary/Trustee expires this year and that trustee’s office must be filled following the same type of nomination procedure, but by state statute an election by parishioners is held in church during or after Mass.
OTHER NEWS, NOTES, COMMENTS AND/OR ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Rich Lussier reminded everyone of the parish forums concerning the building project that will be held at the church on Marquette on Tuesday, January 27th at 7 p.m., and on Saturday, January 31st at 9 a.m. Rich will talk to Chris Sepersky about the necessity of using the microphone and repeating any questions before responding with answers and will request that Chris inform the architect of the same procedures.
Steve Raflik stated he had attended the archbishop’s state of the archdiocese speech on January 20th at the Cousins Center. Some of the subjects on which the archbishop spoke included that the archdiocese was being sued for fraud in the sexual abuse scandals; the Faith in Our Future Campaign has reached 57% of its goal of $105 million although only 42% of the parishes have begun to work on the campaign; his future endeavors are looking at regional schools; and some archdiocesan parishes are having “sister” parishes within our own archdiocese. This speech will also be on the website for all others to see. Priests are scheduled to hear the archbishop on January 27th.
Larry Haskin opined that he believes there is a disconnection between the Council and the staff. and also believes there should be a liaison between the two so that the staff knows what the Council are discussing. Father Steve replied that there is usually someone from the staff attending council meetings as an observer; another member said perhaps we need something on the agenda for a representative’s report at a meeting just like committees’ reports; Father Steve will discuss this matter with the staff.
Dennis Irwin informed everyone that representatives of the Human Concerns Committee will be present at the March council meeting to inform council members of their coming plans.
A sign-up sheet for presentation of the Council’s report to be given at all Masses the first weekend in February was circulated before and during the meeting.
We Give Thanks.
Closing Prayer: Dean Kick led the Council in reading the closing prayer submitted by Chris Kujawa that had previously been distributed.
Father Steve brought up the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and that we should keep in mind the sanctity of life; a moment of silence was observed for all the lost lives in abortions; the Our Father and Hail Mary were then recited by all.
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted, Marcy Gramza, Recording Secretary February 13, 2009 |
|
|
|
|