St. James Parish Council Minutes
January 10, 2000

 

OPENING PRAYER:  Anita Holt

 

ABSENT: Ralph Agee and Adam Benson

 

The meeting called to order by Chairperson Sandy Turner.  The December minutes were approved as written.  There was one addition to the January agenda for Old Business by Kim Parente.  She distributed to council members a proposal from Henry Parente for suggestions on strategic planning which was open for discussion.

 

PROGRAM:  Jeff Hurd, Boy Scout Committee Chairman, was present to inform the council about their very successful Boy Scout program. Their membership has grown to 66 in Cub Scouts, and 38 Boy Scouts. They are chartered by the Knights of Columbus, but the Scouts raise most of their own funding. He also thanked the parish for all of their support, and for use of parish facilities for their meetings and events. He said their largest event, the Pinewood Derby, would be next week with 300 to 400 attending.

 

OLD BUSINESS:

1)      Discussion was held on Henry Parente’s suggestions for a strategic plan.  His ideas for ‘The Saint James 2010 Project’ were well taken by the council.  Each member voiced their idea on representation on the core committee and length of time for the project.  Several ideas were given for a kick-off party for the project to be planned for sometime in March. Sandy then asked for volunteers from the council for the kick-off party, and Jo Krones, Tim Laird, Anita Holt, and Kim Parente responded.

 

NEW BUSINESS:

1.      Appointment of nominating committee for Parish Council elections to be held the last of May.  Four member’s terms will be expiring.  They are: Sharon Benson, Jo Krones, Sandy Turner, and Steve Wolcott.  The four of them will search for candidates to be presented for approval at the April meeting.

 

2.      Diocesan workshops on Parish Councils are to be held Saturday, January 29 at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Gladstone.  Council members committing to attending the one of the various workshops are William Bednar, Steve Gregoire, Cindy Rogers, Sandy, and Father Ron.

 

MINISTRY REPORTS:

Christian Formation: Ralph Agee – Absent

 

Human Concerns and Outreach: Sandy Turner– Handout submitted by Sharon Stauffacher on Stephen Ministry activities.  Sandy also gave a report on Hillcrest Ministries needing furniture and carpeting for their apartment, St. James-KC wanting approval from the fund-raising committee for another barbecue in February or March, and Habitat for Humanity’s plans for five new houses.

 

Catholic Organizations: Jo Krones – Reported the Knights of Columbus black-eyed pea dinner held New Year’s Day was successful serving about 200 with donations around $300.00.  She also said their fish fry’s are scheduled for March 17, April 14, and April 20.  They also have sponsored “Rose for Life” on the altar this month.  The Altar Society will have two speakers present at their meeting tomorrow night to speak on abolishing the death penalty.

 

Stewardship and Administration: Kim Parente – No report.

 

Liturgy: Steve Wolcott – Reported Sharon Stauffacher is now scheduling the cantors to relieve Tyler from some of his duties, and that Tyler is making strides to try not to do everything himself, but utilize volunteer to help with some scheduling, etc.

 

Education: Steve Gregoire – Reported the Religious Education Christmas Play went well despite the scheduling problem.  He felt they should not schedule it immediately following 11:00 a.m. Mass next year due to parking problems, and crowding of people entering and leaving the Narthex.

 

School: Anita Holt relayed concerns of some non-parishioner school families not getting a vote for school board members since the school board and parish council members are elected together at Masses.  Discussion was held on how to include them in the voting process.  In conclusion, availability of absentee ballots for school board elections seemed to be the best way.  Steve Wolcott stated the by-laws do not specify voting may be by absentee ballot.  Therefore, it was decided further discussion and vote at the next meeting to add an amendment to by-laws Section 2: Election of New Members, (g): Absentee ballots can be requested from the Parish Office.

 

Youth: Sharon Benson – Passed around a book from the National Catholic Youth Conference held in November.  The first year confirmation group will meet January 22. 

 

Prayer: Cindy Rogers – Eucharistic Adoration keeps growing.  It will be available every Thursday starting this week.

 

Communication: William Bednar – No report.

 

Parish & Family Life: Tim Laird – No report.

 

PASTOR’S REMARKS:

1)      Father Ron explained the diocesan “Gift of Faith” campaign is over and above the “Together We Can” campaign.  The “Gift of Faith” campaign is a special campaign including renovation of the cathedral, retirement for diocesan priests, etc. He stated if our parish meets our goal, the parish gets a kick back from the diocese.

 

2)      During Lent this year he encourages attendance at the stations on Friday at 6:30 p.m., and emphasizes attending small faith-sharing groups.  There will be no Wednesday evening Lenten meals this year.

 

3)      There will be another Parish Retreat again March 24 and 25 at Conception Abbey.

 

4)      Encouraged everyone to attend “Walk through the Bible” to be held in our parish on March 10 and 11.

 

Sandy asked members to bring their ideas for our vision and mission statement to the next meeting.  Henry Parente will be present for further discussion on “The Saint James 2010 Project”.

 

The next meeting will be Monday, February 14^th, with opening prayer by Kim Parente.

 

Father Ron closed the meeting with a prayer.

 

 

 

Meeting notes courtesy of Dorothy Haynes