St. James Parish Council Minutes
February 14, 2000
OPENING PRAYER: Kim Parente
ABSENT: Adam &
Sharon Benson, Erin Parrish, Cindy Rogers, Steve Wolcott, and Father Ron Will.
The meeting called to order by
Chairperson Sandy Turner. The January
minutes were approved as written. There
was one addition to the January agenda for Old Business by Tim on parishioner
concerns.
PROGRAM: Jim Thornton presented the council with a video, “The Heart
of Stephen Ministry”. Jim then shared
what a rewarding experience Stephen Ministry has been for him personally by
deepening his own faith, and he encouraged council members to consider being a
part of this ministry.
OLD BUSINESS:
1) Project
2010 report by committee member Tim Laird stating they had set the kick-off party
at the Clayview Country Club on March 26 from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. After several ideas were given for the
party, it was left up to the committee to complete the details for invitations,
food, and format of the event as well as recommendations for CORE members and
purpose for our mission statement at the next meeting. Further discussion was held with Henry
Parente as the facilitator on duration for CORE group, what characteristics
would be important to include in the team members, and suggestions on multiple
types of feedback. Council members
appointed to the CORE team are Father Ron, Tim Laird and Kim Parente. Anita Holt and Jo Krones volunteered to
serve as expanded team members.
2) William
Bednar gave an update on the “Gift of Faith” Campaign. He said the reception
held recently in his home was not as well attended as they had hoped, but there
would be another opportunity to attend on February 24 at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. at
the church social hall. He did say
about 2% of the parishioners had responded with $160,000 in pledges.
NEW BUSINESS:
1. Steve
Gregoire reported the Pastoral Council Mini-course he attended on Methods of
Decision Making was very good. William
Bednar also shared some ideas on the mini-course he attended on what a Pastoral
Council member should be.
2. Parishioner
concerns presented by Tim.
a. He said
there is a rumor that we had hired a consultant to change the communion path or
flow which the council reaffirmed was not true. Several council members said they had feedback that the new path
for communion was very confusing, and didn’t see that it was speeding up the
process.
b. Many
parishioners are complaining that we are trying to cram too many special events
into the Mass schedule such as Boy Scouts award ceremonies, Baptisms, extra
speakers, etc. Parishioners feel the
special event ceremonies should be held at a different time rather than
lengthening many of our Masses to 1 ½ hour.
With the short intervals between Masses this causes a traffic problem
getting in and out of church and parking. It was also suggested if we do have
extra speakers or include introduction of confirmation candidates or ministry
members then to shorten the homily to compensate for the extra time
involved. It was decided to have
liturgy study ways to shorten the Mass whether it be extra communion ministers
or in other ways.
MINISTRY REPORTS:
Christian
Formation: Ralph Agee - Reported the R.C.I.A. has 13 candidates and 17
catechumens. Sandy Landuyt said they
need sponsors for the youth catechumens. Carrie Roberts is going to talk to the
group about the different ministries.
Human
Concerns and Outreach: Sandy Turner– Handout submitted by Sharon Stauffacher
on Stephen Ministry activities. With the recent class 12 new members now join
14 other members and six leaders. Sandy
also gave a report on a Target Program to be held February 26 with a family
from St. John Bosco to be present for the program. She also reported on Habitat for Humanity and Hillcrest
Ministries needs.
Catholic Organizations: Jo Krones
– Reported the Knights of Columbus were having three fish dinners during Lent,
and they would be published.
Stewardship and Administration: Kim
Parente – Stated the Administration Committee feels we are in good financial
position, but still have a large parish debt. They were able to make an extra
principal payment. There are two concerns, however, when parishioners see the
weekly budget and money in the bank on reports then more are asking for
support. They are going to review the
rules and try to make good financial decisions on these requests. They
committee is looking at a house on Kings Highway for the priest’s housing.
Liturgy: Steve
Wolcott – Written report submitted from Tyler Henderson stating there is a
continuing need for administrative assistance in the liturgy office to afford
him more time for development of the liturgy.
Education: Steve
Gregoire – No Report.
School: Anita Holt
– Catholic School’s week went well. She
commented on a whole new atmosphere at school with our new principal, Mr.
Fierst. The students and teachers are
having a great year with a lot of excitement being generated by Mr. Fierst.
Youth: Sharon
Benson – Absent.
Prayer: Cindy
Rogers – Absent.
Communication: William
Bednar – The parish newsletter will be coming out soon. He encouraged use of e-mail between council
members to keep better informed.
Parish & Family Life: Tim Laird
– The Babysitting Co-op is not giving 5% to the parish. Will follow up on this.
PASTOR’S REMARKS:
(by Father Ron)
1) The Parish
Feast Day will be celebrated Sunday, July 23 with Joe and Marilyn McKenzie to
coordinate the activities. He said to
give any suggestions to them.
2) Suggested
we wait until the summer of 2001 to have a new Parish Pictorial Directory due
to the fact we have some large projects going on this year such as the Gift of
Faith Receptions and Parties/Town Hall Meetings for Project 2010, etc. Council members agreed to wait until next
year for the directory.
3) Reminded
Nominating Committee to keep working.
(by Father Dien)
Asked members through ministries to
encourage evangelism and reconciliation through retreats, etc. during the Year
of the Jubilee. He stated the students
attending Masses at William Jewell College are increasing. Also, there will be an open house for
returning inactive Catholics through reconciliation on Sunday, March 26.
In closing the meeting, Sandy
reminded the Nominating Committee to have their names by the next meeting as
they will need to be published in the bulletin mid March or by the first of
April.
The next
meeting will be Monday, March 13th, with opening prayer by Ralph
Agee. The program will be on Project 2010.
Father Dien
closed the meeting with a prayer.
Meeting notes courtesy of Dorothy Haynes