St. James Pastoral
Council Minutes
February 9, 2004
OPENING PRAYER: Larry Stanley
MEMBERS PRESENT: Jan Agee, John Alvey, Ed Barlett, Doris Cadd, Mike Klamm, Chuck
Koesterer, Kim Lay, Len Platt, Larry Stanley, John Talbot, Chris Venditti,
Father Ron Will, , Ken Oyen, and Youth Representatives Diana Keck and Chris
Oldenburg
The meeting was conducted by
Chairperson Mike Klamm. The January
minutes and February agenda were both approved.
AGENDA:
1.
Meet Cynthia Eslick, Youth Ministry Coordinator
Cynthia
Eslick introduced herself as the new Youth Ministry Coordinator. She and her family have been parishioners
for nine years. She doesn’t intend to
make a lot of changes since she is starting her position mid year. She plans to maintain the schedule Willie
started for this year. Some of her
goals are to meet with parents in small groups at different grade levels to
establish programs of interest to different ages, sending out surveys and
invitations to youth not attending, and meeting with youth directors from other
churches.
2.
Strategic Planning Update
Mike
Klamm said letters to ministry heads have been sent to invite them to the
Strategic Planning meeting Saturday, February 21st at 9 a.m. He asked for volunteers from the council to
attend this meeting and help out with breakfast type refreshments.
3.
Second reading of Council By-Laws
The
Council By-Laws modifications were unanimously approved after the second
reading. The Election of Council
Members by-law was revised to change to the discernment process for new council
members.
4.
Report on Nomination Forms
Doris
Cadd distributed a list of approximately 170 nominations for council members
from last weekend’s Masses. The list
was divided up between council members to contact. It was decided to have two formation and education meetings in
the Social Hall Saturday, March 6.
Prospective candidates will be asked to attend either the 9 a.m. or 4
p.m. meeting that day to learn more about the discernment process for a
position on the council.
5.
William Jewell Dinner Report
The
William Jewell Dinner was cancelled due to bad weather. Doris mentioned that there were only three
students that responded that they would attend.
6.
Goeff Hagins’ proposal for Fundraiser
Goeff
Hagins was present to tell the council his ideas of holding an art and music
fair at St. James. He has done this
type of fundraiser in a previous parish which was a great success. He said he organizes recreation for a
living, and has done this all his life.
He enjoys entertainment, and feels this is a way to contribute his time
and talent toward raising funds for however the parish chooses to use it. The council expressed concerns of timing
the event so it wouldn’t conflict with other major fundraisers so we would be
able to get enough volunteers to help. Father
Ron asked if this could be held at the same time as our St. James Feast Day in
July. Goeff said he would get a flyer
typeset and bring it to the next meeting to get approval by the council.
7.
Anonymous letter from a concerned parishioner
An
anonymous letter from a concerned parishioner was sent to all council members
recently with concerns about our liturgy and getting friendliness back in our
church. They stated our services are so
rigid, nobody seems to smile anymore, we have too many new songs, the songs
aren’t posted on the walls and sometimes there aren’t enough liturgy aides to
go around. Several suggestions were
made by council members to improve liturgy, and those will be relayed to the
staff. It was the consensus of the
council, however, that it is hard to deal with an anonymous letter. It is also impossible to please everyone in
a parish the size of ours with approximately 4500 parishioners. It is also a concern of the council on how
do we reach out to get more active involvement when only about 1200 attend Mass
regularly.
MINISTRY REPORTS
Christian Formation/Religious Education: Kim Lay reported there are 323 enrolled in Religious
Education. There are four Lenten soup
suppers coming up in March. March 3 the
speaker will be Mary Ann Templeton on observing Lent together as a family. March 10 will be on celebrating Easter. March 16 and 23 are open to the parish
focusing on how adults can observe Lent to make it more meaningful. The Renew ministry has 19 groups with around
200 participating. Vacation Bible
School is getting geared up for registration.
It will be held the third week in June.
The Baptismal program is revamping on follow-up after Baptism.
Catholic Organizations: John Alvey reported The Precious Blood ministry is
very successful according to Ann Tucker.
The Altar Society bingos are going well.
School: Chuck
Koesterer reported enrollment is presently at 316. The school board is setting up a focus group to try to improve
relationship between the school and parish.
Internal Human Concerns and Outreach: Jan Agee reported the Blood Drive was a huge success.
Administration and Stewardship: Chuck Koesterer reported the Administration Committee
is starting to work on the budget next month.
Last month discussion was on holding the line on the budget. They are asking all ministries to review
paying positions and their needs.
PASTOR’S REMARKS
The next council meeting will
be Monday, March 8th, 7 p.m.
Chris Oldenburg will give the opening prayer.
March
Agenda:
1. Strategic Planning Update Review
2. Nominating Council Members
3. Goeff Hagins Fundraiser Update
The meeting was concluded
with a sending prayer by Father Ron.
Meeting
notes courtesy of Dorothy Haynes