St. James Parish Council Minutes
July 21, 2003

 

 

OPENING PRAYER:  Father Ron

 

MEMBERS PRESENT: Jan Agee, John Alvey, Mike Klamm, Chuck Koesterer, Kim Lay, Ken Platt, Larry Stanley, John Talbot, Chris Venditti, Father Ron Will, and Ken Oyen

 

ABSENT: Ed Barlett, Doris Cadd, and Youth Representatives Diana Keck and Vincent DeMarco

 

The meeting was conducted by Father Ron.   The May minutes were approved as written, and the July agenda was approved.   Father Ron said Vincent DeMarco will not be able to continue his position as Youth Representative on the council due to other commitments.

 

AGENDA: 

1)      Follow-up on June 14 Pastoral Council Retreat

Father Ron talked to Sandy Landuyt who led the retreat, and some ideas on how to improve communication were summarized from the ideas given by members attending the retreat.  Suggestions for improvement were: Use pictures in the narthex, weekly e-mails to ministry heads, enlarge prayer time, use shepherds more, get info to council members sooner, and spend less time on Project 2010 and more time on present issues.

 

2)      Update report on Parish Liturgist and Choir Director

Father Ron reported Sister Mary Jo Quinn has been hired as Parish Liturgist.  They are still interviewing for Choir Director, and hope to have the position filled soon.

       

3)      Update report on 2003-2004 Parish Budget

Ken Oyen distributed the 2003-2004 Parish Budget, and explained the amendments to the budget.  Some of the largest adjustments were due to school personnel changes and the liturgist’s salary savings as set by the diocese.  He also said the property insurance numbers came in lower.  Ken noted $120,000 was budgeted for debt reduction, $12,000 more than budgeted last year.  This would be done by applying contingency deposits.

 

4)      Election of New Officers

Chairperson: Mike Klamm

Vice Chairperson: Chris Venditti

Secretary: Chuck Koesterer

 

5)      Divide 2010 Strategy Responsibilities

Strategy #1 - Strengthen the Parish Community:  Chris Venditti & Jan Agee

Strategy #2 - Offer Diverse Spiritual Experiences:  Ed Barlett & Doris Cadd

Strategy #3 - Create the Optimal Spiritual Atmosphere:  Kim Lay & Larry Stanley

Strategy #4 - Achieve Excellence in all Educational Efforts:  Chuck Koesterer & John Talbot

Strategy #5 - Reach Out to our Community by Thinking Globally:  John Alvey & Len Platt

 

6)      Ministry Contact Assignments

Prayer:  John Talbot

Youth:  Larry Stanley

Liturgy:  Chris Venditti

Communication:  Doris Cadd

Christian Formation/Religious Ed:  Kim Lay

Catholic Organizations:  John Alvey & Len Platt

School:  Chuck Koesterer

Internal Human Concerns and Outreach:  Jan Agee

External Human Concerns and Outreach:  Ed Barlett

Parish & Family Life:  Mike Klamm

Administration & Stewardship:  Chuck Koesterer

 

7)  Appoint Fundraising Review Committee (3 members)

          Chris Venditti and Ed Barlett will serve another six month term.  John Alvey volunteered to serve on this committee also.

 

8)  St. James Community Kitchen on 4th Mondays 4:10 to 6:35

Father Ron said Matt Link and Lou Carey both have tried to find a coordinator for this, but have not been able to.  Also, needed are 6 to 10 workers each month.   Council members thought it would be difficult to find 6 to 10 workers each month due to the time frame, and didn’t feel we would probably be able to continue this ministry unless someone volunteers to coordinate it. 

 

9)  Update on Parish Feast Day Celebration

          John Talbot said Annette Talbot and Christine Nieves have plans complete for the Parish Feast Day Celebration July 26th.  He said details were included in a flyer insert in the bulletin this past weekend.

 

10)  Ministry Reports

Liturgy – Chris Venditti reported Sister Mary Jo in moving in and meeting new people in the parish.  She is very excited about her new position as Liturgy Director.

 

School – Chuck Koesterer said there are 326 students enrolled for the next term.  School starts August 20th for grades 1 through 8.  Kindergarten classes begin August 21st.

 

Administration & Stewardship – Chuck Koesterer reported the church parking lot has been resurfaced and striped.  He said the siding on the school has some cracks in it, and they have had an engineer do some testing for mold at the school, however, they don’t have results yet.  The floors in the school have been stripped, and they are looking into replacing the carpet in the middle school hallway with tile.  The Stewardship Committee is going to meet with a representative from the diocese office soon.

 

PASTOR’S REMARKS:

§         Father Keith will be moving in August 18th.

§         30-Day retreat in Mississippi was energizing and spiritually renewing through personal experiences and prayer.  

 

The next meeting will be the third Monday, August 18th  at 7 p.m. with opening prayer by Chris. 

 

AUGUST AGENDA:

§         Input from council on Father Ron's State of Parish program in September.

§         Strategy #1 Update: Strengthen the Parish Community by Chris and Jan

§         Parish Workday

§         Day for Pastoral Councils at St. James October 11th at 9:00 a.m.

Meeting notes courtesy of Dorothy Haynes