St. James Parish
Council Minutes
August 15, 2001
OPENING PRAYER: Mike Klamm
PRESENT:
Ed Barlett, Doris Cadd, Lou Carey,
Steve Gregoire, Mike Klamm, Jerome Schieder, Annette Talbot, Chris Venditti,
and Father Ron
ABSENT: Anita
Holt, Roger Holyfield, David Porter, Father Dien
The
meeting was opened by Father Ron’s introduction of Lou Carey as a new member of
the council filling the vacancy of Brett Scott. There was one correction to the June minutes. Mike Klamm noted his name was omitted from
attendance at that meeting. The August
agenda was approved.
Presentation:
Tyler Henderson, Liturgy
Director, was present to update the council on ideas to carry out Project 2010
strategies and goals relating to Liturgy.
Some of the goals discussed were: Conduct an all parish Mass by 2002,
initiate a choir exchange by Dec. 2001, deep cleaning and maintenance of the
church. He is looking for a volunteer
to coordinate the large church cleanings.
He told the council he is looking forward to working with a newly formed
Liturgy Master Planning Group of nine to make recommendations to the scripting
group that meets each Wednesday to plan what’s going to happen in that
weekend’s liturgy. He also was so
appreciative of all the support from everyone involved that made ‘Tales of
Wonder’ a gorgeous demonstration of our parish. He noted that the next theater arts production is in the
works. Some of his concerns are
maintenance and updating of our beautiful worship space, and necessary
maintenance for the organ and sound system in the very near future which will
be a large expense.
AGENDA
2010 Project and Ministry Reports:
1)
Strengthen the Parish
Community
Youth
–Jerome Schieder
Darlene Filla is in the process of contacting all
volunteers who signed up on the “time and talent sheets.” The Welcome Back Committee attended an
informative meeting at the Cathedral, and Joan Sage said her committee now has
some different ideas on how to rejuvenate inactive parishioners. Jerome also updated the council on
activities of the youth groups Grades 6 to 9, pre-confirmation, and a new
post-confirmation group. Registration
is still going on for all grades. The
youth garage sale will be September 7 and 8, the lockout will be November 16
and 17, and confirmation will be May 14.
2)
Offer Diverse Spiritual
Experiences
Liturgy – Ed Barlett
Ed has met with Tyler Henderson, and Tyler covered
their ideas on goals for this strategy in his presentation.
Communication – Doris Cadd
Doris discussed actions concerning the parish
website with Howard Henry. She feels we
are meeting Goal C however, felt some areas need current information such as
council members, etc. She asked Donna
Webb to see if funds are available for text books to expand the parish
library. The bulletin and newsletter are
serving as good teaching tools.
3)
Create the Optimal
Spiritual Atmosphere
Christian Formation – Chris Venditti
Chris expressed her desire to continue to keep the
parish informed through the bulletin if our contributions are meeting our
expenses, and suggested including a thank you when we have good weekends that
allow us to meet our goals. She spoke with Dawn Claxton regarding some
maintenance issues, and will follow up on getting repair needs
accomplished.
4)
Achieve Excellence in all
Educational Efforts
School/Human Concerns & Outreach – Annette
Talbott & Anita Holt
Annette reported that she and Anita Holt met
concerning Strategy 4. The Blue Ribbon
Committee is working under the direction of Molly Doherty. She said they had done a teacher satisfaction
survey, and were pleased with the results of it with high ratings for the
administration and PTO. Anita reported
there are 305 students enrolled this coming school year. Annette also presented Stephen Ministry’s
annual report outlining what is Stephen Ministry. For the upcoming year there are 16 Stephen Ministers and 6
Stephen Leaders. Of these, 13 are
assigned Care Receivers. Annette will
be attending a Peace and Justice meeting next Wednesday.
5)
Reach Out to our Community
by Thinking Globally and Acting Locally
Religious Education– Steve Gregoire
Steve felt our community outreach goal is being met
through the parish newsletter and Father Ron’s coffees with new
parishioners. Goal B, involving the
youth in community outreach is being carried out by youth group activities
under the direction of Willy Fontanez, and our continued support of the Boy
Scouts. Long range goals are to have a
childcare facility at St. James in the future. Cecilia Richardson is helping
with Religious Education to allow Fran Riley to devote 25% of her time to the
new evangelization program. Steve is
optimistic the evangelization program will increase tithing. He noted vacation bible school went very
well with 188 attending.
Parish & Family Life - Mike Klamm
Mike is working with the points of contact for Goal
C to emphasize St. James’ presence in Liberty through community involvement and
newspaper exposure. He also reported
the Dinners for Eight kickoff will be September 29th. Tim Laird is negotiating with Bishop Boland
on the title of the lecture concerning the state of the global church to be
held December 11th at 7 p.m.
Update on Parish Financial Report:
Steve reviewed the end-of-the-year financial report
noting we were almost $60,000 short in income from our budget. We were able to make the debt interest
payments, but unable to make the principal payments we should have.
Diocesan Day for Pastoral Councils:
The Diocesan Day for Pastoral Councils workshop
will be Saturday, October 6, 8:30 am to 2:30 pm in the Social Hall. All council members are urged to attend a
workshop relating to their ministries and interests.
Renew 2000 Orientation:
Orientation for Renew 2000 will be held Wednesday,
October 3, 7-9:30 pm at St. Therese’s.
Committing to attend were Steve, Chris, Ed, Mike, and Annette.
Shepherd Ministry Update:
Letters went out in today’s mail to all
parishioners outlining the Shepherd Ministry program. There are 44 shepherd volunteers under the direction of Jim and
Juanita Thornton. Steve noted this is a
great new program stepping forward in our evangelization process.
Pastor’s Remarks:
1)
Father Ron noted our
parish debt is $1,600,000. He said we
keep chipping away at it, but not enough to accomplish our parish dreams.
2)
We are looking for a
couple to replace Tim and Angie Parnacott as Volunteer Coordinators who are
resigning August 30th.
Anyone interested in serving, please contact the parish office.
The meeting ended with a prayer by Father Ron. The next council meeting will be Monday,
September 10 at 7:00 p.m. with opening prayer by Chris Venditti. Program for the September meeting will be
Danny and Dawn Claxton on maintenance.
Meeting
notes courtesy of Dorothy Haynes