St. Stanislaus Parish

Pastoral Council Meeting Minutes

December 15, 2009

 

Council Members Present: Fr. George, Shirley Berger, Nancy Chinn O’Reilly, Lee Falkavage, Sue Piotrowski, Bob Rogers, John Strojny

 

Council Members Absent: Brian Asplin, Teri Jenkins, Kathleen Sowa, Gene Van Ryzin, Penny Wachowiak

 

Guest: Dwaine Habrat

 

  1. Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm
  2. Opening Prayer led by Fr. George
  3. Agenda Repair
  4. Finance Council Report: no report at this time
  5. Justice & Peace Report: Mary Ann Krems submitted a report from the committee’s December 7th  meeting to Council members via email as she could not be present at tonight’s meeting:

Ø  Minutes from joint Justice & Peace meetings throughout deanery being circulated and shared among parishes and Pastoral Councils.

Ø  Monthly food collections continue with success

Ø  J&P Committee serving a dinner at Salvation Army December 15th

Ø  HIV/AIDS Program donations continue

Ø  Committee discussed current needs of parishioners David, Lori & Noah Baral as they await a heart transplant for baby Noah at Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee. Parish getting involved by informing parishioners of situation and making information available to all who would like to correspond with them and /or help out financially at this time.

Ø  Christmas Dinner plans are coming along great. Many parishioners have stepped forward and donated both their time and food for the event.

Ø  Time and Talent sheets still coming in and committee in process of tallying responses and distributing them to committee heads for follow-up as needed.

Ø  Committee to present its ideas related to mission projects to Finance Council for approval before moving forward.

  1. Sharing our Faith: Teri Jenkins

Ø  Teri unable to be present at meeting tonight. Her intent was to have all Council members recall their experiences/thoughts related to St. Nicholas and discuss with the group. Teri asks that each member come prepared to discuss this topic at the January meeting.

  1. Acceptance of Minutes of Pastoral Council Meeting October 13, 2009:

Ø  Item 4, bullet four comma removed after September and the word were inserted before the words received and collected.
Item 7, bullet 1  the words following as at the end of the phrase were added  ... Eucharistic Ministers and Sacristans


Ø  Minutes were accepted with these corrections/additions.

  1. SPACS Report: Shirley Berger

Ø  November meeting: Commission reports that Panacea profit for 2009 was $12,000 above last year’s profit.  Also, SPACS has hired a Learning Resources Instructor to assist students needing additional help in the classroom.

Ø  December meeting: Three visitors present at meeting expressing concern related to Pacelli High School dropping certain classes from current curriculum. Pacelli has dropped classes due to budget issues, low enrollment in those particular classes and curriculum requirements. A letter was sent to all SPACS parents explaining in detail the decision to drop these classes from the current curriculum.

  1. Deanery Report: Bob Rogers

Ø  Discussion regarding the Diocesan Pastoral Plan Meeting held recently at St. Bronislava Parish. Bob reports that this meeting was well-attended and appeared to be well-received by those in attendance. It was stressed throughout the meeting that the information related to the Pastoral Plan needs to be taken back and communicated to all parishioners. Bob wrote an article in our most recent parish newsletter on the topic of the Pastoral Plan in an effort to do this.

Ø  The Deanery Pastoral Council met on December 3rd at St. Michael’s Parish in Junction City. The focus of the Council for this year will be on the Sacrament of Marriage.

  1. Committee Reports:

Ø  Catholic Education: (Kathy Sowa) Minutes distributed, Council commented on success of recent St. Nick appearance at masses. Bob also wanted to thank Kathy for her work on the St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish display board she completed for the All Saint’s Gala this fall. The board will be kept and utilized for other events as needed.

Ø  Family Life: (Nancy Chinn) no report at this time

Ø  Sacred Worship: (Brian Asplin) Minutes distributed, issues identified with sound system in church have been investigated and corrected with professional help. Fr. George noted that response to Morning Prayer offered on daily basis during Advent was very good. Committee may look at offering same type of opportunity during Lent due to favorable response and attendance during Advent season.

Ø  Staff Recruitment/Ad Hoc: (Bob Rogers) Duties of this committee are complete and committee has disbanded since hiring of Pastoral Minister. Fr. George wishes to thank all the Ad Hoc Committee members for their hard work and service to the parish throughout the hiring process.

  1. Pastor/Staff Report: Fr. George

Ø  Fr. George reports that we are now “fully staffed” with the hiring of Dwaine Habrat, Pastoral Minister.

Ø  A staff Christmas Luncheon/Welcome was held this afternoon for all staff in celebration of the season and the addition of Dwaine to our parish staff.

Ø  Fr. George plans to have a staff meeting following the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

Ø  St. Stan’s will be putting an ad in the next edition of the Catholic Times thanking Bishop Listecki for his service to our diocese. The cost of the ad will be $150.00

Ø  Fr. George explained that he has started taking online classes through Capella University to obtain a degree in counseling.

Ø  Fr. George’s Provincial in India has given permission for him to stay in the United States beyond expiration of his visa. The visa expires in July of this year and the process of application for a green card is in progress.

  1. Council Chair Announcements: Bob Rogers

Ø  Diocesan Stewardship Convocation: Bob attended this program in La Crosse as a representative from St. Stanislaus Parish in Fr. George’s absence. He reported that the program was well-attended and had excellent speakers presenting on the topic of stewardship. An overview of the convocation can be found in the December 10, 2009 issue of the Catholic Times. The basic theme of the day was “faith raising before fund raising”. Bob will be attending the Finance Council meeting in January to present an overview of the program for the Council members.

Ø  Parish Newsletter: There have been two issues published under the direction of a volunteer, editorial committee in the absence of a Pastoral Minister. Dwaine will now be taking the lead on this project. Fr. George has suggested that an editorial board remain in place to assist him with the task of compiling the newsletter on a regular basis as the process is intensive for any one person.

  1. Unfinished Business:

Ø  Needs Assessment: Continuation of project which was started by Council back in August. This project had been put on hold until a new Pastoral Minister was hired. Explanation given to Dwaine as to purpose of assessment and hope of eliciting feedback from parishioners as to needs within our parish. Dwaine and Bob will meet at a later date to discuss this project in more detail and determine how to move forward. Dwaine suggested that perhaps a “Pastoral Plan” could be developed once information is gathered from parishioners. This plan would enable the Council to measure progress toward specific goals set for the parish.

Ø  Liaisons to Committees: all liaisons in place, still have one Pastoral Council member position open.

Ø  Welcoming Buttons: Council remains interested in pursuing a Welcoming Ministry. No new progress on obtaining welcoming buttons for Council members to wear at church entrances on weekends. Teri has worked on researching welcoming buttons. Council will pursue this topic at next meeting as Teri not in attendance tonight.

  1. New Business: no new business at this time
  2. Closing Prayer: Fr. George
  3. Meeting Adjourned 9:00pm
  4. Prayer Leader for January: Brian Asplin
  5. Leader of Faith Sharing: Teri Jenkins

Next Meeting Date: January 12, 2010