St. Stanislaus Parish

Pastoral Council Meeting Minutes

January 8, 2008 ~ 7:00 pm

 

1.       Call to Meeting: Chairman Bob Rogers called the meeting to order at 7:02 pm

 

         Present: Bob Rogers, Lee Falkavage, Mary Ann Powell, Lori Stoltz, Penny Wachowiak,  

         Jeanne Retzke, Gene Van Ryzin, Dave Fletcher, Gene LaRose, Gary Tanko, Linda Stroik,

         Teri Jenkins

 

        Absent/Excused: Nancy Chinn-O’Reilly

 

2.       Opening Prayer: Bob Rogers

3.       Spiritual Development: “The Life of St. Stanislaus Kostka” led by Bob Rogers. Council members had done research on our parish saint and went around the table giving facts they had discovered related to his life.

4.       Agenda Repair: none

5.       Approval of Minutes of Pastoral Council Meeting, November 27, 2007: minutes stand as presented.

6.       Committee Reports:

a.)      Catholic Education: Nancy Chinn-O’Reilly

Ø       No report available

b.)     Family Life: Penny Wachowiak

Ø       No report available

c.)      Justice & Peace: Gene Van Ryzin

Ø       J&P Committee will be serving dinner at the Place of Peace on January 24th.

Ø       They will be meeting every other month now instead of every month.

d.)     Sacred Worship: Jeanne Retzke

Ø       No report available

7.       Finance Council Report: Gene LaRose/Dave Fletcher

Ø       Finance Council meeting tomorrow, January 9, 2008, no report available at this time.

Ø       Dave reported that the parish as a whole gave very generously to the mission causes presented at masses this past year. (Food for the Poor and Casa Hogar)

8.       Deanery Report: Bob Rogers

a.)      Bob gave updates from last Deanery meeting held in December. Deanery Coordinator position will not be filled immediately. Fr. Potaczek and his administrative assistant will take care of deanery scheduling at this time. The year ahead will be used as an evaluation year to better assess the job description for this position. Bob also discussed the deanery library which is being disbanded. They are still searching for places, organizations etc to house some of the books found in this collection.

b.)     A Catholic Journey-January 27, 2008 this deanery sponsored event will take place at St. Maximilian Kolbe. Bob encouraged Council members to attend if possible, get the word out and invite friends.

9.       Pastor/Staff Report: Dave Fletcher

a.)      Update on Fr. Al:

Ø Dave and Deacon Don traveled to Janesville last week to visit with Fr. Al and found him to be weak, but in good spirits with a positive attitude toward his recovery. A number of medical setbacks since the surgery will delay his return further than originally expected, possibly June. Dave reported that Fr. Dennis Lynch will continue as parish administrator, with some new arrangements in place related to mass coverage. Fr. Bob Wagner will continue saying masses here at St. Stan’s through the end of January. Fr. Dennis and Fr. John Potaczek have named Fr. Dennis Stanchik as our Sacramental Minister to provide local, consistent  coverage until Fr. Al returns. Fr. Stanchik will celebrate weekday and weekend masses, hear confessions and celebrate funerals and weddings as necessary.

b.)     Christmas Dinner:

Ø Dinner was very successful, served about 40 dinners and Dave reports that people who attended appeared to enjoy themselves. Several parishioners donated cash to be used for the dinner and this covered nearly all expenses incurred. Dave intends to offer this type of dinner again next year.

 

c.)      Mission Trip:

Ø Dave leaving on Friday, January 11th for mission trip to islands of St. Vincent and Dominica. He will be assisting with building homes on these islands as well as helping in any other areas of need while he is there. He is expected to return on February 11th.  Dave also expressed that he has received a number of inquiries from parishioners interested in doing a mission trip of this sort in the future. Dave is exploring the idea of sponsoring a parish mission trip in the future and will use his visit this year to assess this possibility.

 

d.)     Non-responders:

Ø Recent mailing sent to all parishioners who did not pick up their family registration forms at Ministry Fair in October. Replies are coming back to parish office, some indicating that they no longer wish to be St. Stan’s parishioners, some renewing their commitment to the parish.

 

10.    Council Chair Report/Announcements: Bob Rogers

a.)      UWSP Campus Plan

Ø Recent meeting called by UWSP to discuss their master plan for the campus. Several St. Stanislaus representatives were invited to attend including Bob Rogers and Dave Fletcher. Maps outlining the university boundaries were distributed to Council members. St. Stan’s is not currently included within this boundary and nothing said at the meeting indicated any plans for actively pursuing acquisition of St. Stan’s property at this time.

11.    Unfinished Business: Bob Rogers

a.)      Proposal to change meeting time of St. Stanislaus Pastoral Council:

Ø Bob stated: “Proposal is to change the meeting time of the Pastoral Council from the 4th Tuesday of the month to the 2nd Tuesday of the month.”

Ø Council voted and unanimously approved an amendment to the current Bylaws to change the regular meeting time from the last Tuesday of each month except June, July and December to the second Tuesday of each month except June, July and December.

Ø The agenda planning committee will continue to meet on Fridays at noon, but will adjust their planning sessions to accommodate the new meeting schedule.

b.)     Parish Nurse Program: Penny Wachowiak

Ø       Penny proposed utilizing time between 8:00 and 10:30 am masses to present Parish Nurse information to parishioners.

Ø       Council in agreement that this idea should be pursued. Penny will begin planning this presentation and will present on a weekend after Dave returns from his mission trip.

c.)      Welcoming Ministry: Dave

Ø Discussion regarding follow-up calls being made to new parishioners by Penny Wachowiak. Penny has been doing this for a couple of months now and states that it is difficult to get people to commit to a ministry or event, but has had some successes. Penny also offers to resend the Ministry Opportunity sheet if needed and relays this to Sara in the office. Sara has resent a number of them with minimal response.

d.)     Mass Count Report:

Ø Information not available at this time.

12.    New Business: Bob Rogers

a.)      Sunday Programs:

Ø Council members had been asked to submit suggestions of programs, events or speakers that could be planned between the Sunday masses. These programs were to somehow connect with the evangelization goals the Council has put into place for this year. A list of the compiled suggestions was distributed to Council members this evening and Bob asked that they now rate the suggestions anonymously and get them back to him prior to the next meeting in February.

b.)     Catholic Issues Seminar:

Ø Dave presented idea of offering a seminar at St. Stan’s to assist parishioners who are dealing with unresolved issues or hurts, or have questions related to the Catholic Church. Seminar would be run by a structured panel consisting of several clergy members as well as qualified lay persons. Council approved of idea and Dave will explore further upon his return from his trip.

13.    Closing Prayer: Teri Jenkins

14.    Meeting Adjourned: 9:18 pm

15.    Next meeting date: February 12, 2008

16.    Prayer Leader: Nancy Chinn-O’Reilly

17.    Spiritual Development Leader:     TBA                   Topic:  TBA