Minutes of Pastoral Council Meetings can be found at http://www.saintstans.net/PastoralCouncil.html
· Justice and Peace Committee will be serving dinner at the Place of Peace on January 24th. They have also decided to meet every other month instead of monthly.
· Dave Fletcher reported that the Parish was very generous in supporting mission causes presented at Mass this year (Food for the Poor and Casa Hogar).
· The Ministerial Council of the Stevens Point Deanery decided not to fill the Deanery Coordinator position in order to better assess needs of the position during the coming year. The Deanery Library is being dispersed to individual parishes and other groups within Portage County.
· Catholic Journey Event to take place January 27 from 6:30 to 8pm at St. Maximillion Kolby. The program will feature individual stories about what it means to embrace the Catholic experience. Music by Smokey Express and a presentation by Fr. Marty Pable of St. Anthony retreat center will be featured.
· Deacon Don and Dave Fletcher visited with Fr. Al and found him to be physically weak as a result of his surgery but in good spirits. Fr. Dennis Lynch will continue on as Parish Administrator and Fr. Dennis Stanchik will take over from Fr. Wagner as our Sacramental minister for Masses, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and funerals.
· Christmas dinner was a success with 40 dinners served and with free will donations covering almost all costs.
· Dave leaves for West Indies on January 11 returning February 11 to participate in a mission to build homes. Arrangements have been made to cover Dave’s duties in his absence.
· Representatives from UWSP met with representatives of St. Stan’s staff, Pastoral, and Finance Councils to discuss UWSP’s Master Plan. UWSP indicated that they would not actively pursue acquiring Church property and would consult with us as their development plan moves forward. They are interested in being good neighbors.
· The Council voted to change the regular monthly meeting from the last Tuesday of the month to the second Tuesday of the month to better coordinate information with the Finance Council.
· An informational and discussion session about a Parish Nurse program will be planned in February after Dave’s return. The purpose of the session will be to let Parishioner’s know what the purpose of the program is and to find out how much such a program would be used by parishioners.
· The Council continues to promote the availability of ministry opportunities for Parish members by personally contacting new parishioners and encouraging them to become engaged with one of our current ministries.
· We are continuing to compile ideas and suggestions for programs and activities that would be suitable for the time between Masses on Sunday.
· The Council supported Dave Fletcher’s suggestion of offering a seminar on Contemporary Issues within the Catholic Community. This idea will be developed further after Dave returns from his Mission.
· Next meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 12 from 7-9pm at the Rectory.