ST. JOSEPH CATHOLIC CHURCH PARISH COUNCIL MEETING Thursday October 23, 2014, Dausch Room

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1 ST. JOSEPH CATHOLIC CHURCH PARISH COUNCIL MEETING Thursday October 23, 2014, Dausch Room Council Members Present: Dan Matonak President John Gildee Vice President, Fundraising Com. Melissa Noel Correspondence Secretary Jim Fetchu Acting Recording Secretary Mary Jo Ashburn Joan Barr Luke Becker Finance Chair Committee Chairs Present: Mary Hellane Social Life Staff Members Present: Msgr. Richard Hilgartner - Admin Angie Viar Parish Manager Tim Barr Sacramental Preparation Neil Becker Youth Group Other Attendees: Margarita Cabral Hispanic Community Rep. Claudia Pena Hispanic Community Rep. Rebecca Stahl Hispanic Community Rep. President, Dan Matonak called the meeting to order at 7:10 PM. OPENING PRAYER: Dan provided a Parish Council Prayer which all recited: Lord, inspire us today with the qualities of good counsel. Give us insight to make wise decisions, integrity to face the truth, courage to make difficult choices and compassion for the needs of others. Make us a model of justice and honor for the world and let us never forget that our job is to serve both You and others. May we receive into our arms the light of your revelation. APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MINUTES: - Minutes were approved and will be posted to webpage. ADMINISTRATOR REPORT: Stewardship Appeal Fr. Rick mentioned that a general financial report and Stewardship appeal was made during all masses the last weekend in September. On the advice of the Parish Council no direct collection was taken and no specific requests were made. All Souls Appeal Envelopes were mailed to all parish members for the commemoration of all Souls Day. Fr. has earmarked all funds received from this collection to go towards the purchase of new altar cloths which would commemorate those for whom the intentions were offered. Music Ministry The Parish is continuing to look for opportunities to upgrade our Music Ministry. Gary Mullenax attended a sale of used pianos at Shepherd University earlier this month. The price tags however were in the thousand range and outside the current budget. The Parish has a lead on a refurbished Schaeffer Baby Grand Piano that may fit our needs. Gary or Jay Jay will hopefully be able to evaluate the piano in the next few weeks. St. Joseph Parish Council Mtg. Minutes - October 23, 2014 Page 1

2 COORESPONDENCE: Melissa reported that thank you notes were received from the Little Sisters of the Poor, The Hope Center at the Hagerstown Rescue Mission, and the Clare & Robert Moore Scholarship Fund for donations received. Melissa also mentioned that thank you notes were sent out to the Knights of Columbus, St. James, the Olive Garden, and the Lesky s for their help and donations in support of the Spaghetti Bingo. A letter of sympathy was sent to the family of Fred Hose noting our gratitude for his years of service to the parish. STAFF REPORTS: Education: Linda Becker submitted a report for review: Current class enrollment: Kindergarten 10 Gr Gr Gr Gr Gr. 5 9 Gr. 6 9 Gr. 7 7 Gr TOTAL 98 Saint & Treat activity on Oct. 26 o K-5 students move to classrooms learning about a different saint o Grade 8 students serve as tour guides o Each student receives a bag of treats at the end Thanksgiving Food Drive to support the Williamsport Food Bank starts on Oct. 26 o Grades K-5 compete against each other o Grades 6-10 compete against each other o Winning grades (with the most donations) will have a free breakfast in Riggie Hall CLOW began on Oct. 5. We have a total of 4 catechists on a rotation. Next catechist meeting on Wed., Nov. 5 at 6 pm. Sacramental Preparation: Tim Barr submitted a report for review. Tim noted that he was very pleased with the results of the initial First Reconciliation Meeting. The students and parents were attentive, engaged and knowledgeable in regards to the information they were asked to review. Baptism: Another Baptism Preparation meeting is set for November 11th at 6 PM for interested families. First Reconciliation: Catechesis is continuing to be completed at home by the parents and another retreat day to offer in-class activities is scheduled for November 15th. First Eucharist: This sacrament will restart in January 2015 with catechesis completed at home by the parents and 2 retreat days to offer in-class activities. Confirmation: Confirmation and Pre-Confirmation classes continue with classes on Sundays from 9 to 10 AM. Parent meetings have gone well thus far. St. Joseph Parish Council Mtg. Minutes - October 23, 2014 Page 2

3 Altar Server: Another cycle of altar server training will soon. I have spoken with the younger students and am attempting to recruit more potential altar servers. Youth Group: Neil Becker gave a verbal update on the Youth Group activities. The Bonfire scheduled for October 10 th was rained out. The church cleaning day on October 4 th was lightly attended; the date of the next cleaning crew is to be determined. Neil also indicated that the Christmas Camp event hosted by the youth group may be scheduled to fill in the date vacated by the Breakfast with Santa which was canceled. Maintenance: No report. Melissa indicated that several members of the Parish have expressed interest in forming a Maintenance Committee to lend their talents and help guide the facilities maintenance planning. Fr. Rick indicated this was a very good idea and also mentioned that the Archdiocesan Office of Buildings and Properties as well as the Office of Risk Management may be able to offer assistance with inventory and planning of facility maintenance. Fr. Rick also noted that any information gathering the council can do and supply the new administrator with would be a huge help. It was noted that should a Maintenance/Property committee be formed that the Maintenance Manager, Mr. Randy Furry, would continue to report to the Pastor and Parish Manager. COMMITTEE REPORTS: Social Life: Mary Hellane noted that a luncheon was hosted by the parish for the local priests and an evening meal was provided for the visiting Archdiocesan Consultation group. Work continues in the making of the Christmas Hard Candy and preparing for The Christmas Bazaar and Bake Sale to be held November and after masses on the 16 th. Liturgy: Dan noted that Kathleen Pleasant submitted notes for discussion. Kathleen noted that there were still a few slots open for the November Calendar. She also noted that for many masses there were not 3 servers and wondered if 2 would suffice. Fr. Rick indicated this would be fine as long as both showed up. Fr. Rick also mentioned there is a Liturgical Ministers meeting in the church on Tuesday November 11 th at 7PM followed by a wine and cheese social gathering. Social Justice: Michael Parsons submitted a report for review: Our major focus currently is on Micah's Backpack. Had our first "three day packing" for this week-end. The funding from the council will come in very handy. Congratulations to the group on becoming "Double Angels." ($200) Thanks to Fred Nugent for joining the "Angels Circle." Am looking forward to support from St. Joe's Catholic Daughters chapter. I'll follow up when I return to town. Also, have a tentative schedule for meeting the Knights of Columbus in November. Thanks to Fred for "opening the door." We have a small issue to wrestle with. Several contributions have been made to the program and I can't trace who made them. It is hard to thank people if you don't know who they are. If someone wishes to be anonymous, O.K. but I don't even know that. Any suggestions? It was discussed that all donations placed in the general collection needed to be placed in an envelope indicating the receiver. Hispanic Community: Margarita Cabral introduced Rebecca Stahl as a new member of the Hispanic Committee and she was welcomed by all. Preparations continue for the International Festival. Claudia indicated that they had sold a number of tickets and had four restaurants on board so far to donate food. Claudia asked for donations of paper goods and Mary indicated the church could provide those St. Joseph Parish Council Mtg. Minutes - October 23, 2014 Page 3

4 items from existing inventory or reimburse the committee for what they needed in that regard. Mary asked Claudia to have the committee contact her closer to the event and they would assess what they needed to purchase. Rebecca asked if she could make a general announcement about the event at all the masses and it was agreed this was a very good idea and would occur the weekend of November 1 st. Margarita also mentioned that she is trying to coordinate a small group fellowship meetings at her home for members of the Hispanic community with hope of increased interaction and involvement. Finance: Luke Becker handed out finance report documents for review. Luke mentioned the trends were positive especially in the short term. A short discussion was held on the status of the Parish s payment of Cathedraticum, the parish s tax obligation to the Archdiocese. Approximately $40,000 of the past years obligation was carried over to this fiscal year but left on last year s books. Of that $20,000 has been paid and the hope is to pay off the remainder and catch up on this year s obligation by the end of fiscal year Fundraising: John Gildee discussed the various upcoming FUNdraising events including the International Festival on November 8 th and the Bazaar and Bake Sale November th. The Breakfast with Santa has been cancelled due to similar events on the same day. Spaghetti Bingo John mentioned that the event went well and thanked all who were involved. We re estimating we had 160 people and the final tally appears to be a net profit of $3,003. Jim additionally thanked everyone who helped out with the bingo especially Melissa, Maryann, Judie, Vicky, and Mary Hellane. A discussion was held about timing for a similar event in the future. Ideas were discussed as were conflicts with other parish scheduled events and bingos by other groups. Fr. Rick discussed the need to balance the various types of fundraisers and social events so as to not overwhelm those who both volunteer or support these events by attending or purchasing goods. SPIRITUAL LIFE: No Report OLD BUSINESS: Archdiocesan Consultation on New Pastor Selection There was a general discussion about the meeting and general consensus was that it was a healthy process and that the visiting priests did a good job of describing the process and working with staff and larger group to assess our strengths and needs. Fr. Rick also discussed his future plans as he will be taking an assignment as the Pastor at St. Joseph s Church in Cockeysville, MD. The exact dates have not been set but Fr. Rick feels it will be around mid- January St. Vincent De Paul Society Fr. Rick described some of the ongoing efforts of the local administrators to get together to discuss common issues and coordinate efforts. The parish recently held a luncheon to help facilitate this effort. One item that was discussed was that St. Mary s Parish has an active and growing St. Vincent De Paul Society which assists individuals in need. Fr. indicated that having a central place to send those who come to the church with hardships for assistance and screening would be a huge asset. Discussions are ongoing about the future of the group. Christmas Mass Schedule Fr. Rick reopened the discussion of adjusting the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass from 12am to an earlier time. Last year s Midnight mass was lightly attended while the 4:30 and 6:30 masses are very heavily attended. It was discussed that St. Mary s has a true midnight mass and St. Anne s has a 10PM mass. The others masses at St. Joseph s for Christmas are 4:30, 6:30, and 8pm (in Spanish). After some discussion the idea of moving the time up one hour to 11pm gained traction as it would still allow the mass to end at midnight and those attending would be St. Joseph Parish Council Mtg. Minutes - October 23, 2014 Page 4

5 beginning Christmas Day at church. A motion was made by John Gildee, seconded by Jim Fetchu to recommend moving the mass to 11PM. A unanimous yes vote was recorded. Webpage- Jim discussed that updates have been made to the webpage, and he encouraged everyone to explore it and let him know if they have suggestions or information they would like posted. He can post text but can also provide links to flyers, calendars, other webpages, etc. He also indicated that he received the password from ParishSoft for the online calendar which he will try to update and keep it up to date as well. In the future it may be of use to share this password with the council and committee chairs so they can add and modify events as well. Jim also asked if he should post the council meeting minutes once approved and it was agreed this was a good idea. Jim also asked Rebecca, Claudia, and Margarita to review a printed copy of the Hispanic Webpage to verify the grammar was correct. A discussion was also held about the possibility of forming a Communications Committee for outreach to the parish and community. NEW BUSINESS: None NEXT MEETING: November 7PM ADJOURNMENT: Msgr. Rick closed the meeting with a prayer. Meeting adjourned at approximately 9:05. St. Joseph Parish Council Mtg. Minutes - October 23, 2014 Page 5