Nativity Pastoral Council Meeting Tuesday-May 25, 2010 6:30 P.M.- Nazareth Room Approved 8/24/10 At 6:30 P.M. Leon Senn introduced Wendy Paulson as a guest. Leon stated that Wendy was invited to join the Pastoral Council as a member. Ken Jablonsky led the Pastoral Council in evening prayer. Chairman Leon Senn then called the meeting to order. Council Members Present: Fr. Kevin Boucher, Duane Koble, Laura Alderman, Bonnie Faller, Betty Hund, Greg Schmalz, Leon Senn, Ed Schwind, Ken Jablonsky, Mykal Nester and Corporate Treasurer Michael O Leary. Council Members Absent: Fr. Gary Luiten, Lisa Suda, Brenda Lang and Joe Miranowski. Minutes from the April 27, 2010 meeting were provided prior to the meeting and accepted by unanimous consensus. Old Business: Two open positions on Pastoral Council for 2010-Leon Senn reported that he along with Greg Schmalz made contacts with potential Pastoral Council members and that Dale Kraft had agreed to join the Pastoral Council. If Wendy Paulson agrees to serve, we will have both open Council positions filled. Leon also reported that Scott Krabenhoft agreed to serve as the youth representative on the Pastoral Council. He will begin attending Pastoral Council meetings in August when school resumes. Scott will be a senior at Fargo South High School. Website and Technical Demo-Leon Senn reviewed the new Parish website with the Pastoral Council. Frank Lalonde has put a lot of work in this new site. Leon emphasized the importance of keeping this site up to date. Each Parish Ministry will be able to keep their own information up to date on this site. The electronic Voice will be available on this site. The paper Voice will continue to be sent to Parish members homes. A blog has been attached to the electronic Voice. The Nativity staff can drive contents of the various parts of the website. Leon stated that they were looking for input or suggestions to improve the site. Other Old Business-No other old business to report.
New Business: Children s Sunday Offering-Fr. Kevin introduced Jason Haugen, a new member of Nativity Parish. Jason presented the idea of holding a children s food drive at weekend masses. He proposed that we would invite parish members with children to bring non-perishable food items to mass. At the time the offering is collected, the children would be invited to the altar to place their donations in a basket. All donations would be delivered to a local food pantry. Jason said this was done at the previous parish his family belonged to. There was much discussion about the possible positive outcomes of this idea. Some of the reasons for doing this are; There is a record need at local food pantry s With this economy more people are struggling. It is a good way to introduce and encourage stewardship among children. I would remind older youth and adults the importance of giving. Other points brought up in the discussion include that today 4% of the Church s monthly offering is given to Charity. This children s offering could replace or be added to that offering. Currently the stewardship involvement of youth in the Parish is very low. This may be a good lead in to promote stewardship among youth. Down the road, the Parish is considering the introduction of contribution envelopes for youth. Everyone thought that the children s Sunday offering was a great idea. The Council felt that this idea should be run by the Social Justice Commission, Liturgical Commission and Stewardship Council to get their input concerning questions about the storage of food items, the delivery of those items to the food pantry and other considerations affecting the liturgy. The Haugen family has volunteered to start the delivery process to the food pantry. It was agreed that we start this program in the fall and that there should be communication to Parish members in the Fall Voice. Knights of Columbus 4 th Degree Honor Guard-Dave Wilhelmi, a member of the KC s 4 th Degree Honor Guard, made a presentation to the Pastoral Council. He explained the regalia and functions involved with the regalia including the ceremonial representation of the Knights of Columbus. His purpose was to educate the Pastoral Council in order for them to have a better understanding of the KC color guard and where they could be used within the Parish. I hope that with an improved understanding the color guard would be used more often and more effectively. Fr. Kevin emphasized that the Parish receives support from the KC s in many areas. The Nativity KC s are recognized as being the best KC group in the state. The Pastoral Council agreed that it is time to we do more to recognize the KC s for what they do. That includes involving them in Parish Ceremony.
Nativity Jubilee Planning Update-Fr. Kevin and Duane Koble gave a report of all of the planning efforts under way for the Jubilee. There is another planning meeting scheduled for June 7, 2010. The Jubilee begins December 24, 2010. Some of the events being planned include; January, 2011-A congregational dinner February, 2011- A Play or Musical. March, 2011- A Talent show led by the youth group. Movie nights tied to scripture. A Knights of Columbus sponsored Red Hawks game. A courtyard party, which would include Parish members and people in the Nativity neighborhood. At the Fall Festival a Youth Symphony. The Community of Fargo Youth Symphony, with maybe Shanley High School participating. The 50 th Anniversary focus will be on Jesus Christ, Yesterday, Tomorrow and Today. It is also the 50 th anniversary of Nativity School. The PTO could be the driving force for the celebration of this anniversary. Laura Alderman will bring this subject up with the FCSN Council. The Jubilee logo will soon be announced. There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes. Anyone wishing to participate is welcome. There will be the creation of Jubilee Parish Pictorial Directory the fall of 2010. Posting of Pastoral Council Minutes on the Parish Website-Leon Senn stated that the Pastoral Council minutes would be posted on the new Parish website. We will put something in the bulletin about posting of these minutes. They are discussing the possibility of having each council or commission working with the Nativity staff to upload their meeting minutes to the site. We will just have one year s worth of meeting minutes accessible on the site. Subcommittee report- Time and Talent -The subcommittee has not yet met so there was no report. Constitution and Bylaws for Parish commissions-prior to this meeting Duane Koble sent out to the Pastoral Council members the Bylaws for the Health Advisory Commission, the Constitution for the Liturgical Commission and the Constitution for the Social Justice Ministry Commission. Duane explained that these documents were reviewed and updated by each Commission. June Pastoral Council Food Email sign up-the June Pastoral Council Social will be hosted by Leon and Laurie Senn at their home on June 22, 2010. Bonnie Faller volunteered to coordinate the Food email sign up for that evening. Pastor s Comments: Fr. Kevin reported; FCSN Board of Directors continues to meet. Searching for a Middle School Principal. Deacon Haney will serve as FCSN Supt. for 2010-2011 school year, while a search is carried out for a new Supt.
Meritcare Health Advisory board met this past month and reviewed the issues of the new Healthcare Reform Legislation. Helped better understand the positive and negative points of the legislation. Great Bible Timeline Adventure series is complete. The Pastoral team is looking at new possibilities for adult formation this fall. Fr. Continues to meet with Catholic couples for Teams of Our Lady. Has completed all meeting with engaged couples to be married this year. Associate Pastor s Comments: Fr. Gary Luiten was not able to attend. His report was handed out. There were no questions. Stewardship Council Report: Mykal Nestor reported that there was no meeting since the last Pastoral Council meeting so there was nothing to report. Director of Administration s Report: Duane Koble sent out his report ahead of the meeting. There were no questions concerning his report. He did highlight that there would be a celebration for Fr. Gary on June 23, 2010 and that anyone who would like to assist with the planning for that celebration is invited to the planning meeting on June 3, 2010. Duane also highlighted that the 50 th Anniversary Pictorial Directory search team had selected Family Faith Directory to photograph and publish the 50 th Anniversary Church Directory. Duane provided a copy of the Jubilee Song to the Pastoral Council. Duane also reported that they were looking at offering a new adult faith formation program starting the fall of 2010. It involves reviewing 12 chapters of a book titled Longing for the Holy written by Fr.Ron Rollhauser. It is not a bible study but instead faith sharing. It does include scripture. The Parish Mission will be tied to this program. The Parish Mission will take place during the three days leading up to Ash Wednesday. ( March 6,7, & 8). Committee Reports: Building and Grounds- Bonnie Faller reported that Betty Hund and Bonnie were able to plant all of the flowers around the church. Betty was able to get able to get good prices on many of the flowers. There was discussion about problems watering the flowers. It was determined that the sprinkler system could be repaired so the flowers could be watered by the sprinkler system. Deanery representative-jean Hannig was not in attendance but did supply a May meeting report to the Council. FCSN- Laura Alderman reviewed the report she submitted to the Council. She highlighted that by hiring Deacon Haney the FCSN has a whole year to do a full search for a new Supt. Deacon
Haney will assist with the search. He also has some good ideas concerning parochial training and development for staff.. The Tuition Reduction Program (TRIP) has begun at St Anne and Joachim s parish. It should start at Nativity Parish this fall. Health Advisory Commission- Betty Hund reported that the Brunch and Learn topics and dates have been set as follows. Oct. 30, 2010 Hot Topics of Nutrition Jan. 12, 2011- For 6-12 graders, Healthy Eating and Healthy Living Feb. 12, 2011 Eating Healthy on a Shoestring April 30, 2011 Cooking, Meal Preparation as a Healthy Meal. Liturgical Commission- Lisa Suda sent out a report but was not able to attend the meeting. There was discussion about plans to start a Children s Liturgy in Advent of 2010 for 5 to 10 year olds at the 10:45 mass. Parish Faith Life Commission-The Parish Faith Life Commission did not meet so there was nothing to report. Social Justice Commission-Ken Jablonsky was unable to attend the last Social Justice Commission meeting and had nothing to report. Youth Ministry- Has not met so there was nothing to report. Announcements: Chairman Leon Senn announced that the Pastoral Council would hold their Social Gathering on Tuesday-June 22. Leon and Laurie Senn will host the social at their residence. There will be no meeting in July. The next Pastoral Council meeting will be held on Tuesday- August 24, 2010. There being no further business, Chairman Leon Senn led the Council in closing prayer. Meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Greg Schmalz, Acting Recording Secretary, Nativity Pastoral Council