ST. MICHAEL PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL

Minutes of the Regular Meeting

September 22, 2009

In  attendance: Len Grantner, Mike Gunkel, Mary Manchester, Richard Marks, John Metz, Sandi Miller,  Al Peterson and Marilyn Scherer

Absent:  Father Jim King, Deacon Merle Runck, Joe Paris and Evelyn Andrews,

The meeting was opened with a prayer at 6:00 p.m.

The minutes of the August 25, 2009 meeting were reviewed and approved as written.

Old Business

Parish Picnic:  The picnic was held as planned on September 13th at Rudd Park.  Approximately 300 people were in attendance.  The Council had planned for 400 so were able to provide extra plates for those who wished to take food home, as well as containers of coleslaw and chicken to Loaves and Fishes.

Issues noted:

-Next year a definite serving time will be set and will be clearly communicated to the parish members. 

-Father Jim is concerned that, not only did some of the youth who reported to the gymnasium to assist with tables and chairs miss Mass, but did not stay at the park to help.  The parish never schedules anything to conflict with liturgy.  The only exception to this would be the preparation prior to the picnic that occurs during the 10:00 a.m. Mass.  Next year we must impress upon the youth who will be involved that they must attend either 5:30 p.m. Mass on Saturday or 7:20 a.m. Mass on Sunday. 

-We will work on better communications between the Council and those who schedule the youth activities.

Fall Workshop

The Parish Pastoral Council Fall Workshop was held at the Canon Coffee Café on Saturday, September 19, 2009.  The workshop was beneficial and was positively received.  Our task now is to develop goals for the Parish Council for this year.  This will be discussed later in the meeting. 

Pastoral Committee Reports

Parish Life -- Committee met on September 9th.  Missals are scheduled to be changed out on Saturday, November 28th.

Evangelization – Mike reported that the committee did not meet in September.  He did state that the committee is looking for people to assist at the New Parishioner table.

Christian Formation –

▪The calendar for the year has been reorganized and is the final version for 2009-2010. 

▪there has been great success with three classes per month with the Prayer Service to follow

                the third week of classes.  The Youth/Children’s Mass will ordinarily follow the Prayer Services.

▪Sunday, September 13th is the start of religious education classes which start at 8:30 and

               end at 9:45 a.m.

▪As has been reported previously, each teacher and their class is responsible for a Prayer

               Service and for the letters to shut-ins each month.

▪The Pflaum Magazine series will be used again in Grades Pre-School through Grade 2.  Grades 3,

               4, and 5 will use the series Blest Are We.

▪Teachers and aides receive certificates recognizing their service as Catechists.

▪There is a Prayer Service scheduled for the children on September 27th. 

▪Sandi noted that there is a decrease in student enrollment this year.

Communications –

John would like to find someone in the youth program to assist him with various communications projects.  Perhaps this could be a confirmation student assignment. 

John was able to interview some of the students who went on the Mission trip to Gallup, NM for a news story.

Anyone willing to help provide information about parish events that could be developed into articles for the Chronicle or to local publications may contact John at 275-6044 or e-mail jmetz60013@aol.com. Photos are especially noteworthy.  Rolly Kuhlmann has volunteered to take photographs.

Committee liaisons were again reminded to pass this information on to their various committees.

Administration –

Budget -

The Budget Committee did not meet this month.  The next meeting is scheduled in October.

The financial statements for July were reviewed by Eldred Chicoine.  The Parish received a bequest of $64,000 from the estate of Wilbur Meyer.  $50,000 was placed in the St. Anthony Chapel Fund and the balance is in the Extraordinary Income Fund.

Maintenance –

Rectory

▪Gary Cornella will attend the October Maintenance Committee meeting to continue the discussion of possible repairs and improvements to the exterior of the rectory.  Art will invite Bob Jones, the steel siding contractor, to sit in on the meeting as well.

▪The rectory driveway is in need of replacement.  Fremont Concrete gave a cost estimate of $4545.

▪The City has reimbursed $6900 for the curb and gutter and sidewalk replacement on 11th Street.  The sprinkler system was moved back from the sidewalk at a cost of $900.  Restoration of the landscaping was completed at a cost of $380.  The street still needs to be repaired adjacent to the new curb and gutter.  Ade will contact the City to see if they have us on their schedule.

Chapel

▪The exhaust fan in the chapel has burned out.  The cost to replace and install a new motor is $737.  Father Jim has decided to hold off on this until a later time.

▪Bill will winterize the swamp coolers on the rectory and the chapel.  He will install the vent cover on the north side of the chapel and will blow out the sprinkler system for the winter.

Church:

▪Dave Madone and Father Jim continue working with Klein Construction on the punch list of items that need to be done on the church before final payment is made.  Most items have been addressed. We still need to resolve the problem with the high intensity lights.  Klein proposes to warranty all the high intensity fixtures for a period of two years and to replace any defective fixtures during that time.  St. Michael’s counter offer is that if ten more high intensity fixtures become defective, Klein must replace all of them.  Cost estimate to replace all high intensity fixtures is $12,000 (Territory Electric).  The original supplier will be contacted for pricing, also in the hopes of getting a lower estimate.

▪The bronze statue of the Risen Christ, which was designed and constructed by Huberto Maestas, is now in place in the prayer garden.  The statue is a memorial to Mary Gindro.  Two flood lights will be installed by Territory Electric to illuminate the statue at night.  Len Grantner will look into acquiring a dedication plaque to Mary Gindro. 

▪Concerns have been expressed by some parishioners that there is insufficient handicap parking on the north side of the church.  They also expressed a need for a specific handicap loading and unloading area to be used solely for that purpose which would exclude parking.  Committee members were asked to observe the parking issues at each Mass and be prepared to discuss this at the next meeting.

School:

▪Upper windows in gymnasium need replacement.  Quoted cost is $6100.

▪Window coverings (curtains and blinds) for Room 107 were installed by Damien.  The remainder of the classrooms on the south side of the school should have the same window coverings installed.

▪A walk-through inspection of all plumbing fixtures was conducted by Johnny’s Plumbing and Heating.  It was determined that the porcelain fixtures are in good shape, but most of the valves and faucets need to be replaced.  Johnny’s Plumbing will provide a breakdown of costs for replacement.  We are still awaiting estimates.

Miscellaneous:

▪Bill completed the weed cutting at the recently purchased property on 10th Street and the lot at St. Anthony’s. 

▪Father Jim would like to put together a Special Projects list.  This would be a list of maintenance and improvement projects that are needed on the campus property and facilities.  This list would be helpful when looking for outside sources of funding.  Some items being considered for the list are:  finish replacing all the windows in the school, repair the plumbing in the school, replace the rectory driveway and install window coverings in the south classrooms of the school.  Committee members are asked to consider other projects that may be appropriate for the list.   Father Jim would like to put this list together at the October meeting.  Any outstanding cost estimates for work should be available at that time.

Worship –

Eucharistic Ministry   Alice stated that there is nothing new to report and asked Father if he has any concerns that need to be addressed.  Father stated that, due to the larger number of attendees at 5:30 p.m. Mass during the summer schedule, he would like to consider adding one more bread minister.

Lector Ministry   Warren reported that he has only one concern at this time and that is the ministry schedule does not reflect the youth being scheduled as lectors.   Father said that Kim Symons has volunteered to assist with the Confirmation coordination and suggested that Warren mention this to Kim. 

Music Ministry Laurie has scheduled the first choir practices on Wednesday, September 30th.  Children will practice at 5:00 p.m. and youth at 6:00 p.m.  This may cause a conflict for the youth who are in second year confirmation.

Usher Ministry The Diocese is planning a workshop in October on Security and Safety in our churches. 

This will be especially important information for our ushers and greeters.  An effort will be made to ensure that someone from St. Michael be there to hear the presentation.

Youth – Richard has spoken with Richard Wooten, who is coordinating the 6-9th grade religious education classes.   He plans to introduce Kim Symons to Ms. Kristi Slaughenhaupt, Pregnancy Center Director, in an attempt to get the confirmation youth involved in assisting that program.

 

New Business

Changes to Constitution of the Parish Council

Proposed changes to Constitution, Article IV, Sections 4 and 5 and 6 were again reviewed with changes submitted from Len Grantner and Richard Marks.    The Constitution is being updated to include the option of a selection process of new Parish Pastoral Council members as well as the election and appointment processes.

The final version will be presented next month for formal acceptance.

Overview of PPC Workshop/Creation of Goals

It is the responsibility of the Parish Council liaisons/alternates to request that each committee spell out functions, roles and definition/mission of their group.  This will help to identify if there is any overlapping of functions with other committees.  Each committee will also be asked to identify at least one measurable goal for the current fiscal year.

This information will not only help the current committee members understand their mission, but will be especially helpful to new members.

Each committee must be made aware of how important they are to the Parish and how much they are appreciated.

The Council members reviewed the discussions and notes from the Workshop and worked to develop three goals for this Fiscal Year.

Open Forum

None

Pastor’s Report

Neither Deacon Runck nor Father Jim was available to attend this meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m. with a prayer. 

Next meeting will be October 27th.  Richard Marks will provide prayers and refreshments.

Respectfully Submitted,

Mike Gunkel for Evelyn Andrews, Recording Secretary