St. John Vianney Parish Council Meeting

MINUTES

Monday, February 12, 2007

 

Members Present:

Jim Woloszyk                                                   Kurt Baumann

Dave Morris                                                     Frank Pasternak

Caren Groose                                                   Ralph Patitucci

Jim Luther                                                        Ryan Williams

Bob Wallis                                                       Steve Fastabend

Greg Van Winkle                                              Fr. Paul Hartmann

Barb Hetzel                                                      Sarah Derose

 

Guests:

Joanne Cekanor                                               Ellen Heitman

Jon Hauser                                                       Frank Deguire

Kathy Uy                                                         David Bonofiglio

Colleen Terry                                                   Jim Hessling

 

Call to Order: 

The meeting was called to order at 7:01 pm by Jim Woloszyk, Council Chair.

 

Opening Prayer:  Caren Groose

 

Approval of Minutes:

The minutes of the January 8, 2007 were approved.

 

OPEN FORUM:  Ellen Heitman

Ellen brought a request for a subcommittee to be organized to create a Leadership Forum for all leaders in the Parish, to begin in the new leadership year in August or September. Discussion ensued. Ideas offered.  Decision:  A subcommittee will be established with Ellen taking the lead in its creation.

 

ADMINISTRATORS REPORT:

  1. The search committee for a new school principal is successfully moving along the intended timeline.
  2. Fr. Paul has met with a number of the committees to learn their functions and be supportive.
  3. He has received comments from the Archdiocese on our By-laws but has not had a chance to review them in depth.

 

INCREASING MASS ATTENDANCE:  David Bonofiglio

2005-06 Mass attendance averaged 2500-3000 per week. This represents about one third of the total Parishioners. A list of ideas for increasing Mass attendance was presented. David recommended trying to increase attendance from within our membership, rather than trying to obtain that increase from outside. Discussion ensued with a brainstorming session on ideas. It was noted that the Sunday evening Mass, although well attended, has not increased our total Mass attendance. The next Archdiocesan Pastoral Council Meeting is February 22, and this topic will be addressed. Jim Woloszyk will attend and make a list of ideas to bring back for further consideration at the March Council meeting.

 

SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE:  Kathy Uy

Kathy made a detailed presentation. She differentiated Stewardship from Development. Development is for programs and support in the School. Many Catholic schools have Development staff, some paid full-time. A Development Committee, a subcommittee of the School Board Committee, was started in early 2006. A number of avenues of Development have been pursued. Several grants have already been received. Successes continue as the Committee gains experience. Areas for growth, current successes and activities were presented, including, database, newsletter, School fund and reunions. The Council acknowledged their good work and encouraged them to continue.        

 

FINANCE COMMITTEE:  Jon Hauser and Jim Hessling

An insurance representative met with Finance to review our coverages.  All coverages are up to date and complete. Jim Hessling is following up on a couple of questions raised during the discussion (see below).

 

Budget:  The Draft Budget for 2007-08 was presented.  Some highlights:

                        Stewardship projection             $2.2 million

                        Salaries                                                increase 3.3%

                        School tuition                                        increase 4%

                        Health insurance                                   increase 15%

                        Utilities                                     need further review

Individual Department requests and Capital Expenditure projections were reviewed.

A finalized Budget will be presented for approval in March.

 

NEW BUSINESS:

A special request came from the Outreach Committee for a $1000 donation to the Guatamala Medical Mission. Discussion ensued. Consensus was that we just don’t have enough information on their mission, structure, activities and finances to feel comfortable granting the request this year.

 

Ralph Patitucci and some others met with the Outreach Committee pursuant to our previous discussion at Council. Ralph proposed that we consider decreasing the number of groups that we fund from Outreach, and try to make them more local. Discussion ensued. It was decided to add this discussion to the March Parish Council Meeting where the Outreach Committee is scheduled to give their quarterly report.

 

COMMITTEE LIAISON REPORTS:

Greg Van Winkle:  Festival Committee

The Committee met last week. All Committee participants from last year are back this year. The only issue of difficulty so far is the food vendor status. Sysco will not accept any liability risk for the refrigerator/freezer trailer they traditionally have there for our use. The Archdiocese requires that they have a liability policy releasing the Parish and Archdiocese from liability with regard to the trailer. The Committee is considering alternatives to manage this problem.

 

Caren Groose:  Christian Formation

The second session of G.I.F.T. is coming up during the Lenten season. The plan for Ellen Heitman’s leave of absence is still in process.

 

CLOSING PRAYER:  Greg Van Winkle

 

Meeting Adjourned at 9:21 pm

 

Respectfully submitted,

Greg Van Winkle

Secretary