Council & Committee Minutes

Pastoral Council Minutes,  January 19th, 2021
Present: Jeff Keen, Phil Paladino, Father Doug Wathier, Wayne Green
Zoom: Kris Dunkin, Kelli Flege, Elaine Lawler, Trent Lockard, Ruth Schluter, Jenne Seward
Not present: Jennifer Siech

• Meeting called to order by Trent
• Father Doug started with prayer using the Prayer of St. Francis.
• The November 10th minutes were reviewed. Correction needed in the Finance report to change PPE to PPP. Kris moved to accept the minutes with noted change, Ruth seconded, and the Council approved.
• Peace and Justice committee submitted the following tithe recommendations. Ruth made a motion to approve, seconded by Elaine, and approved by Council.

$500 Holiday Shoppe
$500 Butler Co. Visions of Well-being Christmas Boxes
$500 Butler Co. food pantries

$2,000 NE Iowa Food Bank

$900 Bread for the World
$900 Catholic Legal Immigration
$900 Catholic Relief Services
              

• Kelli gave the Finance Committee report
  • Giving is down
  • Christmas giving was above budget
  • Message to parish will be one of gratitude and a reminder to remember the parish in giving.
  • No change of course is planned for now
  • Expenses are also lower, offsetting the lower giving
  • The new PPP was approved and Dixie is pursuing
  • Roof repair will be taking place in the Spring. Multiple bids are being sought. There was discussion about contractors and bids. The Buildings and Grounds committee will be making their recommendation next month.
• Long Term Planning Committee should be meeting before next Council meeting.
• Wayne gave Faith Formation report
  • Sessions going on in a combination of in-person, remote, and at home learning.
  • Attendance has been good for elementary and middle school.
  • We are still waiting to hear from NCYC on the upcoming conference. There was discussion on fundraising for NCYC and some ideas were shared.
• Covid
  • Archdiocese keeping current policies in place
  • Throat blessing will be communal this year
  • Distribution of ashes will no-contact.
• There was discussion on the quality of the live stream. Father will check into it.
• Father reminded the Council that 4 seats will expire this June and encouraged everyone to think of folks to recruit.
• Jeff made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Wayne, and approved by Council.
• Next Council meeting will be Tuesday, February 16th at 7:00pm
• Father ended the meeting with prayer.                                      Submitted by Wayne Green

 
Finance Council Meeting – Jan 19, 2021
Attendees: Kelly Flege, Joe Barber, Steve Phyfe, Becky Willson, Becky David, Fr Doug Wathier. Also present: Dixie Jacobs, Deacon Phil Paladino.
Deacon Phil led prayer.
Monthly Financials:  We are about $10,000 behind budget on offertory. However, our Payroll Protection Program (forgiven) loan of $54,000 has put our gross income above budget. We will be applying for a second PPP forgivable loan in the next few weeks. Expenses are below budget due to lower than expected utility costs and conservative spending on programming.
Motion: Payroll Protection Program (PPP): Joe made a motion to apply for the next PPP forgivable loan, if St Mary qualifies. Becky W seconded the motion, the motion passed unanimously.
Roof Vent Update: We have two bids on replacing the deteriorating roof vent. The manufacturer of the product is willing to replace the material. However, one contractor is recommending a different ridge product, which he believes will much more durable. We are waiting on another bid, and a couple bids on upcoming maintenance issues. The building and grounds will meet before the finance meeting. They will have recommendations on these projects. The finance council would like building and grounds to provide a time frame for replacement of large items i.e. furnaces, roof, etc. for long-range budgeting purposes.
Letter to Parish: Contribution statements will be sent to parishioners end of this month. We usually include a 6-month parish financial summary and letter from the finance council. Kelly F volunteered to draft the letter. It will be a letter of gratitude for the continued support of the parish’s ministries. We will also include materials for on-line giving, which is becoming more popular.
Terms Ending June 2021: Scott, Steve and Kelly’s terms end June 30, 2021. The council were asked to bring names of potential members to the Feb meeting.
Meeting adjourned. Next meeting Feb 16. Agenda – Building & Grounds recommendations, PPP update, long-range planning update, religious education endowment budgeted withdrawal, potential new members. March agenda – 2021/22 budgeting, personnel.
 
 
Faith Formation Meeting 2/2/2021
In attendance:  Wayne Green, Father Doug Wathier, Bill Flege, Angie Beck, Becky Prostine, Jennifer Nus, Mariah Stauffer, Terri Cruise

1. Opening Prayer
2. Faith formation update from Angie

February 2021 Update – Happy Groundhog Day!
Elementary

• First Communion – Sat. May 1 at 5:15pm, Sun. May 2 at 2:00pm, & Tue. May 4 at 5:30 pm

Family Preparation sessions will be on Sunday evenings: March 21, April 18 & 25. Mindy Hart is assisting with the sessions again.
Middle School - EDGE

• Steady attendance & great participation for in-person and virtual sessions

High School

• NCYC – still waiting. I will begin working on publicity, registration, and fundraising once there is information from the Archdiocese
  • NCYC – others are wondering about timing and fundraising.  The group planning NCYC meets this week.   We’ll hear more after this meeting.  The thought is beginning of March is when plans should be available to start parish planning.
• Confirmation prep: Chosen

Retreat planned for Feb. 21 including 10:00am Mass with Rite of Enrollment and Candidate/Sponsor retreat from 1:00-6:00 pm at St. Mary
Adult

• Exodus 90 – group for men meeting through Lent
• I Heard God Laugh – small groups during Lent. As of 1/29, 6 registered
• Summer Programs
• Waverly Vacation Bible School – Jennifer is going to continue to be our contact as the group starts to plan.   St Mary’s contributes $500 to Vacation Bible School and helps decorate
  • Angie has some scaled back plans for a St Mary’s vacation bible school if our other plans fall through.
• Totus Tuis – plans aren’t out yet, our parish that is on the list already.

 

1. Lenten small groups – “I Heard God Laugh.” small groups during Lent.  8 are registered.

Bookmark with dates
Working on mailings
Deadline? (Before the 11th)
Facilitators – Mariah will meet with facilitators and is planning Feb 11th to meet.
6 weeks, 6 sessions, starting after the 21st.
Ideas on encouragement to sign up:It’s on the website, it’s been pushed through Facebook.
Discussion on how it’s nice to have diverse age groups to build community.
  

1. Faith Formation Survey - continue discussion.

Angie’s thoughts
Personal outreach to participants: send out after sessions a quick google survey to parents – one word or a single sentence.
We talked about a simple email after the session asking for perspectives.
Using the current process, Angie can see who’s opened emails
Angie has gotten feedback that she does a nice balance on emails
 
The commission would like to understand response rate and themes
 

1. Catechesis of the Good Shephard Leaders – invite to March meeting.

Get a feel for our catechist vision for the future.Sara, Morgan Ashley Angie, and Jeff are being invited to our next meeting
Questions
Can we run two programs?Time is the issue; programs differ so much.Hard to coordinate transportation for families who do two different programs.
Space limitations We have enough materials for two atriums
 
Current constraints:
Only trained for Level 1 ages 3 -5
Level 2 is 6-8 (Michelle did this in the past) No upcoming training sessions
Haven’t quite found the right time, Evening gets late for preschoolers
8:00 was too early
Discussed preschool timing and how to coordinate a daytime session.Challenges exist here too.
 

1. Other topics
   1. Parish Life -focus on community building and outreach
2. Closing prayer