February 2021

Pastoral Council Minutes,  February 16th, 2021
Present: Jeff Keen, Phil Paladino, Father Doug Wathier, Wayne Green
Zoom: Kris Dunkin, Kelli Flege, Trent Lockard, Ruth Schluter, Jenne Seward, Jennifer Siech
 

• Meeting called to order by Trent

 

• Father Doug started with prayer using the Litany of St. Joseph.

 

• The January 19th minutes were reviewed. Ruth moved to accept the minutes, Jennifer seconded, and the Council approved.

 

• Peace and Justice committee submitted the following tithe recommendations. Question about the Clara White Charity was raised. The Clara White Charity offers meals, shelter, and vocational programs in the Jacksonville Florida area. Kris made a motion to approve the contributions, seconded by Jeff, and approved by Council.
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$750 NAMI
$750 Cedar Valley Friends of the Family

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• Kelli gave the Finance Committee report
  • Giving is still down
  • Expenses also lower
  • The PPP has helped budget
  • No change of course is planned for now
  • It was decided to not do the withdrawal from the Endowment this time around.
  • Roof repair – accepted bid, plan to do the work in the Spring. If they are not able to perform the work in a timely manner we could go with the 2nd lower bid.
  • Buildings and Grounds recommended the replacement of the North entrance door, which is not closing properly. The cost to repair the door would be almost the same as replacing it. Money would be from the Non-restrictive Memorial Fund. There was discussion on wind block and what could be done to increase the life of the door. Kris made a motion to approve replacing the door, and it was approved by the Council.
  • Building and Grounds will be doing a long range plan to help in the future budget process. There is a possibility we will need to replace two furnaces next year. A replacement fund could be set up and funded for future needs.

 

• 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. Angie has met with Archdiocese NCYC team and is gathering information from them. As soon as plans are known she will start the St. Mary planning effort. 
  • 1st Communion will be held at three services in May. Family prep starts the end of March.
  • Confirmation retreat will be help on Sunday, February 21st.
  • Adult Lenten small groups starting the week of February 21st.
  • St. Mary is on the list for Totus Tuus, if it should be held this year.
  • Catechesis of the Good Shephard leaders have been invited to the March meeting to discuss CGS.

 

• Long Term Planning team meeting next week.

 

• Covid
  • Archdiocese keeping current policies in place
  • Ash Wednesday distribution of ashes will be no-contact.
  • Holy Week services will all be no-contact.

 

• Next Council meeting will be Tuesday, March 16th at 7:00pm

 

• Father ended the meeting with prayer.

 
 
 
Finance Council Meeting – Feb 16, 2021
Attendees: Kelly Flege, Joe Barber, Steve Phyfe, Becky Willson, Becky David, Fr Doug Wathier. Scott Danner, Also present: Dixie Jacobs, Deacon Phil Paladino.
Fr Wathier led prayer.
Monthly Financials:  Offertory is running behind budget, but expenses are also below budget. The forgiven PPP loan has helped keep us within budgeted income. We received a stock bequest, which was liquidated according to Archdiocesan guidelines. Funds were set aside to cover the archdiocesan taxa on this gift, and the remaining funds deposited in unrestricted savings. Becky W. made a motion to accept the financials as presented; Steve seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Motion: Payroll Protection Program (PPP): The 2nd PPP loan was approved and $54,000 was deposited in our checking. The program provides an 8 week or 24 week forgiveness application, so there should be no issues with having the loan forgiven.
Building & Grounds Recommendations: The Building & Grounds Committee met and provided the following recommendations for upcoming projects.

1. Roof Vent: Recommendation to use a local contractor. Both contractors recommending the same more durable vent material. This vent material is also removal and can be reinstalled, if the roof is shingled in the future. Joe made a motion to accept the lowest bid as first option and other contractor as a backup option based on their availability to meet our spring deadline for installation. Scott seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
2. North Auto-Door Opener: Recommendation was to replace the opener with a heavy-duty version by company who has done all the other doors. This door gets buffeted by a lot of wind. The council discussed the timeline, and felt since the automatic opening feature is inoperable until replaced and the north lot is for handicap parking that this project should be completed as soon as possible. Becky D. made a motion to proceed with the bid and to replace the door opener asap with funding provided from memorial savings. Becky W seconded the motion; the motion passed unanimously.
3. Hall/Office Furnaces: Recommendation is the furnaces are in working condition after the most recent repairs, but to consider replacing 2 (residential) furnaces per year. Seven residential furnaces heat the hall and office area. The nave has a commercial unit, which will last much longer. The residential units have a useful life of about 15 yrs, and they were installed 12 yrs ago. The first units to replace should be #5 and #7 as they have had the most repairs. Cost $4000/unit.  The council decided to put this project on the budget discussion at the April finance meeting.

The Finance Council will take these recommendations to the Pastoral Council meeting.
Phase 2 Planning Committee: Meetings will resume on Feb 23.
Religious Education Endowment: A rel. ed. endowment withdrawal of $12,196 is budgeted for this fiscal year. Becky D made a motion not to take the budgeted rel. ed. endowment withdrawal this fiscal year. Steve seconded the motion; the motion passed unanimously.
Potential Finance Council Members: The council suggested several potential future candidates.
Meeting adjourned. Next meeting Mar 16. Agenda – 2021/22 personnel and Building & Grounds projects, monthly financials, potential finance council members, update roof vent and auto-door, Phase 2 update.
 
 
March 2nd 2021 Faith Formation Commission Meeting
Attendees: Father Doug Wathier, Angie Beck, Wayne Green, Bill Flege, Jen Nus, Mariah Stauffer, Terri Cruise. Guests: Jeff Keen, Morgan Hockenson, Sarah Heitz

1. Opening Prayer (attached)
2. Catechesis of the Good Shephard discussion (leaders have been invited)

• Program Benefits:
  • Level 1 has value- without other levels                    
  • Fills a Pre-K Niche
  • Reflections on child’s experience and sharing with family – example of where the child encounter the holy spirit after experiencing CGS
  • Atrium is an extension of the church, unlike any other classroom

• Needs:
  • Need 10 Level 1 catechists before moving forward to level 2
  • Need to solve space issues
  • Need support from the parish to drive this forward
• What are the next steps to get the programming running again?
  • Ideas to get trained catechists (It’s a seed that you plant and let grow – it takes time)
    • Sell it as retreat for adults
    • Get in front of the parish and sell the program
    • Reach out to other programs for ideas (Cedar Falls and an Ames parish have programs going)
    • Baptism class could be an opportunity to share the baptism program
    • Serving as aids in the atrium – they experience the benefits with the kids
    • Have a video to promote the program could use to share with the parish
    • Recruiting people who aren’t raising kids
    • Have a training session here (trade off with Cedar Rapids)
  • Information
    • Currently there are 5 trained individuals, not all 5 are available going forward
    • Level 1 ages 3 – 6, ideally 2 hours, (We’ve done an hour and 25 minutes)
      • Time to open to the holy spirit to experience the session
    • 12 children is tops with 2 catechists
  • Questions:     
    • Could we do CGS with the current catechists?   Could offer some sessions, they would be capped, space is still an issue.  Last year was hard with space limitations and they turned people away
    • Current catechists are advocates for the program, they can tell what is needed, don’t have the time to push it forward for the parish
    • Request to reach out to other parishes to see if there are churches without schools who have this program going. 

Cons
Training is expense and once trained catechists decide to serve the parish in different ways
Training – is out of town, travel expense, time away from families and work
Program is very rigid no opportunity to fit it to a parish
 

1.  March 2021 Faith Formation Update

Elementary & Middle School
Programs continue to go well. 
First Communion preparation sessions will begin in March.
High School
NCYC – promotion & registration will begin in March
Confirmation -juniors are making their finals preparations
Retreat on Feb. 21 went well with all candidates participating
Adult
Lenten Small Groups -I Heard God Laugh- 4 groups meeting with 17 participants in all
 

1. Job description for an additional faith formation position.

Full time, 
Young Adult/Adult formation 18 – 30 and older range, Shepard RCIA , NCYC
New roles are advertised in the spring for next year. 
Part of next fiscal year. 
 
The commission supports moving forward to the finance committee with the role.
 

1.  Process for committee member term transitions

 Moving forward with elections for terms that expire
 

1. Closing prayer (attached)

Next meeting, April 6th, at 6:30pm
 
 
St. Mary Parish Life Committee Meeting Minutes,   February 11, 2021    7PM
Present: Mary Jo Stromberg, Amy Price, Nancy Carlson, Jan Kriener, Helen Melichar, Gerri Dix
Mary Jo opened the meeting with a prayer.
Agenda:
Review of January minutes:
 Mary Jo stated that the sign-up sheet for Parish Life Committee will be on-line as well as in the Lenten mailing. 
Note:  Gerri will get the information from Mary Jo’s letter on the website.  It will be under the Parish Life tab.
Errand Running:  It was confirmed with Wal-Mart and Hy-Vee that others can pick up for those who have put in an order.
Lenten sewing project: 297 items were completed. Project is finished.
Easter Egg Hunt: It was decided that this will not be done this year.
Rosary and Prayer Promotion: Theresa, Jan, and Gerri on working on this. Some of the ideas to promote prayer include making prayer bags that parishioners can pick up in church,  schedule a Zoom Rosary time, schedule the first weekend in May and maybe the last weekend in May for an outside activity promoting prayer, video the first 20 minutes before the 10:00 Mass the 1st weekend of the month, ask to see if the 10:00 Mass on the 3rd weekend be recorded with the Divine Mercy Chaplet.  It was discussed that information about the Rosary needed more of a presence on the website and on facebook.  Gerri will check to see if the times when Rosary is said is listed on the website/ in the bulletin.
NOTE: Gerri did check with Dixie about the Rosary being part of the weekend Mass recording. Dixie needs to look into copyright information.
Progress with Phone Pals:  Letters were mailed today to all phone callers and “callees”.  There were about 80 people who are to be called.  There are 50-60 people who volunteered to be callers.  There will be an announcement this weekend at all Masses that anyone who knows someone who might like a call needs to contact Gerri.  Callers will be following up with Gerri to report on how calls went.
Brainstorm ideas for new parishioners/babies:  The big question:  How can we welcome new parishioners?  Possible activities once coffee Sunday can be scheduled…Set aside one Sunday to recognize new parishioners, personal coffee Sunday invites to new parishioners and could new parishioners be introduced during Mass….Need to identify someone who would be willing to work with new parishioners.
Discuss how to get Matthew Kelly books delivered:  There is a sign-up for the Lenten Book Study group.  Angie and Mariah are in charge.  The Zoom study group seems to be well received.  There is also a need to get more books handed out.
Parish life will meet on the second Thursday of the month September-May. 
Next meeting date:  March 11, 2021     7PM