Pastoral Council Minutes

October 6, 2008

Attending: Matt Bolton, Rose Braun, Fr. Mark Burger, Tate Cooper, Chris Gebhardt, Jerry Koehne, Brian Krause, Tom Kroger, Debbie Meinhardt, Claudia Miller, Cindy Muron, Jane Mueninghoff, Joan Siebenick, Ray Sousa, Barb Utrata, Fr. Don West. Visitor: Kathy Mack. Scribe: Mary Ann Lampe

Preliminaries: The Council Meeting opened with the Pastoral Council Prayer at 7:00 p.m. Tate Cooper led the reflection.

Agenda Items:

1) Approval of Minutes from September meeting – all

2) Pastoral Associate – Kathy Mack

a) Overview of Current Topics Kathy’s title is Pastoral Associate of Administration, reporting to the Pastor. She takes care of the temporal needs of the parish to allow the pastor to take care of the pastoral needs. Kathy passed out a list of her many duties, one of which is putting together the budget for the finance committee and Pastor. Chris G. – what’s the process for paying bills? Kathy opens, initials, then to department head. Small amounts can be approved by department heads, larger amounts by Kathy and over a certain dollar amount by Fr. Mark. After approval, to bookkeeper then checks signed by Kathy. Our annual audit is scheduled for this month which will include a review of our procedures to determine if any changes are recommended.

Jerry K. – How many people approach the church for assistance with rent, etc.? Kathy – about two or three each week. This number has increased based upon current economic conditions. Needy people within our parish boundaries are referred to us from St. Vincent de Paul, The Fountains and Butler County regardless of faith base. We have a separate fund for parish members to assure availability of funds for them.

Rose – Does the parish still have a formal Welcome Committee? Kathy – no currently, the needs of this ministry are being served through the Council and the quarterly bread delivery. Debbie mentioned that she has not heard the announcement of new members at the Masses as we discussed and agreed upon at a prior meeting.

Parish debt - our loan is currently at $729,000. While the Archdiocese assesses all income at 8.7 %, income for debt reduction is only assessed at 3-4 %. The festival income is the same as last year, $160,000. We have increased our membership by 57 families this year. In October, we will send another $20,000 to Tanzania Promise. Sunday collections are down over this time last year. Duke Energy has the check ready for the easement they are buying (50 ft. along the east side of the property), but are waiting for the attorneys to work out the wording of the agreement. They are putting in an electric line on poles to feed the new Children’s Hospital facility.

Storm damage – we had tree damage all over the property. It took a tree service two days to clean up. Also, we had shingles off the Pavilion and a hole in the roof of the carriage house. We have a $2,000 deductible any remainder will be covered by our insurance.

c) Feedback Brian K – We are lucky to have Kathy. She knows where every dollar goes.

3) Tanzania Promise Project Update – Joan Siebenick

a) Activities to date Joan presented an update. Our activities include in 2007 announcement at Mass and Christmas Card Mailing. In 2008, PSR and Loreto had bed net fundraisers. There are updates and fliers in the Gathering Space and we send thank you notes to donors as donations arrive.

b) Funds donated-collected vs. pledged We have pledges of $331,068 over 5 years and have received 45% of that at $153,953. Our 5 year goal is $250,000. We are sending out reminders quarterly and will be sending out letters soon, advising people of various ways to pay.

c) Village update Their harvest this year was seven times the usual. Started a lunch program in the school and built a new school building, greatly increasing attendance. Built a new dispensary, added several public wells, provided cell phones to local government, built a self-contained lavatory facility, gave them more efficient wood stoves for cooking, provided bed nets for all. There is no electricity, but are starting to use solar power.

d) Ideas for the future If we exceed the $250,000, we need a plan for those funds. I (Joan) would like the excess to go to the Tabora Archdiocese. They are doing a remarkable job helping all the villages. Fr. Mark – that would require the permission of the donors. Rose – are there other villages that we could help support.

Tom – are we still partnered with Good Shepherd? Yes. Jerry – What is the usual percentage of people fulfilling their pledges? Kathy – 80%. Fr. Mark – this kind of pledge is usually fulfilled.

The committee welcomes ideas for how to keep parishioners educated and informed on this important ministry. There is not one family in Tanzania that has not lost someone to AIDS. Tate – perhaps we could do a demonstration calling a section of the church “Tanzania” then have people get up and leave that section to represent deaths from malaria and AIDS. Brian – put pictures on the website. Rose – move the poster in church to various locations and change the pictures.

4) Council activities – all

Rose – 34 new families joined the parish since June. Our next bread delivery will be Oct. 18. We will meet at Frisch’s at 9:00 AM for breakfast, at the office at 10:00 AM to pick up bread for anyone who can’t join us for breakfast. Must be delivered within 1-2 days. Joan, Cindy and Chris as primary drivers. We’d like to include a special events flier with future deliveries to be sure new parishioners are aware of the variety of activities within the parish community and encourage them to check them out.

Other upcoming events that we might mention during the deliveries in Oct. Women of the Word meet Oct. 17. Generations of Faith Oct. 20 and 21. K of C Spaghetti dinner Oct. 25.

Dates for the January council retreat are still being finalized, a sheet was passed around to determine what dates work best for the most. More to follow.

5) Fr. Mark’s Comments

Fr. Dan Shuh, Pastor at St. Susanna, is now saying Tuesday evening Mass. He can no longer say Sunday Mass. I need feedback on parish congress idea. I think a “Prayer Box” outside of church in public view for the community would be a good idea. Fr. Mark – my goal before I leave this parish is to see a welcoming statue of Jesus where it can be seen from Cincinnati-Dayton Rd.

6) Adjournment and Closing Prayer of Thanksgiving – Jerry Koehne We

adjourned at 8:35 PM.

Next Meeting: Monday, November 3, 2008

- Reflection by Jane Mueninghoff

- Prayer of Thanksgiving by Tate Cooper

- Pastoral guest – Scott Steinke