ST/ PAUL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
January 9, 2006 –
6:30 p.m.
Present: Daryl Olszewski, Gerry Burant, Kerri Anderson, Chris Fogarty, Jeff Madunich, Mary Cajski, Cheryl Kaminski, Linda Krowsky, Vince Sciano, and Pat Sciano
Not Present: Ann Pawlak
Sherri led the Council in the opening prayer.
Paul Anderson’s two-year term on the School Advisory Board is ending in June. Gerry will contact Paul to see if he is interested in remaining on the Board for another term. This is an appointed position, and will need to be filled by the Parish Council if Paul decides not to retain this position.
Parish Council nominations will be taking place in the spring. Linda, Kerri, and Ann’s terms are ending this year. Nominations will be held on the weekends of March 5th and 12th. Parishioners who are nominated will be invited to attend the April Council meeting to observe what occurs during a meeting. Discernment will take place at the May meeting. Vince will chair the Nomination Committee with Kerri and Gerry helping him with preparing the ballots. Linda will get copies of previous nomination ballots to Vince.
Sherri is going to make a banner depicting the different organizations in the parish. This will again give parishioners a chance to see if they might be interested in sharing their time and talents on a committee that might be of interest to them. The banner will be placed in the south vestibule during the Coffee & Donuts Sunday on February 19th.
The numbers are declining for the
Religious Education Program. The number
of catechists is also down, with only one catechist remaining after this
year. With the
St. Paul site of STAA closing and older children already taking religious
education at the St. Veronica site, the Council felt, after some discussion,
that the younger children should receive their instruction at the St. Veronica
site also with the understanding that this is a temporary move and that the
younger children may be brought back to the St. Paul’s site in one year. Other alternatives were discussed in the
hopes of keeping the children at
St Paul’s (i.e. remodeling the upstairs of the parish house) but it was decided
not to undertake that at this time.
Karen Bushman will need to be notified of the Council’s decision
regarding the children’s move. Daryl and
Jim Hooper will be holding a meeting with the religious education parents on
Sunday, February 5th at 8:50 a.m. in the school hall to discuss the
issue, and Council members are encouraged to attend.
With the school closing at the end of this school year, the Parish Council needs to discuss what its vision is for the building itself – should it be rented or leased to another school or institution? Should selling the property be considered?
The Council discussed the fact that some or all of the parishes in our cluster may be going through many of the same issues that we as a parish are experiencing. It was felt that it would be good for all of the Parish Councils to meet and collaborate with each other to discuss any common problems and concerns. Gerry will contact the other Councils and try to set up a meeting.
Daryl spoke about several estate gifts that have come or will be coming in shortly to the parish. One gift is in the amount of $37,000.00. This is going to be used to clear the Archdiocesan debt. There is approximately a $14,000.00 carry over from last year’s assessment. The assessment for this year is going to be $39,000.00. The parish is expecting another estate gift of around $50,000.00. Not only can these monies be used to clear the debt but also to help achieve some much-needed improvements in the area of the church and grounds.
The meeting ended at 9:00 p.m. with the closing prayer.
Linda will have the opening prayer at the February 6th meeting.
Respectfully submitted by:
Pat Sciano