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PRINCE OF PEACE COUNCIL MINUTES
September 21 , 2006
Walking Together, Growing in Faith”
Opening Prayer: Father Tony led us in opening prayer.
Roll Call:
Members present: Father Tony Herold, Father Thom Hennen, Mary Beth Butt, Steve Cahoy, Jim DeMong, Kathleen DeMong, Mary Jo Dopson, Cathy Eggers, Michelle Griffin, Denise Laufenberg, Beverly Putman, Charles Rutledge, Marc Smith, Tom VanBuer, Lenny Weih, Odelia Schrunk, Mike Rastrelli.
Deacons Present: Jeff Schuetzle
High School Representative: Chris Outzen
School Board Representative: Christy Roth
Faith Facilities: Mike Pittman
Staff Present: Betty Mantsch, David Schnier
Finance Commission: Ed Kross
Excused Absent: Joe Leonard, Art Donart, Brenda Bertram, Annette Lyons, Sister Kathy Holland, Dick Roberts
Guests: None
Approval of Agenda: Approved as printed.
Communications: None
Approval of Minutes: Approved as printed.
Election of Officers: Kathy asked for nominations from the floor. Lenny Weih agreed to run. No nominations from the floor so Lenny Weih is our new President. Opened nominations from the floor for Vice-President. Jim DeMong agreed to run. Jim DeMong is now our new Vice-President and Bev Putman is still the reigning Secretary.
Pastor's Report: Father Tony commended the Stewardship Committee for all their work getting ready for the Time, Talent and Treasure month. It starts the weekend of September 23-24 and will run through the month of October. Father Tony then stated we are planning a Town Hall meeting on November 20th. We want this to be a major event and the architect and Brother William will be here for the event and will be presenting to the parish what the new church will look like. Father also mentioned the Diocese of Davenport has a policy promulgated at the Chancery Office of Davenport effective May 2006, titled "Policies relating to Parish Councils and Parish Finance Councils". The meeting for the Clinton Deanery is October 24th at 6:00 pm at St Joseph's in DeWitt. Father would like all that are able to attend this meeting. Try to read the information before hand if you are going to be able to make the meeting. Father mentioned the work of Brenda Bertram, Betty Mantsch, Kathy DeMong, and Steve Notz for their work on the "Why Catholic?" program. Father is very impressed with the fact that we have over 150 people that have signed up. Father also mentioned that we are a very large parish and he thought that maybe a good topic for discussion at the next Pastoral Council meeting would be - "why people are not attending Mass." As a council we need to look at hospitality and outreach. Father mentioned using St. Boniface as a Cultural Center. There have been a few meetings and lots of interest. Tom Cannon is looking into making it a non-profit organization.
Open Discussion: Discussion of 2006-2007 Possible Open Discussion Topics: Kathy read a partial list of what was given last year. Cathy Eggers suggested all the council members get a copy of that list and maybe we can pick the top three. Father Thom mentioned the addition of a Vocation Committee on the Time, Talent & Treasure form. Father Thom thought the Council could address this. Bev will mail copies of all forms to the Council members so that they have it for the October meeting. Father Tony mentioned we might want to consider having one aspect of Parish Life as a focus for a meeting and then have the council hear input from that group and then the Council could brainstorm on some goals. It was suggested that the Liturgical Design Committee give a presentation to the Council in October so they could see the drawings. Father Tony also said we need to address the problem of Mass attendance on the decline and feels this would be a worthy topic of discussion at the next meeting.
Old Business: None
New Business:
A: Choose Discussion Topic for Next Meeting: It was decided to be "Why the decline in Mass Attendance" and How to Increase Mass Attendance"
B: 10/24/06 Meeting in DeWitt: Covered in Father Tony's Report
Faith Facility Report: Written report submitted. Mike Pittman gave a brief overview of the report. Mike had high praise for the Liturgical Design committee. In July Estes chose the sub-contractors of Voss Plumbing, Leslie Electric and Air Control. Also in July we met with RDG (via phone) and Estes for preliminary review of schematic design estimates. On August 10th, there was an all day session with the Liturgical Committee and RDG, refinement is continuing. On September 19th, an area of corn on the church property was cut in order to establish building corner points to facilitate soil borings. On September 21st, there was another all day meeting with liturgical committee members for continued refinement. Plans are to have two more meetings before the November 20th Town Hall meeting. Mike said we would start to develop the land this fall. Father Tony and Dick Roberts met with the Diocese and we have full approval to move ahead.
Prince of Peace School Report: Written report submitted. Christy Roth gave a few highlights from the report. Christy mentions the generosity of George McAndrews who has donated not only to our window replacement project but has provided another $8000 in air purifiers and Shaklee cleaning products. Fourteen of our Christian Leadership students visit the homebound and take Communion to them as well. Christy mentioned the School Tuition Organizations (STO). If you have any questions on this you can contact either Nancy Peart or Steven Roling. Some discussion followed on an organized effort to recruit for our school.
COMMISSION REPORTS:
Parish Life - Stewardship Committee: Odelia mentioned we are starting our campaign this next weekend. There will be two weekends for handouts at Mass. They will then be mailed and if no contact after the 18th of October they will be contacted by phone. After all brochures are in and tabulated all the people will be contacted. We also have a Stewardship prayer that will be said before Mass in place of the prayer of St. Francis during Stewardship month. Dave said this is the best way to get people involved in their parish. It is very important to contact all the people that have signed up. Mary Connell had a very nice brochure made and printed up. Chris Outzen asked if there were any items on the brochure for Teens? Yes, but no individual brochure for the teens. They are just all on the form for the family,
Liturgical & Spiritual Life Commission: Written reports submitted. Father Thom stated no meeting in September and he is continuing to train Altar Servers. Father Thom also mentioned we are going to be looking at training Commentators in the near future.
Social Action Commission: Written report submitted. Lenny and Father Tony mentioned the Pilgrimage planned for June 2007 and a possible mini pilgrimage is being discussed.
Finance Commission: Ed Kross mentioned that we are about $6000 below budget on envelope income. Ed mentioned that they talked about the Mass attendance. Where are the 200 people that are missing from weekend Masses. Younger people have to step up to the plate to replace the older people that have passed on. We did some brainstorming on how to handle the situation. There will be another capital campaign in spring of 2007. There is a stalemate on St. Pat's property. They are working on speeding up the sale. There is also an offer on the St. Boniface rectory. When putting together the budget there is about a $70M deficit. We can't keep using assets to handle the deficit. We have now passed over $2.9 million in pledges paid or 83% paid on pledges.
Faith Formation: Written report submitted. Betty said the biggest thing going on now is the "Why Catholic?" program. Betty noted the calendar on the second page.
Father reminded us of the meeting in DeWitt on October 24th. Father Tony is asking us to be the ears of the parish and be keen observers of what is going on. Father also encouraged us to read the Catholic Messenger.
It was decided to e-mail everyone the information requested. Kathy brought cake in honor of Father Tony's birthday and we all sang Happy Birthday.
Next meeting October 19, 2006 at 7:00 pm at St. Boniface Hall.
Deacon Jeff ended the meeting with the closing prayer.
Respectfully submitted: Beverly Putman