Parish Council Meeting Minutes (17OCT17) Attendees: Father Mark, John Bielinski, Sue Loeffler, Riyan Mendonsa, Lynn Norby, Jan Parsons, Bob Schlitz, Tim Springer
Absent: Betsy Adams, John Kohlhaas
Opening prayer
Parish Fund Appeal As of today, 190 pledges received to date (vs 173 last year at this time); does NOT include this weekend’s pledges; estimate 230 pledges in hand
Total dollars pledged roughly the same ($365k)
Notable number of people that have increased their pledge
No inkling of trend to pledge less
Question: any research into “regular” givers that don’t complete pledge cards? New button online to “re-up” at the click of a button; six or so parishioners have done so thus far; hope to drive greater adoption highlighting ease of use.
Social Hall Abatement Meeting scheduled next week; plan for now to remove stage; of greatest concern is the flooring on the gym; much cheaper to do chemical abatement (to remove glue) but leaves residue behind. Companies therefore won’t warranty as adherence not guaranteed. Team will have better idea of total costs after next week. Ideally, do it right now (at a higher cost) for future of environment as well as people using the facility. Shortcuts/money saving efforts all have some sort of less favorable caveat.
Side conversation on new brick work; blends seamlessly; new sign will face 76
th street; moved from school side sign (obstructed by trees) to church side sign
Fall Festival In house only; decision made not to have outside vendors. Lack of benefit and desire for “higher end” crafts influenced decision. We made no money on vendor sales; only rental booth costs. Vendors themselves didn’t spend money nor was traffic flow from vendors to other booths (book store, bake sale, etc.) realized. Unsure of financial impact if any. Talk of standalone vendor sale abandoned.
Start time moved from 9:00am to 11:00am. Saturday only.
Too many competing activities in the past. FUNDraiser vs FRIENDraiser. More games planned this year in effort to engage families.
Land Development St. Richard’s has been approached by a company to lease/sell land. Deadline too aggressive, especially as Archdiocese involvement/approval required. Discussion on lease/sell can’t take place without proper due diligence.
Post capital campaign, a task force will be assembled to assess land usage today and in the future. Detailed real estate analysis will be a component.
January Fundraiser Last year, Parish Council decided on hosting Hawaiian luau themed event. Quite successful; 150 participants. Décor left up on Sunday to keep buzz going. Both John and Riyan attended and thought it went well.
Need to decide whether to do again (regardless if there is a cultural dinner that month or not). Currently on the calendar for 20JAN18. Need to check with Paul Kujawski to confirm; African cuisine tentative at this point. No Mardi Gras offsite event; pancake breakfast scheduled Sunday 11FEB18.
Parish Council thinks it is a good idea to proceed in hosting again. All are tasked with talking it up in the next couple weeks enlisting various workers for the food components/recipes; opportunities to participate; ideas for games. Will stick with a tropical theme as décor already in hand. Can be tweaked to be Hawaiian, Polynesia, etc.
Cannot cost us any money. Have to break even at a minimum. Free will offering last year is believed to have brought in even more money than had we charged a cost.
Time, Talent, and Treasure Language Father Mark discussed with parish staff. No concrete/final decision made. Archdiocese of St. Louis now using:
Prayer, Participation & Generosity Must consider implications of introducing new language. Balance freshness vs parishioners understanding of the meaning. Could be helpful or harmful. Tim suggests it will offer opportunity to educate/engage community. (Example: CCD vs Faith Formation)
Pondering assignment for Parish Council.
Commission Updates Worship Commission met earlier this month. Focused on Advent planning. Shortened season this year. Timing will impact ability to set up/switch out environmental elements. Will severely impact collections; people won’t go to Mass twice. Essentially, losing one Mass’ contributions.
Faith Formation update:
Potluck held three weeks back; over 1000 sandwiches made
Children’s music from 10:30 – 10:45am; proceed as a group into church and sit together in the front of the church at 11:00am Mass
Adult Faith Formation parent group discussion turned to talk of suicide and their children’s exposure to it (half the parents expressed their kids suffer from such thoughts); need to find a way to address as we aren’t trained counselors
RCIA decent size group; mix of ages
Planning underway for 17DEC17 Adventure brunch. Painting for Advent labyrinth will take place this weekend.