Pastoral Council Minutes

Pastoral Council Meetings

View minutes from May 10, 2011
View minutes from April 12, 2011
View minutes from February 11, 2011
View minutes from January 11, 2011
View minutes from November 9, 2010
View minutes from September 14, 2010
View minutes from May 11, 2010
View minutes from April 13, 2010
View minutes from February 9, 2010
View minutes from January 12, 2010
View minutes from October 13, 2009
View minutes from September 8, 2009

May 10, 2011

Members present: Fred Haack, John Harambasic, Karen Larson, Mary Vos, Peggy Weber. Also present were: Fr. Ron Weyrens, Bob Zawacki and Trustee Anita Stoering. Absent: Paul Fread, Rich Kierzek, Joe Foster and Dave Massman.

The first portion of the meeting was the selection of members for the various councils and committees. Selected for the Pastoral Council were Roland Brummer, Marilyn Golembeski and Thomas Schutz. Sign up sheets were available for the other committees.

The agenda and minutes were approved as distributed.

Updates: St. Katharine Drexel is continuing to move toward one campus. All school Mass next week Friday (9am) at St. Augustine’s. Will be honoring the retirees. Tomorrow evening is a picnic celebrating Sacred Heart School (past and present). Everyone is invited. Friday, May 27 (last day of school) Mass is at 8:30am at the school. There will then be a procession to the St. Cloud campus, with those children meeting us half way and walking the rest of the way together. There were very few staff reductions due to retirements. David will go to half time and one of the St. Aug’s cooks was let go. Some of the teachers had hours reduced. Current enrollment is 248; pre-school is filled.

School building: Still waiting for an offer from the Benton-Stearns Education District. They have expressed a strong interest.

Long Range Planning: Fr. Ron distributed a possible plan for summer meetings. Envision doing them in the Gathering Space in small groups around the tables. It was suggested that we also hold a meeting in September. The question was raised about the possibility of looking at starting a pre-school as the one at the St. Cloud Campus is full.

Thank you to John Harambasic, Dave Massman and Rich Kierzek for giving of their time and talent to serve on the Pastoral Council the past 3 years. Welcome to those who will be joining us. We will meet on the second Tuesday of the month from September through May. Meeting adjourned at 8:30pm. Minutes submitted by JoAnn Mo

April 12, 2011
Members present: Paul Fread, Fred Haack, Karen Larson, Mary Vos, Rich Kierzek, Joe Foster and Dave Massman. Also present were: Fr. Ron Weyrens and Bob Zawacki. Absent: John Harambasic and Peggy Weber.

The meeting began at 7:00pm with prayer. Minutes and agenda were approved as distributed.

Budget: There were several questions asked and those items were clarified. It was moved and seconded that the budget be approved. Motion carried unanimously.

St. Katharine Drexel School: St. Katharine Drexel is officially incorporated. Next year all students will be at the St. Cloud campus. Currently there are 238 students registered for next year. The current school year has 280 students between the two campuses. We are able to retain most of the staff for next year due to 3 teachers retiring (with over 100 years of service combined!). Jim is also retiring from full time but he will still be available as needed. Our custodian was offered half time and one of the cooks from St. Aug’s will not be back. Some adjustments were made to the specialty staff. We will be continuing with the Faith Based Covenant investment.

School Building: We have gotten 3 proposals for the school. 1) Harold Jesh for senior housing; 2) Stearns-Benton Coop which works with students that have problems in a regular environment (they have been through the building multiple times) and 3) Kevin LaNave who would like to see us rent to non-profits led by recently arrived immigrants and refugees (this proposal was received today and handed out at the meeting).

A lengthy discussion followed on rental versus selling. It has been suggested that for a best use scenario, the asking price begin at about one million dollars. Dave Massman moved and Paul Fread seconded a motion that a minimum selling price is $200,000. (We would not start negotiations at this point, but would go no lower than that.) If an offer comes in above that amount, it is up to the discretion of Fr. Ron and Bob if it should be accepted.

Life Long Learning: Fred requested ideas that would provide people with opportunities to continue learning. Some ideas that surfaced were: connection to those that are homebound (other than bringing them communion), Small Christian Communities, Bible Study, Parish Retreat, TEC or Koninia, connecting young people through some type of event.

Expansion: We need space. Bob handed out a budget showing what we would need if we would build. We will do needs assessment meetings over the summer and inform the parish. Will review again at the May meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 8:40pm.

Minutes submitted by JoAnn Mo

February 11, 2011
Members present: Paul Fread, Fred Haack, John Harambasic, Karen Larson, Mary Vos, Rich Kierzek,
Joe Foster, Dave Massman and Peggy Weber. Also present were: Fr. Ron Weyrens, Bob Zawacki, Anita
Stoering (trustee) and John & Deb Abraham (Festival Chairs). Absent:.

The meeting began at 7:00pm with prayer. Minutes and agenda were approved as distributed.
The Festival will again run Saturday evening and Sunday. Currently, it appears that all stand chairs will be
returning. We purchased the St. Peter’s bazaar equipment for $500 which included some tents. We
should not have to rent any this year with the exception of those from St. Pat’s. The polka band has been
booked. Still need to find a DJ for Saturday evening. The possibility exists that the Bingo stand may be
open Saturday evening. The net from the chicken dinner was $694. Other food stands were down $2,400.
Was this due to the dinner? John & Deb will contact the dinner chairs from last year to determine what
will happen this year. Kemps will not donate ice cream this year because of the economy. Will advertise
as “Festival Committee” rather than Festival Chairs and see if anyone will volunteer.
Mass Article: Briefly discussed.

Long Range Goals: Under Goal 5, add Space Issues (office space and storage space).
Goal 9: Parish Endowment. Currently we have an Education Endowment which includes the school and
faith formation. There does not appear to be a lot of enthusiasm from the Finance Council at this point.
Our regular giving is down seven percent this year. We will drop Goal 9 at this time.

Mission & Ministry Position: We are hoping to find someone who will take on this role. We are looking
at it as a stipend position.

Space Needs: We need to start thinking about office and storage space. The current offices were built as
a temporary space. It was thought that we would have a permanent area by now. The school will be
moving and it probably is not worth us keeping that space open. We have been approached by two parties
expressing interest in purchasing the school building. We will have no place for the youth once we don’t
have the school building anymore.

Fr. Ron handed out the Priest’s Housing Policy from the St. Cloud Diocese’ Procedure Manual.
The areas of need were prioritized as follows: 1) office and storage space, 2) Fellowship Hall/gym, 3)
smaller breakout/meeting rooms, and 4) rectory. The first step is a feasibility study, which is not cheap. It
will probably be about $20,000-30,000 if you bring in a consultant. Suggested doing a needs assessment
and let the parish know what we need.

There is a lot of hurt within the parish. Some of it is because of the new building and the merging of the
school with St. Aug’s/St. Mary’s.

The meeting adjourned at 8:45pm.
Minutes submitted by JoAnn Mo

January 11, 2011
Members present: Fred Haack, John Harambasic, Karen Larson, Mary Vos, Rich Kierzek, Joe Foster, Dave Massman and Peggy Weber. Also present were: Fr. Ron Weyrens and Bob Zawacki. Absent: Paul Fread.

The meeting began at 7:00pm with prayer. Minutes and agenda were approved as distributed.

Discussed the article, “7 Habits of Highly Effective Mass-Goers.” The theme for Journey in Faith this month is A Walk Through the Mass.

Long Range Goals: Fr. Ron handed out the goals on items 4, 5, and 6 that were worked on at the last meeting. Discussed. Continued working on item 3 (To continue an on-going stewardship program). We already have much in place: treasure awareness/appeal, time & talent awareness/appeal, ministry spotlight in the bulletin, community building (movies, bonfire, children’s morning), and the parish publication.

Item 8 (to establish an on-going program with a sister parish) was discussed. On February 7, a Diocesan delegation will be going to Maracay. Henry and Mary Ann Padgett from our parish will be going along. Henry will speak at the Masses to create awareness. He will be asking, “What would we like to know about Cristo Rey?” He will take these questions with and respond when he returns. It was suggested that we have a picture of where Cristo Rey is located (a map) and some pictures of their church.

Item 7 (to establish a lay minister coordinator position) was next discussed. Possible responsibilities may include:
-Schedule liturgical ministers
-Gift recognition
-Match gifts/interests to tasks/needs
-Encourage parishioners to become involved
-Welcoming
-Training
-Follow through
-Personal touch
-Miss you call
-Connect to organizations

The meeting adjourned at 8:10pm.

Minutes submitted by JoAnn Mo

Future Agenda: Parish Festival

November 9, 2010

Members present: Fred Haack, Paul Fread, John Harambasic, Karen Larson, Mary Vos and Peggy Weber. Also present were: Anita Stoering (trustee), Fr. Ron Weyrens and Bob Zawacki. Absent: Rich Kierzek, Joe Foster and Dave Massman.

The meeting began at 7:00pm with prayer. Minutes and agenda approved as distributed.

Mike Mullin from Cathedral High School was present. He is beginning his second year as president. He gave a brief history of Cathedral which began in 1884. Currently, there are 637 students attending in grades 7-12. Several things that are planned are an expansion of the geographic area from which kids are drawn (for example, Avon, Big Lake, Holdingford, etc.) and increase scholarship money.

Long Range Goals: Spent considerable time discussing discipleship growth. Membership floats over the surface; discipleship goes deeper. Discussed how to encourage discipleship. Some ideas:
 JIF
 Stewardship Committee promoting family activities
 Recognize gifts
 Small Christian Communities
 Social Issues
 Financial Aspect
 Mass Attendance
 Go to them – personal invitation
 Communication Technology
 Follow-up to Time/Talent
 Welcome at events—hospitality
 Prayer (Eucharistic Adoration)
 Eucharist
 Children’s Liturgy of the Word

From the above ideas, the following goals were discussed:
1. Strive to be family friendly (Nursery, Babysitting, Children’s Liturgy of the Word)
2. Be welcoming
3. Be intentional about prayer
4. Personal contact – phone calls, texting
5. Communications Technology
6. All age ministries

Fred Haack volunteered to be Vice-Chair.

Youth Ministry – Joe Kresky has been hired part-time.

Future Agenda: Bazaar – how can we bring people on board or do we change it?
Have Joe Kresky come to a meeting to hear his plans for Youth Ministry

Journey in Faith meets next week with the Wednesday session at Cathedral. The emphasis is on the Bible.

The meeting adjourned at 8:35pm.

Minutes submitted by JoAnn Mo

September 14, 2010

Members present: Rich Kierzek, Fred Haack, Paul Fread, John Harambasic, Karen Larson, Mary Vos, Peggy Weber and Dave Massman. Also present were: Jeff Voit (trustee), Fr. Ron Weyrens and Bob Zawacki. Absent: Joe Foster.

The meeting began at 7:00pm with prayer. Minutes and agenda approved as distributed.

The new members, Karen Larson, Mary Vos and Peggy Weber were welcomed.

Youth Ministry: Patrick Flynn has resigned. At this time, St. Francis Xavier is not interested in entering into a partnership again. We have a ½ time position open. It has been advertised in our bulletin several time, in the St. Cloud Visitor and on the Diocesan website.

Long Range Planning: Fr. Ron handed out the Long Range Planning for 2010-2015. Briefly went over them; will revisit during the year.

A delegation from the Diocesan Mission Office is going to Venezuela in February. We will put into the bulletin; someone from our parish may be interested in going along.

Bob will check with the Diocese regarding the guidelines on parishes needing to have a rectory.

School: Fr. Ron talked about the postcards that were anonymously sent out in August. There was a lot of incorrect information on them. The merged school will not be supported on a per student basis. Next year, 20 percent of our ordinary income will be dedicated to St. Katharine Drexel and 10% to Cathedral/John XXIII. Cathedral High School has been using this system for many years. We are currently working the bussing company; the offer currently on the table is $90 a day for one bus.

The parish tried to raise funding for the whole building project in both 1999 and 2005 and fell substantially short. A fellowship hall will need to be built before an education center, as the fellowship hall will be needed as a gym. In 2005, it was projected to cost $8 million for the rest of the project (fellowship hall, school and offices).

We are debt free; however, the Sauk Rapids campus needs repairs. It needs a new roof and a new boiler and is not handicapped accessible.

Briefly touched on the articles on catholic schools. Fr. Ron handed out a chart on the demographics of youth from 1979 through 2010. The numbers have stayed fairly steady.

Some of the things that are heard or need to be addressed as a parish are:
- the Catholic Church is not the only one consolidating
- share costs with the parish on repairing vs. building a new school
- inconvenience
- look at the positives (phy ed and language)
- communication, communication, communication
- pride
- anger
- ownership

Current school building: Harold Jesh has approached us. He would like to put a development there. No numbers have been discussed. Extensive discussion followed.

Registration for Journey in Faith is on September 22. Additional registration will be done the following weekend. The faith-based covenant will again be used.

A decision on the vice-chair will be made at the next meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 8:40pm.

Minutes submitted by JoAnn Mo

May 11, 2010

Members present: Rich Kierzek, Lisa Hahn, Fred Haack, Jean Schotl, Paul Fread, Joe Foster, John Harambasic, Leslee Midas and Dave Massman. Also present were: Anita Stoering (trustee), Fr. Ron Weyrens and Bob Zawacki.

The meeting began at 7:30pm with prayer. Minutes and agenda approved as distributed.

School Building: The school site was brought to the City of Sauk Rapids as a possible future site for the City Hall. It has been rejected. Talked about several possibilities for the site. The school will still be in use next year; but the following year will be empty.

Bazaar Dinner: Will charge $6 for children and $8 for adults. The pies are under control.

Election: The leadership discernment meeting will take place on May 25 at 7pm in the church. The Pastoral Council needs 3 women this year. Lisa Hahn, Leslee Midas and Jean Schotl will be leaving the Pastoral Council as their terms are up. They were thanked for their involvement.

Planning: Fred explained the plan for the future from the Faith Formation Committee. He also reviewed the draft he came up with regarding a fellowship hall/rectory. Review of Diocesan guidelines and education of the parish were added to the draft. May need to get a committee together to look at this as the support of the parish is needed. Fred met with Maureen regarding the establishment of a new parishioner mentor team. He summarized this meeting in his draft.

Fr. Ron indicated that we may be getting a deacon. The only cost to the parish would be $200 for continuing education and accommodations at the Arrowwood Conference.

Those responsible for making the dinner happen at the Bazaar were thanked. It will now need to become a bazaar function and the Pastoral Council will not be involved.

The meeting adjourned at 8:20pm.

Minutes submitted by JoAnn Mo

April 13, 2010

Members present: Rich Kierzek, Lisa Hahn, Fred Haack, Jean Schotl, Paul Fread, Joe Foster, John Harambasic, Leslee Midas and Dave Massman. Also present were: Jeff Voit (trustee), Fr. Ron Weyrens and Bob Zawacki.

The meeting began with prayer. Minutes and agenda approved as distributed.

Festival dinner: Spoke with Byron at Short Stop. Will cater a chicken dinner for $6 per plate. We will still have to provide beverage and dessert. In talking with the Bazaar chairs, they don’t want to give up any of the pies they have slated for the Pie Stand. Jean has spoken with Becky Coborn regarding Coborn’s donating pies, and has not yet gotten a return call. Talked at length about the feasibility of bringing the dinner back and the effect it could have on the outdoor stands, both pros and cons. It was decided to give it a go this year. Jean Schotl and Lisa Hahn will contact people to specifically bring pies for the dinner. The ticket price recommended was $8 for adults and $5 for children; however, Lisa and Jean were directed to contact other parishes regarding the price of their dinners and bring it back to the Pastoral Council. It was also recommended that the wording in the bulletin announcement for bazaar chairs be changed from couple to people.

Budget: A few items in the proposed budget were clarified. It was moved and seconded that the budget be accepted. Motion carried.

Planning: Corrected #8 on the sheet that Fr. Ron handed out to “establish an ongoing program with sister parish and social justice” (it was incorrect in the minutes). The money in the capital improvement fund may be used for a rectory. The Faith Formation Committee will work on #1a and #6; the School Advisory Committee, #1b; the Stewardship Committee, #3 and #4; the Finance Committee #9; Social Justice Committee, along with the Sister Parish Committee, #8; the Pastoral Council, #5 and #7. We will formulate a job description for #7.

The meeting adjourned at 8:30pm.

Minutes submitted by JoAnn Mo

February 9, 2010

Members present: Rich Kierzek, Lisa Hahn, Fred Haack, Jean Schotl, Paul Fread and Joe Foster. Absent: John Harambasic, Leslee Midas and Dave Massman. Also present were: Fr. Ron Weyrens and Bob Zawacki.

The meeting began with prayer. Minutes and agenda approved as distributed.

Festival Dinner: Jean Schotl, Lisa Hahn and Anita Stoering will meet with the Bazaar Committee to work out details. They will contact Short Stop to get a price quote. It is possible to have the meal in the Gathering Space with additional tables set up outside.

Gambling: The parish has an Exempt Permit and is limited to 5 events per year. There is too much liability to go to a full fledged license. Things will remain as they are for now.

Planning: Fr. Ron reviewed the list of issues talked about at last month’s meeting. Additions to that list are: build or purchase a rectory within walking distance of the church (a diocesan mandate), which will be included with building a fellowship hall, and Social Justice (will be included with Sister Parish program). The Council then broke into small groups to discuss and rank as to what they felt the importance of each is. Following is the ranking: 1a) establish a vibrant intergenerational faith formation program, 1b) ensure the future of catholic education, 3) continue an on-going stewardship program, 4) establish discipleship growth, 5) build a fellowship hall and rectory, 6) establish a new parishioner mentor team, 7) establish a lay minister coordinator position, 8) establish an on-going program with sister parish and social justice, and 9) establish a parish endowment fund.

The meeting adjourned at 8:20pm.

Minutes submitted by JoAnn Mo

January 12, 2010

Members present: John Harambasic, Rich Kierzek, Lisa Hahn, Leslee Midas, Fred Haack, Dave Massman. Absent: Jean Schotl, Paul Fread and Joe Foster. Also present were: Fr. Ron Weyrens and Bob Zawacki.

The meeting began with prayer. Minutes and agenda approved as distributed.

Metro Planning: Fr. Ron handed out a letter that was received from Bishop Kinney. Lisa Hahn shared several letters that she has received from concerned parishioners. Dave Massman indicated that bussing appears to be a major issue. At this point, there has been no discussion regarding the use of our current school site beginning with the 2011-12 school year.

Long Term Planning: #9 on the listing (develop a newsletter) has been completed. Those items that were talked about as priorities are: establish a vibrant intergenerational faith formation program; build a fellowship hall (#2); establish a lay minister coordinator position (#5); an on-going stewardship program (#16); establish a new parishioner mentor team (#10); establish an on-going program with a sister parish; establish discipleship growth (#4). On-going is #3 (the role and future of Sacred Heart School) and #14 (contributions to a parish endowment fund). For the next meeting, choose 4 or 5 to devote most of our energy toward.

The question was raised about minutes from other committees. All of the minutes that are received in the Parish Office are included in the Pastoral Council meeting information.

The meeting adjourned at 8:15pm.

Minutes submitted by JoAnn Mo

October 13, 2009

Members present: John Harambasic, Rich Kierzek, Jean Schotl, Leslee Midas and Fred Haack, Dave Massman, Paul Fread and Joe Foster. Absent: Lisa Hahn. Also present were: Fr. Ron Weyrens; Bob Zawacki; trustees Jeff Voit and Anita Stoering; and Stewardship/Discipleship Committee Chair Jackie Johnson.

The meeting began with prayer. Minutes and agenda approved as distributed. Joe Foster and Paul Fread were introduced as new members to the Council.

Jackie Johnson explained what the goals of the Stewardship/Discipleship Committee are. It’s not just about the financial aspect. Everything we have comes from God and we need to give back as we are able.

Metro Planning: 15 parishes are involved in a planning process that has been going on for over a year. The objective was to look at total faith formation—how do we pass on our faith to each other? There is a parish wide meeting here on October 25 at 6:30 pm at which the Options Committee to present the information. As part of the parish leadership, please attend this meeting.

Planning: How can we continue to build the kingdom of God here? Reviewed the Mission and Vision Statements. Fr. Ron went through the 16 recommendations from the 2005 Feasibility Study. Discussion followed on the validity of these recommendations today. It was decided that they could be reevaluated and tweaked a little; however, we will wait until after the October 25 meeting to do our planning. Something that we will have to consider is the future housing for the Pastor. Homework: go through the recommendations and prioritize the list.

Bazaar: Jean reported on her findings from Henry’s in Foley regarding Bazaar dinner. Bob will schedule a meeting with Jean. 70 new tables for the bingo stand for the Bazaar next year have been purchased. The lumber from the current bingo stand will be made into benches.

It was brought up that we should consider not using paper products for Hospitality after Masses on weekend. It would require a commitment from people to do the dishes.

The parish tithes approximately $12,000 from the budget. Please let the Social Justice Committee know of any ideas. It was suggested that we look at other churches in the community and see if they have a need.

The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

Minutes submitted by JoAnn Mo

September 8, 2009

Members present: Lisa Hahn, John Harambasic, Rich Kierzek, Jean Schotl, Leslee Midas and Fred Haack. Absent: Dave Massman, Paul Fread and Joe Foster. Also present were: Fr. Ron Weyrens, Bob Zawacki, Anita Stoering (trustee), Patrick Flynn, Joan Krause, Ron & Julie Lentner, John Abraham & Sandy Bueckers.

The meeting began with prayer. Minutes and agenda approved as distributed. Fred Haack was introduced as a new member to the Council.

Youth Ministry: Patrick Flynn was introduced as the new Youth Minister. His position is shared between Sacred Heart Parish and St. Francis Xavier in Sartell. Patrick is in the process of establishing a list of interested adults to help with youth ministry. The first Youth Group at Sacred Heart Parish will be on September 23. He will start by having separate youth groups for each parish. September 20 will be a meeting for interested adults.

Festival Update: Ron & Julie Lentner, John Abraham and Sandy Bueckers shared their feelings on how this year’s Festival went. Volunteers were slim for take down on Monday evening. The Festival Committee chairs would like to replace 3 of the stands. They will get an estimate to Bob. The shed roof leaked, so many of the signs are moldy. Jean Schotl volunteered to check out how much it would cost to cater a meal. A suggestion to the Chairs is that the Polka Mass move to Saturday evening. This may bring more people on Saturday.

Journey in Faith: Joan Krause updated the Council on Faith Formation. We are not taking any pre-registrations because we want the parishioners to hear the presentation. The same program will be offered on Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday because of space issues. First Sacraments will basically be the same as in the past. Confirmation will have a change. The best estimate of the cost to the parish is $275 per family; we will be using a faith based covenant.

Discussed the reading materials sent out with the agenda.

John Harambasic volunteered to be the vice-chair for the year.

We will be sending the agenda and minutes via e-mail to everyone that has it.

The meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.

Minutes submitted by JoAnn Mo