APRIL PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES
April 18, 2017
In attendance: Don English, Eric and Josephine Yang, Gretchen Heininger, Fr. Mark Summers, Mick Ball, Orval Blake, Ken Rosselet, Maria Naredo, Brian Hall, Jeff Brown, Kathleen McGinnis, Bob Marrinan.
Called to order at 7 PM.
Minutes from the March meeting were approved with a motion from Orval and a second from Ken.
Raffle tickets are ready for the Activities Fair – tables will be set up. Outside signs are ready and balloons have been ordered. All posters turned out great! Mick will send reminders to all committee chairs telling them about sign-up sheets (Gretchen will create) , and that they need to make “Welcome calls” and invite new people to the All Committee Night on May 2. We asked, and Fr. Summers agreed, that all Committee pamphlets will be posted on the website after the Activities Fair (I believe Eric said he would take care of this via a link on the webpage).
Focus on the Future (Fr. Summers): Census data is being entered; lots of parts that need to be checked; notes are being added to each parishioners’ information based on what they turned in.
First Holy Communion is April 29 at 10 AM. 63 children will be receiving the Sacrament that day.
May 16 is the official kick-off to the Bishop’s Annual Appeal. Our goal for this year is $174,791.77.
Fr. Summers and Mike Luis are in the process of interviewing for the Building and Equipment Manager position. Hoping for this position to be filled by July 1. There are currently 15-18 applicants, and Fr. Summers will interview all of them in person. There are several very well qualified applicants.
The calendar meeting for the fiscal year will take place on June 15. The office will be closed for the day to accommodate this meeting. Noelle will need ALL DATES prior to this meeting for events committees want placed on the Parish calendar.
We will be having a Parish Mission during Lent of 2018. The dates are March 18-21. Fr. Thomas Blau, O.P. will conduct the Mission. PSR will begin one week earlier in the Fall to accommodate the Mission so that parents will be able to attend.
NEW BUSINESS
Bible Study: (Angela Burdge) Has been in existence since April 1997 (20 years!) They meet in the Red Room at 9:30 on Thursday mornings. They use the New American Bible, Study Edition, but others are welcome. They have studied the classical prophets. Angela has a Masters in Theology from the Josephinum.
Volunteer Gardeners (Angela Burdge) Began in May 2007; started with 15 volunteer gardeners, now there are 35. They are always looking for new volunteers. Their budget is $624.
Adult Enrichment: 40 Hours of Eucharistic Adoration had participation of 213 people (at least); best participation yet!
DVD series in March, Why become Catholic? On Wednesdays.
Divine Mercy Sunday is April 23; there will be CD’s, DVD’s and booklets available to the parishioners in both English and Spanish.
May 13 is Praise and Adoration: 7:30 PM in the church.
Community Service: Reviewed annual reports for those they work with; have submitted a budget.
The Baby Shower bootie boards will be out in early May.
The Food Pantry Drive received many very generous donations. Are the current blue envelopes for this purpose being confused with the envelopes in the pews for visitors to use? Possibly changing the color of the Food Pantry envelopes will stop the confusion.
Holy Rosary/St. John is growing- they are expanding their services.
Fr. Summers would like this committee to check into other avenues for volunteering; Safe House for Homeless teens (Huckleberry House?); Catholic Worker (takes care of battered women); Handicapped (mentally and otherwise) places that service these populations that may need our assistance.
The committee also suggested that it may be nice to share our parish council minutes with the parish at large. We will add Theresa Ervin to the distribution list so that she can post the minutes of our meetings on the website.
The last suggestion from this committee is that we have a link to any sign-up genius we may have for any events linked to the website for parishioners to access.
Health Ministry: The committee was very pleased with the success of the Health Ministry Fair. Approximately 200 people attended, and many of them received screenings that were offered. There were a few issues with the space and a conflict with PSR, but nothing we were not able to overcome. They have not decided if they will do this again next year.
Knights of Columbus: No longer selling gift cards to The Andersons. They are trying Giant Eagle, but it is slow going. Reminder to the parish to sign up at Kroger; when you use your Kroger card, a portion of the money spent goes to the Knights.
The Knights will hold their CASH BONANZA fundraiser in May. This is the fundraiser for the state of Ohio council for the Knights.
Lastly, the Knights will hold their May devotion to Mary. This will occur on all Saturdays in May at 9 AM at the grotto (weather permitting) with the Rosary. Jeff Simpson will call committees to ask for their assistance.
At the Easter Vigil, we welcomed several new members into the Church. Thanks to Fr. Mark, Fr. Nic and Deacons Joe and Phil for all their hard work throughout Holy Week.
Since Don will be out of the country, Mick Ball will be leading the May meeting.
After closing prayer, we adjourned at 8:32 PM.