ST. LAWRENCE PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES
Tuesday, March 10, 2015 - 7pm - St. Lawrence
Present: Fr. Gary, Sue Christofferson, Laurinda Pribyl, Karen Holscher, Mark Leusink, Diana Snaza, Mike Trapp and Cheryl Radermacher. Darby Helms came after RCIA Class. Absent: Deacon Chet Cordell, Samuel Fonder, Wayne Jarman, Bill Meyer, Evan Folk, Diane Greiner, Kala Loehrer, Brad Nelson and Becky Thaden.
Father opened the Meeting with prayer. Minutes of the January Meeting were read and a motion made by Laurinda and second by Mike to approve them. Passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS: Laurinda gave a report on the Koinonia Weekend. There were 47 participants.
NEW BUSINESS:
Finance: The 8-month budget is up by $13,000 in Milbank and Wilmot is also ahead of their projected budget. The Finance Budget Meeting will be March 23 at 7pm.
School Advisory Committee: The last meeting was in November due to weather and scheduling conflicts. Smarter Balance Testing was one of the main items on the March Meeting Agenda. It will be done solely on computer with Grades 3-8-11 being the targeted grades used for statistics. St. Lawrence Grades 3-4-5 will be tested. The Catholic United Raffle has brought in almost $16,000. Catholic United would like to have a Volunteer Council started in Milbank which would allow a greater percentage of money which could be donated to a fundraiser. Many of the fundraisers such as Mystery Dinner Theatre, Grandparents’ Day, etc. are already being done. There was a suggestion that a Health Class be brought back into the School. The Scholarships available again this year will be Presentation Sisters, Kramer, K.C.’s and additional anonymous ones which are supplied on an as-needed basis.
Building & Grounds: The Annual Fire Inspection was done by a new employee and several red flags were noted; partly because he was using criteria for a new building instead of one the age of our building. We have been in contact with the Fire Marshal to explain some of the items on the report. The east door by the gym will need to be replaced as it cannot be opened by a child and needs to be an accessible exit. Climate Control has been down several times to check out various problems with the heating system. Once we get a new computer installed some of these problems will be able to be diagnosed through the computer.
Liturgy Committee: The Liturgy Committee will meet on Tuesday, March 24, at 5:30 pm to plan the Holy Week & Easter Services.
Cemetery: No report other than Father said it was very mucky out there at present
R.E./Youth: Darby gave a report on some of the activities which included packing backpacks on February 11 by Grades 4-5 at Central United Methodist. They will be packing again in April. Confirmation has 24 students and will be at the 5pm Mass on April 25. First Communion has 22 students and will be on Saturday, May 2, at the 5pm Mass. Silent Sunday went well with the youth and they were pleasantly surprised how fast the time went without using their technology. 30 youth from Milbank and 12 from the area are going to be attending Steubenville this year. In February and March there were Junior High Youth Nights which were well attended. The Annual Talent Show will be April 11. The flamingoes will be returning! The 8th grade classes have been combined for the rest of the year. There are 5 classes left. 5 RCIA adults will be joining the Church at the Easter Vigil on Saturday, April 4. The Hunger Banquet will be Saturday, March 28. The Living Stations will be presented in Wilmot on Palm Sunday and in Milbank on Good Friday.
Holy Father Visit trip to Pennsylvania is full. St. Mary will be deciding on the Summer Mass Schedule in the next couple weeks. Contracts, insurance, etc. is being worked out for the Stained Glass Window Project. The Rectory Renovation is almost complete. The Altar/Ambo project has been delayed because of health problems of one of the workers. Father presented some plans on Upgrading the Sound System in the gym. The estimate was approximately $13,000. The Diocese 125th Celebration will be August 14-15-16 in Sioux Falls at the Convention Center.
MARCH DATES: St. Lawrence Stations Fridays after Benediction; St. Mary Stations following Thursday Mass; 15—Lenten Penance Service; 19—Chrism Mass in Sioux Falls; 21—Chris Burgwald speaking on “4 Marks of the Catholic Church” at St. Lawrence 9:30-11:30; 23—Finance Committee at St. Lawrence; 24—Liturgy Committee at St. Lawrence; 29—Living Stations at St. Mary following Mass.
APRIL DATES: 9—St. Lawrence Salad Luncheon; 13—School Advisory Board; 22—St. Lawrence R.E. Closing Mass; 24—St. Lawrence School Gala at Shady Beach; 25—Confirmation at St. Lawrence.
MAY DATES: 2—First Communion at St. Lawrence; 6—St. Lawrence School
Spring Concert; 9-10—Olive Wood at St. Lawrence; 11—School Advisory Board & LIFE Meetings at St. Lawrence; 19—Last Day of School.
Karen moved and Laurinda seconded to adjourn. Passed unanimously.
Father closed the meeting with a blessing.
Next Meeting will be Tuesday, May 12, at 6:00 pm at St. Lawrence (Concert at 7:30pm)
There will be no Parish Council Meetings in June, July and August. Our fall meeting will be September 8 at St. Mary.