St. Agnes Catholic Church of Fowlerville

Parish Council Meeting Minutes

September 9, 2009

Start time:  7:02 p.m.

I.               Call to Order/Introductions:

·         Meeting Date changes: October 21, 2009 instead of Oct 14^th

and May 19, 2010 instead of May 12^th

II.             Opening Prayer:

·         Fr. Jim

III.             Additions to Agenda:

·         None

IV.                Approval of Minutes:

·         The finance report should be changed from $10,000 to $6,000 and should also read that the issue has been resolved.

·         Dave’s last name, Kuehn, should be added under “Feedback from Regional Vicariate Meeting.”

·         Change the Trivia Night Event Coordinator to Wendi Cole.

V.           Parish Committee Reports:

      A.) Finance Committee

·                  Introduce John Beale as newly appointed Chairmen         

·                  Other new members on the committee (Allen Romain, and Kim Niblack have been asked).

·                  The church is still significantly over budget.

·                  Fr. Jim emphasized the need for the parish to get on a more realistic budget. The church is 

depleting the money from St Agnes savings account at the Lansing Diocese.

·                  This Sunday, Fr. Jim will be asking parishioners at Mass to increase their offertory giving

by $3 - $5 a family. This could add up to hopefully $30,000 extra a year. If this effort is not effective, than the church will have to cut staff.

B.) Stewardship/Evangelization-Liz Heslip

·         The current church register is just shy of 900 families. This is an increase of almost 200 families since 2007. Many of our new families have children that participate in youth programs and religious education. 

·         The Parish sold $650 worth of St. Agnes T-shirts.  It is expected that the church will make make-up to $750 total on T-Shirt sales.  However, we will likely break even on the reusable St. Agnes grocery bags. The remaining bags are being given out to new parishioners when they register.

C.) Youth Ministry-Wendi Cole

·         There was not enough participation by the youth group to build a float for the 4^th of July parade. 

·         The day of Fun Fest, there will be a digital scavenger hunt followed by a murder mystery game from 1-4pm. Afterwards, the teen room will be open for them to socialize, listen to music, and play games.

·         During Fun Fest, there will also be Youth Group information available to inform kids as to how to get involved. 

·         To help meet the needs of the kids who very busy, Wendi will be organizing only one community service event and one fundraiser every month. October (Rake and Run) September (Pancake Breakfast), Open basketball, floor hockey, etc. 

·         Additional fun activity – corn maze in October. 

·         In addition to regular prayer and spiritual music, Wendi is planning to add an opportunity for the kids to come to the teen center and talk about religious topics while parents are socializing (“Teen Time” one hour on Sundays, one to two Sundays a month).  The Teen leadership will choose the topics for Teen Time discussions. 

·         Wendi is also working with other Youth groups in the area, to possibly arrange a joint youth group event.

D.) Christian Service-Rosemary Cahaney

·         A handout was provided to the council which including last year’s participation report.  The Backpack ministry did very well.  The Bedding ministry also expressed a great response.  Everything that is not being used is being sent to “Our Father’s House.” 

·         A tri-fold pamphlet on Christian Services’ projects is available

·         Also is going to support the “welcome table meal ministry” (up to $5000 of their budget).

·         The “Welcome Table Ministry” will host its first free meal this Thursday.

E.) Education-Tina Smith

·         Registration for religious education is underway. 

·         The Catechist roster is now full (about 50)

·       The children’s liturgy will be held during the 9am and 11am Sunday masses.

·         Family fun nights will start in October, one Friday of every month.

·         Junior high fun nights will begin in December, and are currently in the             planning stage.

·         Currently trying to schedule one or two marriage encounter nights

·         Adult education will include “CAFÉ” meetings being held on             Wednesday nights beginning in October.  There will also be weekly             bible session scheduled soon.

·         An adult formation for mentally challenged parishioners is in the             planning process.  A start date has not yet been determined.

VI.    Old Business:

      A.) FunFest September 19 & 20^th - Liz Heslip

·         The planning for Fun Fest has been successful.

·         Lots of raffle tickets have been sold, K of C is organizing the Texas Holdem tournament.  There will also be a Euchre tournament, a bon fire, and hay rides will take place on Saturday. 

·         The chicken BBQ dinner, silent auction, and live auction will take place between noon and 5PM on Sunday.

·         An inflatable balloon playground will be available for kids, perhaps a tractor pull, and games will also be available for kids.

·         This week’s bulletin will have an overview of the events, and will also have the timeslots listed for when the live auction packages will be auctioned-off.

      B.) Ministry Spotlight tabled from last meeting

·         Once a month someone from the ministry will provide a short synopsis of a particular ministry in the church.  This was done last year, and was suggested at a staff meeting to do again.  Therefore, we are trying to find a weekend for this to be scheduled.   

·         Liz will discuss with each of the ministry heads one-on-one to determine if this is something that they would like to participate in, or if they would rather participate in the ministry fair only.  Liz will report her findings to the council in October.

·         There is a ministry brochure that provides a brief description of all the ministries available at the church, with contact information for those who wish to join.  This brochure is also given to all new parishioners.  Liz will update the brochure.

VII.   New Business:

A.     Dedication of New Chapel and Open house weekend Sept 12 & 13th- Fr. Jim

·         The new chapel will be named after, Father McGivney.  This was approved by the K of C, and now also approved by the Parish Council.  These minutes serve as the official record of this decision.

·         The church has also built a new wall in the rectory that will seal-off the office space, thus separating it from the rest of the building.  Therefore, the building is now completely securable.

B.     Stewardship Weekend Remarks

C.     Rectory update

·       The Rectory has been renovated with new carpet and other things.

·       “Take a Peak Sunday,” will take place next weekend after Mass.  At this time parishioners will have the opportunity to walk around and look at the new chapel and other areas to witness the improvements that have been made. 

·       After the 11am mass on Sunday, there will be a blessing of the chapel by the K of C.

VIII. Assign Snack:

·         Not assigned

IX.     Closing Prayer:

·         “Our Father”

X.             Next Meeting:

·         October 21, 2009 @ 7:00 p.m.

Adjournment:  8:40 p.m.