St. Paul’s Parish Council Minutes Mar. 27th., 2007
Council chair Richard Caffrey called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Members present: Father Jerry Funke, Richard Caffrey, Juan Avila, Maureen Coon, Dan Jones, Matt Lara, Diana Larkin, Bob Peters, Mo Peterson, Terry Radford, Antonio Napoles. Member Absent: Norma Rodriguez.
The opening prayer was led by Diana Larkin, and hospitality was provided by Maureen Coon and Bob Peters.
There were no Minutes for February 25 as there was no business meeting. Five members were present and met with Fr. Coffey, who was conducting the parish retreat, to discuss what the parish has already done and what could yet be done to meet his retreat goals. Minutes for January 23 were corrected as follows: the school computer servers will be in place by July; they are not already in place. The minutes were then approved as corrected.
Building on Faith report: Dan Jones stated that we now have $3.4+ million in pledges and gifts. We stand at 88-89% pledge redemptions to date from 770 families. Fr. Jerry reported on a march coming up on June 3, starting at 6 a.m. The proceeds will go to the Building on Faith fund. The march covers approximately 10 miles, starting on Track Road, and proceeding over Powerline, Locust, following the greenbelt to Iowa, then on to Roosevelt and to St. Paul’s for noon mass. The event is open to everyone in the parish.
Meeting with RCIA: Bill Lundstrum reported on the new RCIA team formation. Their goal is bringing parishioners in as sponsors, and catechumens more fully into the parish. There are four or five periods of development throughout the program, including discernment and assignment of sponsors.
Meeting with Vocations committee: Don Reeping reported that the goal of the group is to promote vocations to religious life and the priesthood. A new focus is promoting parish missions, presenting parish vocation prayer cards, and supporting the Called by Name program which invites people to discernment regarding vocations. There are no new ordinations scheduled in the diocese for this year, but there are seven for next year.
The next Parish mission will be during Lent next year, February 9-14, given by the Redemptorist mission group. Fr. Jerry asked Don if the Vocations committee would like to head up the arrangement for this mission. There will be a preliminary visit by the Redemptorist group this September or October.
Old Business
Ministry Fair: Matt Lara reported that planning is underway. A question arose regarding if there is a diocesan person to help with coordination. The Stewardship committee has a pamphlet with information from another parish. There was a suggestion to put announcements in the bulletin regarding each ministry available with a contact name and phone number. A ministry directory is also being worked on by Dolly Martinez through the parish office.’
Parish picnic: Richard Caffrey said that ordering will begin in May. Matt has a lead for a giant grill. Bob Peters and Richard will order hamburger and hot dogs and Juan Avila and Antonio Napoles will order other meat. CDA could do the check-in table for name badges (possibly listing what mass is attended) and donations. CWL could take care of getting tickets and giving them out after masses.
Director of Youth ministry: Fr. Jerry said that the search committee is on track and is ready to start interviewing candidates.
Idaho Catholic Appeal: Dan Jones reported that St. Joseph’s, Melba, has not only met their goal but exceeded it with $10,480. St Paul’s so far has $52,878 from 235 families. The goal for St. Paul’s is $68,649. So far our collections are about equal with last year.
Spanish mass at St. Joseph’s: Fr. Jerry said attendance has been incredible. The first Sunday the mass was offered there were 116 people there. The Spanish mass will continue at least through April.
New Business
Diocesan convocation: Fr. Jerry reported that the annual meeting will be June 4-7 this year.
Diocesan study: On the last day of the above convocation a meeting will begin toward long term planning for the diocesan mission.
Eucharistic adoration committee: Maureen Coon reported that St. Paul’s is one of only two churches in Idaho with this ministry, which started here in 1994. The program needs more adorers and additional leadership guidelines. A meeting is scheduled to address this latter issue.
Membership in Bishop Kelly High School: Richard and Fr. Jerry led an informational discussion regarding the cost to the parish should we want to become a part owner in the BK privately owned high school. Currently BK is owned by the parishes in Ada County. The advantage of a parish membership is reduced tuition cost for students. Currently the cost per student without a parish membership is about $900 per year. The KC, CDA, and Columbians organizations offer some financial help to students. Previous decisions not to join membership were made with an eye to our need to spend more on all our parish youth programs through St. Paul’s which serve all our youth as opposed to the few who go to BK per year. We can reinvestigate the cost for the parish to join, as we currently have no exact cost estimate.
New council members: Fr. Jerry stated that there will be three positions opening up as two elected, and one appointed terms are soon expiring. There will be bulletin announcements asking for replacements, and council members are asked to begin thinking about people who might be interested.
Holy week schedule: published in the bulletin as well as announced at masses.
Pilgrimage to Greece and Turkey: Fr. Jerry’s trip pamphlet was given out.
Other items
Fr. Jerry gave council members an article on immigration reform to read.
Matt Lara reported on the youth groups’ spring break work on grounds clean here and at the Valley Crisis Center.
Terry Radford reported on the St. Paul’s-hosted CDA convention coming up. Preparations are well under way for the May 4-6 event.
Parish Calendar: The parish activities for April were presented.
Good of the order: Announcements of family, friends, parish members’ news and those in need of prayers.
Next meeting: Tuesday, April 24. Matt will give the prayer, and Mo will provide hospitality.
Closing: The council members read the prayers for vocations and the meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m.