Good Shepherd Catholic Parish

GOOD SHEPHERD CATHOLIC PARISH Evansville, Indiana PARISH COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES February 28, 2017

The regular meeting of the Good Shepherd Parish Council was held on Tuesday, February 28th at 6:00 p.m. The meeting was opened with a prayer.

ROLL CALL:

Parish Council Father Zach Etienne Dana Blanke Shari Hirsch Ken Schenk Deacon Dan DeCastra Mary Beth Davis Judy Miller Chad Schnarr Sarah Gahagen Tony Fehrenbacher Don Patton Brad Will Sue Ballard

Chad Schnarr motioned to approve the minutes for January 24, 2017. Judy Miller stated a second, a vote was taken and the minutes were approved.

COMMISSION REPORTS:

SCHOOL COUNCIL—emailed report from Kristen Girten is attached. A copy of the minutes from the Good Shepherd School Council meeting on Jan. 12, 2017 is also attached.

HEALTH MINISTRY—emailed report from Sharon Sutton is attached.

HOSPITALITY/FELLOWSHIP: Father Zach advised he had received Mary’s report. She reported the Marriage Celebration was a success. Soup suppers will be held in conjunction with the Stations of the Cross on Fridays at 5:30 p.m. during Lent. A film from the “Word on Fire” series will be shown after the soup supper. There will be a reception for the RICA participants after the Easter Vigil. Gifts will be presented to mothers on Mothers’ Day. A reception will be held for Jerry Pratt in June, and there will also be a reception for Rocky Mattingly in Aug.

YOUTH MINISTRY—emailed report from Cindy Shoulders is attached.

LITURGICAL WORSHIP-Judy Miller  Judy reported on plans for decorating the Church for Easter. Decorations will be put in place the Saturday morning before Easter.

SPIRITUAL LIFE COMMISSION—no meeting was held  Mary Beth reported the Rice and Beans dinner was successful. Approximately 80 people attended, and a number of Parishes participated. The Parishes participating were grateful for the information and opportunity to share. Some Parishes joined together on their project so a sister church is not the sole responsibility of one Parish. A few non-Catholic churches also participate.  Mary Beth advised the government of Haiti no longer provides funding for lunches for school lunches at the Parish in Haiti. Money is needed to provide lunches for the students; there are over 900 students. Mary Beth will meet with Father Zach.

BINGO COMMISSION—Sarah Gahagen  Sarah distributed a report for the Bingo.  Jan. was a good month with a positive cash flow. The New Years Day bingo held by the KC had 249 people.

1  A Bingo Committee has been requested; meetings will be the 2nd Mon. of each month. The purpose is to try to get more workers. Some of the current workers think more should be done for the workers such as dinners, etc. to attract new participants. Father Zach said IN state rules and regulations must be followed.  Tony suggested the Bingo Committee should report to the Parish Council. Minutes of the meetings must be sent to the Parish Council. Brad stated there should be definitely be a Bingo Commission as the Bingo is an important fund raising activity. There is no President of the Bingo at the present time.  Judy Miller motioned to establish a Bingo Commission. Don Patton voiced a second, a vote was taken and the motion was passed. The Bingo Commission must report to the Parish Council, and no actions can be taken that have not been specifically approved by the Parish Council.

FINANCE--- Sarah Gahagen  Sarah distributed a summary of finances along with a narrative.  There is no increase in charges for the after school programs.  The Summer Camp generates income, and some has been received. Expenses were booked in the General Ledger in Aug. The Summer Camp program made $16,000 last year. The program is not charged an allocation for some expenses such as utilities, etc.  Sarah advises financial reports are current.  Don asked about EFT participation, and stated the percentage is low. Parishioners are encouraged to utilize EFT. There are processing fees associated with the procedure.  Sarah advised a check for $201,847.15 has been received from the Diocese for the first payment of the Capital Campaign. Pledge amounts of $403,694.30 have been paid through Jan 27th. (29.13% of the Parish goal). Over $1,300,000 was pledged.

OLD BUSINESS:  Capital Campaign: o Father Zach reported Morley & Associates has been paid $31,218.95 to date. A lump sum of $29,980 will be paid for all future work performed, including reimbursable charges. o Other payments will be made in accordance with the percentage of completion of the job. o GS should have approval to start the bidding process by the end of March. o Work will start after the end of the summer social and plans are to have it done by the time school starts. o A member asked about parking for the Bingo—Chad said the back parking lot should be big enough to accommodate the Bingo attendees. o Shari asked about the location of the Boy Scout trailer on the new parking lot. Father Zach said a location will probably be found in the existing plans on one of the parking spots. Don suggested a gravel pad; Tony said Morley & Associates should be consulted about the code for use of gravel before doing so.

NEW BUSINESS:  The DPC meeting--Ken Schenk: o The CPC budget for the Diocese is $5,984,948, an increase of $40,644 (0.68% increase) from last year. Overall expenses have increased by $68,723, including a 2% increase in salaries and a 5% increase in medical insurance. Some expenses have decreased. Interest being paid by the Diocese has increased to 2%, and interest being charged for loans has increased to 5 ¼%. o The CPC campaign for GS will be in Oct. and will continue to be in the fall every year going forward. CPC numbers will be available to Parishes by Feb. 10th. o The amount of 9.7 million was pledged during Wave One of the capital campaign, which included 8 Parishes, Priests and major donors. 90% of the gifts pledged were done by

2 people who received visits; the visits increased the average pledge by 300%. The top 10% pledged 80% if the amounts pledged. o The Second Wave will start in March. o The Diocese signature event will be held on 9/17 at the Ford Center. Mass will be at 2:00 p.m., so Parishes can still have a Saturday evening Mass. The annual event will be at the Ford Center. The theme for 2017 is ‘Missionary Discipleship”, for 2018 it will be “The Sacraments of Initiation” and will include Confirmations and 2019 will be “Mary, Mother of God.” There may be a reception at the Catholic Center after the event with a dinner and speakers.  Rummage sale for Haiti: o Mary Beth reported last year’s rummage sale made $5,000. Some items were from ST Parish. Mary Beth wants to have another sale this year at ST. Donations will be received at ST on 3/18, 3/15 and 4/1 at ST. Pricing will be done on 4/1 at ST. o Father Zach said the Haiti group will have full responsibility for the sale. Mary Beth will contact the Diocese for permission to use ST and to get the keys. Ken and Mary Beth will do a walk thru to see what can be sold from ST. o The Parish Council agreed to allow the rummage sale at ST in accordance with the stated parameters. o Mary Beth asked Father Zach for suggestions on informing Parishioners about the Haiti project. A discussion was held regarding having a presentation in the Narthex. Mary Beth will call The Message with the information.  Fundraisers: o Father Zach discussed reasons for additional fundraisers for Memorial teams. The Memorial Steak Dinner was established to avoid additional fundraisers. GS will not allow annual fundraisers for outside groups to be held on the GS Campus. A discussion followed regarding the purpose of fundraising and if alcohol should be allowed. A member stated all fundraising projects must be vetted. o Tony made a motion to allow alcohol at fundraisers for GS events only. This motion was tabled until next month for further discussion on Parish and school events o Father Zach must sign off on all events held at GS. If not an established annual event, it must be approved by the Parish Council. o The issue of liability must be resolved. The entity sponsoring the event must purchase insurance.  Active Parishioner--tabled until next month.  School Board questions: o The Parish Council discussed showing support for the Principal and the School Board. The discussion will be continued next month.  Replacing outgoing Parish Council members: o Ken, Tony and Judy will be rotating off of the Parish Council. There was a discussion about possible replacements. Father Zach suggested names of Capital Campaign leaders. Members suggested some other names. o Updates on the suggestions will be at the next meeting.  July retreat for Parish Council members—tabled until next month.

PASTOR’S REMARKS:  Father announced the building fund loan was paid in full.  Father Zach will be gone a few days in June for a family pilgrimage to Rome with his brother to meet with the Pope. Father Ziliak will have the Masses during the weekend of 7/2.  Father Zach has been recruiting 5th grades to be servers.  St. Meinard Sunday is this weekend.  The State Fire inspector was at GS school. George is working on some issues that must be resolved by March 16th. Boy Scout items are being moved to the rectory basement and summer social items are being moved to another old office. George and Brian are working on this project.  A new Parish Directory is being planned. Volunteers are needed to help.

3 ACTION ITEMS:  Discussion regarding fundraisers and allowing alcohol.  What is an active Parishioner?  School board questions.  Replacing outgoing Parish Council members.  Retreat for Parish Council members.

The meeting ended with a prayer.

ADJOURNMENT – Meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m.

NEXT MEETING –March 28, 2017

Respectfully submitted,

Sue Ballard