St. Michael Parish Council Minutes

St. Michael Parish Council Minutes Monday, November 23, 2015

Members Present: Karen Basham, Leslye Biller, Jay Blair, Chris Bonbright, Helen Bryant, Stacy Davis, Charles Edelen, Bob Goodin, Kathy Goodin, Gary Grieshaber, Karen Karem, Angela Kimbel, Kevin Popp, Brenda Rickert, Susan Robison, Jim Smith, Mary Rose Stephenson, Fr. Dick Sullivan, Teresa Watson, Lisa Wilhelmus

Members Absent: Denise Hampton

Minutes Secretary: Teresa Watson

Opening Prayer: Brenda Rickert

Minutes: Minutes from the October, 2015 meeting were approved as written.

Old Business:

Survey Committee Report:

1. Gary Grieshaber, Karen Karem, Leslye Biller, and Chris Bonbright make up the committee charged with recommending ways to involve the parish in collecting data to be used in establishing a new strategic plan for St. Michael’s. They presented a draft document that lists existing ministries in six categories with the intention of asking parishioners to identify the five they consider the most important, followed with three questions: A. What does St. Michael’s parish do well? B. What could be better at St. Michael’s? C. If St. Michael’s could accomplish one thing in the next three years, what would it be?

a. A discussion followed which included the possibility of narrowing the topic areas before approaching parishioners, a variety of methods to involve the most parishioners in completing the survey, and ways to reach parishioners from every segment of the congregation. It was also suggested that additional topics may need to be included such as the upcoming Holy Year of Mercy, the Dissertation of Formation and Evangelization, and the accreditation of the school, as some parishioners may not yet be familiar with them.

b. Rather than attempting to cover so many topic areas, it was suggested to place the focus on the 3 questions only. This middle ground approach may be more manageable for the time being. The Council agreed that this should be the starting point.

c. Father suggested choosing several focus groups to participate initially instead of distributing the survey parish wide.

2. Leslye proposed using the afternoon of the January retreat to decide on which groups to target and to make final decisions on the formation of focus groups.

a. Leslye also suggested that each Parish Council member come to the December 14 meeting with suggestions of parishioners they would recommend for the focus groups. This could help to form groups that represent many aspects of the parish.

B. Chris Bonbright cautioned that we make every effort to people the focus groups with a very broad cross section of parishioners. 3. The timeline for gathering information and making a strategic plan is April. This will get the plan in place before the budgeting process begins.

4. Karen Karem suggested that the survey committee meet once again before the January meeting to organize the timeline and objectives for discussion. Fr. confirmed that there would be some budget money for mailings if the board decides to go in that direction.

January Retreat / Strategic Planning Meeting

1. Mary Boyd will moderate the morning “retreat” session, and the Survey Committee will lead the afternoon “strategic planning” session.

2. Father Dick proposed extending the afternoon session until 4:00 to allow enough time for a full discussion.

Parish Council Vice-President

1. At the October meeting, Bob Goodin requested Parish Council members to consider nominations for the position of Vice President. The term is three years, but will be matched with the new Vice-President’s current term. The Vice-President fills in for the President as needed and may be assigned other occasional tasks.

2. Jim Smith nominated himself, and Gary Grieshaber was nominated by Mary Rose Stephenson.

3. Gary withdrew his name from consideration due to a number of other commitments. He offered his full support and assistance to Jim Smith.

4. Jim was unanimously approved to serve as Vice-President

New Business:

Pastoral Council Archdiocese of Louisville (PCAL)

1. Leslye Biller attended this meeting on October 31 in Bob Goodin’s absence. Her report included:

a. The Archbishop spoke of his time spent with Pope Francis during the Pope’s trip to the United States.

b. An Accountability report for the Archdiocese was distributed showing the disbursement of funds over the last fiscal year.

c. The Year of Mercy begins on December 8 and parishes were asked to commit to holding some related events in each parish. Fr. Dick reported on several already in the planning stage:

1. Gathering names of parishioners who have drifted away in order to reach out to them.

2. Hosting a 24 hour Eucharistic Adoration (due to a previous commitment, this will need to be on a weekend different from the one suggested by the Archdiocese)

3. Serving as a back-up host for the Life Conference scheduled for Oct 15 or 22. Cardinal Dolan will be the keynote speaker for this event.

4. The school will be working to highlight the works of mercy

5. The Adult Formation Committee is also planning some events. 2. Mary Rose Stephenson reported the Women’s Conference which was hosted by St. Michael’s was wonderful and went very well. The next Women’s Conference will be Nov. 5, 2016

Committee Reports:

1. Communication, Chris Bonbright reporting: Chris will be working to update the strategic technology plan over the next few months and is hoping to receive more volunteers from the Stewardship signups. It is also his hope to engage more youth in some new parish technology, such as the addition of a school-wide broadcast. Chris has been connecting with IT people at various high schools to find out what they expect incoming students to know. Some may come to St. Michael’s to speak at the school.

2. Finance, Denise Hampton was absent. No Report

3. Formation, Karen Karem reporting: Karen gave a report from the Adult Education Committee. They are working on the Christ in the Mirror program. RCIA has added 2 new participants which takes the total number to 18. They are still looking for dismissal leaders for 8:30 mass.

4. Justice and Charity, Kathy Goodin reporting: Kathy reported a good response from all Justice and Charity sub- committees. Thanksgiving food baskets were delivered to 96 families; each contained a handmade card from the 4th and 6th grades that invited each family to visit St. Michael. 150 volunteers helped to make the deliveries. Kathy expressed appreciation to St. Michael’s for the success of this effort.

5. Parish Life, Helen Bryant reporting: Some groups are dormant right now. The Mom’s Club is looking to do fundraising for printed materials. The Women’s Club held a bake sale at the Stewardship Fair.

6. Stewardship, Lori Elliott absent: Lori organized the Stewardship Fair that was held this past weekend. This was her last official duty for this committee. Bob asked for nominations for a new Stewardship Chair to be submitted to Fr. Dick or himself. The Stewardship Fair is the only task for this committee. The Suggestion was made to divide the Fair into smaller portions over several weekends and/or months to reduce the congestion and encourage more attention to individual ministries. Brenda noted that this will be discussed in more detail at a later time.

7. Worship, Mary Rose Stephenson reporting: Mary Rose explained that the committee critiques special liturgies so improvements can be made. The All Souls Day liturgy started with some issues but most were corrected before mass started. The next special liturgy will be on Thanksgiving Eve. Tues, Dec. 8, is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and a Holy Day of Obligation. Mass will be at 7:00 pm. Mary Rose reported a good number of sign up for altar attendants at the Stewardship Fair. The committee is considering offering a ministry signup page via to Face Book.

Round Table:

1. Leslye asked everyone to review the parish survey list distributed by her committee before the December meeting and to bring any suggestions or input at that time.

Principal’s Comments:

Stacy Tackett was absent. No Report.

Pastor’s Comments: 1. Father reported that St. Michael hosted an ecumenical service last night. Nine churches were represented, seven of which performed music. The service lasted about 75 minutes and Rev. Thurman Coleman did the closing. Father expressed his thank to all who contributed to the success of the evening.

2. On December 6, Archbishop Kurtz is hosting a dinner and asking priests to invite young men (high school & college age) who may be considering a religious vocation. The Archdiocese currently has 14 seminarians.

3. Since St. Michael is called often with requests for the use of our facilities Father expressed a need for a facilities usage plan.

4. Mary Rose suggested adding signs to the parking lot indicating the door closest to the elevator for guests in need of that assistance. Karen Karem suggested inviting high school students in need of service hours and the Knights of Columbus to fill this role as they are able.

Closing Prayer: Leslye Biller

Next Meeting: Dec. 14. Father proposed shortening this meeting in order to have some social time at the end. His suggestion was approved.