Parish Council

Members of St. Monica's Parish Council:
Father Eric Hall, Tom Linder, Martha DeVore, Kathleen O'Bara, Joyce Wood and Chris O'Bara.

To learn more about our Parish Council, to make suggestions, or offer help, please contact: council@stmonicaparish.org

Next Meeting: Date to be determined, following 7PM Mass at St. Francis Xavier Parish Hall on Market Street

St Monica Parish Council Meeting
April 9, 2008

Present were Father Casey, Martha DeVore, Kathleen and Chris O’Bara, Tom Linder, Fran Allen, and Mary Ann Sweet

Father Casey opened the meeting with prayer.

Minutes of the January 16, 2008 meeting were reviewed and approved.

Committee Reports:

Religious Education:

Kathleen reported there is interest in a joint Vacation Bible School to involve all parishes in the area. More to come.

There is interest in having a parish celebration at the end of the CCD year to celebrate the year of learning.

Altar Server training will be conducted after Mass on 4/13.

Some of our CCD students will be attending the Youth Rally at Jackson’ Mill the week-end of 4/13.

Kathleen and CCD teachers will be evaluating which book series best meets the needs of the CCD program.

Social Concerns:

Mary Ann Sweet reported on the status of the Gabriel Project at St Monica. Currently 4 babies are being helped through the program.

Recent jam and jelly sale netted $120.00 for the Gabriel Project.

Bowser is donating siding and labor to install it to repair the old block building where Gabriel Project supplies are now stored.The door to the building has been damaged and will be replaced.

Mary Ann also reported that Catholic Community Services helped a number of people through outreach efforts at Christmas Time.

CCD students have been helping with the stocking of the food pantry on Food Basket Sundays.

A question was raised about how more funds might be raised to support social concerns. After some discussion pro and con, Father Casey pointed out that second collections need to be approved by the diocese. A suggestion to have seasonal events...cook-outs, dinners, etc...might be a way to raise funds. Chris will pursue the idea and the PC will revisit the idea at the next meeting.

Parish Activities:

A group from the parish went to Spencer to help with needs there.

A recycle week-end event is planned for 4/11-12. Chris and others will remove appropriate materials from the garage..including the old freezer...and the ground floor of the Gabriel Project Building and take them to the recycle location. The old copiers will also be recycled.

Buildings and Grounds:

Inspection of the church and rectory were recently completed. Tom will discuss with Father casey and Father will send it in. Fire extinguishers were also recently inspected by an outside agency and found to be in good condition.

Ministries and Liturgy:

Holy Week and Easter services were well attended.

Ministries are now posted on the St Monica website as well as in the bulletin and on the events calendar in the vestibule.

Old Business:

The St Monica Directory has been updated. There are over 50 families and/or adult individuals registered with St Monica.

The bulletin has been upgraded to include names and contact information for various needs and activities for the parish.

Fran Allen had initiated the St Monica website...www.stmonicaparish.org...since our last meeting. A wonderful addition to the parish communication efforts. Many thanks to Fran for her work getting the site up and running.

New Business:

Catholic Sharing Appeal will be kicked -off this month.

Tom will attend the April Vicariate meeting on 4-10-08.

Father’s Comments:

The parish is in good financial condition.

A discussion about Father Casey’s Transfer took Place. He will be leaving St Monica/St X April 30^th. Father Dass will be leaving on vacation around 4/22 and be gone for 5 weeks to visit his family in India. Father Peterson, Vicar, is arranging for priests to cover parish needs in their absence. A new pastor will be announced in the near future, before Father Casey leaves. Father indicated he knew who would replace him but because the parish where that person is now serving has not been told about the change, he cannot communicate the name at this time.

Father encourage us to continue to carry on as we have. We are very capable of taking care of our needs and he believes we will find the new pastor a good person to work with.

A farewell get-together will be held for Father Casey on Sunday, April 27the at the St X Parish Hall.

Father also alluded to the possibility that Father Dass may also be reassigned but nothing official has been issued yet.

On behalf of the Parish Council and the parish, Tom thanked Father Casey for all he’s done to help us over the past year.

The new pastor will not arrive until mid June. Tom will meet with him and work out when the Parish Council will meet again.

Father closed the meeting with a prayer

Members Present were: Father Casey, Kathleen O’Bara, Martha DeVore, Tom Linder, Chris O’Bara, and Joyce Wood

The Christmas Play was very successful and the children had a lot of fun presenting it.

Among the fund raisers that the parish participated in were the Angel Tree, The Gabriel Project Baby Bottles, and the Turkeys for Thanksgiving.

The 6^th & 7^th grade students in the CCD class helped Joyce and Roger Zipfel with the Food Cupboard Project and they also made Refrigerator Magnets for parishioners to help remind them of the dates the pantry will be collecting donations.

The Quilting sessions have started at St Xavier’s Parish Hall and will continue every second Saturday until May.

Chris O’Bara wants to schedule a Pot Luck/Game night at the Church before Lent begins.

The date chosen will be February 2^nd. More information will follow in the Church Bulletin

There will be a junior high youth rally in April at Jackson ’s Mill. Several of the students from our parish want to attend this. Chris asked Father if the church could help with the finances for this trip.

Dave Quattro and Natalie Linder will work with the Finance Committee to coordinate reconditioning the rectory if and when the decision is made to do that.

The Christmas Decorations in the Church were beautiful and they have since been removed and put away until next year.

Kathleen has already met with some of the students who are interested in serving and Father Dass will begin instructions soon.

Ash Wednesday is February 6^th. There will be Mass and distribution of ashes at St. Monica’s at 7 pm.

There will be Soup, Salad & Stations on February 21. The women of the parish will take care of the food preparations.

Tom told Council that it has been suggested that St. Monica’s set up a committee to do a phone census to establish a correct membership. More information will follow.

Tom reported that at present we are a financially stable parish, able to support day to day needs.

Father Casey indicated he would be discussing the school Assessment/Debt issue with others in the near future.

Fran Allen is finalizing the web site for St. Monica’s Parish. We will hear more about this project when she finishes.

The Pot Luck/ State of the Parish dinner was well attended. A list of suggestions for improvement for the parish was posted for all members to see. Fran Allen did an outstanding job preparing for and leading discussions leading to suggestions concerning strengths and needs of the parish.

Father Casey asked the Members of St Monica’s to please check with him before spending any money .

Some unauthorized requests have been turned in to St. Xavier’s. Please get authorization before spending.

Father Casey also stated that the church cannot advertise special fund raisers or contribute to the request of specific family tragedies, such as fires or illnesses or other devastations.. However, these notices can be posted on the Church Bulletin Board or handled "word of mouth" so members can contribute if they wish.

Tom stated that flowers have been sent to 2 members of the parish, Mrs. Zell and Mrs. Parsons; both lost a parent recently.

Joyce Zipfel is now in charge of sending cards and flowers. Tom suggested that our parish raise separate funds for this committee to cover these needs.

The Parish thanked Chris for the use of the freezer to store the Turkeys in over the Holidays.

Mary Ann Engelmann addressed the Parish Council and reported that there will be 2 Training workshops for Parish Council Members one in February in Paden City and a 2^nd workshop in April. We are urged to attend one of these sessions. These will be held on Saturdays.

The Council met on November 1^st, at St. Francis Xavier’s Church after the 7pm Mass.

The following members and parishioners were present: Father Casey Mahone, Tom Linder, Martha DeVore, Chris O’Bara, Kathleen O’Bara, Fran Allen, and Joyce Wood