St Mary Parish Council Meeting Minutes

Meeting held Thursday, April 20, 2023 at 6:30 pm.

Present: Chris Zug, Lynn Cavanagh, Scott Collings, Sharon Mealey, Fr. Scott Foley,  Mark Godar, Wendy Kramer, Marsha Maschmann, Vicki Nolton, Sam Peiffer, Scot Wilson,

Not Present: Joe Bagnoli, Shane Hart, Jane McFee, Lee McFee, Linda Ollinger, Dcn. John Osborne, Charles Willenbring

Opening prayer: Led by Lynn Cavenaugh

Spiritual Component:

Fr. Scott shared how the Roman Missal guides the Mass and the sections used for each season of the Liturgical year and for special Feast Days and occasions. He also explained the intricacies of how the prayer sections are ordered and how to locate them in the Missal.

Physical Component:

Behind the Scenes Part 2 – Fr. Scott led a second “Behind the Scenes” tour of the church hall and reviewed supply storage areas and operation of equipment such as the humidifiers.

Parish Council Election Process – preliminary discussion of Parish Council “election” process that Fr Scott discussed, gauging interest and maybe just appointing one or two members??  We tabled it since we were missing a good number of people.

The council held preliminary discussion about approaching parishioners to gather interest in any parish council openings, then appointing those individuals in lieu of a formal election. This decision was tabled because several council members could not attend this meeting. Three current members will complete their three-year terms and there will be at least one member opening. The parish council meeting frequency will also be revisited when Fr. Scott assumes additional parish duties at St. Patrick in Brooklyn.

Next month the Parish Council plans to do spring cleaning of windows in the church areas.

A variety of cookies and granola bars were provided as snacks for the council meeting.

New Business

Our May meeting will be moved from May 18th to May 25th (fourth Thursday) to accommodate Fr. Scott’s schedule.

Commission, Committee, Finance Council and Knights of Columbus Reports

Worship & Spirituality: No report because the next meeting is scheduled for April 27th.

Parish Life: No New Report

Social Action:  The Social Action Commission met in early April.  The Easter Food Drive went well and details for the delivery of goods from the parish Easter Food Drive to MICA and the Drake Library Food Pantry were finalized. Volunteers are still needed to visit the Homebound and those who would like more information are encouraged to contact Jay in the Parish office. Information pertaining to the Deacons Fund and distribution of those funds was discussed, which will be finalized then can be shared with the parish. The commission shared information about the proposed soybean washing plant development south of town discussing the pros and cons.  The May meeting will be lunch at the Comeback Cafe.

Building & Grounds Committee: No new report.

Stewardship: The commission met on April 3rd. They discussed the pancake breakfasts and the possibility of bagging up dry pancake mix each month during the commission meeting and researching the purchase of bulk supplies in Kalona. They also discussed that it would be helpful to add dishwasher instructions to the master pancake breakfast instructions. The goal of the pancake breakfasts is for parish fellowship rather than profit, but they hope to have donations break even on the breakfast costs. There is a correction to the contact number for Braden Meiners, CSA (Catholic Student Association) leader at Grinnell College, who offered assistance for the pancake breakfasts. Braden can be contacted at (630)-888-8717 or meinersb@grinnell.edu.

Angelina attended the Stewardship meeting and suggested adding some Catholic hard books to the children’s busy bags and possibly a Mass book with Father, the Eucharist, and readings in it. Angelina is working on spotlighting the faith formation children on the bulletin board and setting up a prayer partner program with parishioners and the faith formation students. The next meeting will be May 8th.

Finance Council: No new report

Knights of Columbus: The weekly Lenten Fish Fry’s went very well and set records for meals and attendance. The Knights held nominations for officers for next year.

Adjournment (adjourned at 7:30pm)

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 6:30 PM. Marsha Maschmann will lead the opening prayer and Chris Zug will lead the closing prayer. The meeting was closed with a prayer led by Scot Wilson.

 

Minutes submitted by Vicki Nolton (secretary).