St. Mary Parish Council Meeting, Thursday, October 16, 2025 at 6:30 p.m.
Present: Fr. Dominic Nguyen, Lynn Cavanaugh, John Dayton, Linda Ollinger, Karen Schmidt, Scot Wilson, Sharon Mealey, Judy Binegar, Greg Willard and Darlene Doorenbos. Absent: Scott Collings, Sam Peiffer, Mark Godar, Deacon John Osborne. Opening Prayer: Scot Wilson
Continuing Business: The updated and revised Time & Talent survey was presented and approved. These will be handed out at Mass on November 15/16, 2025, after the Communion prayer. Pencils will be in the pews, and the ushers and council members will hand out the surveys. Parishioners will be given 5 minutes to complete the form.
Fr. Dominic and John Dayton will look over the Big 10 list for any changes. It will be presented to parishioners in December to start in January 2026. Karen requested that a yearly defibrillator maintenance be added to the list. The Thompson sisters plan to take care of it but would like it to be on the list.
The Parish Council will host the December 14th pancake breakfast. Karen will send out a reminder and request for job assignments. John stated the importance of making sure everything on the breakfast checklist is available at the time of the breakfast.
New Business: Linda reported on Fr. Dominic’s welcome brunch held on Sunday, October 12. The brunch was chaired by Linda Ollinger, Lynn Cavanaugh and Karen Schmidt. 95 people attended. Breakfast casserole, fruit and a variety of quick breads were served. There was a get-to-know Fr. Dominic question and answer time, which went very well. Thanks to all who helped at the event.
Karen suggested cards be sent from the council to parishioners who have experienced different milestones in their lives. She is willing to do this and would like council members to let her know of individuals that should be sent a card. This was approved.
In the past the list of items to be addressed at the fall church clean-up day was done by Fr. Scott and he also coordinated the volunteers. The council discussed the past duties on the list and noted that the duties varied depending on the time of year. It was felt some items on the list should be done professionally, such as cleaning the carpets and cushions on the folding chairs and cleaning the non-carpeted areas. John Dayton, Fr. Dominic, Scot Wilson and Linda Ollinger will compare items on the Big 10 list to the fall clean-up duties for any changes to both. Having areas cleaned professionally will be decided by Jay, Fr. Dominic and the financial committee.
Karen suggested we have a Grinnell College student serve on the council to get their feedback and perspective. Fr. Dominic will think about this before proceeding.
Financial Council Report: No report was given.
Worship & Spirituality Commission: The commission met on September 11 and October 9. Upcoming events: the annual All Souls Prayer Service has been scheduled for Sunday, October 26 at 5 p.m. Mass for All Saints Day will be offered on Saturday, November 1 at 8:30 a.m. at St. Mary, Mass for Thanksgiving Day will be offered on Thursday, November 27 at the daily Mass time of 8:30 a.m. There is a need for more volunteers to fill liturgical roles, especially on Saturday. Our next meeting will be on November 13.
Social Action Commission: September 4, 2025 – 8 were in attendance. Father Dominic Nguyen attended our meeting. We reviewed our past and ongoing missions for him. Mother Teresa’s Helping Hands helps parish families with meals when a need arises. Our homebound mission matches homebound parishioners with volunteers who visit them. We have 2 food drives a year for MICA. “No Room at the Inn” is one of our events too. Our commission has agreed to tabulate the results of a time and talent survey. October 2, 2025 – 8 members present – December 5, 2025 has been decided for this year’s “No Room at the Inn”. We will need parishioners to help with the event. They can work at it, supply Nativity Scenes for display or sing or play instruments for entertainment. The money raised goes to a homeless shelter and food banks. November 9, 2025, our commission is in charge of the parish breakfast. We also discussed future projects.
Lynn will send an email to Connis Dayton asking her to invite St. Patrick Church to participate in the “No Room at the Inn”.
Building & Grounds: The following met at 4:00 Tuesday, October 7, 2025: Fr. Dominic, Al Frischmeyer, Steve Bernemann, Tom Kriegel and John Dayton. We went on a walking meeting around and through the church and the main hall. We discussed a number of items, such as necessary repairs to the church, church basement and main hall. Specific ideas were: 1. The basement classrooms that are currently used as storage and whether they could be returned as classrooms or meeting rooms, 2. The stained-glass windows of the church, 3. The fire doors located between the basement and the new hall, 4. The TV Display in the main entrance to be mounted to the wall, 5. winterizing windows, 6. removing, cleaning and winter storage of the statues in the prayer garden and 7. sidewalk entering the prayer garden.
At the council meeting, John reported he continues to work on the classrooms, which is a work in progress. The TV display in the main entrance has been mounted to the wall. The wood around the stained-glass windows needs to be repaired before window frames are painted and they are looking into that. Winterization has begun and is still in progress. The statues in the prayer garden have been removed, cleaned and put into winter storage. While working in the church basement, a number of items have been found including old dishes from the basement kitchen. The plan is that one day after mass the items will be set out, and people can take what they like.
Knights of Columbus: Greg Willard presented a report from Kent Reed. The Tootsie Roll Drive went well but we did not fill all shifts. They are considering changing the times to 2-8 p.m. instead of 3-9. Literature has been purchased to refill the upstairs kiosk. On Saturday, August 30 was the parish festival. The Knights hosted the event with Faith formation. The event went well with 20 to 30 people attending. Fr. Dominic hoped that we could have more parish events like that. Pathways of Pella – continuing the Can Drive fundraiser (4th Sunday collection at front doors monthly) and planning to add a donation collection cabinet for vocations next to Pennys from Heaven cabinet. Next Community meal hosted by St. Mary is Thursday, November 20. Cunninghams are new host couple. All are encouraged to join and dine as a community. There will be a soup supper for Jingle Bell Holiday on November 21. Good of the order awards: August Knight of the month (KOM) was John Dayton, September KOM was Greg Willard and October KOM was John Landkamer. August Family of the month (FOM) Lee & Jane McFee, September FOM was Deacon and Mrs. John Osborne and October FOM is Bill and Sandra Gruman family.
Funeral Lunch Report: A luncheon was served for Clem Bodensteiner on 5/27, Mary Ann Hudnut on 8/8 and Evelyn Wiley on 9/13.
Pastor’s Report: On November 16, St. Mary of Pella will be making a pilgrimage to St. Mary Church, Grinnell. There will be holy hours from 3 to 4:00 with adoration and confession. Greeters would be nice to have at the event. Fr. Dominic will know if we should do more after the Deanery meeting on October 21.
On October 28 there will be a Zoom meeting on the second round of “Becoming the Good News”, the book about developing strategies for evangelizing in the Church and outside the Church. Chapter 2 will be discussed. The Zoom meetings are at 1 p.m. or 7 p.m. Those interested in attending should contact Fr. or the office.
Adjournment: The next meeting will be a Christmas gathering on December 18 at 6:30 at the rectory. Karen will invite the parish council from St. Patrick in Brooklyn. Fr. Dominic closed the meeting with prayer and the meeting ended at 7:30.