St. Mary Parish Council Meeting, Thursday October 15, 2026 at 6:30 p.m.
Present: Karen Schmidt, John Dayton, Grace Soriano, Sharon Mealey, Darlene Doorenbos, Fr. Dominic and Lynn Cavanagh. Absent: Sam Peiffer, Mark Godar, Linda Ollinger, Patti Cline, Michelle Otto, Lee McFee and Deacon John Osborne. Opening Prayer: Sharon Mealey.
Continuing Business: August meeting minutes were reviewed. The word stain should have been stained and has been corrected. There has been one funeral luncheon (Pauline McKenna) since last meeting. Sharon reported that the Installation Mass and meal for Fr. Dominic went very well with parishioners donating salads and desserts and the main meal provided by the Vietnamese Community of Iowa City. Approximately 160 meals were served. Because of the time and energy put into the new St. Mary Logo, Karen would like to see it put to good use. It should be on anything that is printed, including anything from the various commissions. A laminated logo will be put on the whiteboard that is used for various functions. For the church’s centennial year, the logo should include the number 100.
Michelle Otto has done extensive research on various companies that could put together the Parish directory. The directory will be done by Unique Church Solutions by UCD. The pictures will be done as in the past. The directory will also include the history of the church. The cost of the directory depends on the number of pages and pictures. Due to the anticipation of a larger directory, advertisers will be sought to help defray the cost. Lynn has been working on gathering information on the history of the church. Lynn showed 2 samples of books that only focused on the history of St. Mary. The past directories didn’t include much history of the church. A seven-page rough draft of the church history was presented by Lynn. There was discussion on what history should be included. Lynn will continue to work on this.
New Business: Because a quorum of the Parish Council was not present, no action was taken and matters were discussed only. The parish council is in charge of the December pancake breakfast. Details will be determined closer to the date. In December Karen will begin the process of asking current council members if they are interested in staying on the board in anticipation of election of new members in February 2027. During the 2026 elections, there were 2 individuals interested in serving. If needed, Karen will contact them to see if they are still interested.
The Centennial Celebration Committee, chaired by Sharon, has met three times. A calendar of events will be presented at the “Saints Among Us” meal on November 1. Linda Ollinger and Karen Frischmeyer will be preparing the meal. They are planning for 150.
There was discussion about writing a Vision Statement for the church. A mission statement is a general vision of the church whereas a Vision statement is specific to our church community: what are our aspirations as a church and how do we live them out? This will be revisited.
Commissions, Finance Council and Knights of Columbus Reports
Worship & Spirituality Commission: The Worship & Spirituality Commission met on September 10 and October 8. We will continue to sing the new Mass Parts until we switch to the chants for Advent. Many events and liturgies have been scheduled: Holy (half) hour on Oct. 18 at 3 p.m. followed by refreshments; All Soul’s Prayer Service on Nov. 8 at 5 p.m.; Thanksgiving Day Mass on Nov. 26 at 8:30 a.m.; Holy Day, Immaculate Conception Masses on Dec. 8 at 5:30 p.m. at St. Mary and 7 a.m. at St. Patrick; Christmas Masses at St. Mary Dec. 24 at 6:30 p.m. and Dec. 25 at 9 a.m. with Mass at St. Patrick on Dec. 24 at 4 p.m.
Social Action Commission: Sept. 1, 2026-We practiced our presentation about our commission for our first Social Action presentation at Coffee and Rolls on Sept. 20. Everyone read their part and we timed it at just under 15 minutes. We also voted to move our social action meetings to the first Monday of the month at 5 p.m. Oct. 5, 2026-We discussed our Sept. 20 presentation at Coffee and Rolls. We felt it went well and were warmly received by the group listening. Our next presenter will be Kent Reed. He will be talking about his nonprofit American Braun on Oct. 18. Jobs were assigned for the Oct. 11 pancake breakfast. Our commission will be in charge of it. We started planning for “No Room at the Inn” which is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 4. It’s our annual ecumenical event to bring awareness to homelessness and raise money for charities.
Stewardship Commission: No report.
Grinnell College Student Representative: No report
Finance Council: Lee provided a rolling average spreadsheet of the operating income/expenses. Donations were down in September, but it will even out over the year.
Buildings and Grounds: Bovard, a company from Fairfield, has been secured to repair the stained-glass windows. It is hoped that repairs will begin April 2027 with completion in 10 weeks. Jensen’s Plumbing and Heating have been secured to replace the church boiler as well as the digital controls in the church. The committee continues to work on the flower gardens at the rectory and trimming bushes and trees around the church and the rectory. Mousetraps have been set for the year, and they continue to work on winterizing the church.
Knights of Columbus: No report
Staff Reports: No reports.
Pastor’s Report: No Report.
Adjournment: Since the next meeting is in February, Karen reminded the members to watch their emails for any updates on items discussed tonight. There will be no December meeting. Fr. Dominic will host a parish council holiday gathering at the rectory on December 17. Fr. Dominic will invite St. Patrick’s parish council. Fr. Dominic closed in prayer. Meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.