St. Mary Parish Council Meeting Minutes – Thursday, August 22, 2024 at 6:30 p.m.

Present:  Lynn Cavanagh, Scott Collings, John Dayton, Mark Godar, Linda Ollinger, Sam Peiffer, Karen Schmidt, Scot Wilson, Kent Reed, Sharon Mealey, Father Scott Foley, Darlene Doorenbos and Lee McFee.

Absent:  Judy Binegar, Shane Hart, Dennis Phelps.

Opening Prayer:  Sam Peiffer

Welcome:  John Dayton and Mark Godar were welcomed as the newest council members. Chris Zug has decided to step back from the council currently.  The council thanks him for his five years of serving on the council.  Lynn reminded members that the council meets 6 times a year and would appreciate everyone’s effort to attend each meeting.  The dates for future meetings are October 17, 2024, December 19, 2024, February 20, 2025, April 17, 2025, and June 19, 2025.   It was suggested that at the December meeting the St. Patrick Parish Council join St. Mary Council for a short meeting and a Christmas celebration.

Continuing Business:

St. Mary Constitution:  In 2022 the council worked on the St. Mary Constitution.  Since it is not required that a parish have a constitution and the constitution had several items that no longer applied, it was decided to put it on hold.  There had been some changes at that time which included no election for members (volunteers would be sought), no required number of members, no term length, meetings every other month and adding physical and spiritual components to the meetings.  Since the parish will have a new bishop, things could change.  The constitution is still in existence and in the future the council can decide to bring it back.  In the fall of 2025, it is possible a committee could be formed if needed.  It was asked that the binders that contain the constitution be kept, or it can be returned to Jay.

Pancake Breakfast Schedule:  A schedule of which groups would be organizing the parish breakfast was presented.  On September 8, the Knights of Columbus will oversee the breakfast.  At this breakfast, college students will be invited to attend and asked to introduce themselves to the parish members.  It was noted that the parish council will be hosting the December 14, 2024 breakfast.  A reminder was made that whichever group was putting on the breakfast needs to pick up the supplies.  It would also be helpful to have a list of people who know how to work the grill.  Kent mentioned that there were detailed instructions in the kitchen on how to put on the breakfast.

New Business:  Fr. Foley requested ideas for the Big 10 and for the Fall Clean-up date in October.  The Big 10 is a list of things for volunteers to take care of at the church.  The Big 10 will be revised January 1, 2025 so suggestions would be appreciated by December 1.  Two suggestions  made were putting water down the floor drains monthly to prevent sewer smells should the drains dry out and finding someone to submit photos/information to the Catholic Messenger about activities at the church. 

No date has been set for the clean-up in October but suggestions of what could use some extra cleaning or repairing around the church would be useful.  Suggestions should be sent to Jay with the subject line of “Potential items for the clean-up day.”

Parish Council members were asked to share their individual goal(s) for the St. Mary Parish Council for this year.  Members talked about why they wanted to be on the council and what they would like to see achieved.

Financial Council Report:  Lee McFee went over the report that was in the bulletin concerning the financial status of the church.  Lee will be available to answer questions concerning the finances of the church on September 15 during coffee and rolls after mass.  Other members of the Finance Council are Francesca Cunningham and Dennis Crawford.

Commission, Committee, and Knights of Columbus Reports

BUILDING & GROUNDS COMMITTEE:  The Building and Grounds Committee met on August 13, 2024.  Those present were Father Scott, Steve Bernemann, Mark Godar and John Dayton.  The meeting was called to order at 4:00 p.m.  Father Scott offered the opening prayer.

Ongoing Business:

Insurance walk through:  A document from Jeff Codar, the Loss Control Representative, from Catholic Mutual Group was the primary discussion topic.  Submitted notes from the June 6, 2024 walk through of the Church.  The committee discussed where each concern was and what follow through would be needed for completion if necessary. In Jeff Codar’s notes he commented, “Thank you so much for your time and providing access during our visit.  Overall, your buildings and grounds are well maintained.”  At the end of the meeting, we checked the various concerns and made recommendations to resolve them if necessary.

Large Kitchen Refrigerator:  The old refrigerator was no longer serviceable, so a new one was ordered.  The old refrigerator will be removed and taken away. (The new kitchen refrigerator was placed in the same spot in the kitchen.)

HVAC Unit:  It was reported that the HVAC condensing unit in the prayer garden was removed and replaced. Discussion concerning potential fencing around the unit followed.  No decision was made.

Fall Cleanup Day:  A fall cleanup day was discussed.  A date will be decided in the future.

Next Meeting:  The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 4:00.  Meetings will be held every 2 months.

SOCIAL ACTION COMMISSION: The Social Action commission sponsored the 1st St. Mary Summer Food Drive. The Drive lasted 3 weeks in July. The response from the parish was incredible. 627 lbs. of food was collected, and $20 donation was received. The donations were delivered July 29th to MICA. MICA was appreciative of the donations, and they were very much needed. Connis Dayton  

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS: Old Business: We need to get (12) more grave markers for deceased brother Knights which we put on all Grinnell graves annually for Memorial Day. Rick had a source to get them from at a good rate. We decided in any situation where a deceased brother is buried in a cemetery outside of our area. We will contact the nearest KNIGHT Council to see if they do grave markers for deceased brothers. If so, we will coordinate with them to do so. 

Kent Announced new Directors and Officers.  

Can collection enclosure report, Kent working with RP lumber to get quote for white PVC fence panels.  They will sell to us at cost.  

Awards cabinet–Kent said is now watching for preowned cabinet as option vs. building one.  Thanks to KC member mowers for taking of Jo Gibbons’ lawn for 4 weeks.  

Our Into the Breach Sunday evening video series and discussion about being a Catholic Man with today’s challenges and temptations continues Sunday evenings, 7-8pm. All Catholic men are welcome to join without RSVP.  

New Business (new motions)  

  • KC praesidium training & Virtus—select members need to complete both trainings. Neither accepts the other.  
  • Installation of officers ceremony and luncheon to be Aug. 4th  
  • Tootsie Roll Drive—Coordinators to be contacted for Early September event.  • Community meals—Mark G reported we will be facilitating the Grinnell community meal at the United Methodist Church once every other month. He is working on developing a sign-up genius platform. This is a parish-wide effort not just a KC event.  
  • GOOD of the ORDER AWARDS: PRESENT CERTIFICATES, June: KOM Roy D, FOM Jacoby
  • Announce July: KOM Al Frischmeyer. FOM Shane Hart  

WORSHIP AND SPIRITUALITY: The commission met on August 8th. The Saturday 4 p.m. Mass is currently scheduled to return to Grinnell on October 26th. We are always looking for more volunteers to fill liturgical roles. Anyone interested in volunteering or making a change should contact Donna Godar or the parish office. Mass will be offered at 8:30 a.m. on Monday Sept. 9th to celebrate the rededication of our parish. Our commission, with an assist from the Willard family, hosted the August pancake brunch.  Estimated 70 served. Our next meeting will be September 12th.

STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE:  The pancake breakfast schedule for the rest of 2024 and for 2025 and the entity in charge has been put together.  September, 2024-Knights of Columbus, October, 2024-Stewardship Committee, November, 2024-Social Action, December, 2024-Parish Council, January, 2025-Stewardship Committee, February, 2025-Knights of Columbus, March, 2025-College Students, April, 2025-Faith Formation, May, 2025-Finance Committee, June, 2025-Parish Council, July, 2025-Knights of Columbus, August, 2025-Worship Spirituality/Buildings Grounds, September, 2025-College Students, October, 2025-Stewardship Committee, November, 2025-Social Action, December, 2025-Parish Council.

Staff Reports:  No report.

Pastor’s Report:  The Vigil Mass will tentatively return to St. Mary on Saturday, October 26 at 4:00 p.m.  All other mass times at both St. Mary and St. Patrick will remain the same.

Adjournment:  The next meeting will be on October 17, 2024 at 6:30 p.m.  Scot Wilson will open with prayer and Linda Ollinger will do the closing prayer.  Fr. Scott closed the meeting with prayer and the meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m.

Submitted by Darlene Doorenbos