St. Edwards Parish Council Meeting 26 June 2014 Minutes Present: Fr. Brian, Dan Kinsella, Martie McMahon, Jimmy Ojo, Sherrie Schroeder, Dan Shidla, Jen Zupke Absent: Jane Heither, Felicity Furber, Barry Weber, Ellen Berkowitz, Carly Schirber, Larry Poston Observer/Guest: Jerry Grebins, Admin Update: Fr. Tom Sweetzer s letter about inviting people back to the parish was referenced at the staff meeting. The staff wanted the letter brought to PC for recommendation. It should possibly go to the Stewardship Commisson. Finance Council: No major expenses in May. Building & Grounds are looking into boiler and AC work. Collections are down approximately $77,000 for the year. The actual income figure of $1,371.052 includes the Matching Grant dollars from the December 2013 campaign. Leadership Transition: Paul Hufnagle and Jane Heither replace Molly Mitch and Michael Barg as Trustees, respectively. Thank you to Molly and Michael for their service as our parish trustees these past two years. Commission representatives should inform Dan K. or Martie M. if they want to change commissions. New PC members are Bob McBeath, Kevin Curry and Eric VanBrocklin. Vote for new co-chairs will take place at the August PC meeting. Budget: PC role is to understand the budget and advise. Finance Council will actually approve the budget. FC representatives met with different staff groups. There was a 10% to 17 % adjustment made to the budget. All staff took a 5% decrease in salary. Opportunities for increased income were discussed such as user fees and fundraisers. We need to look into what other parishes do for increased income. The impact of smaller budget and cutting back will be recognized as the year goes on. Worship is eliminating one Mass on Sunday. A survey went out to the parish for new Mass time suggestions. The Saturday Mass will not be changed. A back up plan should be in consideration if revenues do not increase. Significant time was spent by the PC to review the budget and the PC has no proposed changes to the Finance Council s latest budget version. PAR process check-in: The PAR process will be brought to the Archdiocese. Question to each of the commissions was posed on the effectiveness of PAR. Community Life Commission finds PAR valuable. It laid out the building blocks for guidelines and feels that CDI (Consult-Decide- Inform) is a good process. Administration Commission: still not sure what PC role is with PAR. There are many good things with PAR itself, though. It should be an ongoing process, not just start and complete a project. It is a different way of thinking and functioning. Worship Commission: On the whole, feels that PAR works well in the Worship Commission. Everyone needs to follow the PAR process.. Social Justice Commission: There is not enough time in the Leadership Night, so they have split out time for additional meetings and a rep is sent to Leadership Night. Pastoral Commission: There is good structure, but would prefer to meet 6 times per year. Final thoughts: There is always room for improvement, but we are thankful for the process. 25 th Anniversary of Fr. Brian s ordination: tie it to an event such as the Feast of St Edward. Worship and Parish Life Commissions should work together. Also, a congratulatory advert will go into The Catholic Spirit. Motion was made and passed. Next meeting will be Tuesday, 19 August 2014.
Respectfully submitted, Martie McMahon
St. Edwards Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council May 20, 2014 Attending: Father Brian, Sherrie Schroeder, Paul Hufnagle, Jane Heither, Larry Poston, Jimmy Ojo, Martie McMahon, Barry Weber, Herman Viegas, Carli Schirber and Dan Kinsella Not able to attend: Felicity Furber, Dan Shidla, Jen Zupke, Ellen Berkowitz The PC meeting opened with Martie McMahon chairing the meeting. Finance Council Report Barry W. gave the regular monthly report from the finance committee. He distributed the financial summary as of April 2014. April collections continued the trend of being significantly unfavorable to budget. The shortfall in April left a loss for the month of $22,000 vs. plan income of $37,000. Projections indicate that with the help of the Offertory Giving Challenge, the parish will break even for fiscal 2014. Administration Update Sherrie noted that the focus of staff over the past month has been heavily centered on budgeting. One change will be to save money by shifting the costs of printing monthly calendars to a combination of printing as needed and including this information on the parish web site. 2014-2015 Planning Barry updated the PC on the budget process for 2014-2015. Information worked on during the Leadership meeting will be used to update the budget. Father Brian to send a letter this week to the entire parish regarding the projected budget deficit for fiscal 2015. This letter will inform the parish on the deficit and ask for increased giving. A second letter will be sent to all parishioners with information on their family giving trends over the last three years. Based on the response of the parish, the 2015 budget will be adjusted to a new collections expectation. Jane H. stated the Finance Council will not approve a budget with a significant deficit. The Finance Council will work with a committee of the PC to plan alternatives for spending reductions. It is everyones hope that the parish will respond with increased giving. However, in the event increased giving does not occur, the Finance Council working with the PC will be ready with alternatives. Leadership Meeting Summaries From the Commissions: At the Leadership meeting Father Brian asked the commissions to address two items: 1. How is the PAR process working for their commissions? 2. If spending cuts are needed, what would be reduced in their commission? The Commissions reported as follows: Worship: PAR working well with high attendance Budget no action taken on spending reductions as their staff director was on vacation.
Other request that do to their large number of attendees, they be allowed to use another room for Leadership nights. Social Justice: PAR no feedback given Budget can reduce budget by 20% but total budget is only $3,000. Other want to send 2-3 people to Leadership meetings and save their time for commission meetings. A proposal was made by Larry P. to adopt a parish theme of We believe in the inherent dignity of the human person. After discussion, during which concerns were voiced that this theme may be more appropriate as a commission theme, the proposal was withdrawn. Pastoral Care: PAR: - propose leadership meetings be moved to every other month. Budget 10% cut possible without hurting programs. Deeper cuts will have a drastic impact on programs. Request that available staff time be allocated to assisting Deacon Jim and serving the Pastoral needs of the parish (5-6 hours/month) Community Life: PAR working well; following CDI closely Budget 20% in cuts have been identified Administration: PAR no input given Budget both administration and building and grounds representatives felt that 20% in cuts is possible but more work is needed. Sherrie to work with staff on details. Faith Formation: PAR no input given Budget came up with various ideas to shift costs to being more fee based by users. Would like to have more fund raisers including several ideas for youth program fund raising Leadership Transition: We have three nominees for PC at large seats. Dan K. and Martie will reach out to nominees this week. New PC members will be chosen/announced during 8:00 mass on June 8. The June PC meeting has been moved to Thursday, June 26 7:00-8:30. There are no Leadership meetings in June or July. Agenda items for June meeting: 2014-2015 budget approval PAR process revisit come with your assessment of the effectiveness of PAR Martie and Dan K. thanked PC, staff, Trustees and Finance Council members for all the extra time they are contributing to the budget and planning process. The meeting concluded at approximately 9:50.
Respectfully submitted, Dan Kinsella
St. Edwards Parish Council Meeting 18 March 2014 Minutes Present: Fr. Brian, Dan Shidla, Larry Poston, Jimmy Ojo, Herman Viegas, Dan Kinsella, Martie McMahon, Mike Barg, Jen Zupke, Felicity Furber, Craig Siiro and Sherrie Schroeder Unable to attend: Paul Hufnagle, Ellen Berkowitz, Carly Schirber Administration Update: Sherrie provided an update on various initiatives including the Pace/Prism work. Finance Council Update: Craig reviewed the most recent financial results. February collections were 13% ($20,000 below budget). Concern remains around finding the new normal for collections. Craig noted the difficulty in forecasting with the Offertory challenge in December and the decline in attendance affecting comparables. No significant variances were noted in spending vs. budget. Commission Reports: Larry noted that the Social Justice commission is working on a parish social justice theme. 2014-2015 Planning Process: The planning information that was gathered just prior to the PC meeting will be summarized and presented back to the PC and commissions prior to the April Leadership meeting. Dan S., Martie and Dan K. have been designated to prepare this information. Stewardship vs. Tithing: It was noted by several attendees that there is parish wide confusion over the terms we regularly use around Stewardship and Tithing. We agreed that a proposal will be brought back to the PC by the May meeting. Sherrie to share the PC discussion with the stewardship committee and they will take the lead on a proposal. Minutes respectfully submitted by Dan Kinsella Next Leadership / Parish Council: 15 April 2014
St. Edwards Parish Council Meeting 18 February 2014 Minutes Present: Dan Kinsella, Martie McMahon, Mike Barg, Jen Zupke, Felicity Furber, Paul Hufnagle, Craig Siiro, Sherrie Schroeder Absent: Fr. Brian, Barry Weber, Dan Shidla, Larry Poston, Jimmy Ojo, Herman Viegas, Ellen Berkowitz, Carly Schirber Leadership: With the adoption of the Leadership Guide, several changes are required in the Parish By-Laws and Constitution. We are awaiting finalization on Constitution and By-Laws after Fr. Brian gets back. By-laws and Constitution will then go to the Archdiocese for approval. Dan reviewed term changes Paul Hufnagle replaces Molly Mitch as trustee and waiting for appointed trustee to replace Mike Barg; Barry Weber will be cycling off the Finance council and his replacement as Finance Council Chair will be chosen by the Finance Council Chair; Dan Kinsella and Martie McMahon are at the end of their terms and their positions will be filled by at-large members with August Parish Council elections taking place for co-chairs; Felicity Furber is at the end of her term and will be replaced with a nominee from the Faith Formation Commission, otherwise a third at-large member will be sought; Patrick will nominate a junior and senior for the youth positions. Finance Committee report: the financial summary handed out is through January, 2014. January collections were 17% below budget. Collection levels are being monitored for the new normal following the one time gifts in Nov/Dec 2013.. Sherrie will get ACH participation numbers. Administration Update: Deacon Jim, Sherrie and Mike Barg are working on updating the guidelines for the Memorial Garden. Three documents will be worked into one. Catholic Services Appeal is now the Catholic Services Appeal Foundation the difference is that all monies are now going through the Foundation for the intended purposes and not going through Archdiocesan accounts. 2014-2015 Planning Process: Dan proposed that the March Leadership Night be expanded by including the committees to discuss the next fiscal year. The commission representatives will bring this information to the Parish Council. Dan and Martie will get together to compile a communication piece for the bulletin, then Dan will e-mail commission chairs. Commission Reports: Deacon Jim questioned the designation of the Tai Chi class in Pastoral Care. Jen will take it to Community Life. Minutes respectfully submitted by Martie McMahon Next Leadership / Parish Council: 18 March 2014
St. Edwards Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council January 21, 2014 Attending: Father Brian, Mike Barg, Sherrie Schroeder, Larry Poston, Jimmy Ojo, Dan Shidla, Martie McMahon, Barry Weber, Herman Viegas, Carli Schirber, Ellen Berkowitz, Dan Kinsella and Jen Zupke Not able to attend: Felicity Furber The PC meeting opened with Martie McMahon chairing the meeting. Leadership Guide the leadership guide and amended parish by laws will be submitted to Father Brian and Sherrie Schroeder for approval to the Archdiocese. Dan K. is responsible for getting the documents completed by mid February. Finance Council Report Barry W. gave the regular monthly report from the finance committee. He distributed the financial summary as of December 2013. The impact of the success of the Offertory Giving Campaign was discussed. With these contributions the parish is $50,000 favorable to budget and $12,000 favorable to the prior year (Jul-Dec). Barry will work with the finance committee to plan for spending levels over the back half of the year. In particular will be the need to match expected collections with spending. Administration Update Sherrie mentioned the recruiting underway to attract a couple to lead the annual Catholic Services Appeal. We discussed how important the CSA is to the various fine charities it supports. Sherrie to post a request for volunteers in the bulletin. We agreed that the PC would give thought on potential couples to volunteer to lead the campaign. Father Brian noted that the CSA is now a separate foundation. This means that contributions that go to the CSA are not used for other purposes. We discussed the headwinds that the campaign may face given the unfavorable news recently on the Archdiocese. Dan to follow up with Dick Schirber on the role of the Stewardship committee on volunteers. Sherrie to follow up on the web site as a source of volunteer recruiting. 2014-2015 Planning Dan and Martie discussed planning for 2014-2015. Dan and Martie to arrange for a small group to organize a process for prioritization. The group will bring back a framework for engaging parishioners especially folks involved in the Leadership Nights. This begins the yearly planning process as outlined in the Leadership guide. The meeting concluded at approximately 9:45. Respectfully submitted, Dan Kinsella