08-14-2023 Pastoral Council Meeting Minutes
PASTORAL COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
MONDAY, AUGUST 14, 2023
Chairman Kevin Casel called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The following council members were present: Fr. Mike Roach, Dan Bacon, Eddie Baker, Phil Baumert, Kevin Casel, Corrine Katzer, Yvette Lopez, Joan Peluso, Sherri Porterfield, Patrick Schaub and meeting minutes recorder, Karen Schamel.
Following the opening prayer by Sherri Porterfield, the Chairman informed the members that it is his desire to try and keep each meeting at approximately 60 minutes in length. The meeting will follow the approved agenda and be in the format used in previous years.
GUEST REPORT: The Council welcomed the new Director of Religious Education, Stephanie Ladenthin who addressed the members about RE plans for this coming year. She informed the group that Amanda Lewey will once again head up the Confirmation program and Theresa Brier will lead the High School program. Stephanie will oversee the K-8 program. Classes will be held only on Sundays. RE classes cannot currently be scheduled on Wednesday evenings because the school is not available for use.
She revealed that 31 parishioners attended the Evening of RE Volunteers. There is a need for additional volunteers, particularly for the middle school program. Stephanie would ultimately like to bring education/faith formation opportunities to parents as well and that she sees religious education as a “birth to death” lifetime journey. Stephanie and her staff are looking at ways to get parents and the parish involved and will have a variety of activities including Trunk or Treat, possible Soup Suppers, a Fat Tuesday high school fundraiser for Steubenville and a May Crowning of the Blessed Mother at the 5 p.m. Mass on the first Saturday of May. Fr. Mike let the Council know that Stephanie is on the right track in creating community and organizing activities that have not been activated in years.
OLD BUSINESS: Dan Bacon explained to new council members the goal of having a new ministry to provide additional safety for the congregation during Mass. A member of the parish with medical training will be “on call” in case of any medical situations. In the event of an emergency affecting the entire congregation, one person with knowledge of emergency procedures will be appointed at each Mass as the Point of Contact. Currently, there are 7 parishioners who have agreed to serve in this position. Dan asked the Council to talk with additional parishioners who would be good to serve in this position. He would like to have a total of 10 people before holding a training session.
Betsy Lewey, who was unable to attend the meeting, sent Kevin Casel an email saying that the Emergency Assist Ministry is up and running this month. These parishioners will assist with any first aid needs. The goal to have 2 to 3 parishioners with medical knowledge to be available at every Mass.
NEW BUSINESS: All members agreed that the Council retreat held on Sat. August 5th was excellent. Kevin Casel passed out a handout of the 11 points of Action/Strategies that the Council brainstormed at the retreat to help the members create the ’23-’24 Council Vision. After much discussion of a variety of ideas from members, it was agreed that the Council’s starting point must be to create a survey to understand the needs and concerns of the congregation. Kevin asked members to bring 3 questions for the survey to the September meeting and we will begin the process of developing this survey.
CLOSING: Fr. Mike informed the members that he was pleased with the discussion and that the group was moving in the right direction. He then closed the meeting with a prayer and the members prayed “The Lord’s Prayer” together.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m. Next meeting is scheduled for Mon. Sept. 11th at 7:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sherri Porterfield, Pastoral Council Secretary