2-12-2024 Pastoral Council Meeting Minutes
ST. JAMES PASTORAL COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2024
Chairman Kevin Casel called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The following council members were present: Fr. Mike Roach, Deacon Chuck Koesterer, Dan Bacon, Eddie Baker, Phil Baumert, Kevin Casel, Corrine Katzer, Betsy Lewey, Yvette Lopez, and Sherri Porterfield. The opening prayer was given by Kevin Casel.
Guests:
The meeting began with Chairman Casel introducing a special guest, Tom Crawford who came to observe the Council meeting. Tom is currently in RCIA and will become a member of our parish family at the Easter Vigil Mass this spring.
Also introduced were Cecilia Richardson, Will Patterson, Director of Development and Dustin Procest, Executive Director of Hillcrest Hope. Mr. Procest told the Council members a little bit about Hillcrest Hope, a transitional housing program to give those who are struggling and how the organization helps them to be responsible and accountable in finance through learning to budget. As part of this program, participants can only spend money from their job on needs only. Hillcrest Hope also works with the participants on social skills, educating them to help get the participants back on their feet and to be successful. The organization serves 21 individuals or families. Those in the program live in a 2-bedroom 1 bath apartment in one of two different complexes in the Northland area. These participants can live in an apartment costing them minimal rent for up to a year.
Many area churches including St. James support and sponsor an apartment in Liberty and has done so for many years. Supporting an apartment includes but is not limited to cleaning, painting, minor repairs and restocking with everyday needs to prepare the apartment for a new tenant when the participant moves out. Dustin explained that sponsorship works best and most successful when there is a lead contact person who communicates with the case manager and 3 teams of people for maintaining the apartment as described in the previous sentence. In addition, a hospitality team is needed to make them feel welcome and important by providing a first homecooked meal and celebrating birthdays and special occasions. Dustin asked that we consider hosting a graduation from the program at least once a year.
Yvette Lopez is our contact person who works with the case manager. Yvette told the Council that the apartment currently needs to be painted and inventory of needed items needs to be done. In the coming meetings the Council will be looking at ways to involve parishioners from St. James who would like to help serve on one of the teams.
In closing, Cecilia Richardson told the Council that St. James parishioners are incredibly generous in giving of their time, talent, and treasure and that we should not hesitate to ask for help in any way. She emphasized how important it was to communicate with the parish concerning help that may be needed.
Old Business:
Pastoral Council Recruitment: Chairman Casel reminded the Council that it was time to make the Parishioners aware that we will be needing new Council members whose terms will begin in August of this year. A Council member will make an announcement before each Mass the weekend of February 17/18 telling all in attendance about the Council and our need for new members. In addition, interested people can meet some of the current Council members to ask questions after each Mass. These Meet and Greet sessions will be held in the Gathering Space after the 5 pm Masses on Saturday and Sunday. After the 8:00 and 10:30 am Masses, the session will be held outside of the downstairs AV Conference Room as parishioners come for Coffee and Donuts. Posters and flyers would be displayed to remind parishioners after Mass. Council members will take contact information of interested people and they will be contacted by our Director of Discernment, Jay Meacham.
Parish Survey: Dan Bacon informed the Council that all surveys had been collected and shared briefly the graphs showing the percentage breakdown of answers to each survey question. He also shared the percentage data of answers according to age groups. Dan told the Council that the data according to age groups should be considered by the Council so that we can see the similarity and difference in needs of each age group. Betsy Lewey shared with Council a summary of comments made by subject matter and according to age grouping. She also analyzed the percentages of comments regarding gender. The Council members looked over her data and agreed that because of the number of comments, it will take time to go through these to determine any changes that may need to be made. The Council agreed that the comments are important and appreciates the time it took for parishioners to comment on the different aspects of our church.
Survey results for the questions will be given to the parish on the first weekend in April. Because of the space that would be needed to publish all the data in the graphs on the bulletin, it was decided to publish only one graph that best shows the data for a specific area of the survey. To see all the data from each question, all graphs and data will be published on the parish website for parishioners to see.
Remarks & Closing Prayer: Father Mike thanked Council members for their work on the survey. He then closed the meeting with a prayer and the Council members prayed the Our Father together. The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.
The Council’s next meeting is Monday, March 18th at 7:00 p.m. in the AV Conference Room. If you have any ideas or concerns for the Council, please contact Fr. Mike or Chairman Kevin Casel. If you would like to attend the meeting, please contact Kevin Casel no later than Thursday, March 14thth.
Respectfully submitted,
Sherri Porterfield, Pastoral Council Secretary