St. John Pastoral Council Meeting
January 3, 2005

The meeting was opened with a reading, responsorial psalm and Gospel.  Our discussion of those readings was led by Msgr. Art.  November minutes were approved.

Council members in attendance: Ralph Arnold, John Bryan, Jeannie Carbo, Denise Diegel, Tom Greene, Terry Jones, Peggy Rager, Fran Rock, Paul Rock, Janet Tenney, Frank Tontala, Steve Torbeck, and Dawn Walsh
Council members absent:  Becky Martin, Mike Oster, Pat Scheper, Joe Rankin, and Clolita Williams 	Guest:  Charlie Swinderman
Staff in Attendance:  Msgr. Art Valenzano, Seminarian Jhun Abila, Pat Brink, and School Board President Tom Witmer

Parishioner concerns:  Frank Tontala was approached by a parishioner who felt the timer on the light in the church restroom was too short.  They are now at 7 minutes.  Terry Jones will adjust the timer to 10 minutes.  Steve Torbeck mentioned that during Christmas Eve mass in the Church, there were some disagreements about saving seats.  A suggestion was made that an announcement should be made 20 minutes before the start of mass and something should be put in the Christmas mailing.

OLD BUSINESS:
Strategic Goals - Tom Greene asked that all committees send goals to Frank Tontala so that they can be forwarded to Tom before the next council meeting.  
Renovation of the Old Church – Terry Jones reported that everything is on schedule.  Completion is slated for April 1st.  We are waiting on renderings from the architect so that we can have a poster for a layout in the back of the church and on the website.  Teresa Richardson was hired on a part time basis as the Hall manager.  Msgr. Art suggested that we name the hall, The Portico, from St. John’s gospel; the name was adopted by the Council.  

Handicap Doors – Terry Jones reported that the doors would cost $1000 per door; he is waiting for another quote.  

Outreach & Evangelization – The committee met on November 8th.  With 67 active members, the St. Vincent de Paul Society had a successful Adopt-a-Family program and canned food drive for Shepherd’s Staff.  The Welcoming ministry is doing well, greeting 15 families this month and 21 last month.  The nursery has become too small for the number of children who regularly attend.  There will not be room available in The Portico, so other options will be investigated in the school.  A new issue of The Evangelist will be coming soon.  Denise Diegel discussed the introduction of a Bereavement ministry and a Deaf Awareness ministry. There are 15,000 people in Carroll County who are deaf or hearing impaired.  The Hispanic ministry is doing very well; 400 people attended the mass on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  We have invited one of the leaders of this ministry to be on the Pastoral Council.  Denise also suggested that we host a Baptism class in Spanish. 

Religious Education – Dawn Walsh reported that they will be standardizing a form for speakers in the parish; everything will go through Paul Gallagher.  Scott Link replaced Jordan Tippett in the Religious Education/Youth ministry area.  Scott’s position still needs to be filled; Paul is looking for someone by summer to supervise The Edge and Youth Alive programs.  There are 11 children in the RCIY program and 177 in the Confirmation program.  About 50 people attended the “Come & See” evening; it was 2x’s the turnout of last year’s program.  There will be 2 follow-up sessions in June.  

School report – Pat Brink said that she does not know the reasons for decline in school enrollment other than what has already been reported concerning recent Catholic school enrollment trends.  19% left because of finances.  Every family has the opportunity for an exit interview; some choose not to do one.  The school put fundraising on the back burner during the Capital Campaign, but recently Pat and Colleen Hattrup met with the head of Marketing for the diocese and will design a new brochure for the school.  There will be an Alumni newsletter, radio spots, and an ad in the newspaper.  Janice Peck, from the Archdiocese is doing a Marketing video for Catholic school and may highlight St. John School.  A 2002-2003 recommendation from the Superintendent of schools to Pat was to reduce class size.  St. John School now has an average of 29 students per class.  The Archdiocese recommends an average of 25 for primary grades and 28 for grades 3-8.  This year, Pat is gathering data from the past 7 years to prepare for the Middle States Evaluation.  Pat shared current test scores with the school board and they are good.  Dawn Walsh suggested that we compare our school to other Catholic schools.

School Board Report – Tom Witmer distributed a report.  The board will be working on developing new fundraising ideas; they are developing an alumni database and hope to contact alumni and create a dialogue; the Development and Advancement committee sent Christmas cards to approximately 100 alumni and friends.  The School Board will be holding elections in June and would like the board to be more reflective of the parish community; the board will be implementing the new Archdiocesan policies for School Boards this year.  Tom also reported on the Safety inspection for the school; the biggest priority is the Fire Alarm System.  He mentioned that the board is trying to establish capital budget requirements and establish priorities.  Capital budget requirements that cannot be met by the Parish would then become fundraising goals for the Board Development committee.  Assistance would be requested of Pastoral council committees.  Tom also requested a formal system to help students who need tuition assistance.  

Development – There was no recent meeting, but Ralph Arnold distributed a handout of 5 year goals which included a continued annual stewardship campaign, continuation of Phase II of the Capital campaign and development of a campaign to renovate the old church, as well as continuing development of the Legacy Giving Campaign.  Ralph reported that after stewardship weekend, the offertory usually increases within the 1st week.  The current weekly average is $26,120.

Liturgy – Peggy Rager reported for Joe Rankin.  The Day of Recollection will be held on January 29th, with Fr. Leo leading the discussion on the topic, “The Mass – Its Theology, History and Spirituality”.  
Management & Finance - Paul Rock reported that the Archdiocese has given us a credit line of $2 million.  We haven’t borrowed anything yet because pledges are still coming in.  Offertory collections at Christmas were over $90,000.

Announcements – Msgr. Art thanked all the Christmas ministries for their hard work during this Christmas season.  The Right to Life March is January 24th.  Please continue to pray for Sr. Bernadette, Katie O’Brien, and Ann Coster.  Cardinal Keeler will be celebrating mass on February 6th to kick off the Lenten Appeal.  We will need a Nominating committee for May council elections. 

Meeting adjourned.  
					Submitted by Peggy Rager, Recording Secretary