St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Church

St. Isaac Jogues Pastoral Council
Meeting Minutes
September 25, 2006
Rectory- Room 105

 Members Present: Fr. Bill Donnelly, Fr. Pat Murphy At Large Members Present: Susie Woerner, Michele Alberts, Karen Loffredi Commission Members Present: Larry Fitzgerald (School), Kristin Dunn (Religious Ed), Jim Murray (Staff), Ellen Albrecht (Worship), Rob Wentland (Admin & Planning), Maria Mohl (Parish Life) Council Members Absent: Jeff Hunt (At Large), Denise Stout (At Large)

1. Reflective Prayer on Mark 9:38-48 – Michele Alberts

2. Approval of March Parish Council Minutes.

3. Commission Reports
   1. Youth – no report
   2. A&P – (Rob Wentland) An inaugural meeting was held to introduce the new diocesan guidelines requiring a “Finance Council” which is to meet 4 times a year.  Finance Council members are Linda Young, Rob Wentland, Dave Schabbes, Joe Gutsell, and Marty Finan.  The weekly offering budget is 34K and actual collections are at 33K.  Next month the finance council will send out last year’s financials with a campaign update.  Their goal this year is to financially get the school folded into the parish.  Bob Gerth from school commission will be actively involved in this.   
   3. Christian Service – (no representative) There will probably be a PC representative by next meeting.
   4. Religious Education – (Kristin Dunn) The monthly RE meetings have been changed from evenings to mornings.  Debbie Church is the new music person for Wednesday and Sunday RE sessions.  She is from St. Cletus.  The 5^th grade soup & bread Dinner is October 25^th.  To encourage better RE attendance there will be incentives with prizes for classes with best attendance.  The NEW RE Newsletter will be sent out the end of October via children’s folders.  The vacant catechist positions are now filled.
   5. Parish Life – (Maria Mohl) Parish Life has a new committee of 10 persons.  Women’s View and Kindlers will rotate each month.  Upcoming speakers are Jeff Cavins (September 30^th) and Matthew Kelly (October 15^th).  The next Women’s CHRP is October 21-22^nd.  Only 4 women have signed up so far.  The Welcoming Committee has invited 20 new families to the October 13^th welcome party at Maureen and Marty O’Connor’s home.
   6. School – (Larry Fitzgerald) The morning drop off pattern that changed due to construction now working better..  This year’s budget went to Rick and Diane and looks good.  The school commission is looking into getting another bus with the extra money from last year.  The SIJ choir will need to work on making the overnight trips of their Cadence Choir a separate entity from the school.  The 5-year state and diocesan evaluation will take place next week.  Last week, the fire department already gave the school a clean bill of health. A full report will be given to the PC but this usually takes several months.
   7. Worship- (Ellen Albrecht) The Worship Commission would like Parish Council input on a parish-wide appreciation event for all parish volunteers. A parish-wide appreciation dinner will be put on next month’s PC agenda.
   8. Staff - (Jim Murray) If you cancel a meeting that was to be held on campus please let Lois in the rectory know.  A new walkway will be installed on the north side of the school just north of the stairs.  This should be completed in 6-8 weeks and will allow handicap access to the chapel in the fireplace room.  At that time, the entrance on the east side of the school will be closed to parishioners.  There are microphones missing.

4. Pastor’s Remarks – (Fr. Bill) First Eucharist 2007 will be at Our Lady of Peace;   Tentative submitted date for Confirmation 2007 is March 3^rd at Notre Dame; Christmas Eve 4pm Mass will be at Hinsdale Central Auditorium;

5. Old Business.
   1. Directory Update– 267 directories were distributed out of 574 (+ 199 from LifeTouch) that have pictures; Susie is taking names of families who want a book; She proposes that after Oct.1^st we sell them for $10 each.
   2. Dinner Dance – An outdoor underwriting party will be held at the Gupta’s home for the November 18^th Dinner Dance at Medinah Country Club; Dr. Chuck & Vicki Bush-Joseph are next year’s chairpersons.
   3. Building Our Future-Preserving Our Past – Weather has delayed some of the church renovation process; Artist proposals for the tabernacle and the baptismal font are currently being sought; A parish-wide mailing will be sent out Oct-Nov which will include a financial report, construction update, and a note to encourage further pledges; The new protective covering over the gym doors is permanent.

6. New Business.
   1. Parish Council Guidelines/Clusters/Core Groups – Diane Kleber from the Joliet Diocese will prepare a power-point presentation on the new pastoral council guidelines; Core groups can help facilitate communication across all commissions and the PC will look into developing them for better communications between all commissions; Last month’s Diocesan Cluster Meeting was attended by Susie and Father Pat;  The next one is January 6, 2007; Cluster Dinner is Thursday Nov.9^th hosted by St. Joseph’s in Downer’s Grove—ALL PC members (at-large and commission reps) are encouraged to go—Let Susie know if you plan on attending; Last year, SIJ hosted the Cluster Dinner and it was very well-received; Last Sunday in October is Priest Sunday- Susie will do something special to honor Fr. Bill and Fr. Pat.
   2. Vocation Cross Program – Karen Loffredi is forming a new SIJ committee: Vocations Committee: Their first meeting is on Oct.4^th at her home; The Vocations Cross Program will unfold at the Oct.21-22 Masses when parishioners can sign up to have the cross in their home for 1 week; Fr. William Baer from St. John Vianney will say 6:30pm Mass on Saturday Nov. 4^th at Ruth Lake Country Club to benefit St. John Vianney Seminary; A DVD on vocations is available though Karen Loffredi and she is considering showing it to 7-8^th graders in school and religious education.

7. Closing Prayer: Michele Alberts

8. Refreshments: Michele Alberts

9. Meeting Adjourned- 9:00pm