St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Church

St. Isaac Jogues Pastoral Council
Meeting Minutes
October, 30 2006
Rectory- 1^st floor

Members Present: Fr. Bill Donnelly At Large Members Present: Jeff Hunt, Susie Woerner, Karen Loffredi, Michele Alberts, Denise Stout  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: Fr. Pat Murphy

   1.      Reflective Prayer- Kristin Dunn

   2.      Approval of September Parish Council Minutes.

   3.      Commission Reports

a.      Youth – no report

b.      A & P – (Rob Wentland) A preliminary survey is going out to parishioners to see how they want to be communicated to.  E-mail lists are being compiled.  13% of RE families responded to their “preferred communication” survey as follows:  55% child’s folder, 39% e-mail, 14% mailed monthly newsletter, 11% church bulletin.  Draft of the next “Jubilation” newsletter will go to the printer tomorrow.

c.       Parish Life – (Maria Mohl) Woman’s CHRP, as well as Welcoming Party, was cancelled due to lack of interested candidates.  Next welcoming gathering will be February 2007.  CCW’s Boutique Shopping night was successful and took in >$6000 for the WIN grant program.  Matthew Kelly coming Nov. 15^th-get free tickets by calling Jayne at 655-6668.

d.      Religious Education – (Kristin Dunn) Judy Hanus is home recuperating from surgery.  5^th Grade soup & bread dinner cancelled due to lack of interest.  Parish-wide Advent Service cancelled due to lack of location.  RE newsletter went out and will go out every 6 weeks or so.  RE Advent Service being planned by Debbie Church and staff.

e.       School – (Larry Fitzgerald) Another school bus was secured to ease the pick-up/drop-off times.  The school survey went well and a preliminary report to some soon.  The Fall Family Carnival was successful and brought in $72,000 in the raffle.  New marketing initiative is an ad campaign to increase enrollment.  New fundraising initiative introduced by 2 school parents to sell items on e-bay with the donor given the option to donate the proceeds back to the school.  The 5-6th grade football team won the Catholic Conference league.

f.       Staff – (Jim Murray) Staff Retreat Day is Dec.13^th.  Christmas Eve 4pm Mass to be held at the Hinsdale Central Auditorium.  &pm & 10:30pm Masses to be held in the SIJ gym.  Regular Sunday Mass schedule to be held in the SIJ gym.

g.      Worship – (Ellen Albrecht) Dedication Liturgy committee met Oct.18^th to begin plans for the Mass dedicating our newly renovated worship space.  Committee members: Mary Pabst, Kate Kirkland, Yvonne Voelkin, Jim Murray.

h.      Christian Service – (report given by Jeff Hunt) Christian service is looking for organizations/outreach programs for SIJ to get involved with.

   4.      Pastoral Remarks – (Fr. Bill) Fr. Bill interviewed 7 artists for the tabernacle, baptismal font, and stained glass.  Different pews are being considered with 2 samples to show the parishioners.  A new sidewalk will be installed along the north end of the school to allow handicap access to the chapel.  Fr. Kevin Shanley had angioplasty last week and is doing well.  Confirmation date should be known by next week.  The church started taking wedding dates beginning August 2007 and already has 4 dates. The Sunday collection for St. John Vianney Seminary was $5000.

   5.      Old Business –

a.      Building Our Future-Preserving Our Past - There are still people giving to the campaign.

b.      Dinner Dance – A record pace for early sign-up with ~100 people already signed-up.  14-16 people committed to the bus with room for 35 more people.  >$30K already raised at the Gupta’s underwriting party.  Another $10K in donations from people who couldn’t come to the party.

c.       Vocation Core group- The Cross Program is signed up though April 2007.  Seventy-five people responded for the benefit on Sunday for St. John Vianney Seminary.

   6.      New Business –

a.      Core group Overview – Able to form temporary groups outside of commissions that involve people from different commissions.  A graphic was distributed by Jeff Hunt.  The Communications Core Group member Ken Quaas is developing a survey to gather communication information.  A goal is to have a website up and running by the end of next year.

b.      Cluster Dinner – St. Joseph’s in Downer’s Grove is hosting a PC dinner on Nov. 9^th at 6:30pm.  ALL Parish Council members are invited and encouraged to attend.

c.       May 2007 Volunteer Appreciation Night – Ellen Albrecht from Worship Commission asked that this item be held over to next month’s agenda.

d.      PC Christmas Party – Jeff and Chris Hunt to host a Parish Council Christmas party at their home on Dec. 14^th. More information to follow. 

   7.      Closing Prayer – Ellen Albrecht

   8.      Refreshments – Susie Woerner

   9.      Meeting Adjourned – 9:00pm

   10.  Next Meeting: Monday, November 27 at 7pm, 1^st floor Rectory Room

Respectfully submitted,

Michele Alberts
Parish Council Secretary