St. Joseph Parish Council Meeting
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Attending: Father David McGuinness, Jim Altmiller, John Benca, Maxine Guerrera, Pete Konenkamp, Marty Ledenham, Dana Moody, Evelyn Tejada, Marguerita Tejeda, John Timmons. Excused: Rosemary Risse . Sue Gearhart, Todd Story.
Pete opened the meeting with a prayer.
Minutes of the November meeting were reviewed, corrected and approved.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Together (Planning): John Timmons said that three of the committee meetings were cancelled as they await the signatures on the land contract.
Site/Architect: John Benca reported that the Architect Task Force has 3 architects working on the site plan. There is also an electrical engineer investigating the powerline concerns. Members made a trip to Atlanta to discuss the plans of other parishes including St Benedict, St Monica and All Saints.
Capital Campaign: Pete, reporting for Sue , said the committee is waiting for final signatures before rescheduling the campaign. Kick off of the planning is anticipated for January.
Communications: Pete reported that Elizabeth Hughes is working on a bulletin insert that will also serve as a letter to announce the pending contract once signed. Pete responded to concern over the use of the website to reserve the Parish Hall since this means of reservation does not get documented at the office. He will address this to the committee.
Maintenance: Jim Altmiller had no problems to address.
Finance: Jim Altmiller said that there is a good group of parishioners working on the committee and that collections were good and steady. Jim recommended that the ‘Improvement Fund’ be eliminated and that the moneys should be diverted to the ‘Building Fund’. Also he said that the Capital Campaign money will be deposited in the Building Fund (this fund is free from assessment). He said that the Spanish collections are averaging $1100/week.
Liturgy: Reporting for Rosemary Pete said that Joan Benca will be our new wedding programmer. She has worked in this capacity in her previous parish.
Latinos: Evelyn Tejada reported that today’s Second Sunday Social that was sponsored by the Latino group was well organized and well received with good intermingling of parishioners in spite of the cold. She announced the plan for tomorrow’s celebrations of Our Lady Of Guadalupe beginning with a procession and rosary at 5:30 AM followed by a mass at 7:00 AM. After mass there will be a mariachi band to honor Our Lady. The youth group has organized this celebration. The youth group is also sponsoring a party this Thursday , December 15th to support the local women’s shelter. Attendees are asked to bring a baby blanket as admission. Los Posadas (‘shelter’), a Christmas novena, will be scheduled daily in December in the homes of the parishioners except for the 24th when it will be scheduled at the church.
There was discussion regarding the need for a Parish Social Calendar. It was suggested that the Parish Council have an annual planning meeting to ensure that important events get scheduled . It was also suggested that the Parish have a Social Committee with a chairperson or two. It was thought that with the growth and enthusiasm of CRHP membership this group would be a good source. John Timmons volunteered to address this matter.
Jim Altmiller agreed to write the Parish Council Election announcement for nominations to be included in the bulletin the first week of January. Jim was selected as chairman of the Nominating/Elections Committee with Marty and Todd as members.
The meeting was closed with a prayer.
The next Parish Council meeting will be Sunday, January 8th at 7:30 PM.