ST.JOSEPH’S PARISH COUNCIL MEETING  

                                               SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2006

 

Attending: Father David McGuinness, Jim Altmiller, John Benca, Maxine Guerrera, Pete Konenkamp, Marty Ledenham, Dana Moody, Rosemary Risse, Evelyn Tejada, John Timmons, Todd Story.

Excused absence: Sue Gearhart and Marguerita Tejeda

 

 

Pete opened the meeting with the Act of Hope.

 

Minutes of the January meeting were reviewed and approved.

 

 COMMITTEE REPORTS:

 

Together (Planning): John Timmons said that there had been two steering committee meetings. He deferred to John Benca to give further report.

 

Site/Architect: John Benca said that the architectural task force met Jan 31st and discussed the deadlines of submitting requirements. There was also a meeting focused on the real estate. The Archdiocese will have a certified appraiser appraise both the 134 Prince Avenue and the proposed Epps Bridge plots of land. A traffic study is under way and will provide information for the county to evaluate driveway entrances including consideration of a traffic light. Georgia Power provided  “Gause” meter readings (magnetic field) of power transmission lines parallel to the property. The readings were below levels of concern. An independent consultant may also provide a second opinion for  magnetic field readings. The purchase of the other 5 acres “hold out” was discussed. This option is still a strong possibility. The acquisition of front 10 acre plot (parallel to the main road )is also being pursued. A St. Joseph parishioner has provided the necessary environmental assessment to investigate if any risks associated with contaminants could be present.

John responded to Rosemary’s request concerning liturgical requirements. St Joseph has obtained a guide book published by “The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops that was recommended by Deacon Bill Lakin entitled: “ Built of Living Stones: Art Architecture, and Worship”. The guidebook is intended to serve as the basis for decision- making at the local level governing liturgical art and architecture (ISBN 1-57455-395-X).  

There have been three archdiocesan church visits for architectural enlightenment. John passed out the church bulletins of St. Benedict in Duluth and Prince of Peace in Flowery Branch  (north of Buford which includes a retreat center) that included pictures. Work is being done to prioritize our immediate building needs (school, parish hall,, church etc.). He also passed out a flyer from the Prince of Peace parish (Inaugural Mass Christmas 2005) relating to their preschool day care program/facility currently with full enrollment.

 

Capital Campaign: No report.

 

Communications: Pete said that Frank Milward has requested that a representative from the Communications Committee go to the Capital Campaign meetings. Tim Lilly is working on the February newsletter. Don Norris will make certain that no reservations will be made on the web. Written reservations made in the parish office continue to be the only room reservation policy. Pete announced that the RE youth director Sodeya Bernard will be moving to Knoxville at the end of the school year.

 

Maintenance: No report.

 

Finance: Jim states that the committee is very active. They have interviewed for parish office staff to include a part-time office/business manager. All of the members of the finance committee are appointed by Father McGuinness. He is looking for more people with business/accounting experience. The focus will be to better incorporate the church and the school. Jim requested recommendations for committee members. Publishing an annual report was discussed.

 

Liturgy: No report.

 

Latinos: Evelyn said that today a bus left St. Joseph’s for Atlanta with people, including parish council member Marguerita Tejeda, supporting the immigration issues. She said that there is need of a budget to help with items such as a projector and music books for mass. She announced that nuns will be coming to Athens to evangelize and that having a budget would be helpful to compensate them for expenses with passports, visas and airline tickets as well as meals and accommodations. Involvement with a Spanish radio station WXAG-AM (1460 AM) will begin from 2-4 pm every Saturday. Initially there will be two hours dealing with social issues, evangelization and apologetics. The involvement will grow accordingly. The Youth Group is very excited about the opportunity. The Catholic Family Movement meets every two weeks and they will integrate this with the radio activity. The first sponsor is First American. Evelyn said that the youth will sponsor one mass a month providing choir, greeters, Eucharistic ministers, readers etc. This began yesterday.

Father added that the sacraments of First Communion and first Penance have been initiated in English with efforts for better integration of the children. A discussion followed regarding the challenges of adult integration into the church community and the need for continued efforts on the part of all.

 

School: Max passed the January/February FOCUS to all members.

 

Nominations: Jim reported that in spite of nominations being well announced in the parish bulletins (two times in December and all masses in Jan except for Jan 1St) there were only four nominations. Dana proposed that we reopen nominations and extend the time for submissions until Feb 28th. A vote was taken and her proposal passed. The Nominating Committee chaired by Max will more aggressively seek nominees and will present the new ballot of nominees to the parish council on March 19th with elections being planned for Apr 23rd.

 

New Business:

 

Dana passed out a detailed job description for a parish social director (includes a co- director) that she and Max compiled She asked for suggestions for additional ideas. They will proceed to secure a volunteer for this position.

 

Father announced that the Archbishop will be at St. Joseph’s for Confirmation on Feb 23rd. There will be a dinner before the mass and a reception for all afterwards in the parish hall. He said that there will be another visit by the Archbishop on Apr 5th with an organized meeting including many parishioners to discuss the parish membership and activity.

 

A St. Patrick’s Day Party is scheduled for Mar 18th and will be sponsored by the Knights of Columbus and the Women’s Council.

 

Rosemary requested the prayers of all. A 20 year member of Planned Parenthood, the mother of a student attending a pro-choice UGA meeting, informed this group that a Planned Parenthood was considering establishing a presence in Athens. This is of great concern as Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of abortions in the United States. Rosemary requested support for the Athens Area Right to Life chapter of Georgia Right to Life which is now monitoring the situation. The next of GRTL is scheduled for Feb.23rd at 7:00 pm at Athens Regional Library.

 

Pete announced that the next meeting is March 19th at 7:30 pm.

 

Father David closed the meeting with the Glory be….