WindowPastoral Council

The Parish Pastoral Council of St. Joseph Parish shall be a praying, visionary, consulting, planning and collaborative body in conjunction with the pastor, developing goals and empowering commissions to implement these goals in all areas of parish life, always in accordance with the prescriptions of Canon Law, Diocesan Statutes and its constitution.

Purpose

The purpose of the Pastoral Council is to identify the needs of parishioners and the talents given by God to the members of St. Joseph Parish. The Council is to maintain an ongoing statement of the needs and goals of the parish and, in union with the Pastor, determine priorities with respect to the allotment of personal, physical, and financial resources. Five working Commissions will implement these goals: Administration, Education, Service, Worship, and Parish Life. In addition, the Council will dialogue with other religious bodies and with civic, business, and professional organizations in working for the common good of the community. The Council is to lead the parish in full support of the programs recommended by the Catholic Church and the Diocese of Joliet. The Council exists to provide living witness by example of true Christian values and the reality of the Holy Spirit working actively within the Parish.

Member
Term Ends
Position
Charles Cioper
2011
At Large
Adam Claus
2011
At Large
Kent Conness
2010
At Large
Michele Geraghty
2010
Education Liaison, President
Greg Hose
2011
At Large
Ken Kowsowski
2010
Admin. Liaison
Frank Mendell
2010
Stewardship Liaison, Cluster Representative
Barb Labotka
2012
At Large
Bill Paradise
2011
Worship Liaison
Rosary Smith
2011
At Large, Education Liaison
Julie Visher
2012
Adult Formation Liaison
Benote Wimp
2010
Youth Liaison

Fr. Jerome Kish

Fr. Matt Nathan

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Pastor

Parochial Vicar

 

Parish Council Meetings

Parish Council Minutes
1/11/2010

St. Joseph Pastoral Council Meeting Minutes
January 11, 2010 Meeting


Present: Father Jerome, Father Matt, Julie Visher, Greg Hose, Ken Kosowski, Kent Conness, Rosary Smith, Michele Geraghty, Barbara Labotka, Bill Paradise, Frank Mendell, Chuck Cioper

Absent: Adam Claus and Benote Wimp

Opening Prayer: Readings for January 11 Mass, led by Father Jerome. Reflection on holy Gospel according to Mark 1:14-20.

Birthday Celebration for Adam Claus (in absentia) Cake and coffee served after singing Happy Birthday for Adam.

November 9, 2009 meeting minutes were approved as presented.

A discussion about posting council meeting minutes on Parish web site concluded they will be reviewed by entire Council before posting. The minutes will be reviewed and edited for sensitive information that should not be disclosed to the public on the Parish web site. Council review will occur at the subsequent meeting.

Newcomers meeting will be on Sunday January 17. Either Ken or Greg will represent the Council at the meeting.

Comments from the Pastor:

" Joliet Diocese Study of Schools. A preliminary report was discussed with Diocese representatives and Parish representatives. Father Jerome stated St. Joseph School is presently at 75% of its capacity. St. Joseph and St. Mary combined have approximately 900 students. A meeting with St. Mary will be held to discuss the Study. An invitation to Divine Savior is being considered to permit enrollment of its parishioners children in St. Joseph School.
" Stewardship Sunday collections are exceeding budget goal by approximately $3,000. The increase is result of the budget adjustment to reflect the recession, and also it appears that collections have increased.

" Physical Plant.

- Work has begun to renovate the Sanctuary. It will be a 2 week project. The project was disclosed in a previous Parish Sunday Bulletin.
- A cleaning service has been hired to clean the church twice weekly. Previously, cleaning responsibility was being done by the two maintenance men. The maintenance men may now be utilized for repair and renovation.
- A boiler needs repair, more likely to be replaced.

" Pre-school Renovations. The handbell practice room will be converted to the pre-school room. The nursery room will become the handbell practice room. Renovations will begin during the summer months and will be completed for fall 2010 enrollment. Renovation costs will be shared by Parish funds and school Second Century Fund.
" Father Jerome is preparing a newsletter to be distributed at the end of January. Also, the CD on the Mass will be distributed.

Diocese of Joliet "Parish Pastoral Council Guidelines."

Father Jerome was the sole St. Joseph representative at a recent Diocesan meeting to discuss the Guidelines.

After inquiry by Father Jerome, it was determined a majority of the Council members had not read the Guidelines. Council members were provided Xerox copies of summarizing the Guidelines and directed to the Diocese website for the complete document. He encouraged Council members to read the Guidelines and apply their principles in their Council activities.

Pastoral Teaching

Father Jerome provided a teaching the personal growth toward becoming a saved saint. We should strive to stay on the path toward spiritual growth against the desires that may restraint and retard spiritual growth. We should strive to see us as God sees us.

Report from Crusaders

Julie Visher reported that a talent show is tentatively scheduled for November 6. Formation of the event has to be completed by Parish members and organizations such as the Knights of Columbus.

Ken Kosowski said Crusaders are to present ideas to parish life groups that are to bring the ideas to fruition. The Council must determine how to engage parishioners to become involved with the offered activities.

Involvement of Young Adults Who Attend Mass: Father Matt said he has engaged 5 young adults, students of Midwestern University, to become involved in Parish activities. He said he has an additional 4 student interested, but not yet committed.

Young Adults Not Attending Mass: No progress.

Adult Faith Formation: Barbara Labotka spoke of her experiences with Adult Faith Formation programs and the enthusiasm of the adults participating in the programs.

Catholics Come Home: Bill Paradise said no positive contacts have been made as result of this Diocese program. Discussion evolved to the position that it may take some time for this program to show results. It may be difficult to identify any returnees unless they so disclose their reasons for their decision to return.

Themes for future Parish Council meetings:

We must prepare to recruit 5 new members to replace the 5 retiring members. Bill Paradise has data used for the last recruitment in 2009 and will bring the information to the February meeting.

December 2009 Cluster Meeting: Frank Mendell attended the meeting at Our Lady of Peace Parish. He reported that Diocese representatives attend the meetings along with parish representative. He said St. Joseph Council appears to be more involved in Parish activities than the other cluster parish representatives. St. Joseph will host the next meeting on March 6, at 9:30 AM. A replacement representative for Frank is needed due to his Council tenure ending.

The Council will review the Diocese Counsel Guidelines Father Jerome provided.