St. Raymond Catholic Church
PASTORAL COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
April 4th, 2006
Meeting Location: Moran Hall Conference Room @ 7:00pm
Attendees:
Laurianne Behrens
(P)
Dave Conley
(P)
Eric Hom
(P)
Bonnie Kramer
(P)
Fr. Bob McCann
(P)
Tom McClean
(P)
Rosann Russo
(P)
Connie Spence
(P)
Key: Present (P), Not Present (NP)
Guests: No guests were in attendance
Tom McClean called the meeting to order.
1.) Opening Prayer
Laurianne led the council in prayer
2.)
Approval of March 2006 Minutes – Eric Hom & Pastoral Council
March 2006 minutes were approved as amended
3.) St. Raymond 5 Year Plan Implementation – Tom McClean & Pastoral Council
Tom led the Council in discussing the current 5 year plan for St. Raymond. With the plan
in place, each member of the Pastoral Council has been assigned to each of the ten
essentials of Parish life. Between now and the next Pastoral Council meeting, each
member on the Council will meet with each ministry leader to learn more about what’s
working and not working with that particular ministry.
To better guide these individual meetings, Tom prepared and distributed a list of questions
for each member of the Council to use when meeting with each ministry leader.
Fr. Bob was unable to present this project to his Parish Staff due to his staff meeting being
cancelled. He will present this to his staff in April and will communicate to them that the
Parish is not going to utilize the KSA’s and will move towards focusing on the ten
essentials of parish life, outlined in the St. Raymond 5-year plan.
Pastoral Council will send weekend availability dates for May & June to Tom McClean for
the Council and Parish Staff meeting. Fr. Bob will get dates from his staff and coordinate
the meeting with Tom.
Tom asked the Council what the current priorities should be. Bonnie opened discussion
and asked the Council, how can St. Raymond be more of a welcoming Parish. She has
heard from within the community that St. Raymond is not always welcoming to others.
To address this, it was discussed that that the Pastoral Council and other leaders within
the Parish be more interactive and welcoming to parishioners to set the example. Fr. Bob
did mention that before each mass, Robby Cakebread asks people to turn to their neighbor
and introduce themselves.
Fr. Bob suggests that a more formal campaign needs to be put around coffee & donut
Sundays to increase parish social activity and hospitality.
Lenten Soup was a great success this season per Fr. Bob. There was definitely an increase
in participation from 2005 and the variety of soup this year was also well received.
Rosann challenged the Council to think about why only 18% of the parishioners contribute
the majority of the collection each weekend. She recommended doing a survey to those
18% to better understand why they contribute to St. Raymond so that the Finance
Committee and Pastoral Council can develop programs to increase this overall percentage.
Per the 2003 Parish Census, the wage demographic around St. Raymond puts the median
household (HH) income at $106,900
Eric mentioned the idea of doing a Parish survey focused on a variety of topics and driving
parishioners online to the St. Raymond website to take this survey. This will also drive
more people to the website so that they will become more familiar with our website. Eric
will check with Mike Krausnick on web capabilities to do this survey online.
To have better communication with the Parish community, the Pastoral Council will be
given an area within the bulletin to post announcements, ask for comments, etc… An email
address encouraging parishioners to provide ideas, feedback and comments will be
provided.
Rosann mentioned changing up some of the liturgies to attract more people and to
increase parish participation. She mentioned that the 5pm Youth & Young Adult Mass isn’t
the same as in year’s past.
4.) Pastor’s Report – Fr. Bob McCann
Fr. Bob opened his report by discussing the current search for a new principal at St.
Raymond School. He thanked the Rosann and the Council for recommending Joan Ernst to
be on the search committee as she was a very knowledgeable member of this committee.
The Search Committee is currently going through interviews and paper screenings. Fr.
Bob mentioned that they have received good, qualified candidates.
Fr. Bob went into further detail regarding the 2005 St. Raymond financial report, which
was presented to the entire community by the Finance Committee the weekend of April 1-
2. He reviewed in great detail and did a comparison (year over year) of the 2004 v. 2005
Parish income and expenditures. He mentioned that the plate collection increased by $37K
compared to 2004. He also mentioned that the majority of the parishioners who
contribute and carry the load of the parish increased from 14% in 2004 to 18% in 2005.
Fr. Bob mentioned that he and the Finance Committee are committed to retiring the
current Parish debt along with all interest by the end of 2006.
In order to better prepare for future building maintenance, Fr. Bob is working closely with
the Maintenance Committee on identifying a Property Management Company to better
prepare the Church for any upcoming repairs and maintenance projects that might need to
take place. Overall, a building study is needed for both the school and parish. Cost to hire
this company could range from $15K-$20K. Tom asked Fr. Bob what this cost would
include. A more formal overview will be provided at a later time.
He was happy to announce that some raises were given to Parish employees who haven’t
received a pay increase in years. Fr. Bob also mentioned that there are less people on the
staff in 2005 v. 2004. He mentioned that staff pay is based upon a diocesan pay scale
developed by the Diocese of Oakland.
The Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) program is doing well. Participation as slightly
increased.
Fr. Bob mentioned that Fr. Terry will be going away for the month of June to be with his
seminarian friend Lee who is getting ordained to be a Priest. Fr. Tom Matthew will be the
visiting Priest at St. Raymond in Fr. Terry’s absence.
Fr. Bob provided the Pastoral Council with an update on the Youth & Young Adult Ministry
program. He mentioned that the current Youth Minister Colleen Kenny gave her notice
before Christmas, and then she mentioned to Fr. Bob that she would only be working part
time at St. Raymond as she accepted a similar role at a Parish near her home. He
mentioned to the Council that there are currently 15 Youth ministry positions open within
the Diocese of Oakland and that there is currently a shortage of qualified Youth Ministers
in the area. His staff has interviewed 3 candidates to date. A full-time person is needed
for this ministry.
5.) Old Business – Pastoral Council
Rosann mentioned that the Pastoral Council needs to take photos to be posted in the
vestibule. Badges for the Pastoral Council should be completed soon. All Council
members will need to wear this for all Church activities.
Bonnie mentioned the importance of adding various activities for the Senior Citizens of the
Parish. She mentioned that another organization does a monthly potluck and a once a
year formal dinner at a local Country Club. Fr. Bob suggested that she meet with the
current Senior Citizen group at St. Raymond to explore these ideas.
6.) New Business – Pastoral Council
N/A
7.) Sacrificial Giving – Connie Spence
Connie read a letter from the St. Raymond Katrina Relief Committee. The letter was
asking the Council to support a single father with a son who lost everything during this
disaster. Father is looking for rent support in Hayward along with money to help furnish
apartment. Total monetary support to this individual and committee would be $3,000.
This donation was approved by all on the Pastoral Council.
Fr. Bob distributed parish guidelines on sacrificial giving and charitable support to the
Pastoral Council. These guidelines were developed in 1998.
Connie read a letter from the Prescott Joseph Center. This organization is looking for a
new roof and money to support a seismic building strengthening project. Connie
recommends helping this charity. The Council has requested more specific information
before a contribution is made.
The Habitat for Humanity is now charging volunteers who help to build homes $200/day.
Connie met with Karin from the Parish Staff and was informed that she had a $55K budget
a year to use for sacrificial giving.
8.) Closing Prayer – Eric Hom
Respectfully Submitted by __________________________________
Eric D. Hom, Secretary