Blessed Sacrament Parish Joint Pastoral and Finance Councils Meeting Minutes | June 7, 2023
Attendees: Annette Clark, Dick Dolinski, Joe Dostal, Kathy Fothergill, Pam Gandy, Fr. Rob Howe, Jim Marinek, Lyn Pajk, Jeff Paulus, Patrick Regier, Cathy Richard, Dennis Thiel, Barb Warczinsky
Excused: Judy Gross, Dan Kozakiewicz, Jim Mahoney, Andy Pasztor, Kevin Spencer
Minutes
- Meeting began at 6:34pm
- Jeff Paulus moved and Annette Clark seconded the approval of the minutes of the April 19, 2023 Pastoral Council meeting. The motion carried.
Opening Comments—Fr. Rob and Patrick
- An agreement in principle has been reached with the city of Midland to accept the Blessed Sacrament playground as city property. The city will be responsible for all maintenance, liability, and any other obligations as sole owner. The current equipment has deteriorated, cannot be repaired, and must be replaced to meet current standards and mitigate potential future injury-related liability claims. In turn, the parish will provide funds not to exceed $200,000 to purchase new playground equipment to meet existing standards including Americans with Disability Act (ADA) requirements. Funds will come from COVID-related federal funds that have been received from the government by the parish. This is a “win-win” situation; the city (and the neighborhood) gets the playground as part of Wallen Park and the parish no longer has maintenance, insurance, and liability risk-exposure costs.
Faith Formation—Lyn
- Lyn updated the Council on the various Faith Formation programs including the following:
- Cedar Point Trip—45 youth are registered to date for the trip.
- Outreach—Justin is leading the trip leaving on June 11 with about 17 youth who will be working on four projects including a soup kitchen and fire damage repairs.
- Planetarium Trip—visit to the Delta Planetarium in Bay City is scheduled for middle school students on June 14. Faith and science will be part of the discussion.
- Baptisms—Baptisms are up—described as “blocks of babies!”
- Vacation Bible School (VBS)—VBS is coming soon. About 70 youth are already registered. The program is in partnership with St. Brigid and Our Lady of Grace.
- Adult Faith Formations—The program is proceeding well. 12 new small faith groups have been formed. A current project is making prayer beads. Another session of Theology By The Glass is scheduled for June 14.
- Corpus Christi Bike Ride—The annual “procession” will be the bike ride from the Tridge to the Cottage Creamery on June 8.
- Garden Stroll—Four parishioners’ houses will be open for a stroll through their gardens at the end of this month.
- Emily Janoch Presentation—Greg and Nancy Janoch’s daughter, Emily, is employed by CARE working on various projects assisting the poor. She has just returned from a project in Ethiopia and will be speaking about her experiences there at the Parish Center on June 27 at 1:00-2:30pm.
- “Kingdom Builders” will be the theme for next year’s programs
- Organization Changes—With Lyn’s retirement, Justin Rose will become the Director of Youth Programs and Christy Granda has been hired to be the Director for Adult Programs. She will begin on June 22.
Finance Update—Patrick
- Patrick reported on Parish finances through the period ending May 31, 2023. The balance sheet increased by $652K to a total of $2.84 million largely due to a $333K payment from the federal COVID program, the $187K bequest from the Glenn Waters Estate, and higher weekend collections.
- The Christian Service Commission outreach balance was reduced reflecting the payment of $125K made to 50 different recipient non-profit organizations.
- Weekend collections through the end of May are up $75K over budget. Overall expenses are higher than the budget by $23K driven primarily by increased utility costs and a CMA deficit of between $30-45K.
- The 2023-24 budget was approved by the Finance Council at their last meeting in May. It calls for Revenues of $1.7 million and an “Operating” surplus (excluding Major Expenditures) of $136K. This is an increase of $11K from last year. Wages are projected to increase 6% and Benefits by 4% while other expenses are expected to remain flat. An overall budget Revenue less Expenses shortfall of $64K is planned after anticipated expenses of $136K for Major Expenditures.
Roundtable Updates
- Annette—reported that “One Week, One Street” program is underway.
- Jim and Barb—expressed heartfelt appreciation to Lyn for all of her contributions to the parish with her many skills, competencies, and enthusiasm along with her unique joy-filled personality. They wished her well and Godspeed in her future endeavors.
- Barb—reported on the CRHP 17 celebration at Richard’s home and their desire to keep the effort moving forward. An 85-year-old woman is interested in participating next year.
- Lyn—had the last word (as usual?) 😀 She thanked the Council members for the gift of their time and for being the first line of parish support. She urged the Council to continue doing what St. Mother Teresa always advocated, viz., “do small things with great love!”
- The next meeting of the Pastoral Council will be held on September 6.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:19 pm followed by refreshments in honor of Lyn.