St. Jude Catholic Church

St. Jude
Pastoral Council Meeting
May 7, 2009 - 7PM

Attending: Fr. Ken Shuping, Ginger Burggraf, Sue Ellerbrock, Charlie Simpson, Chuck Hays, Roger Herman, Brad, Steve Stafford, Karen Melendez, Jean Rockwell

Meeting was called to order with a prayer. The major topics for discussion were;
• budget for 2010
• picnic
• four priorities for parish
• Expand the Commons -$300,000
• Classroom space –$100,000 (collapsible panels)
• Erosion Problem - $10,000
• Kitchen remodeling - $4-6,000
•June 21 visit from Bishop DiLorenzo

Council approved the budget submitted by the Finance Council which projects about a 2% increase in salaries for St. Jude staff, however the diocese has frozen all clergy salaries. This budget also included a $10,000 allocation to correct the erosion problem (priority).

St. Jude Picnic will be coordinated by Bonnie Herman, with a committee. She will reserve the area in Claytor Lake, however others will be solicited for assistance with this event. This event is included in the Time and Talent Flyer to be distributed early in May. Steve will address the Parish on May 17 – Stewardship Sunday.

Priorities were discussed at length by C. Simpson who (as of the meeting) had yet to meet with Jack Murphy (architect). He presented to council architectural sketches and plans as part of a proposal to perform the “Westerly Expansion” to add 6 in lieu of 8 classrooms.

Based on Charlie’s input to it, the finance council had previously agreed to reconsider ideas for alternative, less expensive expansions that would add incremental, dedicated classroom space. Discussion about folding panels and other alternatives for educational space took place with the general consensus that spending $100,000 +/- on these did not make much sense. Defining the full scope of the work will be the subject of a future discussion. A motion was made to reconsider the addition of 6 new classrooms. The possibility of trailers was also discussed by Council however it was concluded that a comprehensive financial estimate for this effort is needed. Many on Council felt the need to also expand the Commons for Worship space. This as previously presented to and endorsed by a presentation to the Parish earlier this year. Until the full scope of all the work is delineated, a decision, as to what priority will be undertaken initially, cannot be decided upon at this time. Charlie will try to arrange a meeting with Jack to more fully define costs. All this will require Diocesan approval and was previously discussed with the parish earlier in the year. Another Building Fund Drive will be discussed in the future.

Supplemental to Charlie’s input Steve presented an Excel spreadsheet that modeled the financial commitment needed for each St Jude family at different levels of expansion expense/cost. By way of summary a few of the commitment scenarios with 250 and 200 participating families over a 3 year period were:

The Bishop’s visit is on Father’s Day, June 21. A pot luck lunch is planned after the liturgy. It was decided to have a June Parish Council meeting to set the agenda for this visit.

Reports were briefly provided. A Haiti trip by CCM will take place next week and the church directories are expected to arrive shortly. Steve mentioned discussion of a St. Jude family event at the Salem Red Sox (Farm Team) sometime in the next year.

The meeting adjourned at 8:30PM with a prayer.

Respectfully Submitted

Ginger Burggraf