St. Matthias Parish Council Meeting
March 10, 2015
Members present: Fr. Chris, Lorenzo Todd, Dick Neyer, Robert Feth, Doug Keil, Kathleen Holt, Dominic
Vu, Theresa Snyder, and Bob Weigel.
Opening Prayer
A. Reading of previous minutes. Motion to approve: Theresa Snyder. Seconded: Doug Keil.
B. Fr. Chris comments:
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Fr. Chris is fine with St. Matthias parish secretary, Kathleen Holt taking the parish council
minutes.
Fr. Chris was back from The Holy Land and it was a great trip.
While he was away “The Light is on for You” was held and feedback was that it was very
successful. The two Glenmary Priests, Fr. Don and Fr. Neil were very busy.
3/18/15 there will be a regional penance service.
There is nothing new from the AOC regarding Fr. Lamberts status, however he is taking currently
taking classes to get his Master’s degree at Fr. Chris’ urging.
St. Matthias is very stable financially.
OLR is maintaining.
It has been recommended to close St. James School at the end of the year. The people of the
parish and the community need our prayers. This is very hard and stressful. Fr. Chris has been
doing a lot of work on this and receiving some negative feedback.
He went over the Holy week schedule and is happy that two Masses will be offered on Easter
Sunday at all three parishes.
He really feels St. Matthias has a need and will benefit from a Grief Committee.
Fr. Chris consulted the council on a mass attendance policy for those families receiving a
subsidy for Catholic Education. His goal is to keep it in line with policies with the other two
parishes in our region.
C. Father Lambert was not present for comments.
D. There was no March Finance Committee meeting or report.
E. Shrove Tuesday and Fish Fry (first three weeks)
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Shrove Tuesday was a success and almost equal turnout to last year.
$551.00 net profit.
Fish Fry (see attached) totals are also very close to last year. We have the revenue but not the
total profits yet.
St. Matthias Parish Council Meeting
March 10, 2015
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Up to this point there has only been a Split the Pot at each Fish Fry. However there will be a
basket raffle for the last 3 weeks. The money to finance the baskets will be from the Split the
Pots from Shrove Tuesday and the last 3 weeks of Fish Fry.
The net profit from this year’s Fish Fry’s will not be as big as last year due to the purchase of the
new tables and other supplies purchased specifically for the Fish Fry’s.
Everyone is pleased with the numbers and the attendance so far.
F. There was no Social Action Committee or discussion in March.
G. Hall Rental
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Doug Keil combed the AOC for forms for Hall rentals.
Bob Weigel gave Doug a breakdown of the BLD group’s use of Lonsway Hall.
Kathleen provided Doug with numbers of hall rentals from 2014 and will continue to compile
numbers from 2013.
The question came up as to who can rent the hall. Whether it is open to all or just Parishioners?
It was decided to amend the rental agreement to say anyone within the Winton Wyoming
Pastoral Region can rent the hall and or shelter.
Doug Keil was the first motion to approve and Dick Neyer was the second motion to approve
this amendment.
It was reiterated that the hall/shelter rental is on a first come first served basis.
Holy Thursday there will be a Seder meal here at St. Matthias.
H. Discussion on Grief Support
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Grief support is greatly needed at St. Matthias.
It was mentioned that some names have already been turned into Walt Hucke as suggestions for
a Grief Committee.
Deacon Dominic mentioned praying with bereaved families and said he would be a leader in
prayer for grieving families.
Symbolon: Dominic will be in charge and we will try to do sign ups as a parish.
I. New Business. Request to have a member take Parish Council Minutes of meetings.
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Current members present were not interested in taking minutes.
Kathleen Holt, St. Matthias parish secretary will take the minutes of the parish council meetings.
J. Other New Business
Minutes of the meetings
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There was a discussion about resuming the process of issuing monthly “Highlights of Parish
Council Meetings”. This report was stopped in the fall of 2014.
St. Matthias Parish Council Meeting
March 10, 2015
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It was mentioned that the Council minutes could be posted on the bulletin boards in the front
and back Gathering Spaces.
It was asked if that we send the minutes to parishioners with email addresses.
The final decision was to have Kathleen take notes, type up the notes into minutes and send to
Dick Neyer for review or revision. He will then send the minutes to Deacon Dominic to send out
by email.
Thank you to Deacon Dominic for doing this.
Finance
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The accounting system is completely different than in the past and there is not a budget yet.
According to Clare(the Regional Business Manager) she has not had time to do this up till now.
Dick Neyer met with Clare and was told that St. Matthias is “doing fine.”
There are concerns about the lack of Finance committee meetings and a lack of an official
budget.
Dick Neyer will send an official email to Fr. Chris regarding the need for a budget and a meeting.
Bob Weigel wants to have a solar analysis done for St. Matthias.
Elections
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Elections will be in May.
Doug Keil will be in charge.
Closing Prayer
Meeting adjourned
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Motion to approve: Bob Feth. Seconded: Doug Keil.