Cathedral of the Risen Christ: Parish Council Page

Administration – Bernie Kouma & Dennis Tegtmeier;
Education – Mary Cuddy & Joan Campbell;
Liturgy – Katie Reese & Doug Vandervort;
Parish and Family Life – John Hyland, Pat Fricke & Brad Schmidt.

The Crossing the Threshold Campaign is in its last year. There are pledges that have not been fulfilled. 50% of the funds that are now contributed to this campaign by parishioners will come back to Cathedral parish.

A tithe comparison between 2003 and 2002 showed a decrease in the number of contributors with an increase in the total contributions for 2003.

The primary goals of the parish for 2004 were discussed and include: 1. Spiritual Life ~ to increase the spiritual life of the parish by fostering spiritual life in the home and participation in parish retreats. Potential programs and activities for Lent, including Disciples in Mission, will be discussed. 2. Education ~ to increase the laity’s understanding of stewardship as way of life, being caretakers of God’s gifts and sharing with God. 3. Physical Plant ~ discussion was held on projects that needs to be done. 4. Tuition ~ discussion was held concerning tuition for Cathedral school.

Discussion was held regarding the Price Cap program for natural gas; it was decided to go with the Price Cap.

The finance report was presented and discussion was held. The deficit between the parish assessment for the Southern Nebraska Register and the funds generated from subscription fees was discussed.

Door closures for the church will cost $500 plus labor for each door and there are 10 doors.

It was agreed to contract with a Cathedral parishioner to handle the snow removal around the church and school.

The lack of air-conditioning in the Rectory basement was discussed. RCIA is held in the basement with around 40 people attending; the climate conditions in the basement are not satisfactory for these meetings. The cost of correcting the problem could run as much as $14,000. Alternate meeting locations were discussed.

The process for reporting parish activities to the Southern Nebraska Register is still being developed.

It was reported that many positive comments on the Cathedral Seminarian display were received.

Budget reports will be presented at the November meeting. Father reported that of the 1,500 families in Cathedral Parish 1,051 have contributed this year. It was decided to write a proposal for a Grant for the school.

The financial report was presented. It was noted that the parish is assessed $12.00 per subscription for the Southern Nebraska Register. This has resulted in an outlay of $45,000.00 in the past 4 years, which significantly exceeds the monies that are brought in.

The council moved to promote the Bishop’s Vocation drive by featuring Cathedral parishioners who are in the seminary. Pictures of the five seminarians will be displayed in the vestibule.

It was introduced that the Cathedral needed more parish articles in the Southern Nebraska Register. Brad Schmidt will contact parish organizations about contributing articles. Articles will be sent to the Rectory and forwarded to the Register.

Father presented a list of "wants and needs" for the parish. Church: landscaping, cement replacement, carpet, grand piano, and movable dividers for Crowley Hall. School: gym floor, computers/technology, textbooks and a Chapel. Rectory: remodel kitchen and new windows.

Three members of the Stewardship Committee will be sent to the upcoming Leadership Conference.

Tuck-pointing had been completed and the damaged marble on the front of the Cathedral will be replaced.

Commission Reports: Greeters ~ there are 40-50 greeters with a rotation of about one assignment per month. Altar Servers ~ a picnic was held during the summer with servers, seminarians and priests attending. Music Ministry ~ the adult choir will perform at the Art Show and premiere their newly released CD. Proceeds from the CD will go toward purchasing new choir robes. Acolytes/EME’s ~ There is still a need for EME’s to take Holy Communion to those parishioners who are unable to attend Mass. Lectors ~ all is going well with the exception of a few missed assignments. Ushers ~ there is a shortage of ushers at the 12:00 noon and 6:00 pm Masses. It was noted that the regular Ministers meetings will resume Thursday, September 25th and will continue to be held on the 4th Thursday of each month. Stewardship ~ Charity and Stewardship Appeal as of July 30 pledges totaled $208,809.00 with 1425 pledge cards being turned in. There were still some outstanding cards. A mission statement has been developed and approved by the committee. The 1st Annual Parish Picnic was held in August and considered to be a huge success.

Father Tucker reported that the blacktop project for the playground has been completed and that in the near future the fence will be installed and games will be painted on the blacktop. The drainage situation will be evaluated.

The tuck-pointing project took an unexpected turn when it was determined that several of the marble columns on the south side are warped and may need to be replaced. The building committee will be consulted for their recommendations.

The preliminary financial statements were presented in a format that compared this year with the 3 previous years to highlight trends and identify areas that need to be addressed. The finalized annual statement for the fiscal year ending 6-30-03 along with the estimated budget for the next fiscal year will be presented at the next meeting.

Discussion was held on prioritizing and funding the following projects: organ repair, cement repair of front steps, and possibly replacing the gymnasium floor.

The playground blacktop project has been completed. The tuck-pointing project is going well. A different color of caulk is being used that will blend better. August is the expected completion date.

The Marriage Preparation Team met with Father for an introduction. Their purpose is to review the FOCCUS with engaged couples. Father stated that it would take 5-6 hours per engaged couple to complete this review and the team couple would spend one hour at a time with the engaged couples. There are 12 team couples thus far.

The fiscal year ending June 30th is completed and final figures will be available at the next meeting. A Finance Council is being formed to oversee the financial area of the Parish. Members are: Paul Reinsch, Bernie Kouma, Larry Kunc, Mike Jenkins and Father Tucker. Discussion was held concerning Pius X tuition and Cathedral’s budget responsibilities to Pius X.

Father discussed the responsibilities of the Parish Council and oriented the new members. Discussion was held concerning the voting procedure to elect new members to the Council. Doug Vandervort was elected as the new secretary. The following commission assignments were made: Administration – Bernie Kouma & Dennis Tegtmeier; Education – Mary Cuddy & Joan Campbell; Liturgy – Katie Reese & Doug Vandervort; Parish and Family Life – John Hyland, Pat Fricke & Brad Schmidt.

The implementation of a parish credit card was discussed and more information will be forthcoming.

The possibility of offering a parish credit card, as a fundraiser for the parish, was discussed and will be researched.

The Building Committee is looking into the repair of the concrete in front of the church. The need for more meeting space was discussed. The Building Committee will be consulted on the best way to address this issue.

The parish council members, as the nominating committee, submitted names of candidates to run for the Parish Council. Six names will be listed on the ballot for the general parish election.

It was reported that information about a Diocese wide basketball tournament is being gathered. The tournament would be played in Lincoln and would tie in vocations, and tours of the seminary and convents. Mass with the Bishop and basketball games with the priests will be part of the tournament that is planned for the Spring of 2004.

Funding of sports programs at the parish level was discussed. An ad board that could be located under the scoreboard or scorer’s table was discussed.

The Home and School Board will send a report to all the school families summarizing the school year in lieu of the May general meeting. One general meeting will be held in the Fall in conjunction with the Book Fair and School Open House. During Catholic Schools Week a speaker will give a presentation after Benediction and the Rosary, this will be followed by a family gathering in the church basement. CTBS scores were going to be sent home. Communication between parents and the school will be increased to facilitate the distribution of information. The importance of Sacramental years was noted. It was reported that the parish’s expense for Pius X High School will increase to 19% of the total parish budget (the parishes pay 53% of Pius’ budget). Discussion on the school budget was held.

Commission Reports: Acolyte/Lector - There are 4 new acolytes & lectors. A suggestion was made that there be one person scheduling all ministries. Ushers – Candy Ojeda is in charge of this ministry. SINE – 12 people attended the last retreat. Golf League – has begun. Bowling League – has concluded. Card Club – will finish in May. Legion of Mary – would like to recruit more members. Parking Spaces - 2 additional spaces have been requested for handicapped parking. 5 spaces are reserved for adorers on school days. Disciples in Mission – the numbers were down this year. Scouts – 8 new scouts have joined the troop. Scouts replaced vandalized birdhouses at a nursing home. The Troop participated in "Good Turn for Goodwill", bowling for fun, and will attend Summer Camp in June. Saint Vincent de Paul – the store has been remodeled and a live person answers the phone. Knights of Columbus Mass Shuttle – there are 3 routes that serve 7 parishioners each Sunday. They could use 2 more drivers. Meals on Wheels – have 2 Sunday routes delivering 12-15 meals. Parish Nurse Program – is looking for more nurses to help with blood pressures following Masses.

The financial reports were discussed and it was noted that 1 year is left of the Crossing the Threshold Campaign and that Cathedral would be using funds from that for capital expenses such as tuck pointing of the church and rectory. Discussion was held on Scrip, a parish credit card, Alltel and Target credit cards.

The playground blacktop project will begin in June 2003. Bids for the heating and air-conditioning controls project were reviewed and discussed. The pneumatic controls will be changed to electric. The airflow will be reduced to cool better and the slower rate will remove more humidity, be quieter and reduce the dirt around the air vents. This project will be completed in two phases with Crowley Hall and the church being done in the first phase. The second phase will update everything else. The organ repair has been put on hold until the new fiscal year. Bedient reported that the bid would remain the same.

The Pro-Life Memorial will be incorporated into the flagpole area on the west side of the church. Al Hamersky is designing the layout. The Knights of Columbus are funding this project.

It was reported that participation in Disciples in Mission is down this year. Discussion was held regarding a Bible study and the Divine Mercy study.

An amendment to the by-laws was made. Article IV-Membership Section 1. Membership originally read ‘The membership of the Parish Council of Cathedral shall be as follows: (a) Pastor or pastoral designate; (b) Nine voted at-large members of the parish; (c) Two trustees’. A motion was made and carried to add: (d) A non-voting representative from the Stewardship Committee to be chosen by the Pastor and a non-voting school representative which would be the Principal of the school to serve as liaisons to their committees.

The $26,000.00 bid from Cather and Sons for the playground blacktop project was accepted. The building committee recommended changing the temperature controls from pneumatic to electronic, and the motor on the air handler to a variable frequency motor. With these changes the temperature and airflow can be regulated better, and therefore resolve the condensation problems in the church.

Plans for promoting the Divine Mercy devotion in the parish and diocese are continuing.

Financial: 50% of the "Crossing the Threshold" donations have been returned to the parish. 2002 parishioner contributions were up 17% from the previous year. 531 completed pledge cards have been received in the office. It was reported that the majority of the expenses in the school budget are incurred during the first half of the school year as startup expenses.

Bids for repair of the organ were received ($2,650.00 for cleaning and $42,000.00 to refurbish the reed pipes). Changing temperatures and humidity in the church compounds tuning loss. Therefore it was decided to postpone repairs until the heating and air conditioning problems were resolved. The Choir is raising money to purchase new songbooks and in the future, choir robes.

National Door has been contacted to repair the southeast door at the front of the church.

Commission Reports: Godparents are planning a retreat and ski trip; RCIA has 20-22 candidates; Father Tucker will teach the next adult education series; Scrip had a profitable holiday season; Acolyte – Lectors will meet in January; Ushers are coordinating with the Acolytes in bringing the tithe basket to the Altar during Mass; Altar Servers ~ recruitment of high school boys to serve for the Bishop is underway; Knights of Columbus continue their work in the parish. Plans for the Pro-Life memorial continue.

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