November 20, 2008                Administrative Council Reports

 

1.  Finance Report:  As expected, there were unrealized losses in the building foundation fund and the school fund stocks.  School tuition revenue is below the budgeted amount and this trend will continue as the budget was set for 90 students and there are currently 83 students enrolled.

2.  Gaming Report:  At the November 13th meeting, Bev Mathwig reported that Jack’s Tavern opened on October 20th.  The annual Audit is in process.  Bev and Ron will be attending the Charitable Gaming convention in Duluth on November 20-22.  The sites have requested some new equipment:  New jars at Bonfire, drawers at Swan’s Café and a safe at Jack’s Tavern.  Those expenses will show up in the upcoming months.  The expenses were accepted and the following distribution of funds were approved: $2,625.00 to the Church of St. Philip, $175.00 to the School of St. Philip (Scholarship Fund), and from the donation fund:   $83.64 to Ellsworth Township (for charitable distribution), $500 to the Jim Adams benefit, $500 to the Heartland Christmas Project.

3.  Maintenance Committee:  The Maintenance committee did not meet in October.  Bulbs are being replaced on November 19th.  Dave is renting a lift and scaffolding from RSC in St. Cloud. Dave is continuing to work on the heating system in the school and we are seeing an improvement already in the climate.  Since things are getting more regulated, he has been able to shut one boiler off overnight.

4.  Cemetery Committee:  Report was given at October Administrative Council meeting.  They have not met since that time. 

5.  Worship Report:    No written report at this time

 

6.  Peace and Social Justice Report:  Will not be meeting again until January 2009

7.  Faith Formation Report

Grades 3-Adult-Jodi Schons

We have finished the first semester of Faith Formation. The first few weeks went well. We are still receiving registration forms. On Oct. 22, 2008 we held the youth’s sessions for Safe Environment which is a requirement from the Diocese. We had few absences that night and about 6 families that opt out from having their children attend the Safe Environment lessons. On Nov. 12, 2008 we held a Community Service Project Night where we assembled the ornaments for the Giving Tree and created 2 banners for Emmanuel Nursing Home. We had about 100 people attend. Majority of the people were youth, but it was great to see some families in attendance! The next few weeks of Faith Formation will consist of Community Service Projects, Family Night, Thanksgiving Mass, Advent Reconciliation Service and Youth Night. We will resume the class sessions in January.

Youth Ministry Report: 
 *Way to go St. Philip young people and teens! Your ministry during Youth Weekend was amazing! Thanks for sharing your smiles, voices and talents with the parish! You rock!
I received many positive comments on Youth Weekend, the parish seems to appreciate the participation of our youth!
 *A record setting Youth Group Bake Sale happened because of the sweet baking work of so many families! Congrats!
 *Pizza and Prayer Power Hour was awesome this fall! You all made amazing homemade pizzas and prayers! Look for more Power Hours after January 1... We had between 15-20 at the 6 Power Hours (Wedn. 6-7pm). A number of ‘new’ faces came, and retured week after week! There was a nice mix of middle and high school age youth.
 *Pastry Puffins and Butter Braids will be delivered on Friday, Nov. 14 at 2pm.
 *If you’re planning on attending NCYC (Nov. 19-21, 2009) you need to start fundraising! All who attend MUST help with at least one bake sale, one VFW breakfast and the spaghetti dinner.
 *The youth group will serve breakfast at the VFW November 23 as a fundraiser.
 * Come for a party! Our December meeting on Sunday, December 14 will be a celebration of Jesus’ birth! We’ll meet from 9-10am in the social hall classrooms.
 *Youth Activity Night is Wednesday, December 17. Working on plans to have the high school age youth ring the Salvation Army bell at Walmart this night.
 * Mark your calendars for the Spaghetti Dinner on Saturday, February 21 from 5-8pm. Ticket prices will be the same as last year: $7 for 15 and up, $5 for ages 5-14, under 5 free.
 * The next Spaghetti Dinner planning meeting is Sunday, January 11 from 9-10am at church.
 * Friday, January 16 from 2:30-5:30pm. Youth Group service project! Work with the community to feed the hungry in our area. Help unload a truckload of food from Second Harvest. Location: Zion Lutheran Church, Litchfield. Call Tifani (320-693-4136) or Jan Schlack at Meeker Co. Social Services (320-693-5300) if you can help.
 * Saturday, January 17 from 8-noon. Youth Group service project! Assist families pick up food from Second Harvest. Walk with families and help gather food they will need. Location: Zion Lutheran Church, Litchfield. Call Tifani or Jan Schlack at Meeker Co. Soc. Services if you can help.
 

8.  School Report: 

Review of the past month at St. Philip School:

  • October 21 – Two nursing students and their supervisor visited the school to teach proper hand washing technique to our students.  They were all impressed by how well our students listened and participated.
  • October 22 – Trooper Kathy came to officially install our 5th graders as School Patrol members for this school year.
  • October 23 – Gerry Kulzer met with the teachers during their weekly faculty meeting to go over the use of email addresses through the parish website.
  • October 24 – Lifetouch came to take school pictures.  We had an excellent photographer and he was pleased with the cooperation of our students.
  • October 30 – The entire student body walked to the church social hall for their movie party reward for reaching, and surpassing, their marathon goal.  We watched the classic movie Heidi and the children loved it. It worked well for the school buses to pick our students up at the church for the trip home after school.
  • October 31 – We had Halloween parties in our classrooms and all the children enjoyed dressing up as we prepared for All Saints’ Day.
  • October 31 – The 4th quarter ended.
  • November 4 – We enrolled a new fourth grader, Brooks Pitzen, bringing our enrollment up to 83.

Faculty Events

  • November 4 was a teacher workshop day for the Litchfield Public School and St. Philip School.  We used the day for a Day of Reflection for our teachers.  We traveled to St. John’s Abbey, Collegeville, for a wonderful day.  Fr. Robert Pierson spent two morning hours with us, we prayed noon prayer with the monks and spent the afternoon applying the morning discussions to our school. 
  • October 24 – The teachers of Lake Ripley School invited the faculty of St. Philip and Wagner Schools for a fall tea after school.
  • Teachers will be holding Parent/Teacher conferences for Grades 3, 4, 5 on November 18 and 20.  The other grades had conferences in September.
  • Principal:  On November 6 & 7, I had the opportunity to serve on the accreditation team for St. Edward’s School, Minneota.  Besides helping to confirm the validity of their self-study and school improvement plan, I gleaned many good ideas to use here.

Fundraising

  • Current marathon total:  $20,130.69 (budgeted goal was $18,000)
  • Monthly Papa Murphy pizza sales are giving us a profit of about $300 a month.
  • We will be selling a great, new Litchfield family game after Thanksgiving.
  • Scrip sales are steady and we will increase promotion for Christmas gifts.

 

9.  Area Faith Community:  Did not meet in October, however see attached AFC Household membership document from the Diocese.

 

10.  Hispanic Ministry Report:  No written report at this time

The Parish Hispanic Ministry Committee met on Thursday, November 13th.  The committee reviewed the participation of the community at mass and reviewed the ministry schedule.  We noted that we now have several young people signed up to be Altar Servers.  We also discussed the All Souls Day liturgy and the family dinner for baptism parents.  The Committee made plans for the parish celebration of Our Lady of Guadelupe:  Mass on December 14th at 12nn followed by a Pot-Luck Dinner.  The Matechina Dancers from Glencoe are schedule to be part of the celebration.  We discussed the need for families to sign up for OLG Novena Prayer.  We discussed plans for a parent meeting to include all members of the parish on Sunday November 23, 2008 following Mass.  Sr. Anna Marie will speak about reconciliation.  We reviewed the sign up sheet for Posada’s that begin on December 16th. We briefly discussed the Epiphany Celebration on January 4th with Mass and Dinner to follow.  The committee will discuss this more at its December Gathering on Friday December 19th 

 11.  Stewardship Committee Report:  No written report at this time.

 

12.  Pastor’s Report  

 

+        During this month besides celebrating the weekday & weekend masses I also performed 4 baptisms, 1 marriage, 1 funeral and 1 Quincenera. 

+        I also had two altar servers training sessions and assisted our Liturgical Minister Coordinators with their schedules for November & December.  We are still looking for a Coordinator for our Ushers & Greeters. We are collecting our Liturgical Ministers Email Addresses so we can send schedules via email and save about $750 a year in postage.

+        I have been teaching Jr High Faith Formation Classes on Wednesday evenings.

+        I have been working on plans for Thanksgiving Mass and Advent & Christmas Liturgies. 

+        Continue to minister at the Hospital and Nursing Homes.  I attempt to visit the school at least once a week.  

+        I attended the Diocesan Mission Team Meeting as well as the Diocesan Mass for Deceased Bishops & Priests. 

+        Sr. Anna Marie Reha and I held a informal dinner for Hispanic families who celebrated baptism over the past year.  About 4 families attended. 

+        We held our November Staff Meeting on the 12th of November and I will be hosting the annual Staff Christmas Party on December 12th!

+        I have also been working with the Litchfield Area Ministerial Association this past month.  LAMA is attempting to get churches committed to help support renting one or two small apartments or motel room where LAMA could house individuals or families on an emergency or temporary basis. 

+        I have also been coordinating our parish’s DMA initiatives.