February 19, 2009                  Administrative Council Reports

 

1.  Finance Report:  Adult envelope revenue continues to be under budget, but the expenses are staying in line.  We may need to discuss the need to freeze nonessential purchases or advise staff to be cautious.

2.  Gaming Report:  At the February12th meeting, Bev Mathwig reported that gambling at Bonfire Bar and Grill had a very good month and Swan’s Café had a more difficult month.  The final cost of the audit was $3,795.00.  The January expenses were accepted and the following distribution of funds was approved: $2,250.00 to the Church of St. Philip, $150.00 to the School of St. Philip (Scholarship Fund) and $158.64 to Ellsworth Township (for charitable distribution). 

3.  Maintenance Committee:  Dave Eischens is continuing to work with restrictions while going to Physical Therapy for his back. 

4.  Cemetery Committee:  The Cemetery Committee has not met. 

5.  Worship Report:    Father Joe will report on Thursday

 

6.  Peace and Social Justice Report:  No report at this time

 

7.  Faith Formation Report

Grades 3-Adult-Jodi Schons

  • Coming to a close of the 3rd semester of classes
  • 4th semester begins March 4th
  • We still have some “stragglers” registering for Faith Formation classes~which is great!
  • Upcoming Events:
    • Ash Wednesday Mass at 7:00 pm
    • Reconciliation service for the Faith Formation Classes
    • Confirmation has been set for May 2, 2009 at 5:30 pm Mass

 

  • Faith Formation students created valentines for the people in San Lucas. Every year we participate in the “Mission of Love”. I will be setting out the cards soon for the parish to put in $2.00 inside the valentine. The cards and donations will be forward to the San Lucas Mission Office. The donations will purchase rice, beans and school supplies.

 

Youth Ministry Report: 
St. Philip’s Youth Group Highlights For February 2009:
 
* The last of six Power Hours happens this Wednesday. This Wednesday our food is taco-in-a-bag (meat donated by a parishioner!) and youth will bring an item for the food shelf as their meal ‘ticket’.
Past Power Hours have included homemade pizza, Pizza Hut pizza (Darlene Vossen gives us a great price on pizzas!) and potluck meals. We’ve done activities and had discussions on the Catholic Social Teaching of Solidarity. We also weekly have an active game, trivia contest and some type of crossword/word find contest. Prayer time has included formal prayers, youth led spontaneous prayer, their homemade prayers on homemade pizza night, music praise and worship and more.
We average 15-20 youth for Power Hour. This group includes youth who currently participate in other youth group activities as well as newcomers to youth group events. It’s been awesome to see kids inviting their friends and those kids then inviting others to church!
I witnessed heart-felt reflection and insightful discussion on the night of our Solidarity discussion. I asked the youth to sit on the floor for the first 20 minutes or so of the night and many complained heavily. As we did an activity and discussion on the Catholic Social Teaching and Solidarity, their perspectives and attitudes changed thinking that many people their age sit on the floor to eat, do homework and etc. everyday around the world. The next Power Hour the youth made homemade prayers and their prayers were filled with Solidarity- prayers for those without food, furniture, school opportunities and etc. Our youth are very compassionate and can show great empathy!
We have a number of families and youth helping at the spaghetti dinner this year for the first time, because of Power Hours!
I plan to hold a Spring Break ‘Power Hour’ night of food, fun games and movies.
*The Spaghetti Dinner is this Saturday from 5-8pm. I play an overall coordinator role for this night, but families and youth DO all the gathering, planning, cooking and night of duties!
The Catholic Aid Association youth representative said our sp. Dinner is their biggest youth fundraiser event of the year!
*We have 8 youth who have signed commitment forms for NCYC in Nov. in Kansas City! Chaperones are needed (male and female over age 21).
*The Junior High Youth Rally is April 26 and I hope to bring a van load!
*OUr spring Butter Braid/Pastry Puffin sale will begin March 1 and end March 22 with delivery before Easter.
*Youth Weekend and our Spring Bake Sale is April 4-5.
 

8.  School Report: 

Catholic Schools Week

            We had a wonderful week of celebration.  Most parents were able to join us for lunch on one of the days.  Our 2nd – 5th graders had a great time at Powder Ridge with the tubing trip, even though it was very cold.  The trip to ProWorks by our 3rd-5th graders was very much appreciated, and we are hoping that some of our students can make it a monthly event.  All the students walked to the food shelf to deliver over 250 items and learned about how it works and those it serves.  We closed our celebration week with about 2/3 of our families attending the Friday night Pizza Party and Game Night at the social hall.  We are proud of our Catholic school, and we celebrated it well.

 

Parent/Teacher Conferences

            The second round of parent/teacher conferences took place on February 10 and 12.  We had almost 100% participation, and truly appreciate the continued parent contact with the school.

 

Disciples of St. Philip

            The second class for the Disciples of St. Philip sponsors will be on Monday, February 16, with Fr. Tony Stubeda presenting Catholic Literature 101.  We currently have 13 sponsor couples/singles each of whom contributed $500 or more.  Our first class in November was most enjoyable.

 

Supplementary Activities

Kindergartners and first graders went to St. John’s University to attend the play If You Give a Pig a Pancake, performed by a traveling New York Troupe.  We were  proud of our students who behaved beautifully and were fully engaged in the high-energy play.

Grades 2-5 visited the G.A.R. Hall on Feb. 12 to celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s 20th birthday.

            Fu Goto visited the 5th graders to tell them about Japan and its culture and to share the skill of orgami with them.

            The 3rd, 4th and 5th graders will be setting up their science fair projects in the parish social hall on Friday, February 27, when their dads join them for Donuts for Dads.  These will be on display for the parish over the weekend and will be judged on Monday, March 2.

 

Fundraising Projects

  • The Wine Tasting Fundraiser was held on February 12, and it was a fun evening.  The count was down, and we do not yet have the final total of the profit yet. 
  • Papa Murphy Pizza sales. – this is a monthly fundraiser and we profit about $300 each month which is over our projected budget.
  • We begin our Schwan’s frozen food sale on Tuesday, February 17, with the truck sale on March 6 in the school parking lot.  Orders may be reserved and picked up that day or the truck will have a selection to purchase on the spot.
  • 9.  Area Faith Community: 

 

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

 

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

 

12.  Pastor’s Report:  No written report at this time