November 4th, 2004

Members Present: Susan Sell, Barbara Norrgard, Vicki Underland-Rosow, Steve Boyle, Pat Murphy, Janet Brown, George Buchok, Ray Spack, Peter Eichten, George Wertin.

  1. Opening Prayer:
    Was led by Peter
  2. Check In: There was a brief check-in by all.
  3. Approval of Minutes: Minutes from the Oct. meeting were approved. There were no additions to the agenda.
  4. Reports:
    1. Liaison Reports: a) Susan gave a report on the parking issue that she has been working on with the 3rd Ave block club. SJA has been putting out cones by the intersections to prevent people from parking too close to the intersections. Susan also reported that the neighborhood is very concerned about safety. There was a SAFE meeting this week at St. Joan’s to talk about a recent murder in the neighborhood. b) Pat gave a report on the Liturgy Committee that took place last week to talk about how to structure the Sunday Speakers. She said it was a very good meeting with many great ideas. There were about 20 people there. c) Vicki handed out some flyers for two upcoming events: Open House at the Hawthorne housing project for Sunday Nov. 7 and a play at SJA on Nov. 13.
    2. Letter from parishioner Jack McHugh: Steve shared a letter Jack wrote to the Council. Jack was concerned about the talk Amy Goodman gave a few weeks ago. Steve answered Jack and told him that it is very important that we are careful on how we say things so that everyone feels welcomed, even though that is often difficult because we do have strong views on many issues
    3. Pastor’s Report: George said that the response from the parish on the issues given to us by the Archdiocese have been very supportive. The parish meetings have been good, and two more are scheduled. A group to talk about the web site and to recommend some new policy met and will continue to work on a new web site policy. The liturgy committee has put together a plan for the speaker to be at the beginning of mass. This will mean that the welcome giver will be dropped. We will try this format and evaluate it as we go. Other parish activities have been good, Family Camp was a success, the Memorial mass was well attended and very well done, the regular programs are all going well.
  5. Old Business:
    1. Ministry Manual: Steve reported that this group has not met yet, but will meet on Monday Nov. 8 to begin to look at the Ministry Manuel
    2. Goals: Steve just put out a reminder that we need to keep the goals out in front of the parish
  6. New Business:
    1. Responding to the Archdiocese: The majority of the meeting was spent discussing this issue. Specifically the issues discussed were: developing a relationship with the Archdiocese; developing a relationship with groups like “Catholic Parents Online;” creating a Communications Director.

      George gave a brief history of our relationship with Archbishop Flynn. We had him for a dinner when he first came to the Archdiocese (about 1996), he celebrated Sunday liturgies a couple of years ago, and then our meeting with him to talk about the Mel White/Kathy Itzin situations. Then he traveled with some SJAers on a recent trip to So. Africa.

      The question was raised; does building a relationship with the Archbishop really do anything? Some felt that he knows us well already. Others felt that strengthening the coalition of Inclusive Catholics would be a good strategy. Ray pointed out that we need to be thinking politically, not theologically. This led to a discussion on the idea of hiring a Communications Director. There was discussion on what such a person would do – things like:

      • Putting forth the many good things that SJA does to the public; this would help us to be consistent in the public messages about SJA.
      • Being in charge of the web site. Since this is so public the need for a professional to be in charge of the web site seemed to be a point on which all agreed.
      • This person would help create a PR strategy.
      • We would have a professional putting out the things that go into the media, etc.
      The idea of hiring a consultant for a specific period of time to help us understand better what we really need was discussed. The Council agreed that the first step should be for the Executive Committee to meet with someone who is knowledgeable in PR, and to get a discussion going. Peter will set up that meeting. It was felt that the issues of developing relationships with the Archdiocese and with other groups was linked to the idea of the Communications Director, so these issues will be developed as we develop the Comm. Dir. Idea.
  7. Closing Prayer Was led by Peter Meeting adjourned at 7:00 PM.

Next regular meeting is at 5:00 in the Upper Room, Dec. 2, 2004.

Respectfully submitted,

Peter Eichten

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