May 2nd, 2002

Members Present: Mary Eve Thomas, Chuck MacDonald, Claude Paradis, Carol Berg O’Toole, Susan Sell, Jim Graves, John McElhatton, Deb Meyer, Gene Gagnon, George Wertin, Peter Eichten.

1. Opening Prayer:
   Was led by Deb. There was brief check-in by all members
2. Mission Statement & Covenant: were read.
3. Minutes from April meeting were approved.
   
   -there was one agenda item added: status of the Third Way housing project.

   Old Business:
   

   1. Goals for 2002/03. Chuck has been working on the goals and presented the Council with a draft of goals. The Council did a bit of editing on the goals with some minor changes. With the changes the goals were approved by the Council. (They are linked here)
   2. Discernment Process - There was some discussion on the discernment process which will take place on Thursday May 9. At this time there have been 10 people that have voiced an interest in serving on the Council. The Council reviewed the agenda for the evening and volunteers from the Council agreed to lead the various parts of the evening. All Council members are invited to participate in the process. The process is also open to the entire parish.
      
      There was some discussion about how to select the new members. In the past it has been by a vote of all present. The Council agreed to try drawing names instead of voting. There was then discussion on how to fill the two seats that are being vacated by early resignations. The Council agreed to use the following procedure: the first four names drawn will fill the regular terms; the fifth name will fill the one-year vacancy; and the sixth name will fill the two-year vacancy.

      Review of visit of Archbishop Flynn Overall the Council felt the visit by the Archbishop was a success. Some concerns were expressed about the liturgy and about the lack of attention to the pedophilia cases now so present in the press. But all agreed that he was very cordial, gracious, and appeared happy to be here. It was a good event.

      Third Way Status- Where are we in that process? There was a review of what has happened to this point. After the Finance Committee recommended that we move forward with paying Paul Halverson for 5 months some more questions were being raised by the Finance Committee, specifically by Ruth Shriver. Until those questions are answered the Council does not need to do anything.
      

      This lead to a discussion on, what is the process for projects like this? And what is the role the Council plays in such projects? The role of the Council is to make sure that such projects are part of the mission and vision of St. Joan of Arc. If such projects include a financial component or a legal component then the Finance Committee has to be involved and has to recommend moving forward, with the approval of the Council. This is how the process worked for the creation of Grace House and for the creation of the Sister Parish with Tierra Nueva II.

   New Business:
   

   1. Purpose of the Council- There was a sub-committee of the Council (Carol, Gene, and Joan Riebel) that met to talk about the purpose of the Council. In doing so they reviewed the Council’s Ministry Manual and made some suggestions to change the language. There was also the feeling that the Council’s purpose was not collaborative enough that it seemed to be more of a rubber stamp. Some felt that there needed to be a more deliberate sharing of power. Others asked what that meant. The Council did agree that a more in depth orientation for new members should take place, and that all Council members should be at such orientations. It was also recommended that a joint meeting of the Council with the Finance Committee that would clarify each group’s roles would be helpful.
   2. Review of Stewardship Committee’s Recommendation - Stewardship Committee recommended that we do something in the immediate future to take care of the $400,000 Capital Campaign debt. The Finance Committee has received that recommendation and is working on it. When a more concrete plan is in place the Council will review that plan also

   Final Prayer: led by George.
   Meeting adjourned at 9:20 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Peter Eichten