August 15th, 2002

Members Present: Chuck MacDonald, Claude Paradis, Susan Sell, Deb Meyer, Janet Brown, Roger Dick, Steve Boyle, Mark Abeln, George Buchok, Ray Spack, George Wertin, Peter Eichten.

1. Opening Prayer:
   Was led by George. Prayer was followed by a light dinner served in the Daisy Room.
2. Mission Statement & Covenant: were read.
3. Sharing
   
   Everyone shared, “What makes SJA special to you?”

   Overview of the Council:
   question: What do you see the Council to be? There were many responses to this question, including: it’s about advise and consent, it should be challenging and questioning, there should be dialogue and listening; it’s about policy and setting the direction of the parish; Council members should bring insights from parishioners; and more. George then talked about styles of pastors: there’s the dictator, there’s the pastor that polls folks, but the final decisions are his; there’s the pastor that does very little and just lets things go (George said, it’s surprising how many pastors there are like this); and there’s the process pastor, uses collaboration and participation by as many folks as possible, and this is the way George wants to be pastor. George hopes the Council can move away from words like “consultative” or “deliberative,” and move to “collaboration.” He pointed out that the Council is not a management body. He said there are 7 characteristics that a Council should try to incorporate into it’s life:

   1. Prayerful: to do a regular deep praying and centering
   2. Relationship Building: it’s important to get to know each other and to have at least some investment into each other’s lives, it’s a temporary SCC.
   3. Collaborative: work to create partnerships.
   4. Networking: to be in touch with what’s happening in the parish, making the liaison system work well.
   5. Consensus: the Council is not a board of directors, decisions making needs to be collaborative also.
   6. Empowering: Council should work to empower the parish, to be a visionary group.
   7. Prophetic: we need to challenge and stretch people.

   Job Description of Council:
   Susan went through the job description for Council members. She also reviewed the Mission Statement and Goals of the parish, and the goals for this coming year that were made by the last Council. Purpose of the Council was discussed, with Visioning, Planning, Policy Making, and Communication seen as being the purpose of the Council.

   Liaisons:
   Peter led a brief discussion of the Liaison system. He explained that one of the things the liaison system does is to help in setting the Council goals for each year, and that in turn then helps the Finance Committee in setting the budget. He also emphasized the importance of participating in the area of parish life that a Council members is in.

   Small Group discussion on “How do we become a spiritual body?”:
   Chuck led the group in a short presentation on transforming parish boards emphasizing the need to use Jesus, the Scriptures, and prayer for guidance as the Council goes through its business. We should use the gospels as a source in making our decisions. That we should be assisting the parish in it’s spiritual growth. Chuck handed out a document with a series of questions and comments on it for small group discussion. The group then divided into groups of 3 for discussion. There were then some reports back from the small groups.

   Are You Excited about being on the Council from your experience here tonight?:
   Most Council members agreed that this was an informative and exciting meeting, and that they were excited about the challenges that being on the Council put forth, especially the challenge for using spirituality as the lens for seeing the Council.

   Meeting adjourned at 9:20 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Peter Eichten