In Attendance

Present: Marty Navarro (Chair), Stacey Walsh (Secretary), Greg Pitts, Dawn Tierney, Jim Nondorf and Jim Zewen

Ex Officio: Fr. Juan Manuel Camacho Porras (Pastoral Council President), Larry Jansen (Trustee), John Csepella (Trustee)

Excused: Mary Lynn Bedell (Co-Chair), Kathryn LaLonde

Unexcused: Michelle Andrews

Pastoral Report – Message from Fr. Juan to All Eight Parishes

The new mass schedule will start the first weekend of Advent (November 30/December 1). There will be additional announcements in the bulletin so that more people know about the new schedule and aren’t caught off guard. If possible, Father asked that we come a little early on that weekend and greet those coming to mass. We may have members from the other parishes in the family of eight attending, as well as those from outside who are new and we should welcome all of them to let people know we care about them. Fr. Juan said his desire is to create a culture of discipleship in the family of eight, not just a group of people who volunteer for things at church, but create disciples of Christ, serving for the Kingdom of God.

Advent is coming up fast. As in past years, there will be a day of reconciliation at St. Lucy on December 4, 2024 from 9:00 am – 8:00 pm (12 hours). For our members who speak Spanish, reconciliation will be held at St. Patrick’s on December 10, 2024 from 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm.

We will celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary with mass at St. Lucy on December 9, 2024 at 6:00 pm. Everyone is invited to stay for Food for the Journey – Following the Star after mass with adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, guided meditation and a social in the hall. This is a wonderful way to prepare for advent with an advent reflection.

The Planning committee currently meets twice a month. They meet once as group and meet again in smaller groups. They have been and continue to work hard to make sure everything goes smoothly during this transition time.

Fr. Juan said he would like faith formation to be more synchronized next year for all eight parishes.

Fr. Juan mentioned that he is working on something to bring all eight parishes together next year. Each parish has its own thing going on, but Fr. Juan is thinking about next year and how to bring the eight parishes together as one community. Not just to save money, but to be more vibrant and make disciples for Christ. We are already seeing good things and hope to build on that. Father would like to create something that would help us grow spiritually. Someone who comes through RCIA is taking the first step, but what is the second step? How do we help them grow spiritually? They may be on fire for the church while in RCIA. How do we continue that path to discipleship?

Another area Fr. Juan is working on is marriages and family. Statistically about half of marriages end in divorce. Couples go through marriage classes before getting married, but then we say, okay, off you go. We have to do better than that as a community. Fr. Juan is looking for couples who can mentor others to help

them stay together and build strong families. How can we walk with them to help their spiritual growth as a couple and family?

Fr. Juan wanted to make us aware of an article that was in the Catholic Herald regarding priests and the visa program in the United States (see Visa Change Could Lead to Priest Shortage in U.S. – Catholic Herald). There are 24 priests affected by the visa program in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, and approximately 4,000 nationwide. A change in the process means foreign-born priests will have to leave the United States for a year before they are able to return.

At this point, the group split out into each separate pastoral council.

Approval of Minutes

Review and approval of September 17, 2024 meeting minutes.

Motion to approve – Dawn Tierney | Seconded – Jim Nondorf

Finance Report – Larry Jansen (Trustee)

Larry reported that the Finance Committee had a meeting last week. Envelopes are down approximately $30,000 from July, 2024 to October, 2024. Interest on investments have helped during this time.

As of January, 2026, payroll will be handled by one parish within the family of eight for all employees.

As of July, 2026, the plan is to merge the eight parishes into one group, one corporation.

Starting the weekend of November 30/December 1, 2024 there will be generic envelopes in churches so that anyone visiting from another parish will be able to contribute and be assured their contribution will still go to their home parish.

Prayer and Worship Report – Dawn Tierney

St. Lucy will host the December 9th Food for the Journey event. There will be a mass, followed by a holy hour, followed by a reception. This will be the debut of the Food for the Journey praise band, made up of musicians from each of the parishes. The family of eight are combining resources for Christmas and will have two solemnity choirs on Christmas Eve. There will be one on the north side at Sacred Heart, and one on the south side at St. Lucy. Singers from all churches are invited to sing at either parish.

St. Lucy is making the second 5:00 pm mass of every month a special youth mass and encouraging kids to be involved in all areas of the mass. We have a new couple involved in music ministry who are from California and will be bringing a more contemporary sound (guitar) to some of our masses.

There will be a Christmas pageant this year at the 5:00 pm mass. The 10:00 pm evening mass will have a half hour choral prelude. The 8:00 am mass will have a small ensemble and the 11:00 am mass will feature the family choir with a 20-to-30-minute prelude.

Christian Formation Report – Michelle Andrews

We have a mass and rosery making evening coming up on Tuesday, November 26th. We are also setting up a regular mass and brews night each month. Our high school confirmation group is also going well. We are having a night of adoration, confession, and service on December 15th at St. Lucy. We are also working on a vocation night on January 26th. St. Lucy has 10 people in RCIA that include five who will be baptized..

Human Concerns Report – Mary Lynn Bedell

St. Lucy continues to collect and provide toiletries to Halo and at the St Vincent de Paul meal night when sponsored by St Lucy. Some months back St Vincent de Paul solicited all parishes for toiletries so moving forward St. Lucy will contribute to them. The next St. Vincent DePaul event will be on December 10, 2024 and we will distribute goods and toiletries to approximately 120-140 people.

Stewardship – Michelle Andrews

The children’s giving tree just passed out names for gifts. Ridgewood giving tree will be soon. The Knights of Columbus will be hosting a social after each mass the weekend of November 30/December 1 (start of new mass schedule). The Altar Society has their craft and bake sale the weekend of December 7/8.

School Update – Kathryn LaLonde

We have 216 students enrolled this year. Last year we were at 187, so there was definitely an increase in enrollment from last year to this year. We have one class per grade level in grades K3-8th grade. Within that, we do have grade level teams that have time once a month to meet and share ideas and work on assigned projects. Budgetary restrictions have been a challenge this year due to some finance issues the previous year. While larger class sizes are great for budgetary reasons, it has put a little more stress on us as a school with more students per classroom. Some of the new students have more behavior challenges, but with the majority of returning students’ good behavior and respect, the new students quickly realize what they need to do to be successful here at St. Lucy and the high standards we have for our students.

· Grandparents Day Mass and Breakfast: We had the most grandparents and other special people come that we have ever had. They attended Mass with their student(s) then came to the school gym and had donuts, coffee, and juice. They also got their picture taken and visited classrooms. It was a great morning.

· Hispanic Heritage Month: We did many small celebrations and learning opportunities during Hispanic Heritage month for all students. The students also got to dress in Hispanic clothing or red, white, and green clothing on the last day of Hispanic Heritage month, along with having a special taco lunch.

· Trunk or Treat: We had a lot of parents come during the school day and decorate their cars for Halloween and students were able to come outside one class at a time and do Trunk or Treat. It was a very windy, but fun afternoon.

· Project Lead the Way/STEM instruction has been amplified and students are very excited for science classes and being able to solve problems.

· Pet Blessing: We had a pet blessing in the beginning of October by the Altar outside after Mass. We had families bring their pets from home for a short blessing from Fr. Richter.

· Saintly Students: Each month has a Saint assigned to it and what value they are known for. Classes talk about that Gospel value throughout the month and what it means and looks like and at the end of the month each class chooses two students who exhibit that Gospel value. Their names are called during morning announcements and a small reward is given to them. October’s was Saint Therese Lisieux and the Gospel value was mission.

Deanery Report – Jim Nondorf

The Deanery is asking everyone to be more friendly. People may be coming to our parishes for the first time, and we may also have visitors from outside the family of eight visiting. We need to be more friendly and greet people. Ask them how they are doing, and say things like “have a nice day.” We want to make sure everyone visiting feels welcome.

New/Continuing Items

Souper Bowl. Mary Lynn is working with Mary Meddaugh and Erica Correa regarding St. Lucy participating in the Souper Bowl this year (soup can collection for food pantries). She also spoke with Pat McLeod who asked that we limit St. Lucy participation to two weeks. Rather than collecting from January through Souper Bowl Sunday, he asked that we limit it to just 2 Sundays, souper bowl Sunday and the Sunday prior. Based on how this goes we can expand year if needed. Pat is concerned we will get more soup than we can handle.

Knights of Columbus. Marty mentioned that he received a message from Philip Diehn of the Knights of Columbus. They could use volunteers at both St. Lucy and St. Sebastians for the socials they are hosting after masses on the weekend of November 30/December 1, 2024.

Next Meeting | Adjournment

Next Meeting: January 21, 2025 at 6:30 pm at Sacred Heart

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:38 pm.

Motion to approve – Greg Pitts | Seconded – Jim Nondorf

 

Respectfully submitted by Stacey Walsh