Terry began the meeting at 5:00pm.

Fr. Raj opened with a prayer.

Present: Bill Jacobs, Eileen Grant, Terry Brennan, Dan Putschoegl, Bob Dressler, Anne Welborn

Absent:  Brad DeSaye

Staff: Jim Wren (Via Zoom), Donna Maneely, Shelly Cooper

  1. Minutes Approval:
  • Eileen motioned to approve the December meeting minutes; Dan seconded it; approved
  1. Financial Statements:
  • Terry suggested adding a note to the bulletin income/expense report that online giving is lower this year due to the online giving grant match last summer.
  • Jim commented that December was a good month financially and the Christmas collection was $10k over budget.
  • Bill asked about the $25k anonymous restricted donation to the building fund. A letter was sent with the donation restricting it to building expenses. He also asked if the restricted roof donations were all earmarked for the church roof; yes.
  • Bill motioned to approve the December Financials; Dan seconded the motion; motion approved
  1. Bank Statement Approval:
  • Terry reviewed the December bank reconciliation; no discrepancies noted
  1. Pastor’s Report:
  • Fr. Raj commented that attendance seems to be increasing at Mass.
  • He spoke about preparing for the Synod and that the council will be asked to participate.
  • Catholic Schools Week begins next week kicking off with the Preschool Spaghetti Western Dinner.
  • The Volunteer Appreciation dinner is February 24th.
  • Lent begins March 2nd. We are giving out the book, ‘Living Joy’ by Chris Stefanick. Fr. Raj would like to have an open house to discuss the book after Easter.
  • We are contacting the Diocese about a Lenten Mission speaker.
  • Blessing of the Candles is February 2nd; Blessing of the Throats is February 3rd after Mass.
  • Next week is the Annual Claretian Retreat. It will be virtual.
  1. Parish Manager Report:
  • December plate collection numbers are strong as are January’s: $87,800 plate and $40k online giving so far.
  • The Volunteer Appreciation Dinner is February 24th at 5:30pm in the Gym. Only 12 RSVPs so far. The deadline to RSVP is February 4th. It will be catered and there will be music.
  • A 2017 Nissan Rogue has been donated for Fr. Gaspar. It is in great shape; has 40k miles. Fr. Ralph will drive the Prius since his car has a lot of miles. Fr. Ralph’s Subaru will be the back up car. Jim asked if we should depreciate the car over 5 years as in the past or 3 years as Terry and Bill suggested. If 3 years, it will affect the depreciation budget.  Terry will research.
  • Tom Thompson has been given all the information for the Reserve Study. We are 8th on the list for the site visit. Jim welcomes any Finance Council member to be there for the visit.
  • CDA virtual training was yesterday. We have the same goal as previous years. Bulletin ads will begin February 5/6. February 12/13 is the kick off weekend and Mike and Kelly Daniel will give a witness talk the weekend of February 19/20. The Diocese put together a great video of the Daniel family which is posted on the Parish and Diocese Facebook pages.
  1. Old Business:
  • We discussed passing the basket at Mass. Bob was in Yuma and said they were passing collection baskets there. Our Ushers were holding baskets at Christmas which may have helped with the larger collection. An important question is if we have enough ushers to pass the collection baskets. We will hold off passing them for now.
  1. New Business:
  • Pope Francis has called for a Synod. Bishop Olmsted opened it for the Diocese of Phoenix on October 17, 2021. The Finance Council will discuss the three questions from the handout at the next meeting. The Diocese wants to know what parishioners are thinking about the Church. The Priests will be talking  about the Synod in homilies and will have open houses to hear from different groups. Kevin Keighron and Martha Lamb are heading up the Committee. This is a 2-year process, though the Committee has set a March 17, 2022 due date to complete the Parish report.
  • 2023 Budget: first draft budgets are due this week from the ministries. A tuition increase has been recommended from the Diocese. Jim will present the first draft at the February meeting.
  • Jim would like a committee to be formed to discuss putting the Parish directory in the 2023 budget.
  • Shelly talked about Catholic Schools Week which begins January 30th.

Fr. Raj led a closing prayer at 5:55PM

Respectfully submitted by Donna Maneely