Fr. Raj opened the meeting with a prayer at 5:00pm

Present: Bill Jacobs, Anne Welborn (by phone), Terry Brennan, Dan Putschoegl, Eileen Grant, Brad DeSaye

Staff: Jim Wren, Donna Maneely, Shelly Cooper

  1. Minutes Approval: March Meeting Minutes approved
  • Anne motioned to accept the March meeting minutes; Eileen seconded the motion; motion passed
  1. Financial Statements: March Financials approved
  • Bill asked about two items on Payroll: which employees are included in Administrative Salaries and in Ministry salaries. Administrative salaries include the Parish Manager and Maintenance Director. Ministry includes Sr. Anne.
  • Bill motioned to approve the March Financials; Dan seconded the motion; motion approved
  1. Bank Statement Approval:
  • Anne reviewed the March bank reconciliation;  no discrepancies noted
  1. Pastor’s Report:
  • April was a busy month with Holy Week, Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, and the celebration of the sacraments. Masses in the church at 7am and 9am masses were full on Easter.
  • Fr. Vicente will be taking his vacation in May. Fr. Rubiston will be helping out while he is on vacation.
  • Sacred Heart will be getting a new deacon, if approved by the Bishop Olmsted. His name is Mark Weber.
  • Catholic Education Arizona representatives came up from Phoenix last week to host a corporate event at the school.
  • May 3rd is Clergy Day at the Diocese. The priests will be attending virtually.
  • Fr. Raj is looking forward to school graduation in May.
  • New Covid guidelines for Sunday Masses will begin May 1st.
  • Confessions will be moved to the Sacred Heart room so this meeting may be affected.
  • Fr. wants to have a study on the new Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist by Bishop Olmsted.
  • Fr. would like to bring back First Friday benediction and add a Eucharistic procession on the Feast of Corpus Christi in June.
  • This Saturday is the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. Homilies will be about St. Joseph and prayer cards are available.
  • Fr. Raj would like to proceed with a Parish Directory.
  • We have 2 possible candidates for the Youth Minister position. Interviews will be in May.
  • Fr. would like to have a social time with the council to promote unity and cohesiveness.
  1. Parish Manager Report:
  • Finding an organization that provides a Parish Directory has been difficult.  Jim has reached out to many organizations. LifeTouch no longer produces the directories. The Diocese did not have any information. Marchetti Photos can take pictures but does not have the graphic design experience. No expense for previous directories has been found. Parishioners were most likely charged for any photos they bought which then covered the church expense.
  • Staff change: The night custodian is moving. His last day will be June 1st. It is not an attractive position since it is part time with no benefits. The school janitor is also leaving at the end of June. We are discussing combining the position to cover Saturdays and the school. It would become a full time benefit eligible position. It is not in the budget yet.
  • Fr. Raj received a response from Fr. Adamson at the Diocese to his request to lower the Bishop’s Assessment. They cannot change it and they indicated that Sacred Heart’s Assessment is slightly lower than the 10% average.
  • We are changing the company that provides our offertory envelopes. Budget Envelopes offers a large savings over Our Sunday Visitor. Plus we will get more customization. Jim needs to write OSV by May 18th to let them know. There was a concern about online giving that is provided through OSV. We are able to continue with OSV. The cost is $25 per month but it is not being charged at this time.
  • April collection totals so far are $36k plate and $44k online.
  • We are doing well with the CDA. We are in the ‘80%-99% of goal met’ group.
  1. Old Business:
  • The Council discussed various scenarios regarding payroll expenses for the 2022 FY budget. No final decisions were made.
  • Bill noticed that the Spring Gala income and expense were the same number on the FY 2022 school budget draft. Shelly will lower the expense. Bill would like a copy of the reserve budget added. We will send it with next draft of budgets since there weren’t any changes made to it.
  • Jim discussed the Investment Recommendation per the packet emailed to the council. None of the options appeared appropriate. The council was surprised that Ave Maria funds were not represented in the Diocesan recommendations. Jim will do some more research on Ave Maria funds. No decisions were made.
  1. New Business: none

Fr. Raj led a closing prayer at 6:09pm

Respectfully submitted by Donna Maneely