Minutes

Fr. Raj opened the meeting with a prayer at 5:01pm

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

Absent:  Eileen Grant, Brad DeSaye

Staff: Jim Wren, Donna Maneely, Shelly Cooper

Guest: Fr. Gaspar

1. Minutes Approval:

• Anne motioned to approve the July meeting minutes; Dan seconded it; approved

2. Financial Statements:

• Dan asked why altar flowers expense was over budget by $500. Jim explained that previously if we did not receive a donation for altar flowers for a certain week, we would place the orchids from the Adoration Chapel on the altar. A parishioner offered to pay for the altar flowers when we do not receive a donation. We did not budget an altar flower expense for each week so the expense will be over budget.
• Dan asked why we budgeted half of the yearly unrestricted contributions in July. We knew we were receiving a large contribution in July so we budgeted it in July.
• Jim commented that the online giving collection amounts are less than last year at this time because of the online giving grant match last summer.
• Anne asked why the school did not receive the EANS grant. Shelly explained that the school did get the grant but it has proven hard to access. It can only be used for certain expenses like technology and PPE. The school wanted to hold summer school this past July but it was not approved by EANS in time. The school has three years to use the grant money.
• Bill motioned to approve the July Financials; Anne seconded the motion; motion approved
• Anne motioned to approve the August Financials; Bob seconded the motion; motion approved

3. Bank Statement Approval:

• Terry reviewed the July bank reconciliation; no discrepancies noted
• Anne reviewed the August bank reconciliation; no discrepancies noted

4. Pastor’s Report:

• Raj welcomed Fr. Gaspar to our meeting.
• The Council Social was held in August.
• The Staff retreat was held in July.
• A Liturgical Minister’s formation meeting is on 10/2. Bishop Olmsted’s Apostolic Exhortation will be discussed.
• The Diocesan Priest Convocation was held in Flagstaff in September. It was a reflection on priestly spirituality.
• October is the month of the Rosary, pro-life month, Fall break at the school and Heritage Week. Fr. Raj asked the council to participate in Heritage Week.

5. Parish Manager Report:

• September collection totals so far are $55,482 for the plate collection and $48,044 for online giving.
• Jim spoke about the events that took place recently:
  • The Council Social went well; it took place in the Youth Center.
  • Youth Group has gotten off to its best start in many years. The kick-off was on September 12^th with the Hispanic community participating. The first 2 weeks have had 15-20 participants each in Life teen and Edge. The new Youth Minister is very enthusiastic and communicates well.  She has put together a great Core Team. She has a sent out the entire semester’s lessons and they are centered around a super hero theme.
  • Hopefest took place on September 11^th. Sacred Heart participated. There were 3 shifts of 2 hours each run by staff, Knights of Columbus and St. Vincent de Paul.  We passed out rosary pamphlets and did a great deal of evangelization. We also handed out school information. A local real estate agent asked for school information to give out to people who move here.
  • Jim and Amanda attended Embry Riddle’s new student orientation. About 30 students stopped by their table. They gave out educational material and 3 young men from Embry Riddle have since signed up for RCIA.
• Heritage Week:
  • October 21^st is the new parishioner’s dinner. 107 new families were sent invitations. It will be catered this year so staff can interact with the new parishioners. Some of our Parish ministries will also attend: Knights of Columbus, St. Vincent de Paul, and That Man Is You, along with representatives from liturgical ministries.
  • October 22^nd: The living rosary in the school gym
  • October 23^rd: Heritage Festival from 10:30am to 3:00pm will take place outdoors and in the gym. Alma Helms and Margarita Arellano are co-chairs. They have a committee and sub committees. The flyer has been posted to the website, Facebook and the Chamber of Commerce. There will be a new addition: a table filled with church historical documents. We have applied for a liquor license and have asked for police involvement.
• The Silver Rose Service will take place on October 12^th at 5:30 (English) and 7pm (Spanish). There will be a prayer service, rosary and blessing.
• Staffing: we hired a new school custodian. Jim reached out to US Vets after not having any luck recruiting any potential employees. Shelly needs to fill a part time teaching position. The 5^th grade teacher moved to part time due to health reasons. Shelly is filling in for now.
• Together Let Us Go Forth Campaign: Fr. Raj and Jim met with Martha Gamez from the Diocese and Fr. Raj made the decision to halt the campaign. A letter was sent to parishioners thanking them for their donation and asking them to continue their pledge. The Diocese also reached out to parishioners who pledged but have not given.
• Christmas is on a Saturday this year so there will not be a Vigil Mass for the Feast of the Holy Family which is on December 26^th. Mary, Mother of God is not a holy day of obligation so there will be a normal Vigil Mass on that Saturday, January 1^st.
• PNC Bank bought out BBVA. As of October 12, BBVA will become PNC Bank. We have received information on a new fee schedule. Donna reached out to Laura at BBVA about the new fees.
• Gaspar would like a larger car than the Prius. Jim suggested that we could sell the Prius and then look for a used car for him but we did not budget this item and will have to consider taking it from reserves.
• Investment follow up:
  • We opened an account with Index Fund Advisors (Investing for Catholics). There is now $900k in IFA and BOK Reserve Fund 2. Originally the council approved $1.1 million in each account but when Jim, Terry and Bill looked at the numbers it was decided to begin with $900k so we could equalize what was in each account.
  • According to Jim it was a monumental undertaking to get this accomplished. He had to redo the paperwork for IFA and they were not easy to work with. Scott Sas at BOK on the other hand, was great to work with.
  • We changed the names of two of the BOK accounts: Account #1 is now Operating Funds, Account #2 is now Reserve Account Number 2.
  • We moved the amount we budgeted for Reserves this fiscal year, $55,500, to the BBVA Reserve Account from the BBVA Operating Account.
  • We will start sending $10k to BOK and $10k to IFA instead of $20k to BOK each month.
  • Bill reminded everyone that this is a long-term investment.
• Jim spoke about the homeless man that was living off of Summit Street by the church office on the easement owned by the city. It was becoming concerning due to his encampment getting larger and his approaching parishioners. The police notified him that he needed to vacate the premises. He did leave and the city came in and cleaned up the area.
• There have been a couple vandalism issues: a young man tried to enter the locked church and then the adoration chapel one night. He went up to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Statue and tried to lift it. Three men who were in the adoration chapel came out and called the police. The police arrested him and he spent some time in jail.  The other issue involved children playing on the playground unsupervised. A young boy was throwing rocks at the elevator window. It happened a couple of times and Jim and another adult talked to the boy.

6. Old Business:

• None

7. New Business:

• None

Fr. Raj led a closing prayer at 6:06pm.

Respectfully submitted by Donna Maneely

Fr. Raj opened the meeting with a prayer at 5:03pm

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

Staff: Jim Wren, Donna Maneely, Shelly Cooper

1. Minutes Approval: June Meeting Minutes approved

• Dan stated that the minutes should read “school registration” not tuition in the Financial Statements section in the June minutes. Donna will amend the June minutes to read “school registration”.
• Anne motioned to approve the June meeting minutes with the correction; Dan seconded it; approved

2. Financial Statements: June Financials approved

• Jim answered some questions that Bill emailed previously: 1)Why was rental income under budget? One renter did not have much work during the height of Covid so Fr. Raj allowed him to pay half rent. 2)Why was CEA also under budget? The school did not have the enrollment to use all of the CEA funds available to us and some families did not apply for the CEA scholarship money.
• Jim commented that we ended the year with net income of $7,978 and actual net income of $261,555, which is good since the school had a large net loss.
• Bill asked why the Reserves show a negative amount for the month of June. We make the adjustments at the end of the fiscal year and move capital expenses to fixed assets which removes the expense from Reserves.
• Eileen motioned to approve the June Financials; Brad seconded the motion; motion approved

3. Bank Statement Approval:

• Terry reviewed the June bank reconciliation; no discrepancies noted

4. Pastor’s Report:

• Sacred Heart achieved our 2021 CDA goal. We were 106% of goal.
• The Day of Reflection is on Friday, July 30th^th.
• School reopens Wednesday, August 4^th with a school Mass.
• commented that more people are coming back to church; the delta variant is a concern; he is waiting to hear from the Diocese on any new guidelines.
• Raj is starting to hold liturgical meetings. He met with the Deacons just before this meeting.
• The all council social is on Wednesday, August 25^th instead of a normal meeting. The parish directors are also invited.
• That Man is You is starting up again in September. They will meet in the Gym.
• On the 2^nd Friday of the month the Hispanic Families group will meet.

5. Parish Manager Report:

• July collection totals so far are $67,745 for the plate collection and $44,291 for online giving.
• The Day of Reflection is from 8:30-3pm in the church on July 30th. Dual topics of the Eucharist and Hospitality from 3 perspectives will be presented.
• Deacon Mark Weber was installed as a Deacon with a reception after Mass on July 11^th.
• The school’s open house is on Sunday August 1^st after the 9am Mass.
• The Knights of Columbus breakfast returns on August 8^th.
• The Catholic Community Foundation’s Wills and Trust Seminar is on August 17^th. There is a morning and an evening session. Sign-ups are through the CCF. It is free and comes with an hour meeting with one of their attorneys.
• Fr. Gaspar’s welcome reception is on August 22^nd after the 9am mass.
• The council reception will take place on August 25^th at 5pm. The directors are invited this year.
• Jim commented that the School Advisory Board wants to be involved with the school budget and financials. By Canon Law this is the Finance Council’s role. Jim suggested that Terry attend a school board meeting to explain.
• We received the monthly diocesan bill for the property and liability taxes.  There was a 30% increase to the property taxes. Jim spoke with the Controller at the diocese. He explained that the increase is due to the increase in property taxes because of the renovation. We did not have an increase last year because of the pandemic. The amount is not a catch up, which is in answer to Bob’s question.
• The new youth minister, Amanda spoke at all the Masses on July 25^th. It was successful as 22 youth signed up to attend Life Teen or Edge. She has sent out a survey monkey to the parents, she has spoken with Jimena to reach out to the Hispanic teens and to Shelly to reach the middle school for Edge. Amanda is expecting a child later this year so she is concentrating on building a strong core team.
• Embry Riddle Catholic Club has not reached out to us yet to bring back the Sunday Mass or to attend their back to school program.
• Hopefest is on September 11^th. We are participating this year.

6. Old Business:

• Investing for Catholics: Raj and Jim spoke with Fr. Bud a pastor from Sun City about Investing for Catholics. Fr. Bud said that IFC has very good communication, is flexible, and responsive. His parish has benefited greatly from investing with them. Their church started 4 years ago by investing $6 million into 3 different funds: 70/30-growth, 60/40 -capital projects and a small amount for immediate needs. They recently consolidated into 2 accounts: 70/30 and 60/40. They have drawn over $2 million but still have $6 million invested.  They have a rainy-day fund that they use to pay their Bishops Assessment in one lump sum without affecting their budget. They like the flexibility of the funds.
• Eileen asked if Mary at IFC has a back-up. She has a staff but she likes to handle most things. Eileen also asked in what companies will IFC invest in for us. She has some concerns about some of the companies such as Facebook. Jim stated that the funds are consistent with Catholic guidelines but he will question Mary.
• One of our parishioners with a financial background feels that there is a correction in the market coming. How will this affect our decision?
• Raj is confident in going forward with IFC after speaking with Fr. Bud. Fr. Ralph is also in agreement with moving forward.
• Bill suggested splitting the investment between IFC and the BOK master custody account so that we can compare the performance of the two funds after a period of time. Bob agreed with Bill as he had done something similar with his personal investments.
• Following a fruitful discussion of pros and cons of using IFC, Bill made a motion as follows: The Finance Council recommends to the Pastor to transfer $1.1 million from Bank of Oklahoma reserve funds to IFC over the near term using the 60/40 portfolio (Equities/Fixed Income), which is consistent with the mix in the Diocese of Phoenix Master Custody Investment Intermediate portfolio. Additionally, the Finance Council recommends transferring $500,000 from cash in other parish accounts over the near term to the Diocese of Phoenix Master Custody Investment Intermediate portfolio. Bob seconded the motion; motion approved.

7. New Business:

• None

Fr. Raj closed the meeting by thanking everyone for their efficiency and for Bill and Terry’s help with the investments.

He led a closing prayer at 6:06pm.

Respectfully submitted by Donna Maneely

Council Members Present: Terry Brennan, Bill Jacobs, Anne Welborn, Dan Putschoegel, Eileen Grant

Council Members Absent: Brad DeSaye

Others Present: Father Raj, Pastor; Jim Wren, Parish Manager; Bob Dressler, who will become a Council member in July.

1. Meeting called to order by Chair Terry Brennan at 5:00 PM. Bob Dressler was welcomed as a new council member starting in July. Tonight, he will be observing the meeting.
2. Father Raj led the Council in an opening prayer.
3. Approval of May 26, 2021 Finance Council Meeting Minutes: Anne made a motion to approve the May 26 minutes as presented. The motion was seconded by Eileen and the minutes were unanimously approved.
4. Review of May financial statements:

• May financial statements: Eileen asked about the $66,000 and $14,000 transfers into BoK. Jim indicated that this was the $80,000 transferred in over four months (January – April, May transfer done in June). Dan asked about the sacramental expense in the School; Jim answered that it is related to Theresa Yslas’ sacramental program. Dan also asked why registration was down since Shelly had indicated previously that the school was close to budgeted enrollment. Jim clarified that Shelly’s statement referred to enrollment for the upcoming school year and that the previous year enrollment was down due to the pandemic.
• Bill moved to approve the May financial statements; Anne seconded. The May financial statements were unanimously approved.

5. Bank Reconciliations:
   • May – Brad (who was not present at the meeting), indicated to Terry via Email that he reviewed the May reconciliation and found no issues.

6. Pastor’s Report:
   • Father announced new guidelines related to coming back to Church after the pandemic. The dispensation to attend Mass ends July 1. We will finalize the new guidelines when Father Ralph returns later this week. New guidelines will be in place the weekend of June 26 and 27. Dan asked about whether the collections will return to normal. We will continue to not pass the basket for now. Father indicated that collections have not suffered using the new method. Dan asked whether there is an issue with people putting money into the new collection box during the week. Jim indicated that there is no issue since the box is locked and the key secured. Jim also indicated that we will be keeping the collection box outside the office as people are still using that.
   • There are two meetings scheduled with the liturgical ministers on July 2 and 9 to discuss changes to procedures following the pandemic.
   • We will be introducing more hospitality events such as cookies after Mass for various events and also at the Heritage Festival.
   • Father reminded the Council about the new floor in the Forum. Bob asked whether the Forum could be used again. Jim indicated that once the floor is completely dry, the forum can be used as normal and should be fine for the next Knights meeting in July.
   • Father commended the maintenance staff on all the work that they do maintaining the parish facilities and grounds.
   • Summer school is happening using federal EANS money. Dan asked whether the teacher positions had been filled; Father indicated that there are still positions to be filled. Jim indicated that we did receive several applications for the new full time custodian position.
7. Parish Manager’s Report:

Jim reported the following:

• Light of the World Retreat was held June 12-13. Thirty people registered and nearly all stayed for the whole weekend including Confessions and Mass. The retreat was very successful and bore much fruit.
• New Church envelopes were issued and feedback has been positive so far. Anne asked whether we can get rid of envelopes and go to all online giving. Jim indicated that this doesn’t seem possible at least in the near future since it is evident from the calls regarding the new envelopes that many people still give using paper envelopes.
• New projection screens have been obtained and Forum floor has been completed.
• We are in process of planning the staff/council retreat for July 30. Food is planned to be ordered this time so all staff can participate in the retreat.
• Hard copies of the Bishop’s apostolic exhortation have been ordered. We have ordered 250 English and 50 Spanish because they were $4.45 each.
• We have met the goal for the CDA for the first time in quite a few years. This effort was helped by the matching grant.
• We will be working on fiscal year end statements due to the Diocese on July 31.
• Collections thus far in June have been: about $83,000 with still one weekend left. Dan asked whether there were five collections in June; Jim indicated that technically there were only 4 in June but because the May fifth Sunday collection was May 30 and May 31 was Memorial Day, that collection wasn’t deposited until June.
• Jim asked about scheduling of the CCF seminar on Estates and Trusts. We will consider setting this up in August. It was asked whether we have had these seminars before and we have, but it has been awhile. Bill asked whether CCF would benefit by becoming the advisor directly. Jim indicated that this is an educational service offered for free by CCF and wouldn’t necessarily directly benefit them.

8. Old Business – 2022 Budget: Minor changes were made to the previous draft of the budget. These include adjusting the priests’ salaries per the information from the Diocese (3% increase); this was offset by decreasing Deacon Joe’s salary and Father Gary’s stipend to a more accurate amount based on what we have spent in the past. The subsidy for Youth Ministry increased because the new youth minister will have family health coverage. Youth Minister starts July 7. Some minor changes were made to the Preschool budget, mainly a reclassification of revenue between tuition and scholarships with no material overall change to the budget.

• Anne made a motion to approve and adopt the fiscal year 2021-22 budget; Bill seconded the motion and the 2021-22 budget was approved unanimously.

9. New Business – Mary Bronson from Investing for Catholics gave a virtual presentation to the Council regarding some proposed investment strategies to earn more on our reserve funds. Some of the basic items Mary presented include:

• Mary gave a brief history of Investing for Catholics(“IFC”) and indicated that the Diocese of Phoenix has approved Investing for Catholics as one of three possible investment vehicles. Mary works with several parishes in the Diocese of Phoenix and recently was selected by Xavier Prep as their investment advisor. There is a preferential pricing structure for the Diocese which is in total between .3-.55%.
• Compared to other retail brokerage firms, IFC is a true fiduciary advisor and focuses on educating parishes about fund selection, diversification and risk management.
• IFC would help Sacred Heart open the investment account (using either Ameritrade or Charles Schwab) and then have an ongoing dialogue about the asset allocation and regular rebalancing of the portfolio. IFC analyzes the entire market of Catholic value investments. Funds exclude companies that have any investment in any facility supporting abortion and human embryo and fetal stem cell research or product lines tied to embryonic or fetal stem cells; contraceptives; pornography; controversy regarding child labor or manufacturers of weapons of mass destruction.
• We have $2.5 million total in reserve funds but will keep $600,000 at BoK, so we have $1,900,000 available to invest. Father Raj wants to proceed slowly. We need to consider whether we want cash to be separate or be part of fixed income. Bill recommends that we keep the cash separate. The Council indicated that they want to be very conservative.
• IFC uses Dimensional Fund Advisors (similar to Vanguard) – they target diversification but lean more toward small and value companies. There are 2,300 companies in the fund.
• Moving $900,000 to IFC, leaving $600,000 in BoK and the other $1,000,000 in cash would create a 36% allocation in stocks and 24% in bonds with 40% remaining in cash.
• Jim asked how other parishes in the Diocese handle the allocation between equities and fixed income. Mary indicated that many parishes have separate accounts that each have different purposes and different levels of risk and, therefore, different allocations between equities and fixed income vehicles. That would be another option to consider for Sacred Heart. Mary felt that the average allocation of fixed income versus equities ranges from 55%/45%- 65%/35%.
• Because of the special fee arrangement with the Diocese, we would have to add in and additional .6% to the projected returns on the documents handed out.
• A buy and hold strategy is recommended.
• Jim asked which parish we should talk to in order to get an idea of what might work for Sacred Heart. Mary indicated that the best contacts would be Dennis Dion or Ron Gerden (from Prince of Peace Parish which was recently spun off from Our Lady of Lourdes Parish). These gentlemen are on the Finance Council. Mary will provide their contact information.
• Bill clarified that $1.5 million of the $2.5 million is for long-term capital reserve projects so that we may not need to access that money anytime soon. Mary indicated that these funds may be able to be in a little higher risk fund but the overall allocation is still 60/40. IFC has 150 portfolios with different allocations between stocks and bonds.
• Bill indicated that since the 50 years average return is 10% , we will be losing money if we delay the decision to move funds to IFC.
• Father Raj indicated that we should get the information from the other parish and reflect on what we want to do but we definitely want to invest something.
• Eileen requested to get a list of companies that we would be investing in.

10. Closing Prayer and Adjournment: Father Raj did the closing prayer. The meeting adjourned at 6:22 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Jim Wren, Parish Manager

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

Present: Bill Jacobs, Anne Welborn, Terry Brennan, Dan Putschoegl, Eileen Grant, Brad DeSaye

Staff: Jim Wren, Donna Maneely, Shelly Cooper

1. Minutes Approval: April Meeting Minutes approved

• Anne motioned to accept the April meeting minutes; Bill seconded the motion; motion passed

2. Financial Statements: April Financials approved

• Dan inquired as to why Theater Camp and Sports Income amounts were low. The school only participated in volleyball and soccer this year and the school did not have Theater Camp due to Covid. He also asked about the Alpha retreat. We did not have the Alpha retreat due to Covid.
• Eileen motioned to approve the April Financials; Dan seconded the motion; motion approved

3. Bank Statement Approval:

• Dan reviewed the April bank reconciliation; no discrepancies noted

4. Pastor’s Report:

• Masks are now optional at Mass.
• Bishop Olmsted’s Eucharistic Exhortation will be discussed with all the councils and with the staff at the staff retreat on July 30^th.
• There will be a Eucharistic Procession on June 6^th, the Feast of Corpus Christi, followed by benediction. We will continue with benediction on the 1^st Sunday of each month.
• Rubiston is leaving next week; Fr. Vicente will be back.
• Father Gaspar is coming in August as an additional Associate Pastor.
• Our new deacon, Mark Weber should be starting soon. He met with Bishop Olmsted yesterday.

5. Parish Manager Report:

• We had 2 candidates apply for the Youth Minister position. We interviewed one and the other candidate cancelled. Jim will offer the position to the candidate who interviewed.  Her references were stellar.
• We were going to order new projectors and screens but we found 4 projectors in the church office so we only ordered 2 screens.
• The LOTW retreat is June 12^th and 13^th; 11 people have registered so far. Sign ups will take place after all the Masses over the next two weekends.
• The Mass for the Sacred Heart of Jesus is on June 11^th at 5:30pm. Cookies will be served after Mass. Jim told the council they could come and help serve cookies.
• Our new offertory envelope provider is Church Budget Envelopes. The first set goes out for July/August.
• May collections so far: $57,305 plate and $42,115 online
• There was a little confusion as to the date of the next meeting: it will be on June 23^rd.
• Jim, Terry and Bill met with Mary Bronson from Investing for Catholics. Their investment program is already approved by the diocese. She will speak at the June meeting virtually. The fee is .55% and all funds are vetted to be in line with Catholic teaching.
• Jim shared a letter from Catholic Community Foundation. They would like us to invest with them. They are decreasing their market projection and have made changes to their Million Dollar Match program as of July 1.
• 2022 CCF endowment disbursements are a little lower than budgeted.
• Jim would like to pursue holding a Wills and Trusts Seminar with CCF in the future.

6. Old Business:

• 2022Budget: a generous donation from a parishioner will cover the salary increase for the school and parish.
• We have not received the 2022 priest salary schedule yet. We should receive it soon so Jim suggested waiting until the June meeting to approve the 2022 budget.
• Parish Directory: Roger Dubin can do the directory but many questions remain before he can give an accurate cost. Jim said we will budget this in the 2023 budget to begin the summer of 2022.
• Jim reminded the council that tuition and CEA funds are on an accrual basis and actual amounts will be lower so there will be a large shortfall. Shelly said the school will be getting another $23k from CEA for tuition scholarships. We didn’t have as many families as was budgeted for due to Covid but most families have paid their tuition.
• 109 students are enrolled for next year and we budgeted for 110.
• Preschool will no longer be subsidized by the parish as the teacher will take over as director and will take a stipend over the summer. The school will assist with purchase orders.
• Preschool is at capacity for next year with one aide so we budgeted for two aides in case we get more students.
• The school needs to hire a few teachers and custodian. Shelly has a strong candidate for 5^th grade, has hired a 3^rd grade teacher and needs a Middle School Science and a PE teacher.

7. New Business:

• Fr. Raj is planning to have a discussion on the Eucharistic Exhortation on September 10^th for the Parish.

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

Respectfully submitted by Donna Maneely

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

2. 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

3. Bank Statement Approval:

• Anne reviewed the March bank reconciliation;  no discrepancies noted

4. 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 3^rd 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 1^st.
• 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.

5. 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 1^st. 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 18^th 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.

6. 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.

7. New Business: none

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

Respectfully submitted by Donna Maneely