Parish Pastoral Minutes
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
In Attendance:
For Parish Council: Father Showreddy, Father Eustace, Ja-Deen Johnson, Theresa Roberts, Maria Hartman, Connie Merkel, Amberlie O’Toole, Ben Laker, Bobby Eicholtz, Jeremy Schoettle
For Finance Council: Rachel Miller
The meeting was called to order.
Father Showreddy opened the meeting with scripture.
Father Eustace followed by leading us in prayer.
Amberlie had one correction to the minutes. The title included finance council however February’s meeting did not include Finance council.
A motion was made to approve the amended council minutes. Minutes were seconded and approved.
Pastor’s Report from Father Showreddy:
Father has the Chrism Mass on March 31st so that’s why the original meeting date didn’t work. He thanked everyone for their flexibility. School confessions were last week with 6 priests present. Sunday and Monday night we had our Lenten mission presided by Father Ben Syberg. About 80 people were in attendance in person each night. We did not hold it a third night due to St. Patrick’s day. Our penance service is tomorrow with 8 priests scheduled to be present. Planning for Easter Masses is underway. 14 candidates are being received into the church on the Easter Vigil. (6 of whom are children)
Pastor’s Report from Father Eustace:
Father Eustace stated that 2 candidates from the Chin community are being confirmed in the Catholic Church from the Baptist faith.
Principal’s Report:
Father shared that principal Ryan Schnarr is not contracted to return next year and is currently on leave for the time being. This has been communicated to the school families and will be communicated to the parish in the bulletin as well.
Ronda Swartz, assistant principal, is acting in his place in the interim.
Father is in touch with the archdiocese for the process to hire a new principal.
Spring break starts Friday for the school.
Financial Report:
Ja-Deen shared that the fees and fundraising policy will be shared at the next finance council meeting so no further news there. These policies most likely won’t be instituted until July 1, 2026.
Covenant renewal is underway. Turn in for pledges was this past weekend. She roughly estimated that a couple hundred have been submitted thus far. All school families are required to turn one in.
Amberlie will have Laura Bridgewater pass along this reminder to the school families.
We are doing well on tithing. We are above what is budgeted by $6,000. The month of January was significantly lower than December. (which is to be expected considering December includes the Christmas offering) Easter typically makes up for the lower months.
We received grant money for a portion of the window film. We also received a $22,000 grant for roof expenses. There is a vast majority of facilities’ work happening on spring break. The gym doors on the back will be replaced. Doors outside of Laura’s area will be relocated in that hallway and a set of new steel doors will be installed.
With all of the rain, there have been leaks in places where there isn’t a new roof. An engineer from the archdiocese has recommended replacing the church roof over the narthex. The back parking lot also needs resurfaced. We don’t have a timeline yet for the parking lot as we are waiting on two more quotes.
When speaking with other business managers, Ja-Deen suggested we should do a capital needs assessment so we aren’t just reacting to issues that arise. This will help us determine the aging parts of our facilities and what projects need attention before problems occur.
An $870,000 Choice installment should be received soon.
Ongoing business:
Faith Formation:
Maria shared that 7 members of the faith formation commission met on the 10th.
She shared details of this week’s Lenten Mission. Sunday’s talk started with a soup supper. Approximately 50 people attended along with Father Ben. After Monday’s talk, a dessert reception was held. Many people stayed for that and Father Ben chatted with people until everyone left. The Penance service is tomorrow.
45 children will receive first holy communion. A retreat for them is coming up in April with 4 different stations.
Women’s welcome retreat recently had a great group of women. Most of whom are continuing on with formation. The Men’s welcome retreat just occurred this past weekend. Maria stated that this being scheduled the same weekend as casino night might pertain to a calendar issue per discussion with staff. A new calendar system might be good to eliminate this.
The youth minister, Tina, is starting an Emmaus village - ministry for parents of teens.
Men’s Club:
Bobby shared that the men's club had casino night this past weekend. Ticket sales were about 100 to 150 less than normal. The men’s club is still figuring out where they stand with profits. It was an enjoyable evening by those in attendance.
Worship Commission: Jeremy shared that he is looking for a replacement for parish council.
School Commission: Ronda Swartz, assistant principal, is invited to attend the next meeting. There was discussion to have someone else from the school commission, who isn’t a staff member, attend future meetings.
Father Showreddy closed the meeting by leading us in prayer.
The next Parish Council Meeting will be April 28th at 6:30 pm in the Hope Center.
