To view highlights of Council activities for the year 2000 click the links shown below.

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The Community of St. Malachi Council met Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2000 in the St. Malachi Center kitchen. Gary Pritts began the meeting with a faith sharing. Fr. Tony summed up the meeting, focusing on the themes of new beginnings and the working of the Spirit.

URBAN COMMUNITY SCHOOL: Sr. Maureen Doyle, director of UCS, briefed Council on the school's history and recent exploration of expansion possibilities. At its July 10 meeting, the board recommended that UCS be expanded to 600 students. Oct. 15 is a deadline for a final decision. UCS is expanding all options at St. Malachi's and St. Wendelin's. Council discussed ramifications for the Community, the benefits of having a new building with more space and meeting rooms, along the negatives of construction disruptions. Also questions such as financial/ownership issues and parking were considered.

APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY: Rebecca Rocco reported on the "St. Malachi Looks to the Future, Rejoice and Renew" project and that we now need to recruit other members of community to participate in the Town Hall meetings: Sept. 10 at 6 p.m., Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 14 at 9 a.m. Topics of liturgy, hospitality, outreach ministry and collaboration between parish and community have been added.

PASTOR'S REPORT: Kevin McKenna, a member of the Parish who frequently attends the 11 a.m. liturgy has been accepted as a candidate for the Permanent Deaconate. The annual "Celebration of Service" is Tuesday, Sept. 19, 7 p.m., for all who serve at St. Malachi's. St. Malachi will have a third-year seminary intern, John Retar, from late September until Easter. RCIA sessions begin Monday, Sept. 18, 7-8:30 p.m. at St. Patrick Rectory. Note the UCS benefit at the Nautica Special Events Pavilion on Sept. 16; tickets are $90, phone 216-771-8014. Oct. 6 is the Parish's Annual Reverse Raffle at Casa DiBorrally, $85 for surf and turf dinner for two and chance on $3000 prize. Tickets at the Rectory.

PRESIDENT'S REPORT: Both President Gary Pritts and Spiritual Development Chair Dick Gibbons noted Frank Schiros' resignation from Council, and thanked Frank for his service. Both stressed the need to find a replacement to co-chair the Spiritual Development Committee. A Council retreat is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 14 at 5 p.m.

SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT: Committee is planning some type of Parish/Community mission/retreat for either late fall or the Lenten season. Committee is looking into following up on the Vatican II series.

LITURGY: Seven sessions addressing posture during the Liturgy are complete and a survey is now being taken to get feedback from the Community. Committee is planning two Funeral Workshops on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 7-9 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 4, noon-2 p.m. Workshops will consist of a theological presentation, funeral home information, Catholic Cemetery information and a planning booklet and worksheet. Neighboring parishes will be invited. Plans are underway for the Oct. 1 Anniversary Mass with Bishop Pilla. The next Liturgy Committee meeting is Sept. 12 in the Rectory.

CHRISTIAN FORMATION: Karen Duffy, DRE, is taking high school kids camping to Finley State Park over Labor Day weekend. Otherwise programming is ready to go for the new school year.

COMMUNICATIONS: Dolores Sullin is helping Mike May in lining up forwarding e-mail addresses for the web site instead of phone numbers.

MEETING TIMES: Following a lengthy discussion of weeknight versus Sunday night meeting times, Council decided to split the difference and go with half Tuesdays and half Sundays. Council President Gary Pritts will develop a schedule of first Sundays and first Tuesdays.

17 SUGGESTIONS: The suggestions for changes in the Community originally submitted by Frank Schiros and deferred to committee were re-introduced with the request that discussion of the list be put on the agenda of the next meeting.

-Dan Alaimo

Council's last meeting of the 1999-2000 year and introductory meeting for new 2000-2001 Councilors was held June 13, 2000.

FINANCIAL: Proposed Budget for new Council year. Committee requests exceed expected revenues. Incoming Councilors and Committees will address shortfall.

Defined amounts for the previously approved 25^th Anniversary Gifts to Related Ministries: $ 500 Fr. Paul Hritz (250 to Stella Maris, 250 to St. Mary Seminary), 750 FutureChurch, 1000 Malachi Center, 750 Malachi House, 2000 Parish Capital Fund, 2500 Urban Community School, 2000 West Side Catholic Center Operating Fund. (Members have also donated $600 to the WSCC Capital Fund drive.)

Mary's Pence collection: Councilors felt they had insufficient information about grantees and geography of disbursements, so tabled for further investigation by Social Action.

Counting the Sunday Collection: CSM has followed the Diocesan fiscal safeguard, income is counted by someone other than the person preparing the reports. CSM will use one Councilor and one Member to count each Sunday collection. Committee recruiting volunteers.

SOCIAL ACTION: Chair Susan Shipley reported Lois Dingman agreed to Co-chair.

COMMUNICATIONS: Peter Toomey presented a Web Privacy recommendation. Council decided to create "forwarding e-mail addresses" (for example, malachichristianformation@catholic.org, malachimembership@catholic.org, malachiliturgy@catholic.org) that would automatically forward to each Chair's personal email account. For online versions of the Calendar, Newsletter, and Communio, contact persons can choose to provide a phone number, an e-mail address, or both.
At no time would the Community Roster be posted to the web site.

CSM Charter distributed to all.

PASTOR'S REPORT: Urban Community School Growth task group is studying whether CSM and St. Malachi Parish are open to expanding facilities on this campus? Fr. Tony reported on UCS's commitment to religious, racial, ethnic, social background diversity. Council conveyed definite interest in dialog with UCS about growth/expansion, in keeping with CSM's on-going annual financial support.

Jubilee 2000 Parish Open Houses for the St. Malachi-St. Patrick-St. Wendelin-St. Emeric cluster are 9 October.

Pastoral Minister Dr. Mary Jane Treichel is shared-time between the Parish and St. Patrick. And will also be available to CSM Members.

OUTGOING PRESIDENT'S REPORT: End-Of-Year Report: Rebecca Rocco noted CSM's unique mission as a lay directed personal parish: "lay direction" falls to Councilors. So she encouraged the following: Become familiar with policies in the Handbook, participate at events; support "Rejoice and Renew"; promote involvement of Members; and use Coffee Hour to conduct business and connect with Members.

(Peter is Dan Alaimo's Co-Chair on the Communications Committee)

The Community Council met in St. Malachi Center on May 16, 2000. Vice President Terry Hayes chaired the meeting. Members of both the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 councils attended this meeting. Peter Toomey provided an orientation for the new members. President and Vice President will be elected at the June 13 meeting.

LITURGY: Committee is in the process of studying the issue of posture during mass (that is, whether to stand during the Eucharistic Prayer), and will report to Council in June. Committee expects change would take place some time in the summer as an educational process must take place first, and feedback needs to be solicited. There continues to be a need to get people to clear out of the church more quickly after the 11 a.m. mass. Committee is planning the Anniversary liturgy with the Bishop and looking into re-starting a bereavement sub-committee.

PASTOR'S REPORT: Sr. Michael Marie Griffin OSU is resigning as Director of St. Malachi Center on June 2. Cathy Saegel has been named Interim Director. Mary Schroeder Giersz, daughter of Lou Schroeder, is planning the "First Annual Lou Schroeder Memorial Breakfast" to benefit Malachi House on Sunday, June 4, in the hall from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The Hritz-O'Donnell House, sponsored by the Community and Parish is under construction on Woodbine Ave. Over a period of years, Diocese is going to change the age for Confirmation so it is closer to First Communion.

PRESIDENT'S REPORT: Plans are proceeding for the year-long appreciative inquiry process, now called "St. Malachi Looks to the Future ... Rejoice and Renew," which will set five-year goals for the Community and Parish. The next meeting is June 11, 6-9 p.m. in the school hall.

MEMBERSHIP: The annual recommitment process is nearing completion with 70% of forms in, and the new roster will be published in late July or early August. Eleven new members participated in the May Welcome Series.

SOCIAL ACTION: Committee is discussing how to best help the homeless. A petition was circulated regarding guns and violence. An ice cream social is planned to take place in June at the high rise. The Community and Parish have a goal of $4500 to support the summer pledge project for the West Side Catholic Center. Aggie Hoskins will speak at the masses, June 10-11. Next committee meeting is June 11.

COMMUNICATIONS: Committee continues to grapple with logistical issues brought on by the monthly publication of Communio and the resulting larger size.

SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT: Committee is looking into editing the video tapes of the Vatican II series down to one tape, and hope to build on the success of the educational effort next year.

LEADERSHIP: Council discussed how to select its leaders for the coming year and decided on the discernment process used in recent years. Rebecca Rocco and Terry Hayes will facilitate.

REFUGEES: The Community will be sponsoring another family that was referred to us as a result of our involvement with the last family, but there is no financial commitment. The Kostermans are doing very well and the family is in the process of buying a house.

- Dan Alaimo

Council met on March 19, 2000 in St. Malachi Center, prior to the second in the Vatican II series. It was a short meeting that adjourned in time for Council members to attend the presentation.

PASTOR'S REPORT: Urban Community School has begun looking into the possibility of growing and a meeting was scheduled for April 15. Community participation is important because UCS' decisions could impact us. Steps on the church property have been repaired and estimates are being gathered for additional cement and stone work. New light fixtures for the Rectory basement have been installed and storage space enhanced. St. Malachi Center's Benefit Raffle will be held May 29, and because of substantial repairs, support is more important than ever.

PASTORAL MINISTER: An ad hoc committee of JoAnn Kramer, Susan Shipley and Rebecca Rocco was formed to look into the possibility of splitting the salary and time of a highly qualified pastoral minister.

FINANCE: We are going into the fiscal fourth quarter with the budget running very close. If expenses stay on target, we will be alright, but need to hear from committees on what they expect to spend. Bill McLaughlin has agreed to be Treasurer next year.

SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT: The first week of the Vatican II series was a solid success, but each week we need all the support that we can get. Because of expenses relating to the series, committee now anticipates a shortfall of funds relative to budget. Council approved a motion to amend the budget to cover the shortfall.

COMMUNICATIONS: Brief presentation on importance of internet in Community's future and discussion about privacy issues relating to personal information of members, such as phone numbers, being posted on web site. Council was advised of the relatively low visibility of the web site at this time, some concerns were clarified, and Council members were urged to actually visit the web site and understand what it is about. Committee will continue to discuss and return to Council with a proposed policy.

SOCIAL ACTION: Committee is planning an ice cream social at the high rise, tentatively scheduled for May 7 after the 11 a.m. mass. Committee is also working on an adopt a homeless person/family project. Committee agreed to endorse the STOP program regarding Welfare Reform and Anti-Poverty Human Rights Platform.

MEMBERSHIP: A new Welcome Series begins on May 2, with subsequent meetings on May 7 and 9. Help is needed to staff the Membership table at Coffee Hour. Ten people came to each of the February and March Prospective Member Meetings.

-Dan Alaimo

The Community Council met on Sunday, Feb. 13 at St. Malachi Center. Minutes from Jan. 23 approved with amendments. The next meeting is March 19, but to allow time to attend Vatican II educational series, the usual 7 p.m. start will be moved to 5:30 p.m. The Annual Meeting is April 9, reports, nominations and elections and volunteer opportunities. Plus the Community of St. Malachi's (CSM) Annual Report.

PRESIDENT'S REPORT: Rebecca Rocco noted that 25th Anniversary pins are on sale. Appreciative Inquiry process has begun. Council members to facilitate planning, all others are welcome. New members responding to the opportunity to talk at Coffee Hour with Councilors at the recently established Council Corner. 25th Anniversary History Book Editor Paul Kunkel is compiling committee reflections on importance, historical perspective, how work has evolved, impact on CSM's character and culture, perspectives, future goals.

PASTOR'S REPORT: Fr. Tony discussed article "How to Reach Inactive Catholics."

CHRISTIAN FORMATION: High school retreat was very successful. High school students are planning junior high retreat. First communion preparation is underway.

COMMUNICATIONS: Creating a "CSM Brochure" to describe CSM to any audience. Similar to a "corporate capabilities brochure." Web page: Meeting was scheduled to discuss style, improvements, ways to increase use. URL is www.stmalachi.org. Committee reports, schedules, employment needs and opportunities, etc., will appear.

HOSPITALITY: Committee will find volunteers to help with heavyweight clean-up, trash cans emptied, etc., at the end of Coffee Hour.

LITURGY: Lenten and Easter planning underway, to be followed by 25th Anniversary events.

MEMBERSHIP: Annual Recommitment forms coming out earlier, for return before Annual Meeting, Apr. 9. Will also be available on the web. Next Welcome Series is May 2, 7, 9.

NOMINATING: Members are invited to consider their call to serve on Council as at-large members or committee chairs. Treasurer, Hospitality and Liturgy need new chairs.

SOCIAL ACTION: Committee continues to meet after Mass in the Rectory on the second Sunday of every month. On West Side Catholic Center, attended two meetings. Talked about early history. Purchased neighboring building, rehabbing, will do fundraising for increased operations. CSM and Parish decided to solicit support with flyer, pledge card, envelope. During Lenten season, Aggie Hoskin will deliver communion reflection.

PERSONAL NEEDS FUND: Formed special fund "to meet personal financial needs for individuals who are members of the CSM or affiliated with the Community. The fund will be ongoing, funded by gifts and special fundraisers, and administered by the pastor." Any member in need can approach any councilor or Fr. Tony.

SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT: On Vatican II series, there's a generation that knows little about Vatican II. Vigorous attendance could revitalize the Community. Starts March 12. Encouraging all to invite five people (within and outside CSM) to attend these extremely important educational events.

TREASURER: Recruited volunteers to oversee counting the collection for next four Sundays. Looking for nominations for 2000-2001 treasurer.

VICE PRESIDENT: As CSM representative attended Feb. 2 Parish Council meeting to facilitate communication.

- Peter E. Toomey

(Peter co-chairs the Communications Committee with Dan Alaimo.)