News

Present:

Bishop W. Shawn McKnight, President         

Rev. Msgr. Robert A. Kurwicki, Vicar General – ex-officio

Very Rev. Brad T. Berhorst, Judicial Vicar – ex-officio

Benjamin Roodhouse, Chancellor – ex-officio

Jacob Luecke, Director of Communications – ex-officio       

Helen Osman, Consultant for Communications

Colleen Abbott, Chair – term of office expires: fall meeting 2025

Southwest Deanery – 1^st term expires: 27 February 2026

Very Rev. Christopher L. Cordes, Vicar for Priests – 1^st term expires: 16 January 2027

Deacon Enrique Castro, Deacon and Hispanic Communities – 1^st term expires: 30 June 2027

Cristhia Castro, Deacon and Hispanic Communities – 1^st term expires: 30 June 2027

Kevin DeHaan, North Deanery – 1^st term expires: 15 January 2027

Justin Franka, Newman Center – 1^st term expires: 3 May 2026

Ruth Hughes, North Deanery – 1^st term expires: 30 June 2027

Elizabeth James, See City Deanery – 1^st term expires: 30 June 2027

Sr. Ruth Ann Klauser, SSND – 1^st term expires: 30 April 2027

Kent Korthas, Southwest Deanery – 2^nd term expires: 30 June 2027

Russell Kremer, Southeast Deanery – additional term expires: 30 June 2025

Barbara Prasad, Dir. of Women’s Ministry – 1^st term expires: 22 November 2025

Jonathan Pund, See City Deanery – 1^st term expires: 26 April 2027

Kelly Wheeler, Central Deanery – 2^nd term expires: 30 June 2027

Bernadette Adams, Recording Secretary 

Absent:

Sarah Robinson, Vice-Chair – term of office expires: fall meeting 2025

Central Deanery – additional term expires: 30 June 2027

Sheri Stormer, Southeast Deanery – additional term expires: 30 June 2025

Guests:

1. Opening Prayer:
2. Most Rev. W. Shawn McKnight opened the meeting with prayer.

1. Welcome:                                
2. Bishop McKnight welcomed and thanked the members for their presence. 

1. Minutes Published:
2. The meeting minutes of 11 May 2024, having been approved by the membership on 31 July 2024, are published on the diocesan website: diojeffcity.org/councils.

1. Welcome New Members:
2. Having many new representatives on the council, Colleen Abbott asked the members to introduce themselves. 
3. Mrs. Abbott reviewed the contents of the meeting packet which included:
   1. A list of important meeting dates and communication links.
   1. A membership roster, contact information, term tracking, and council statutes.
   1. Flyers regarding upcoming events and trainings within the diocese.

• Orientation:
• Bishop McKnight provided a reflection on the purpose of a diocesan pastoral council, as described in church law and teaching. An overview of the diocese’s pastoral planning process was also provided.

• Promotion and use of Parishes as Communities of the Beatitudes:
  • Discussion
• The booklets are structured for use by small groups. It contains four modules using a process described as both synodal and discernment, with opportunities for prayer and silence.
• In addition to the booklets, a Pastor’s Guide will be provided to help the pastors implement this material. The deanery representatives are essential to assist in promoting the program, including to help pastors identify facilitators for the formation of small groups.  
• The desired end result is that parishioners’ engagement in acts of mercy and in parish pastoral planning will increase.

• Requests of the DPC
• Booklets were provided for each deanery representative to take for distribution to parishes in their deanery. The Spanish version will be distributed through alternate means.
• Parish councils are encouraged to participate in small groups to hear and convey back to parish leadership the insights of parishioners. 
• Each parish is to have a way to convey the parishioners’ responses to the leadership and then implement what is necessary into the parish’s pastoral plan. 

• Reports from Deaneries:

North Deanery –                                                                             

1. Discussion
2. Implementing the synodal process in meetings; this has provided for an increase in dialogue and exchange of ideas among the parishes. 
3. Have invited the parish Stewardship Councils to attend the next deanery parish leadership meeting. 

Central Deanery – 

1. Discussion
2. In the process of developing bylaws for our parish groupings as well as forming an advisory cabinet. The coalition advisory will have representatives from each parish grouping and plan to meet four times a year.
3. In addition to the deanery plan there are also coalition plans because the regional needs are so different. 

See City Deanery – 

1. Discussion
2. The main difficulty is simply to get the word out about the initiatives in process. The deanery website will hopefully be a centralized mode of communication. 
3. Coordinating leadership for the initiatives among the parishes has also been a struggle.  

Southwest Deanery – 

1. Discussion
2. The priests gathered to discuss in detail each parishes’ processes and resources for sacramental preparations. 
3. The next steps will be to include additional levels of lay parish leadership in discussing best practices, processes, and resources that can be shared among the parishes. 

Southeast Deanery – 

1. Discussion
2. The deanery will continue to focus on needs assessments as the pastoral plans continue to develop. 
3. As the plans develop, a greater focus on utilizing resources from the diocese will be encouraged, in particular the Charity and Mercy Grants from Catholic Charities. 

• Use of “Coalition Structures”:
  • Discussion
• Helen Osman reviewed the development of the “coalitions” and how they are utilized within the deaneries. 
• Most of the deaneries have informally structured their coalitions, but the Central Deanery has requested assistance in developing a more formal structure for their coalitions to work within.  
• A draft template was provided in the meeting packet primarily for information, but also as a starting point should the other deaneries decide to formalize their coalition structures in the future. 

• Decision or Action
• The Central Deanery will apply and adjust the draft template and then will work with Ben Roodhouse to formalize it within their deanery. 

1. September 3 Meeting of Deanery Parish Leadership:                                                                    

Parishes as Communities of the Beatitudes – 

1. Discussion
2. Feedback is to come out of the discernment process and be used to improve the parish pastoral plan.

• Decision or Action
• An initial distribution of the booklets should be made at the meeting. More booklets can be printed if needed or an electronic version is available online. The Pastor’s Guide should also be made available; it would be helpful for the lay leadership to understand the process as well.    
• Mrs. Osman would like names and emails of the lay people at the parishes who will be organizing the small groups; this list will be helpful for distributing updates and promotion ideas. 
• A Leader’s Guide will be helpful to collect the small groups’ feedback and report it back to the parish leadership.

Catholic Charities and Deanery Parish Leadership Meetings – 

A. Discussion 

• Catholic Charities is going to ask the deans if a member of their Board could always be represented at the lay leadership deanery meetings. This will allow Catholic Charities to be aware of the needs within the parishes and be readily available to help with resources as appropriate.  
• The Board members will also be the key people to promote the Charity and Mercy Grants opportunities as well as take back to Catholic Charities any currently unmet needs for their attention.

B. Decision or Action

• Mrs. Osman will ask the deans if they would agree for Litz Main, the Executive Director of Catholic Charities, to be added to the September 3^rd meeting agenda. The intent would be for her to speak to all of the deaneries via Zoom regarding the Charity and Mercy Grants and the Board member deanery representative proposal.

Liturgical Ministry Trainings – 

A. Discussion

• Rev. Brad Berhorst reported that the Liturgical Commission has scheduled five liturgical ministry trainings. 
• Deacon Enrique Castro noted that this training will be provided in Spanish.  
• All of the trainings will follow essentially the same structure. 

Contact Lists – 

A. Discussion

• Mrs. Osman stressed the importance of having updated contact and leadership role lists. Updates should be made through the Diocesan Parish Services online form. 
• The invitation to the deanery parish leadership meetings are sent to those signed up for the Monday Morning Memo.

• Bishop’s Comments: 
• Bishop McKnight again welcomed the new members of the council and thanked all for their time.

• Concluding prayer:                                                                      
• Bishop McKnight closed the meeting with prayer.

Respectfully Submitted, 

Bernadette Adams, 

Recording Secretary

Future Meeting Dates:

16 November 2024

3 May 2025

2 August 2025

15 November 2025

Minutes approved:  14 November 2024.