October 10, 2023—St. Johns Finance Council

Members present were Father Jim, John Thomas, Craig Ewing and Ima Davis.  Cara Borth was also present.

Total income for September was $34,534.39 and expenses were $$4,337.51.  The bank balance dated September 30, 2023 is $34,311.08.



Father began the meeting with prayer.

The minutes for the September meeting were read and approved. 

Old Business:
 

• Father Jim reported the excavation at the church regarding the drainage issue seemed to help though more excavation is needed as time allows.

• Father reported snacks are being provided at no parish expense for the Eucharistic revival meetings. The meetings are going well with a small group attending.  The program will be completed in the spring.

• Father Jim has contact Pat Sims about rekeying the Forst Center.  He hasn’t heard back from Pat. Discussion was held on reaching out for a bid from Terry Shinogle to submit a bid for the work if we don’t hear back from Pat Sims.  The consensus was to go ahead and contact Terry Shinogle to complete the work. 

• The Finance report was reviewed with no major expenses indicated.

• The value of parish soft was discussed.  Cara has a spreadsheet generated that will track the information done in the parish soft program.  After the data is entered into the spreadsheet, she will present it to the council for further review.

• Father discussed the Core Community approval using the Forst Center.  In the past, we have donated $1000 for their ministry.  Discussion was held about the community food bank and the need for volunteers and donations.  Father reported currently we take donations two months out of the year for donations for the food bank.  The consensus is that out of our charity budget donating to the food bank vs the Core group would reach more people.  The council decided to table this issue until next month with more members present to decide on this decision.

• Father reported on the conference he attended on vocations. The bishop has asked to form a vocations committee in each parish.  The conference at Dodge City will be held Dec 2^nd.

Father adjourned the meeting with prayer.

The next meeting will be November 14 at noon.

St. John’s Finance Council – April 11, 2023. Members present were Ima, Vince, Craig, Brenda and Father
Jim.
The checking account has $36,306.75 and the savings has $176,603.54. March showed a net profit of
$399.99 with income of $4,847 and expenses of $4,447.01.
Old Business:
 The clip-on microphone from Montezuma Sound has been received, but no bill yet.
 The water leak has been fixed by Jeremy Hazen and the City helped with equipment and parts.
The City will not charge us. No bill yet from Hazen.
 A new door closer for the east FC door was purchased by Brenda at Home Depot and installed
by Alan W.
 We discussed the election process to replace Brenda on the Finance Council. Father will explain
the process on May 7, take nominations on May 14 and have the election on May 21. In 2024,
we would replace two members; in 2025, we would replace one member and so on. The new
term will begin in July,
New Business:
 There are no projects assigned yet for the Prayer in Action group who will be here June 18-24.
 Brenda will contact George Martin about getting the mower serviced. Father said he had to
jump the battery to get it started. Alek H. will be mowing again this summer.
 Vince will contact Tony Krier about spraying the church yard for weeds. He’s also going to get
an estimate on spraying the rock parking area for weeds.
 Father informed us that First Communion will be April 23 and Confirmation will be May 20 at
1:00 p.m. The weekend Mass schedule remains the same. We’ll need to pay Emma (?) for the
Confirmation retreat held this month.
 Brenda has talked with Susan and she will meet with this group in June to go over the rental
contract and fees.
With no further business the meeting was closed with prayer and adjourned. The next meeting will be
Tuesday, May 9 at noon.

St. John’s Finance Council – March 14, 2023 Members present were John, Craig, Vince, Ima, Brenda and
Father Jim. Father led us in prayer to begin the meeting.
The checking account has $35,906.76 and the savings has $176,603.54. February showed a net loss of
$1,727.96 with income of $4,274.80 and expenses of $6,002.76.
Old Business:
 Prayer and Action group will be in Meade June 18 to 24. Father showed us the application and
explained the process to request help for someone.
 The east FC door is still not working correctly. Pat Sims worked on the lock, but now the handle
is loose. Brenda will contact Pat to come back. The door closer also needs replaced and one will
be purchased at Home Depot ($118) and Father will see if Alan can install it.
 Alan fixed one of the FC hallway lights at no charge. Vince will replace the burned out lights in
the dining room.
 A new microphone was purchased for the FC and a clip-on microphone has been ordered
through Montezuma Sound.
 Father has not purchased a chair mat yet.
 New letters were purchased for the outside sign at $105.
 The water leak is not fixed yet. The last water bill was $200.
New Business:
 We will do Core meals in May and also collect donations for the food bank. The food bank has
been moved to the Baptist church basement run by Dana Hansen.
 St. John’s needs a representative to go to the Chrism Mass in Dodge on March 30.
 Father went over the Holy Week schedule. Meade will have an Easter Sunday Mass at 8:30 a.m.
 Susan requested we consider charging kitchen rent for groups that have their meals catered.
Currently, they request to just rent the dining room and not the kitchen. While they are not
cooking in the kitchen, the utilities are still being used. We discussed updating the rent policy
and fees. We need to see the current rates and it would be helpful to have Susan’s feedback.
Brenda will contact Susan.
 Father wants to have an election process to replace Finance Council members. Since our council
serves as both a Parish and Finance Council, he feels the members should be elected. He plans
to do this in June to replace Brenda, and would like to continue it going forward.
 Father stated that Cara Borth will chair the building committee. Nick Borth, John Thomas and
Susan Dewell have also agreed to serve on the committee. Father would like to have a five
member board. Father passed out notes from the Feb. 19 town hall meeting. We currently have
approximately $36,000 designated for this fund. The first step will be prioritizing the need
versus the want.
With no further business, Father closed with a prayer. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April
11 at noon.

St. John’s Finance Meeting – Feb. 11, 2023
Members present were Vince, Craig, Ima, Brenda and Father Jim.  Also present was the Diocese Youth Director, Gentry Heimerman.  Father opened the meeting with a prayer.
The checking account had $37,634.72 and the savings account has $176,603.54.
Old Business:

• We still need to have the FC east door looked at – Brenda will contact Steve N.
• No action on the water leak yet.
• Thermostats were adjusted in the church and resulted in a $150 reduction in usage from last month, but the FC had increased so overall total was still around $800.
• Vince has been added to the Integrity Bank signature card, Ima and Father’s info updated and Brenda removed.
• Brenda had talked with Cara Borth and she agreed to take over as bookkeeper and also train Grace as a back-up.
• Craig and Dick installed the two baby stations in the handicap stalls in the church and FC.
• Brenda gave Father a few names to replace her on the Finance Council.
• Father wants to wait and repair the pews when we decide on church flooring.  He anticipates moving the pews to the FC while the renovation is taking place.

• Gentry talked with us about using the Forst Center for the upcoming Prayer and Action Group the last part of June. They would stay in the FC overnight and eat there.  Their group is responsible for preparing the meals. We would just be out the utilities for the week.  All agreed to allow the P&A group to use the Forst Center, but we need to check with Susan about the availability of the building.
• Vince made a motion to name Cara Borth as church bookkeeper and to train Grace Borth as a back-up, Ima seconded and all approved.  Brenda will start training her in April to take over all duties by July.
• Susan informed us that the microphone in the FC was not working.  She contacted Amos at Montezuma Sound and he ordered a new mic ($110) and will deliver it and check out our system. We also want to inquire about a clip-on cord to attach to our wireless mic in church.
• Father needs a new chair-mat for his rectory office.  He will look for a replacement.
• We need to replace some bulbs in the FC dining room. Father will see if Alan Woodruff has time to fix them.
• We discussed our upcoming town hall meeting and finances.  It was the consensus that we should keep our checking account around $30,000 and can designate monies over that to the building fund.

With no further business, Father closed with a prayer.  The next meeting will be Tuesday, March 14 at noon.