St. Ambrose Parish Council
Mission Statement - "The Parish Pastoral Council will work with the Parish Priest and pastoral team, in leading the growth of St. Ambrose's Parish as a welcoming community of worship, spiritual richness, and service."
Current Minutes
St. Ambrose Parish Pastoral Council Meeting
Minutes for Sept. 24, 2024
7:30 p.m. Foyer
Present: Fr. Ian, Deacon Peter, Dave Schaaf, Elizabeth Sutton, Lynne Schaaf, Greg Schmidt, Harley Packer, Bonnie Sturm, Denis Cote,
Denise Roosen
Not Available: Kevin Kinahan, Brent Christensen, Julie Landrie Deboer, Shelley Lohues and Marta Lopez
1. Opening Prayer – Father Ian led the group in prayer.
2. Approval of the Agenda
Motion: That the agenda be approved as presented. Moved – Denise, Seconded – Denis, CARRIED.
3. Approval of the Minutes from the June 25, 2024 meeting
Motion: That the Minutes be approved as submitted. Moved – Lynne, Seconded – Bonnie, CARRIED.
4. Finance Report – Elizabeth - report attached
a) There is a year to date (to August) deficit of $17,024.37. Elizabeth will review for errors as well to understand what is causing the deficit.
b) Elizabeth will investigate whether the Diocesan bookkeeper (Leanne Plamondon) could attend a quarterly Joint Finance Committee meeting. This will allow for clarifications on our finances.
c) Current Joint Finance Council membership – St. Ambrose: Elizabeth as Chairperson, Francis Cote, Diane Miedema. St. Catherine’s: Sue O’Donnell, Lew Dooper, Shawn Murray and Gavin Nummi. We need additional representation from St. Ambrose.
5. Pastor’s Report – Fr. Ian
a) Diocese
i) There is a new sacramental program for First Reconciliation & First Communion that has been developed by the Diocese. Confirmation program is still under development. It is a bible-centric program consisting of 6 sessions for each sacrament where parents & children will sit to together for a discussion.
ii) The Bishop will be visiting our parish between November 8 and November 10. He wants to meet with parish groups (i.e. - Pastoral Care, Knights, CWL, etc.). Father Ian is organizing.
b) Deanery – no news
c) Parish
i) Father Ian is initiating a ‘Walking the Road to Jesus’ program’. It will follow a 9 AM Saturday Mass, with coffee & discussions after Mass at 10 AM. The program will alternate on Saturdays between St. Ambrose & St. Catherine’s.
6. Old Business
a) Parish Pastoral Council Membership Update
Adam Zanoni has indicated that he is too busy. Marta Lopez & Julie Landrie Deboer are still interested.
b) St. Catherine’s Rectory Update
Move in is September 28.
c) Parish Renewal Team (PRT)
i) A meeting schedule for the year will be developed. St. Catherine’s has become more involved. Monthly meetings will be held jointly with
St. Ambrose & St. Catherine’s.
ii) From the September 5 webinar: There were 5 members at the September webinar. The webinar presented the Diocesan survey results (20,000 respondents). Results indicate that the faith is strong for those attending Mass (people in the pews). The bigger question is what about those in our diocese that are not attending (people not in the pews)?
iii) A Canada-wide survey was presented that included those that do not attend Mass. The results were not positive.
iv) Concept of ‘Belonging before Believing’ was discussed.
v) There are two webinars coming up in October.
d) Church Sound System – report attached
Sound system is now working. Still requires the replacement of an internal cooling fan.
7. New Business
a) PPC roles for October:
Dave Schaaf will remain in the role of secretary. We will have rotating chairs for the September to January meetings (7:30 after Mass).
October 22/24 – Kevin Kinahan
November 26/24 – Lynne Schaaf
December 17/24 (social) – Bonnie Sturm
January 15/25 – Elizabeth Sutton
b) October agenda will include:
Preparations for the Bishop’s visit.
Crucifix at the front of the church.
Proceeds from the sale of the rectory.
c) Joint St. Ambrose/St. Catherine’s PPC meeting
Will schedule for January meeting. Will invite representation from St. Catherine’s, as they do not have a PPC.
d) Annual Report – November 17 parish presentation
i) Greg will send out last year’s report. Committees to create a report discussing contribution & challenges along with your plan for the upcoming year. Submission no later than November 4.
e) IPC Parish Directory – no interest at this time.
8. Committee Reports
a) Finance Committee – report attached
b) Liturgy Committee – report attached
c) Knights of Columbus – report attached
d) CWL – report attached
e) St. Joseph School – no report
f) Hall report – report attached
g) Pastoral Care
- There are now 6 at the Sunny south Lodge that are being visited.
- Offie Bartman has joined Pastoral Care team. They now have 2 teams of 2.
h) Building Maintenance
- Owl & Twig will prune a couple of trees behind the church. Quoted cost = $350.00
i) Deacon Peter – no report
9. Closing Prayer – Father Ian led the group in prayer.
Next meeting will be October 22, 2024 at 7:30 pm.
St. Ambrose Parish
Parish Pastoral Council
Reports for Sept. 24, 2024 meeting
St. Ambrose Parish
Joint Finance Committee Report to PPC
September 2024
I had partial numbers in time for the meeting.
Our bank balance to the end of July 2024 was $85,238.67. Of that, $11,548.70 is Hall Fund monies and $3,179.36 is dedicated to the welfare fund leaving us an operating balance of $70,661.61 (down about $8000 from the end of May).
Also, to the end of July, there was $375,041.86 in our Central funds savings: $ 303,122.01 is for the hall fund, $16,048.49 is dedicated to our maintenance budget and there is $54,794.14 is in the main savings. There is $328.02 for clergy Blue Cross coverage and $749.20 for GST receivables.
Our donations from January to the end of August totaled $69,207.61an increase of $999.75 from the previous year. However, our overall income for the same time frame was $79,459.30 which is an increase of $1,603.29 from the previous year. Our total expenses for these months came to $96,483.67 an increase of $13,259.54 with equipment rental and auto expenses accounting for biggest increases. This leaves us with a net loss of 17,024.37.
When the Coaldale rectory sells, proceeds will be divided between the 2 parishes. The purchase of the house was split 60/40, the cost of the garage build was paid solely by St. Ambrose parish. The remaining costs of maintaining the building have for the most part, been shared 50/50. At the last Finance Council meeting, we came up with 2 possible options for distribution of the proceeds:
Option 1. After the cost of the garage is accounted for, split the proceeds 60/40.
Option 2. The original purchase price was $158500. The average of two web-based inflation calculators indicated this would be worth about $230,750 in 2024 dollars. Take the 60/40 split for that, then after accounting for the cost of the garage, split the remaining proceeds 50/50.
The Finance Council is open to other options.
Regardless of the option chosen, there could be somewhere between $180,000 and $200,000 available for use. Although it would be great to give all the proceeds to the Hall Committee, the Diocese has indicated in the past that improvements to help maintain existing structures should be prioritized. Improvements to the office space are sorely needed and some kind of air conditioning might be of value given the temperatures the last few summers.
This will be my last year on Finance Council. I have been a member for 10 years and chair for 8. We are looking for new members and hoping that one of the existing members will see that they can take on the chair position.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Sutton Finance Co Chair
St. Ambrose Parish
Liturgy Meeting Notes for PPC
September 27, 2024
Present: Fr. Ian G., Deacon Peter L., Dianne C., Angela L., Shelley L., Elizabeth S., Sylvia Z.,
Ellen W. (later)
Regrets: Tom M.
1. Opening Prayer – Fr. Ian said the opening prayer
2. Committee Reports:
> Altar servers – This situation hasn’t changed. Those who are trained altar servers are encouraged to serve when they are attending Mass. However, this rarely happens. The cross has been carried for processions to and from the altar. More volunteers will be asked through the stewardship campaign.
> Choirs – Shelley is not yet able to play guitar. She will talk to Helen Layton to assist with the family choir until her hand and arm are healed enough to return. Pat M. will be starting the Happy Gang Choir and Youth Mass Choir in September. Harley P. will be contacted to see when New Wine Choir will be starting.
> Lectors – Jovette B. was concerned that she was omitted from the lector schedule because of her accent. This was a misunderstanding as she was scheduled as an usher on the Sunday she was available to serve.
> Eucharistic Ministers – Fr. Ian will train new and returning Eucharistic Ministers sometime after his move to the St. Catherine’s rectory set for September 15 (actually Sept. 28).
> Sacristans – Paul Jones is being trained as a Sacristan by Sylvia to work with her at the 4 pm Sunday Masses.
> Arts and Environment – Shelley and Maria Panic are growing and arranging the fresh flowers on the altar.
> Sacramental Prep – Sylvia and Deacon Peter went to a workshop in Calgary introducing the new sacramental program created by the diocese. Some new program notes are: instructors are facilitators and a parent will lead part of the program each session; all sessions will involve readings from a Bible which each student will get as part of the program package; First Reconciliation and First Communion programs each have 6 sessions and a retreat; families will have a workbook but student instruction materials will need to be photocopied for each session. Sylvia hopes to start the Confirmation program soon to give the candidates enough time to complete the variety of projects as part of the program.
> Tech Ministry – The refurbished sound system is working great, and it only requires 1 switch to turn on all the mics. The projector techs are down by 1 as Mason W. is now attending U of C. Sylvia will fill in for his position at the 4 pm Sunday masses. Hopefully more tech ministry volunteers will sign up for training and service during the next stewardship campaign. We discussed the reliance parishioners have on the screen for Mass posturing and congregation replies and prayers. Fr. Ian would like to ‘let liturgy flow’ and no changes will be made at this time.
> Parish Pastoral Council – Shelley hopes to attend the next meeting on Tues., Sept. 24th after 7 pm mass as the Liturgy Committee rep.
Business arising from the minutes:
> Stewardship Sunday: redo for upcoming
As there was little follow-through with last year’s ministry volunteers and stewardship lists, different processes were discussed to reach out to parishioners and encourage them to participate more actively in church activities. We liked Sylvia’s suggestion of using an all-inclusive ballot where-by parishioners give their contact info once and tick off boxes corresponding to the volunteer ministries and services they find interesting. Some ideas on how to relay information on what the ministry or service involves are posters hung in the church foyer, speakers before mass begins, projector slides shown before Mass begins, group representatives giving information in the foyer after Mass, explanation booklets available in the church foyer, and short descriptions written on the ballot sheet. The ideas considered should reduce wasted paper costs. Sylvia volunteered to organize the ballot information and give them to the coordinators of the various ministries and church groups. For some of the ministries and groups, new coordinators need to be found so that follow-through occurs. Elizabeth will propose this idea to the Parish Pastoral Council. As the PPC will meet near the end of September, the month of October would probably be suitable to implementing the Stewardship campaign ideas.
4. New Business
> Parish Renewal Suggestions – Ellen has some good suggestions for parish renewal. These should be given and considered by the PPC as the Parish Renewal Program falls under their mandate. A discussion was held on reviving altar servers, children’s liturgy, and greeters. Although no one should feel coerced into taking on these roles, we did think participation, knowing mistakes and imperfections will definitely occur, should be encouraged. EVERYONE should feel welcomed to our parish and our Masses.
> Communion with bread and wine – Bishop McGrattan will permit Communion under both Species if enough Eucharistic Ministers are available. In addition to the 2 or 3 EM administering the consecrated hosts, 2 more would be needed to administer the consecrated wine. The wine is only administered in front of the altar and would not be taken upstairs to choir members. Currently, St. Ambrose does not have enough volunteer Eucharistic Ministers to consider regular administration of communion under both species at Sunday masses.
> Procession adding Eucharistic Ministers and Second Reader - An entrance procession including Eucharistic Ministers will begin in September. For this to occur, the Eucharistic Ministers must be in the foyer 15 min. before Mass allowing them time to say the prayer before service as a group. The cross must be carried in front of the procession. (The candles can remain lit on the altar) As a there are not enough lector volunteers for a second reader during the 4 pm Mass, there will not be a second reader at either Mass at this time. Angela will add this information to the September Mass Ministries email.
> Deacon Peter’s Schedule – Deacon Peter will let Roisin and Angela know his schedule on a monthly basis. Generally, he will sit with the congregation on the 1st Sunday, serve on the altar on the 2nd Sunday, and preach on the 3rd Sunday. He will serve with some of SJS Masses and celebrations. During the week, Deacon Peter will most often be serving in his role with the senior care facilities in East Lethbridge.
> Updated Office Protocol – A note from Roisin asks that copying needed by a church group be sent to her 1 week in advance. Copying of booklets needs more than 1 week notice.
> Possible Thursday Morning Adorations – Currently Adoration and Reconciliation happen on Fridays at 7 pm. An additional Adoration after the Thursday morning 8:45 AM Mass was discussed. As SJS students are often attending the morning Mass, it’s not proper to have the monstrance on the altar while the students are departing. However, there may be times in the year that the students will participate in Adoration after a Thursday morning Mass. More discussions with SJS will occur on this point. Also, we may consider another day for a noon hour adoration time.
> Cost of Votive Candles – The cost of each votive candle has increased to $5.66. Currently, parishioners are asked to donate $5 when lighting a prayer candle. Finance council will make the final decision, but we suggested to increase the donation request to $7 to cover the increase.
> Corpus for Church Altar – Shelley will be measuring the existing Risen Christ statue that hung above the church altar (minus the wooden cross framing it). She will find out from Fr. Wilbert whether an extra or unused corpus of similar size is stored somewhere in the diocese. If there isn’t one, she will be looking for one that costs about $5000. The money to buy this corpus may need to acquire through fund-raising or perhaps taken from the funds of the Church Rectory sale.
> Cemetery Mass Date Change – Fr. Kevin will celebrate Mass for the souls of the deceased buried in our area at Mountain View Cemetery on Thursday, September 12 at 7:00 pm.
> Thanksgiving Food Collection – As Thanksgiving is on Monday, October 14th, food slips asking for food donations will be given out on the weekends of September 29th and October 6th. An announcement for the bulletin and one to be read at the lectern will be made to encourage people to give. (Shelley and Sylvia??)
> Canada Needs Our Lady – Dianne will organize this event happening in the church parking lot on Saturday, October 12th.
> All Soul’s Day – Fr. Ian will say Mass at 9 AM on Saturday, Nov. 2nd. Following Mass, Shelley and Dianne will organize a group to say the rosary at the Coaldale Cemetery.
> Catholic Education Sunday – Sunday, November 3rd
> Memorial Mass – tentatively scheduled for Sunday, November 10th.
5. Closing Prayer – lead by Deacon Peter
Next Meeting – Tuesday, October 29th, 2024 after the 7 pm Mass.
St. Ambrose Parish
Hall Committee Report to PPC
August 29, 2024
The last meeting was Tuesday August 27/24. It was decided that the Architect was to proceed with the working drawings based on a detached Hall addition. Upon further review on a detached building, the Architect proposes to connect the two buildings from a code and cost point of view. Jared Dyck will provide budget pricing based on the current drawings in approximately 6 weeks.
Denise Roosen
Chair of the Hall Committee
St. Ambrose Parish
CWL Report for Parish Pastoral Council
September 2024
Greetings everyone:
Happy Fall!
The CWL has started back this month with a potluck and a visit from 2 special guests, one from the Provincial Council and one from Diocesan Council.
We served the lunch at Arnold Bodie’s funeral this last weekend.
We have our pie making bee coming up on Sept. 27th.
We have the Diocesan Fall Meeting on Sept. 28th, as well as the Lethbridge Regional Fall Meeting on Oct. 5th.
We continue to serve at the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen on the second Friday of the month.
We lead the rosary every Monday morning. We will be leading the rosary before all Masses during the month of October.
We will be looking forward to a busy fall.
Autumn blessings to everyone!
Respectfully submitted,
Lynne Schaaf CWL President
Knights of Columbus Council 7082
P.P.C. Report – Sep. 26/24
Submitted by
Kevin Kinahan,
Grand Knight – Council 7082
St. Ambrose Parish
Sound System Report for
Parish Pastoral Council Meeting Sept. 24, 2024
Lynne and Dave met with Harley Packer to “walk through” the sound system to get an idea as to what was plugged into what and should be coming out of where. We found that we have a digital amplifier that is housed in the closet in the hallway by Father’s office. There are five microphones used in our church; the podium mic, Father’s headset mic, an extra mic (called stage mic) near the podium, the choir solo mic and the choir mic. The last two are in the choir loft and are run through the mixer board in the loft. We have 5 speakers: one overhead near the altar, one overhead near the back of the church, 2 speakers in the foyer, and one speaker in the crying room. According to Harley, the amp and the speakers did not work. We were running all the sound through his system in the choir loft. We looked at the amp and decided that we needed the services of a sound expert. Lynne called an ex-colleague of hers from the U of L and he came in to take a look. The first day, he determined that the speakers all work. The amp works but needs to be reprogrammed. The mics also work. We were able to get the podium mic to work through the amp.
The second meeting happened when we were looking at the amp and the Ambo mic input stopped working and we could not get it to work again. We were able to download the software for the amp onto a laptop and bring it in. Our sound expert was able to get the Ambo mic working again as well as the Presider’s mic. The rest we could not do because they were locked up in Harley’s box in the choir loft. We got Harley to leave the receiver for the Presider’s wireless mic out. After church one week, we hooked this receiver up to the amp and got it working. How the choir mic hooked up to the amp we were unsure.
We came back one afternoon to make sure the software was talking to the amp and did what we could to clean up the sound and streamline the wires.
We got our expert back a third time to help us with the mixer board and the choir mics. We got them all working and patched in properly. He then, with the aid of his equipment, went into the software and eq’ed all the mics. The end result is all the mics are working from the church system. We will not have to use Harley’s system at all.
When the sound system is in use, the cupboard door where it is housed must remain open. It can be closed after the amp is turned off.
Some future thoughts for the sound system may be to get a lapel mic for Deacon Peter. A first glance at them has them priced around $750. We can test drive a couple of models for a weekend for about $20.
We hope to get a refurbished laptop with the hardware installed on it from Peter Harris. It will stay at the church to be used for future maintenance on the system.
We will continue to monitor the system to keep it working properly.
Respectfully submitted
Lynne Schaaf
St. Ambrose Parish Pastoral Council Meeting
Minutes for Sept. 24, 2024
7:30 p.m. Foyer
Present: Fr. Ian, Deacon Peter, Dave Schaaf, Elizabeth Sutton, Lynne Schaaf, Greg Schmidt, Harley Packer, Bonnie Sturm, Denis Cote,
Denise Roosen
Not Available: Kevin Kinahan, Brent Christensen, Julie Landrie Deboer, Shelley Lohues and Marta Lopez
1. Opening Prayer – Father Ian led the group in prayer.
2. Approval of the Agenda
Motion: That the agenda be approved as presented. Moved – Denise, Seconded – Denis, CARRIED.
3. Approval of the Minutes from the June 25, 2024 meeting
Motion: That the Minutes be approved as submitted. Moved – Lynne, Seconded – Bonnie, CARRIED.
4. Finance Report – Elizabeth - report attached
a) There is a year to date (to August) deficit of $17,024.37. Elizabeth will review for errors as well to understand what is causing the deficit.
b) Elizabeth will investigate whether the Diocesan bookkeeper (Leanne Plamondon) could attend a quarterly Joint Finance Committee meeting. This will allow for clarifications on our finances.
c) Current Joint Finance Council membership – St. Ambrose: Elizabeth as Chairperson, Francis Cote, Diane Miedema. St. Catherine’s: Sue O’Donnell, Lew Dooper, Shawn Murray and Gavin Nummi. We need additional representation from St. Ambrose.
5. Pastor’s Report – Fr. Ian
a) Diocese
i) There is a new sacramental program for First Reconciliation & First Communion that has been developed by the Diocese. Confirmation program is still under development. It is a bible-centric program consisting of 6 sessions for each sacrament where parents & children will sit to together for a discussion.
ii) The Bishop will be visiting our parish between November 8 and November 10. He wants to meet with parish groups (i.e. - Pastoral Care, Knights, CWL, etc.). Father Ian is organizing.
b) Deanery – no news
c) Parish
i) Father Ian is initiating a ‘Walking the Road to Jesus’ program’. It will follow a 9 AM Saturday Mass, with coffee & discussions after Mass at 10 AM. The program will alternate on Saturdays between St. Ambrose & St. Catherine’s.
6. Old Business
a) Parish Pastoral Council Membership Update
Adam Zanoni has indicated that he is too busy. Marta Lopez & Julie Landrie Deboer are still interested.
b) St. Catherine’s Rectory Update
Move in is September 28.
c) Parish Renewal Team (PRT)
i) A meeting schedule for the year will be developed. St. Catherine’s has become more involved. Monthly meetings will be held jointly with
St. Ambrose & St. Catherine’s.
ii) From the September 5 webinar: There were 5 members at the September webinar. The webinar presented the Diocesan survey results (20,000 respondents). Results indicate that the faith is strong for those attending Mass (people in the pews). The bigger question is what about those in our diocese that are not attending (people not in the pews)?
iii) A Canada-wide survey was presented that included those that do not attend Mass. The results were not positive.
iv) Concept of ‘Belonging before Believing’ was discussed.
v) There are two webinars coming up in October.
d) Church Sound System – report attached
Sound system is now working. Still requires the replacement of an internal cooling fan.
7. New Business
a) PPC roles for October:
Dave Schaaf will remain in the role of secretary. We will have rotating chairs for the September to January meetings (7:30 after Mass).
October 22/24 – Kevin Kinahan
November 26/24 – Lynne Schaaf
December 17/24 (social) – Bonnie Sturm
January 15/25 – Elizabeth Sutton
b) October agenda will include:
Preparations for the Bishop’s visit.
Crucifix at the front of the church.
Proceeds from the sale of the rectory.
c) Joint St. Ambrose/St. Catherine’s PPC meeting
Will schedule for January meeting. Will invite representation from St. Catherine’s, as they do not have a PPC.
d) Annual Report – November 17 parish presentation
i) Greg will send out last year’s report. Committees to create a report discussing contribution & challenges along with your plan for the upcoming year. Submission no later than November 4.
e) IPC Parish Directory – no interest at this time.
8. Committee Reports
a) Finance Committee – report attached
b) Liturgy Committee – report attached
c) Knights of Columbus – report attached
d) CWL – report attached
e) St. Joseph School – no report
f) Hall report – report attached
g) Pastoral Care
- There are now 6 at the Sunny south Lodge that are being visited.
- Offie Bartman has joined Pastoral Care team. They now have 2 teams of 2.
h) Building Maintenance
- Owl & Twig will prune a couple of trees behind the church. Quoted cost = $350.00
i) Deacon Peter – no report
9. Closing Prayer – Father Ian led the group in prayer.
Next meeting will be October 22, 2024 at 7:30 pm.
St. Ambrose Parish
Parish Pastoral Council
Reports for Sept. 24, 2024 meeting
St. Ambrose Parish
Joint Finance Committee Report to PPC
September 2024
I had partial numbers in time for the meeting.
Our bank balance to the end of July 2024 was $85,238.67. Of that, $11,548.70 is Hall Fund monies and $3,179.36 is dedicated to the welfare fund leaving us an operating balance of $70,661.61 (down about $8000 from the end of May).
Also, to the end of July, there was $375,041.86 in our Central funds savings: $ 303,122.01 is for the hall fund, $16,048.49 is dedicated to our maintenance budget and there is $54,794.14 is in the main savings. There is $328.02 for clergy Blue Cross coverage and $749.20 for GST receivables.
Our donations from January to the end of August totaled $69,207.61an increase of $999.75 from the previous year. However, our overall income for the same time frame was $79,459.30 which is an increase of $1,603.29 from the previous year. Our total expenses for these months came to $96,483.67 an increase of $13,259.54 with equipment rental and auto expenses accounting for biggest increases. This leaves us with a net loss of 17,024.37.
When the Coaldale rectory sells, proceeds will be divided between the 2 parishes. The purchase of the house was split 60/40, the cost of the garage build was paid solely by St. Ambrose parish. The remaining costs of maintaining the building have for the most part, been shared 50/50. At the last Finance Council meeting, we came up with 2 possible options for distribution of the proceeds:
Option 1. After the cost of the garage is accounted for, split the proceeds 60/40.
Option 2. The original purchase price was $158500. The average of two web-based inflation calculators indicated this would be worth about $230,750 in 2024 dollars. Take the 60/40 split for that, then after accounting for the cost of the garage, split the remaining proceeds 50/50.
The Finance Council is open to other options.
Regardless of the option chosen, there could be somewhere between $180,000 and $200,000 available for use. Although it would be great to give all the proceeds to the Hall Committee, the Diocese has indicated in the past that improvements to help maintain existing structures should be prioritized. Improvements to the office space are sorely needed and some kind of air conditioning might be of value given the temperatures the last few summers.
This will be my last year on Finance Council. I have been a member for 10 years and chair for 8. We are looking for new members and hoping that one of the existing members will see that they can take on the chair position.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Sutton Finance Co Chair
St. Ambrose Parish
Liturgy Meeting Notes for PPC
September 27, 2024
Present: Fr. Ian G., Deacon Peter L., Dianne C., Angela L., Shelley L., Elizabeth S., Sylvia Z.,
Ellen W. (later)
Regrets: Tom M.
1. Opening Prayer – Fr. Ian said the opening prayer
2. Committee Reports:
> Altar servers – This situation hasn’t changed. Those who are trained altar servers are encouraged to serve when they are attending Mass. However, this rarely happens. The cross has been carried for processions to and from the altar. More volunteers will be asked through the stewardship campaign.
> Choirs – Shelley is not yet able to play guitar. She will talk to Helen Layton to assist with the family choir until her hand and arm are healed enough to return. Pat M. will be starting the Happy Gang Choir and Youth Mass Choir in September. Harley P. will be contacted to see when New Wine Choir will be starting.
> Lectors – Jovette B. was concerned that she was omitted from the lector schedule because of her accent. This was a misunderstanding as she was scheduled as an usher on the Sunday she was available to serve.
> Eucharistic Ministers – Fr. Ian will train new and returning Eucharistic Ministers sometime after his move to the St. Catherine’s rectory set for September 15 (actually Sept. 28).
> Sacristans – Paul Jones is being trained as a Sacristan by Sylvia to work with her at the 4 pm Sunday Masses.
> Arts and Environment – Shelley and Maria Panic are growing and arranging the fresh flowers on the altar.
> Sacramental Prep – Sylvia and Deacon Peter went to a workshop in Calgary introducing the new sacramental program created by the diocese. Some new program notes are: instructors are facilitators and a parent will lead part of the program each session; all sessions will involve readings from a Bible which each student will get as part of the program package; First Reconciliation and First Communion programs each have 6 sessions and a retreat; families will have a workbook but student instruction materials will need to be photocopied for each session. Sylvia hopes to start the Confirmation program soon to give the candidates enough time to complete the variety of projects as part of the program.
> Tech Ministry – The refurbished sound system is working great, and it only requires 1 switch to turn on all the mics. The projector techs are down by 1 as Mason W. is now attending U of C. Sylvia will fill in for his position at the 4 pm Sunday masses. Hopefully more tech ministry volunteers will sign up for training and service during the next stewardship campaign. We discussed the reliance parishioners have on the screen for Mass posturing and congregation replies and prayers. Fr. Ian would like to ‘let liturgy flow’ and no changes will be made at this time.
> Parish Pastoral Council – Shelley hopes to attend the next meeting on Tues., Sept. 24th after 7 pm mass as the Liturgy Committee rep.
Business arising from the minutes:
> Stewardship Sunday: redo for upcoming
As there was little follow-through with last year’s ministry volunteers and stewardship lists, different processes were discussed to reach out to parishioners and encourage them to participate more actively in church activities. We liked Sylvia’s suggestion of using an all-inclusive ballot where-by parishioners give their contact info once and tick off boxes corresponding to the volunteer ministries and services they find interesting. Some ideas on how to relay information on what the ministry or service involves are posters hung in the church foyer, speakers before mass begins, projector slides shown before Mass begins, group representatives giving information in the foyer after Mass, explanation booklets available in the church foyer, and short descriptions written on the ballot sheet. The ideas considered should reduce wasted paper costs. Sylvia volunteered to organize the ballot information and give them to the coordinators of the various ministries and church groups. For some of the ministries and groups, new coordinators need to be found so that follow-through occurs. Elizabeth will propose this idea to the Parish Pastoral Council. As the PPC will meet near the end of September, the month of October would probably be suitable to implementing the Stewardship campaign ideas.
4. New Business
> Parish Renewal Suggestions – Ellen has some good suggestions for parish renewal. These should be given and considered by the PPC as the Parish Renewal Program falls under their mandate. A discussion was held on reviving altar servers, children’s liturgy, and greeters. Although no one should feel coerced into taking on these roles, we did think participation, knowing mistakes and imperfections will definitely occur, should be encouraged. EVERYONE should feel welcomed to our parish and our Masses.
> Communion with bread and wine – Bishop McGrattan will permit Communion under both Species if enough Eucharistic Ministers are available. In addition to the 2 or 3 EM administering the consecrated hosts, 2 more would be needed to administer the consecrated wine. The wine is only administered in front of the altar and would not be taken upstairs to choir members. Currently, St. Ambrose does not have enough volunteer Eucharistic Ministers to consider regular administration of communion under both species at Sunday masses.
> Procession adding Eucharistic Ministers and Second Reader - An entrance procession including Eucharistic Ministers will begin in September. For this to occur, the Eucharistic Ministers must be in the foyer 15 min. before Mass allowing them time to say the prayer before service as a group. The cross must be carried in front of the procession. (The candles can remain lit on the altar) As a there are not enough lector volunteers for a second reader during the 4 pm Mass, there will not be a second reader at either Mass at this time. Angela will add this information to the September Mass Ministries email.
> Deacon Peter’s Schedule – Deacon Peter will let Roisin and Angela know his schedule on a monthly basis. Generally, he will sit with the congregation on the 1st Sunday, serve on the altar on the 2nd Sunday, and preach on the 3rd Sunday. He will serve with some of SJS Masses and celebrations. During the week, Deacon Peter will most often be serving in his role with the senior care facilities in East Lethbridge.
> Updated Office Protocol – A note from Roisin asks that copying needed by a church group be sent to her 1 week in advance. Copying of booklets needs more than 1 week notice.
> Possible Thursday Morning Adorations – Currently Adoration and Reconciliation happen on Fridays at 7 pm. An additional Adoration after the Thursday morning 8:45 AM Mass was discussed. As SJS students are often attending the morning Mass, it’s not proper to have the monstrance on the altar while the students are departing. However, there may be times in the year that the students will participate in Adoration after a Thursday morning Mass. More discussions with SJS will occur on this point. Also, we may consider another day for a noon hour adoration time.
> Cost of Votive Candles – The cost of each votive candle has increased to $5.66. Currently, parishioners are asked to donate $5 when lighting a prayer candle. Finance council will make the final decision, but we suggested to increase the donation request to $7 to cover the increase.
> Corpus for Church Altar – Shelley will be measuring the existing Risen Christ statue that hung above the church altar (minus the wooden cross framing it). She will find out from Fr. Wilbert whether an extra or unused corpus of similar size is stored somewhere in the diocese. If there isn’t one, she will be looking for one that costs about $5000. The money to buy this corpus may need to acquire through fund-raising or perhaps taken from the funds of the Church Rectory sale.
> Cemetery Mass Date Change – Fr. Kevin will celebrate Mass for the souls of the deceased buried in our area at Mountain View Cemetery on Thursday, September 12 at 7:00 pm.
> Thanksgiving Food Collection – As Thanksgiving is on Monday, October 14th, food slips asking for food donations will be given out on the weekends of September 29th and October 6th. An announcement for the bulletin and one to be read at the lectern will be made to encourage people to give. (Shelley and Sylvia??)
> Canada Needs Our Lady – Dianne will organize this event happening in the church parking lot on Saturday, October 12th.
> All Soul’s Day – Fr. Ian will say Mass at 9 AM on Saturday, Nov. 2nd. Following Mass, Shelley and Dianne will organize a group to say the rosary at the Coaldale Cemetery.
> Catholic Education Sunday – Sunday, November 3rd
> Memorial Mass – tentatively scheduled for Sunday, November 10th.
5. Closing Prayer – lead by Deacon Peter
Next Meeting – Tuesday, October 29th, 2024 after the 7 pm Mass.
St. Ambrose Parish
Hall Committee Report to PPC
August 29, 2024
The last meeting was Tuesday August 27/24. It was decided that the Architect was to proceed with the working drawings based on a detached Hall addition. Upon further review on a detached building, the Architect proposes to connect the two buildings from a code and cost point of view. Jared Dyck will provide budget pricing based on the current drawings in approximately 6 weeks.
Denise Roosen
Chair of the Hall Committee
St. Ambrose Parish
CWL Report for Parish Pastoral Council
September 2024
Greetings everyone:
Happy Fall!
The CWL has started back this month with a potluck and a visit from 2 special guests, one from the Provincial Council and one from Diocesan Council.
We served the lunch at Arnold Bodie’s funeral this last weekend.
We have our pie making bee coming up on Sept. 27th.
We have the Diocesan Fall Meeting on Sept. 28th, as well as the Lethbridge Regional Fall Meeting on Oct. 5th.
We continue to serve at the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen on the second Friday of the month.
We lead the rosary every Monday morning. We will be leading the rosary before all Masses during the month of October.
We will be looking forward to a busy fall.
Autumn blessings to everyone!
Respectfully submitted,
Lynne Schaaf CWL President
Knights of Columbus Council 7082
P.P.C. Report – Sep. 26/24
- We will continue to support Youth Masses this year with snacks and drinks for the youth after mass. At this point it is unclear whether the youth mass will take place this coming weekend.
- Coaldale Summer Fest and our annual Pancake Breakfast took place on Aug. 10. Fun was had by all and we had a great turnout of both workers and customers. The biggest issue we had was with electricity and popping breakers non-stop.
- The Knights will again be co-sponsors of the Fall Turkey Dinner. We have connected with the Hall Committee and are looking forward to another amazing event. Any support for the PPC or any other group is greatly appreciated as this is a large event. We will be making an appeal to all parishioners.
- Lastly, we had great discussion around how we can engage our youth. We will continue to look for ways to bring our youth into the church and connect better with St. Joseph School.
Submitted by
Kevin Kinahan,
Grand Knight – Council 7082
St. Ambrose Parish
Sound System Report for
Parish Pastoral Council Meeting Sept. 24, 2024
Lynne and Dave met with Harley Packer to “walk through” the sound system to get an idea as to what was plugged into what and should be coming out of where. We found that we have a digital amplifier that is housed in the closet in the hallway by Father’s office. There are five microphones used in our church; the podium mic, Father’s headset mic, an extra mic (called stage mic) near the podium, the choir solo mic and the choir mic. The last two are in the choir loft and are run through the mixer board in the loft. We have 5 speakers: one overhead near the altar, one overhead near the back of the church, 2 speakers in the foyer, and one speaker in the crying room. According to Harley, the amp and the speakers did not work. We were running all the sound through his system in the choir loft. We looked at the amp and decided that we needed the services of a sound expert. Lynne called an ex-colleague of hers from the U of L and he came in to take a look. The first day, he determined that the speakers all work. The amp works but needs to be reprogrammed. The mics also work. We were able to get the podium mic to work through the amp.
The second meeting happened when we were looking at the amp and the Ambo mic input stopped working and we could not get it to work again. We were able to download the software for the amp onto a laptop and bring it in. Our sound expert was able to get the Ambo mic working again as well as the Presider’s mic. The rest we could not do because they were locked up in Harley’s box in the choir loft. We got Harley to leave the receiver for the Presider’s wireless mic out. After church one week, we hooked this receiver up to the amp and got it working. How the choir mic hooked up to the amp we were unsure.
We came back one afternoon to make sure the software was talking to the amp and did what we could to clean up the sound and streamline the wires.
We got our expert back a third time to help us with the mixer board and the choir mics. We got them all working and patched in properly. He then, with the aid of his equipment, went into the software and eq’ed all the mics. The end result is all the mics are working from the church system. We will not have to use Harley’s system at all.
When the sound system is in use, the cupboard door where it is housed must remain open. It can be closed after the amp is turned off.
Some future thoughts for the sound system may be to get a lapel mic for Deacon Peter. A first glance at them has them priced around $750. We can test drive a couple of models for a weekend for about $20.
We hope to get a refurbished laptop with the hardware installed on it from Peter Harris. It will stay at the church to be used for future maintenance on the system.
We will continue to monitor the system to keep it working properly.
Respectfully submitted
Lynne Schaaf