PARISH COUNCIL MAIN PAGE

PARISH COUNCIL MISSION STATEMENT

The Parish Council of Our Lady of the Pillar is a faith-filled leadership body, guided by the Holy Spirit, (Mary/Our Lady of the Pillar) and the Gospel, that works in conjunction with the pastor, parish, and parish staff to discern the needs of the parish and, by setting goals and priorities, and acting by consensus, guides the parish in building a Christ-centered Christian community, for the honor and glory of God and the honor of Mary.

LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE

The Parish Council coordinates five working Commissions whose functions are outlined in the covenant booklet. All parish organizations and activities are included within one of these Commissions.

The five Commissions are: Worship, Community Life, Education, Outreach, and Administration. Two people from each Commission, along with the Pastor and a representative of the parish staff, make up the Parish Council. The Council, therefore, is made up of 12 members. The term of office on the Parish council is two years, and three years on the commission. That means a person could serve on a commission for one year and then could be selected to serve on the Parish council, while still remaining on the commission for the next two years.

The mission of each commission is described here. For more information on each of the commissions you can scroll down the page or use the table of contents at the left to link to a particular section.

Commission	Stated Mission
Worship	To promote, in our parish community, a love for worship and prayer and to create avenues for change in the Liturgical Life of the Parish.
Community Life	To build a deeper sense of Christian Community for all in the parish through Communication, Coordination, Volunteerism and Interaction .
Formation / Education	To align OLP parishioners toward God’s love, so that He may speak to us in the present, daily happenings of our parish and of our lives. To provide opportunities for parishioners and the larger community to gather and share/exchange wisdom through: Spirituality exploration and enrichment Sponsored group activities/events Inviting speakers of interest to OLP Addressing issues that will reach all subgroups of the parish. To encourage interaction between the school, parish, and larger community. To foster an environment of knowledge sharing for the benefit of all.
Outreach	That every family in our parish will contribute in some manner to our outreach activities to assist those less fortunate.
Administration	To provide Our Lady of the Pillar Parish with comprehensive management and financial advice that is: Appropriate and Effective Compassionate and Direct Technologically sound and Up-to-date Offered with Fairness and Integrity To assist with those managerial systems and environments of the Parish that enhances the parishioners’ ability to practice and improve their faith. To be involved with, and responsive to, the managerial and financial needs of the Parish community and its leadership.

As the members of the Parish Council and Commissions, we freely accept the call to serve as leaders of this faith community. We realize that we share this privilege and responsibility with the Pastor and Staff of this parish community. We understand that our Baptism call, which we share with every Christian, is to live out the Gospel. We accept the challenge to make this a priority, not only for ourselves and our family but to extend this effort to our larger parish community as well.

Worship Commission Membership

Name	Position	Term Expires	Name	Position	Term Expires
Tom Benner Littleben6@aol.com		2008	Judy Meyerkord jmmeyerkord@swbell.net	Co-Chair	2008
Kim Diederich kimdiederich@charter.net		2009	Tish Murphy stltish@hotmail.com	Secretary	2008
Judie Donohue juded4@sbcglobal.net		2007	Tom Stephan tstephan@olpillar.com	Staff / Parish Council Rep
Ric Evens revens@ahmins.com	PC rep	2008	Fr. Wm. Wightman, S.M. wrwight2@hotmail.com	Staff
Peter Kobe kobeclan@hotmail.com		2008	JoLynn Winer winerw@aol.com	Co-chair	2008

Worship Commission Description
Ministry	Responsibility
1. Lay Ministries:	To recruit, train, and schedule Eucharistic Ministers, Lectors, and Greeters to assist in the creation of enjoyable worship.
2. Ministry to the Sick:	To bring the Eucharist to thse parishioners unable to attend Mass due to health restraints. To visit and pray with them and attend to many of their spiritual needs.
3. Ushers:	To recruit, train and schedule ushers to assist those arriving, participating and departing worship at Our Lady of the Pillar.
4. Art and Environment:	To enhance the beauty of the church interior through arrangements, banners, decor and cleanliness.
5. Children's Liturgy of the Word:	To help foster an appreciation of the mass for children 5 years - 3rd grade by having the word proclaimed in an age appropriate manor.
6. Youth Mass:	To encourage the youth of the parish to regularly attend mass by creating an atmosphere of high energy through contemporary music and relevant messages
7. PSR and School Masses:	To educate and promote the Eucharistic celebration to elementary school children.
8. Resource, Music and Servers	To provide information on available resources the parish may have to offer for use during services. To enhance worship through song and music and create an atmosphere of reverence. To recruit, train and schedule servers to assist during masses and other services.

Community Life Commission Membership
Name	Position	Term Expires	Name	Position	Term Expires
Bridget Atwood billikenBridge@swbell.net	Youth Minister		Jackie Paletta gapjhp@aol.com		2009
Carol Craddock dock1@peoplepc.com	Secretary	2008	Loretta Ramsey lgeigeram@hotmail.com		2007
Ann Griesedieck antesedmo@aol.com	PC rep	2008	Jo Ann Van Deven jvandeven@olpillar.com	Staff
Jamie Griesedieck jegslim@charter.net	Co-chair/ PC rep	2006	Sally Wheat sallyawheat@yahoo.com		2007
Amy Hilton saam.hilton@sbcglobal.net		2007

Community Life Commision Description
Ministry	Responsibility
1. Social Coordinator	Coordinate social functions specific to the Rectory/ Parish. Recruit people to chair these events and help with coordinating volunteers. Work closely with the Volunteers Coordinator.
2. Youth Group Liaison	Communicate to CLC what the Youth Group has coming up and whether this requires and help of the CLC. Regularly attend Youth Group functions in helpful.
3. Senior Liaison	Attend any seniors meetings and communicate to CLC if support is needed. Work with Volunteers Coordinator if necessary to help with seniors' events.
4.Mother's and Men's Club Liaison	Attend all Mother's/Men's Club meeting's. Report to CLC if any additional support is needed for them in terms of Volunteers, Parish-wide communication, Event Coordinators etc.
5. Calendar Coordinator	Work with Administration Committee and the Rectory to set up an electronic Calendar for the Parish as a whole. Provide a calendar of parish events each year.
6. Volunteers Coordinator	Recruit new members of the parish to get involved. Maintain a pool of Volunteers for parish events. Communicate with other commissions this pool is available for their events.
7. Directory	Compile information on parish members and their families.

Formation / Education Commission Membership
Name	Position	Term Expires	Name	Position	Term Expires
Grace Benner Gabgab2@aol.com		2008	Randy Rockamann		2009
Dawn Dixon meadowsdixon@charter.net	Co-chair / Parish Council Rep	2008	Theresa Vella tcvella@charter.net	School Board liaison	2007
Fr. Gerald R. Hammel, S.M.	Staff		Sr. Therese Marie Wieczorek stm@olpillar.com	Staff
Rick Heitmann Heit4@aol.com	Co-chair / Parish Council Rep	2008	Betsy Zatkulak ezatkulak@earthlink.net		2007
Cathy Hoehn cdhoehn@aol.com		2007

Formation / Education Commision Description
Ministry	Responsibility
1. Retreats	Responsible for planning and implementation of parish retreats to promote spiritual enrichment.
2. Speakers	To schedule and promote speakers who can share knowledge and experiences to help guide parishioners in their spiritual development.
3. Adult Education Programs	To make parishioners and the community aware of the formational programs available through our parish and to encourage participation. This includes such programs as Small Faith Communities, Welcome Home, Renew, etc.
4. School Board	To oversee operations of the School.	Sr. Therese Marie 314-993-3353

Outreach Commission Membership
Name	Position	Term Expires	Name	Position	Term Expires
Heather Chaney 88paris@sbcglobal.net	Co-chair	2008	Art James art.james@merial.com	Parish Council Rep	2008
Alice Conway aeccwc@juno.com	Co-chair	2007	Richard Middleton, SM lwpsm@swbell.net		2007
Deacon Chuck Georges cwgeorgespar@hotmail.com		2008	Norma Nowotny		2009
Ed Hamilton ehamilton@brown-kortkamp.com	Parish Council Rep	2007	Mary Ann O’Neill jackoneill42@sbcglobal.net	Secretary	2009
Shirley Hoemeke rshoemeke@mindspring.com		2009	Br. Bill O’Leary	Staff

Outreach Commision Description
Ministry	Responsibility
In-parish services:
1. Helping Hands	A program of short-term assistance for activities such as after-funeral food preparation, transportation for the sick and needy, etc.
2. Catholics Returning Home	A program that welcomes former Catholics back to the church.
3. RCIA (Right of Christian Initiation of Adults)	1. An on-going process to welcome new members into the church.
4. Bereavement	A ministry of consolation, which offers pastoral and spiritual support to the bereaved, caregivers and others as needs arise.
5. Small Church Communities	A ministry of ordinary people helping each other connect life and faith on a regular basis.
Christian Outreach:
1. Guardian Angels Settlement	An agency that serves a severe poverty pocket on the near south side with programs and services to meet the direct needs of all age groups. Agency location is 1401 LaSalle, St Louis, MO 63104; PO Box 2055, St Louis, MO 63158.
2. St. Patrick’s Center	A ministry to provide sandwiches and snacks and distribute them by van to the downtown homeless and street people.
3. Our Lady’s Inn	A ministry to provide a safe haven for homeless pregnant women and their children, family after-care programs, and training to help equip them for a better life. Our Lady’s Inn is located at 4233 South Compton, St Louis, MO 63118; PO Box 18741, St Louis, MO 63118-0741.
4. Pro-Life Committee	A group to help restore the right to life for all humans from the moment of conception, by seeking passage of a constitutional amendment for mothers who choose life for their babies.
5. Birthright	An international organization with a Saint Louis chapter, which runs six offices. The birthright mission is to help women in an untimely pregnancy so that they are able to carry their babies to term. Each office offers free pregnancy tests and provides free professional counseling.
6. Warm Meals, St. Augustine of Hippo	A ministry to feed the hungry in the neighborhood of St. Augustine. Parish church is located at 1371 Hamilton, St Louis, MO 63112.
7. BREM/ St. Augustine’s/ Wellston Center	A program serving a variety of needs of low-income families in the BREM boundaries.

Administration Commission Membership
Name	Position	Term Expires	Name	Position	Term Expires
Steve Anton steve@antonarchitecture.com	Co-chair PC rep	2008	Gerry Lauber glauber4@sbcglobal.net glauber@vianney.com	Co-Chair	2007
Rick Bialczak tomjons@sbcglobal.net		2009	Ed Murphy edmurphy10@earthlink.net	Secretary	2007
Jim Bick bicks@charter.net jbickjr@jhbkj.com		2007	Fr. James Tobin, S.M. jmtsm@aol.com	Staff
Edward Cook dward.p.cook@boeing.com		2009	Virginia Westermeyer gwest3@charter.net	Parish Council Rep	2007
Thomas Dum thdum54@aol.com	Social Justice Ministry

Administration Commision Description
Ministry	Responsibility
1. Finance	Responsible for advising the Pastor, Staff and other commissions of the budget, revenues and expenses on a monthly and annual basis. To oversee the work of the Board in the coordination, direction and scheduling of appeals for financial contributions, as well as the scheduling of special collections and fund-raising events in the parish.
2. Grounds and Maintenance	To review the maintenance and improvement of existing properties and to make recommendations foe the purchase or construction of additional properties.
3. Communication and Technology	To promote ongoing, two-way communication between parish groups and between parish groups and between parish leaders and parishioners. Responsible for the parish website management and content
4. Legal	Oversee the work of the Trustees who are responsible for the ratification of legally required documents. This is an ad hoc committee whose core is the attorneys serving on the Commission.