September Minutes - September 19th 2006
Unable to Attend:
Community Development Team Leader Luba Johnson Education Team Leader Maria Kopulos
Meeting brought to order at 7:00 P.M. with the Lord’s Prayer: Bible Study followed; 2 Corinthians 1:1-11
Minutes
Minutes- Letter to Job- new business needs to be changed to Archbishop. Mike moved to approve minutes as corrected, Bob 2nd all approved.
Financial Secretary Philip Nezanov's and Treasurer Bob Zubenko's reports are not included in the online version of the council minutes.
Reports
Education Team Leader - Maria Kopulos
Maria Kopulos absent, written report submitted
Church School - Lana Kokayeff
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Total of 51 children enrolled for school year 2006-7
Registration fees collected thus far; $350.00 (toddler class not included)
Craft fees collected $50.00
Group Sunday School photo taken 9/17
New procedure for garbage in classrooms in effect, all teachers must put their classroom garbage in larger receptacle in education wing hallway, after every class.
New clocks purchased for all rooms, since none were working!
Adult Education - Clark Wilson
A ten-week icon painting course is planned beginning 9 October 2006. It will be taught by an instructor from outside the parish. Cost is $570.
A Bible study will start meeting at the church 9 October 2006.
The Purpose Driven Life series will resume on 20 October 2006.
School of the Seventy: I continue to work to bring the credits list up to date. The coffee-hour discussions at the bookstore table have started up again.
The online chat room continues Sunday evenings.
I will be finishing an article in the "divine feminine" series for the next issue of the Evangelist.
YO - Lauren Dandeles
Had the first meeting Sunday, 2 were in attendance. Not much to report as to what the group desires to do in the future.
Christian Resource Center - Deacon Danial Doss
Nothing to report
Movie Club - Ken Stevens
Purpose Driven Part VI starts up October 20th and will continue for every Friday for 7 consecutive weeks.
Movie Club will start up again last Sunday in October 29th. Choice still to be determined.
There is a chance a St. Luke’s Men’s Support Group will be carved out of Purpose Driven life and led by Dn. Andrew Werbiansky . He is considering the possibility now and will get back to me. It would start in late October or early November.
Junior Olympics - Chuck Bern
Nothing new to report.
Bulletin Boards: - Tanya Andionidis
Patriotic Board posted for 9/11 ceremony, in Nave. New frame for Nave "board" to be reconstructed by Nick Lisowski and Maria Kopulos, in next few weeks. This will make the board more beautiful and eye catching, as this board serves for our visitors.
Additions; Anthea sent Maria a schedule for Icon instruction. Adult education - Purpose Driven Life should be the 20th not the 19th.
Property Team Leader - Mike Bauml
present, written report submitted
Expected expenses this month: 1200.00 to complete landscaping - 200.00 for fire extinguishers
Kitchen Ministry
Carla has been unable to do much during the summer months due to the heat and lack of air conditioning. Now that it is cooler she intends to get back to work and move some things into the storage room.
Maintenance Report
Now that Nick has the proper saw, he has begun the trim in the old basement and it should be done shortly. With the heavy rains it was reported that we have a leak over the glass doors in the front. Nick has already begun looking into this and if he is unable to find the source of the leak we will contact the roofing company for assistance. Also Father Andrew reported that several of the light bulbs have burned out, Nick has been notified and will take care of this.
Pending Projects
-
Plaster is coming off the wall on the way up the choir next to the window due to an old leak. We need to fix this.
Waterproofing stone above the front door. Waiting for information from George Evangelopoulos.
Finish repairing the Air Conditioning unit for the new basement. Nick got it running again but it needs a sensor to be replaced.
Missing baseboard in the fellowship hall needs to be replaced.
Broken window in classroom: Pending
New Building
The glass installers came out twice to replace the broken window. Both times they have the wrong window. We are attempting to straighten this out.
Safety
Jim has been given materials from the insurance company. Fire extinguishers have been serviced and retagged. All alarms have been repaired and are in working order. The false fire alarm was due to a faulty sensor and it has been replaced.
Environmental
Dennis has scheduled an appointment for a quote to clean the ductwork. Following this, he will reactivate the air cleaning unit in the ductwork and clean the existing standing units in the building.
Cell Phone Towers
It turned out that there will be no new cabinets needed at this time so we will not have a new lease at this time. Some work was done by the phone companies but it was all underground at there seems to be no serious damage to the property. They were changing some of the wiring from copper to fiber optic.
Strategic Planning
Inventory
Memorial Book: The memorial book has a new binder with a title on the front as was requested by the Parish Council. I have asked George Poulos to take photos of two items missing from the book: the cross that George donated and the icon of the Descent into Hades. He is working on it. I will add them to the memorial book as soon as he emails them to me. Fr. Andrew also asked for individual photos of the bells. George has these and I will remind him to send them to me with the others.
Inventory/Insurance Record: I started taking photos before my surgery. Now that I am back on two feet, I will resume this task. I have set up a spreadsheet file with columns for the photo, description, approx. date, and value. I have some old receipts from Luba, I also expect that Stea and Bob Zubenko will be able to help with the value information. When complete, I will print a few sets and bind them for our records, and also burn a CD. Note: After the information has been checked for accuracy by everyone (Fr Andrew and the Parish Council ) I think that a set should also be given to our insurance company. I can then send them an updated file annually. Ask the Parish Council if they agree to this. We should also keep a set in a fire retardant safety box. I don't know if we have that, if we don't have one, I will donate it to St. Luke's.
Consultant
Nothing new to report
Church Beautification
Discussion continued concerning the stairwell renovation. Nick feels that we can fill the voids in and paint it ourselves. Greg voiced his concern about whether or not carpeting is allowed by code in the stairwell. This is still in the development stages.
Historian
Tammy is almost finished with the first year’s books. This will be used as a template, which will help additional years go quicker.
Cemetery
Recently we have had a person interested in purchasing a lot through an email contact. This is the first in a quite a while.
Supply
Nothing new to report
Team Projects
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Lawn Repair: The landscaper has been contacted to finish the work.
Choir Room: The natural brick wall still needs to be trimmed and the wall cleaned or painted. This is pending.
Broken water fountain: A plumber was contacted concerning this work and a problem with the urinal in the men’s bathroom. He failed to call back to set up an appointment to repair these. In the meantime, Dennis got the urinal to work properly and stated that he will talk to someone he knows about the water fountain.
Parking lot: See Lay Chairperson’s report.
Alarm Systems: We had another false alarm, this time with the security system. This occurred when the Norwalk Tank Company was out working on the septic system. Apparently they stuck their notice between the two glass doors and somehow set off the alarm. They have been contacted and asked to place the notice in the mailbox in the future. Also the problem with the elevator button was discussed and we will try to devise a system that allow the button to be protected from accidental contact and yet still be accessible.
Old Basement remodel: Trim work in progress.
Painting of the old building: This was discussed and plans for next year are being developed. Possible plans include the possibility of stripping the popcorn ceiling or placing venitian plaster. They was also some talk of redoing the windowsill areas.
Father Andrew’s Office: Greg has found and decided on the proper heating and cooling unit for Father’s office. The cost will be approximately 2000.00. A relative of Nick who is in the business in being contacted about installation.
Crooked Cross: Nick will look into what can be done.
Septic System: The septic system was checked and serviced. They requested that the control panel be reset as the aerator was not working. This was handled by Dennis.
Mouse Problems: It has been reported that mouse droppings has been found in a couple of the classrooms and in kitchen area. In some ways this is to be expected being located next to a forest preserve, however Pat Dravillas has been asked to contact the exterminator. A request to the education team was sent asking the teachers to be careful about any food being left in the classrooms and emptying any garbage cans with food each week
Paper towel holder: The key for the paper towel holder in the fellowship hall bathroom is missing and we are unable to open it. Nick will try to get this open for us.
Additions: Tno new cabinets needed for cell towers.. Memorial- mother of sorrows Icon needs to be added.
Evangelism Team Leader - Pearl Homiak
present, written report submitted
Blood Drive - Sharon Mochel
Nothing to report.
Internet - Ron Wojcik (Mike Bauml)
Posted 7 new events, info for new Orthodox Christians, council minutes, Archbishop Job’s homily at Bridegroom Matins in April 2006, icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa, completed and corrected music for the slideshow of Poland; received and mailed out 2 orders for online store; maintained website categories.
Garden Center - Christine Bowen
Service was on September 18th because of Labor Day and Patriot’s Day events.
Patriot's Day - Caye Caswick
Comments from participants centered on the feeling that this year’s event was the best one so far; General Kirkland was a good speaker and got everyone’s attention; thank you notes will be sent out to speakers
Lost Sheep - Caye Caswick
Hopefully, a meeting will be set up soon with those parishioners who have volunteered to assist with locating and contacting lost sheep.
Sanctity of Life - Mary Jo Werbiansky
Life Chain will be held again on October 1, 2006, from 2:30-3:30 p.m., on the east side of LaGrange Road at about 149th St. near Advocate Health Care. More people need to attend this peaceful and prayerful protest of abortion.
The PASS dinner will be held on Thursday, October 12, 2006. People who attend are encouraged to become donors, since this is a fundraiser.
Outreach - Lee Kopulos
I will provide the quarterly visitor info next month. We have had many visitors so far this year.
Corrections - Pearl: George Poulos is media-not photography. Lost sheep people will not be contacting lapsed parishioners- just giving ideas how to bring them back to the church. Life Chain- Pearl asked council to consider how can we get more support for this important event.
Community Development Team Leader - Luba Johnson
absent, written report submitted
Fellowship
On August 27 we had our Get Together Luncheon. The cost was $5 per adult and children up to the ages of 12 were free. It was supported by our parishioners.
After reimbursements for expenses $351.00 was given to the treasurer to be deposited. The cost of the lamb was $320 which leaves a profit of $31. The attendance was approximately 85 adults. Luncheon consisted of Greek chicken, donated by George Poulos (thank you George) and the roasted lamb was catered by D’Masti. All parishioners were generous in bringing side dishes and desserts.
Sue Lisowski has asked that if possible to find a replacement for this ministry. She is taking classes and is extremely busy.
Women's Ministry
KAIROS Women’s Retreat - A women’s retreat is being planned for during Great Lent. It will be held at St. Luke and the presenter will be Mother Gabriella. More information will be given at a later date.
Prayer Ministry
Approximately 61 persons were prayed for in August, plus the pregnancy and military persons. Every Saturday after Vespers, the prayer ministry recites the prayer of intercession and lights the vigil candle as we mention the names of the people were praying for that week. Then the candle is put in front of the cross outside. Mary Kincaid
Sunshine Ministry
Svetlana Lynch continues to send out cards.
Golf Outing
No report at this time
Flowers
No report at this time
Restaurant Rovers
No report at this time
Children Adoption
No report at this time
Christmas Decoration Ministry
No report at this time
Diocesan/All-American Delegate - Anthea Lukoshonak
present
Anthea and father will drive together to the Midwest Diocesan Assembly meeting.
Assisant Layperson Report - Caye Caswick
absent, written report submitted
Stewardship
Charities - Karen Verderber
Below is our list of Charities:
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"OCF – Real Break" request for support for Guatemala trip on March 11 from Juliana Khouri to serve Hogan Rafael Ayan Orphanage
"Ilaasi, Friends of St. Herman's Seminary" Kodiak Alaska Fundraising 2006
"OCA Mission Appeal 2006"
"OCMC 2006 Mission Appeal" [MARCH, 2006]
"Teybeh Housing for needy Christians in Israel" [YO Charity, APRIL 2006]
"Project Mexico." [JUNE, 2006]
"IOCC" [MAY, 2006/Banquet]
Popescu [JULY 2006]
PLOWS [AUGUST 2006]
Sts. Cyril & Methodius Orthodox Church Iconastas Appeal
Little Lambs Orphanage, India
New List obtained from Karen Verderber:
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Together We Cope (A homeless preg. agency out of Tinley Park)
St. Herman Theological. Seminary. out of Kodiak AL.
Come Receive the Light, supporting Ortho. Christian Network Broadcasting out of Fort Lauderdale Fl.
Emmaus House, Harlem, working with the poor
Martha and Mary House, Ortho. Christian Maternity Home out of Escondido Ca.
St. Vladimir's O.T.S.
Religious Books For Russia out of Lagrangeville N.Y.--Karen
IOCC/Lebanon was the September, 2006 charity.
Karen asked that PASS be our charity for October, 2006.
Special Projects:
I am scanning documents for our website, recipes, articles, old publications, bible study documents, etc. and have recently gotten the assistance of Katerina Claiborne in this regard. I've been assisting Philip in his transition to the Financial Secretary position. I continue to research Ivan Mlinar and am having Fr. John Memorich in Cleveland ask one of his parishioners assist me in the transcription of his interview with Fr. Borichevsky.
Caye- Karen asked that October charity be PASS
Lay Chairperson Report - Ken Stevens
present, written report submitted
Attendance at Liturgy:
Once a discernible trend can be established, a graph will be developed moving forward to start tracking church attendance as reflected in the chart below. While we need to see a period of at least six months to start noticing any substantial trending upward or downward, below find attendance figures since 6-25-06.
St. Luke church Attendance: Sunday Divine Liturgy
Date Adults Children Total
June 25th, 2006 70 17 87
July 2nd, 2006 72 10 82
July 9th, 2006 73 20 93
July 16th, 2006 76 13 89
July 23, 2006 73 20 93
July 30, 2006 75 22 97
August 6, 2006 72 16 88
August 13, 2006 86 21 107
August 20, 2006 78 16 94
August 27, 2006 84 25 109
September 3, 2006 75 15 90
September 10, 2006 80 26 106
Plan for Forest Preserve Parking Dilemma
Previously, George Evangelopoulos suggested we should circumvent the Forest Preserve office and go around them using other County government influentials. He only needs the St. Luke plot of survey and the site map….and he will construct a plan where we only want to use the space (not lease it, etc)…and thinks he can wield influence elsewhere to get it done…finally, we hope.
I again spoke with George Evangelopoulos this past week, and he is committed to having a St. Luke/Forest Preserve parking lot site plan completed by Thursday, September 21. This diagrammatic will show the Forest Preserve officials exactly what the new plan would look like (i.e. utilization of adjacent parking space) and hopefully expedite review and approval.
George maintains that Mr. Mellis is only a low-level assistant and has no authority to lead this request. One of George’s clients knows people in higher levels in the Cook County Forest Preserve office and will use this as leverage to consider our proposal.
Men’s Support Group: Dn. Andrew Werbiansky Ministry
I had spoken with Deacon Andrew last month and again this past week, and he is willing to assume leadership of a St. Luke Men’s Study Group, starting in late September or October 2006. This group will meet to discuss men’s specific concerns around Christian living and principles and in the context of Orthodoxy.
After reviewing two potential men support offerings -- Promise Keepers International and Purpose Driven Life materials tailored for men, Deacon Andrew preferred the latter, and is now reviewing PDL to prepare curricula for the meetings. In terms of timing, etc., we discussed Friday evenings at 7:30 PM as being the best time for him. Although this could conflict with the “co-ed” Purpose-Driven Life meetings (Part IV starts 9-22), we could start with once-monthly or every-other-week Men’s group PD meetings, and see how that progresses (level of interest, etc). Location to be determined…Deacon Andrew prefers a home setting.
Once Dn. Andrew is committed to the project, I will prepare an introductory flyer to set the goals of the group and see what kind of response it elicits from the St. Luke community at-large.
National Church Development Project
I exchanged e-mail and voicemail communications with Fr. Jonathon Ivanoff relative the parish health project and strategic planning. I inquired about purchasing items “a la carte” and he was very amenable.
More specifically, we can purchase the survey tool for $250. this would include his sending us the survey, and his completion and tabulation of survey results that would be sent back to us for review. Diagnosing the survey and addressing the results would be priced separately if we wanted to pursue it further.
I spoke about it with Pearl and we agreed it would be a good 1st step in the process. I would recommend that Parish Council approve just the survey tool and then decide accordingly based upon response and discussion.
Church Life Insurance policy - Stea Zekios
I left several messages (both VMX and e-mail) with Jack Derkacy, the insurance agent and am awaiting his return call to me before we can recommend a course of action: The letter below speaks to the issue:
September 12, 2006
TO: Jack Derkacy, New York Life Agent
Dear Jack:
Per the attached file, I had left you a message on your voicemail last week and hadn’t heard back from you.
Could you please provide a forward-looking illustration of what would happen if we paid off the loan or if we let the loan ride…That way, I can present the facts to the Parish Council and we can make a speedy decision and get back to you.
Looking forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely,
Ken Stevens
St. Luke Parish Council Lay Chairman
Other Parish Reporting Issues:
Parishioner suggestions:
Elevator emergency button has gone off twice accidentally in one month. Both the fire trucks and the ambulance came the last time (blood drive). How can we avoid this embarrassing situation in the future?
Resolution: Property committee will try to build a wire mesh cage around the button to prevent accidental activation
Pastoral Report - Father Andrew Harrison
present, written report submitted
-
Meetings – 4
Counseling sessions – 8
Services – 15 (Liturgies, Vespers, Matins)
House Visits/blessings/Shut-ins - 5
Hospital visits - 3
2 Weddings
Attended Fr. Raphael Biernacki’s Funeral in Flint Michigan
Morning prayers – 8
Garden School – 1 visit – 25 attending
Diocesan Assembly will be held from Oct 10 – 12 in Palatine IL - Fr. Andrew and Anthea will be attending. We will be commuting
The Icon painting class at St. Luke on Monday October 16.
Purpose Driven class will begin on Friday Oct 20
Report of the Deanery meeting - Joe Kormos is the diocese Parish Health Facilitator. He will hold a conference call to deanery clergy in October and begin setting up a program of Church growth. The NCD program was discussed – Some positive and some negative responses were made. It was agreed that modifications need to be made to fit into Orthodox churches
September 11th committee is to be commended for an excellent program
Civil Air Patrol Meeting and Funeral for boy who committed suicide
Car Mileage, Total miles = 2,806. – Business miles = 2,425. Personal miles = 381.
Odometer reading, Aug 1stt – 60, 291 Aug 31 – 63, 097
Proto Deacon Andrew – Icon boards were mailed to Cheryl Pituch for the St Luke Narthex Icon
Altar servers, John Verderber – We are planning a bowling and pizza outing for the Altar Servers and Handmaidens on October 15th. I am also going to start teams again since summer is coming to an end. I will get the teams set up and will use the Tone for the week as to who will server. Even numbers will be Team A and odd numbers will be Team B. Three adult reader robes are on order from America Church Supply.
Handmaidens, Lynn Betsanes - The bells were rung on Sept 11 all day and for the signing of the Constitution on Sept 17 sponsored by the Daughters of the American Revolution. An inquiry was made by Helen Jonas from Sts. Constantine and Helen regarding the duties of the handmaidens. They are looking to start something similar in their church. They are planning to meet regularly to discuss women saints and the roles of women in the church and I suggested we join them for these discussions. Our second annual outing has been planned, this time with the Altar Servers. We will be bowling together at Lockport Lanes on October 15th around 1:00pm. A flyer will go out this Sunday and possibly a notice in the bulletin.
Readers, Jim Lewindowski – Nothing new to report
Choir, Maria Vrame – The choir sang two weddings and the September 11th program. Beginning this Sunday we will start our regular rehearsals after church. We will work on reviewing some Christmas music and I have some new music for liturgy that we'll begin learning. If possible I'd like the Choir to be able to learn a new hymn in its entirety in one session, going over all the parts, etc. So it is important that I have good attendance at rehearsals. It might be a good idea for those of choir members who cannot read notes bring a tape so they can record their part at rehearsal and can practice on there own. I also would like at some of our rehearsals to review some of our more difficult music and polish them up. Church does begin at 9:30 and it would be nice to have all choir members 5 minutes before the bells toll so they can have their music ready and know where each section of the liturgy is in the books.
Vestments, Helen Partoll – Replaced the gold covers for Sept 14th
Additions:
Angela Zekios would like to have a missionary from Albania come to speak to the parish. The offering in November will be for the Albanian Missionary work.
Father commends the memorial committee for a job well done. Miles are high this month- as Father had to drive to Michigan for a funeral and OCC meeting.
10/3/-2006, the Bishops will be meeting here in Chicago to standardize some procedures.
Christmas gift program information will be out soon.
The lecture on Islam and Christianity at St. George information will be forthcoming. Anthea- it will be part of the City of Chicago events calendar
Anthea made a motion to accept the reports as corrected. Bob 2nd. All agreed.
Old Business
Charities Approval
PASS Oct. OCMC (Albania) for November. Mike motioned- Pearl 2nd all approved
Security of weekly collections
(taken care of)
Approval of early retirement of mortgage
(taken care of when check arrives from US Cellular)
Insurance
Ken still waiting for the NY life person to contact him-he will have a report next month
New Business
Natural Church Development
Ken- Father Ivanoff reported to Ken that we can do NCD process in stages-the 1st step would be to take the survey. This will cost $250, Father Ivanoff will tabulate the results- and we can decide from there what we want to do. Ken thought it would be nice to have the survey to see how our parish compares to others. Father reported that Parish Administration would fund the survey. Pearl motioned that we ask Father Ivanoff to provide the survey and tabulate it for $250. Mike 2nd all approved.
CLOSING PRAYER
Mike made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Bob 2nd. All Agreed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:00P.M.
Submitted by Debra Dandeles, Council Secretary