St Edna Parish Life Commission Arlington Heights, IL Contents: PLC Organization PLC Membership PLC Meeting/Events Strategic Planning

Parish Life Commission

VISION – To foster a sense of parish unity by organizing and welcoming all to community building events. MISSION – Plan parish activities and events as celebrations of community – Encourage and challenge our ministries to be imaginative and bring forth new ideas – Support all groups of people that make up the St. Edna community – Emphasize the purpose of all of our activities to make the members of the Parish feel welcome and part of the community

PLC Membership (1/4) Name/Years PLCPhone Liaison/Events Burkard, Joe (2) Chair, Movie Under Stars, Bears Tailgate, Bridge Club Falk, Jenni (X) Theatre, Web Administrator Gross, Randy (X) Krzystofczyk, Carl (X) Council, CFM, Welcoming Martinez, Fr. Lalo (1) Adult Ministry Lapetino, Jackie (X) Council, Bingo, Craft Fair, Pancake Breakfast, Appreciation Dinner Otto, Katie (1) Council Pellettieri, Kathy (X) of Columbus, Pancake Breakfast Scott, Dennis (1) Golf, Men’s Softball Thomas, Ann Marie (X) Plus, WOSE, Sharing Coffee Thomason, Diane (2) of Minutes, “Spotlight On”, Gardening for God Vosburgh, Gloria (X) Pancake Breakfast

PLC Membership (2/4) QUALIFICATIONS – Contributing parishioner of St. Edna – Time to give to the PLC – Passion for the parish – Positive attitude/Team player – Action-oriented/Accountable (Follow-through is important!) RESPONSIBILITIES – Attend 1 monthly meeting – Review minutes prior to meetings and follow-up on action items – Be a liaison to at least 1 ministry – Provide regular communication to/from the ministry head – Support and advocate for the ministries and events – Participate in at least 1 PLC event/yr – Complete pre and post-evaluations for events in which responsible – Contribute to the success of events (sell tickets, lead events, donate time and talent) as possible

PLC Membership (3/4) COMMITMENT – 1-2 hours per month for meetings in August – June (1 st Wednesday of each month) – 1-2 hours per month for pre-meeting preparation and post-meeting follow-up – There is a 3 year commitment that is renewable. – Additional Time Commitments: (varies) – Leading events, volunteering for events (planning, selling tickets, making phone calls, decorating, bartending, attending, marketing, etc.) SUCCESSION – Best Practices: Recommend replacement from within the ministry or from the volunteers that the member works with. – Prepare full documentation on the ministries and events to provide to next individual – PLC’s goal is to have 3 year terms staggered

PLC Membership (4/4) DESIRED TERM OF MEMBER: – Year 1 – Member learns about the commission and how things are run. Member is liaison to at least one ministry and is in communication with the ministry head at least quarterly. Member provides information to and from commission and ministry that they are liaison to. Member supports PLC events when possible by attending, and/or volunteering in a small(er) capacity. – Year 2 – Member may become liaison to additional ministries, but expectation of liaison responsibilities does not change. Member takes a larger role by being a co- event lead with member who has already lead event and mentors the member. Member continues to participate and support PLC events and actively encourages other parishioners to attend. – Year 3+ – As senior member on committee, the expectations are to be welcoming and a guide to newer members. Member continues to be a liaison to PLC ministries. Member serves as a co-lead and mentor with Year 2 member for PLC event. Member recommends new members to replace when ready to roll off.

Member Feedback In June 2013 we reviewed past-year feedback, here are the results:  New website huge success!!  Documented PLC structure, procedures  Good support of each other’s events  New event: Bears Tailgate 2012  Re-evaluated strategy/direction  BIG meeting attendance/facilitation  Need to simplify and proceduralize   Better engagement of ministries  Personal invitation  Engage young adults, international

Meeting Agenda/Documents Standing PLC Meeting Agenda: Target 90 minutes or less 1.Attendance/Introductions 2.Opening Prayer 3.Past Events 4.Upcoming Events 5.Strategic Planning Progress 6.Special Topics 7.Staff/Ministry Reports 8.Questions/Comments 9.Adjourn PLC Documents/Procedures:  PLC Planning Checklist PLC Event Feedback Form Selling Event Tickets Procedure Personal Invitations Cards  Alcohol Approval Policy/Procedure  Others??

Opening Prayers Heavenly Father, we come to you today asking for your guidance, wisdom, and support as we begin this meeting. Help us to engage in meaningful discussion, allow us to grow closer as a group and nurture the bonds of community. Fill us with your grace, Lord God, as we figure out how to best serve the members of St Edna Catholic Church in our capacity as the Parish Life Commission. Remind us that all that we do here today, all that we accomplish, is for the pursuit of truth for the greater glory of You, and for the service of humanity. We ask these things in your name, Amen Lord, we are meeting today to conduct matters of business. Guide our hearts and our minds in the spirit of fairness, right thought and speech. Impart your supreme wisdom upon our activities so that our affairs may reach a successful conclusion. Thank you for being our source of guidance today. Amen Lord, may everything we do begin with your inspiration and continue with your help, so that all our prayers and works may begin in you and by you be happily ended. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen

Calendar/Events PLC Meetings (1 st Wed of Month) 8/7/13 Kick-off 9/4/13 10/2/13 BIG meeting w/ministry heads? 11/6/13 12/4/13 Christmas 1/8/14 2/5/14 3/5/14 4/2/14 5/7/14 6/4/14 Last PLC meeting 2013/2014 PLC Sponsored Events 8/9/13 Movie Under the Stars (Joe) 9/29/13 Bears Tailgate (Joe/Diane) 10/12/13 Oktober Fest (Fr Lalo/Dennis) 10/26/13 Craft Fair (Kathy Romza) 11/16/13 Wine/Cheese Taste (Multiple) 12/8/13 Pancake Breakfast

Strategic Objectives In May 2013 we performed a SWOT analysis to understand how we could improve as a commission. That effort resulted in the following focus areas for : 1.Improve Marketing and Communication 2.Engage Parish Members, e.g. Personal Invitation 3.Establish Commission Continuity The subsequent slides (Appendix) provide additional details on how we intend to improve, these will be updated regularly in commission meetings as appropriate.

1. Marketing & Communication How do we effectively market PLC activities and events? Ideas, volunteers? Actions/TasksResponsibleTarget DateStatusComments 1.Develop a comprehensive marketing plan/materials Ann Marie, Katie Otto Propose plan 2.Grow two-way communication 3.Effectively use technology 4.Add marketing section to event documentation template Appendix

2. Parish Engagement What can we do as PLC to covert parishioners into “engaged participants” at St. Edna? Ideas, volunteers? Actions/TasksResponsibleTarget DateStatusComments 1.Target NEW parishioners from Welcoming Sessions Ann Marie9/4/13 Finalize tri-fold brochure, consider follow tactic? 2.Actively extend “Personal Invitations” w/follow-up Joe Burkard8/7/13 Create Personal Invitation cards, empower PLC to share Appendix

3. Commission Continuity How do we clarify PLC structure to better execute our mission? Ideas, volunteers? Actions/TasksResponsibleTarget DateStatusComments 1.Evaluate whether structured correctly (e.g. social activities) PLC commission decision 2.Define succession plan for commission & ministries 3.Emphasize responsibilities of ministry heads towards commission; Develop procedures BIG meeting discussion 4.Evaluate how we are cultivating our ministry relationships (e.g. more frequent BIG meeting?) Annual meeting enough? 5.Assess/optimize the number of ministries (potentially reduce?) Joe Burkard10/2/13Eliminate PLC sponsorship of closed ministries? Appendix

PLC Benchmarking Holy Name Cathedral – Chicago, IL St Andrew Catholic Church – Rochester, MI Guardian Angels Catholic Church – Oakdale, MN angels.org/councils-and-commissions/parish-life-commission.htmlhttp:// angels.org/councils-and-commissions/parish-life-commission.html St Ann Catholic Church – Oswego, IL Appendix