Parish Pastoral and Finance Council Minutes 

Tuesday, November 18, 2025

Meeting combined with Finance Council

In attendance for parish council:
Father Showreddy, Father Eustace, Ja-Deen Johnson, Theresa Roberts, Maria Hartman, Connie Merkel, Amberlie O’Toole, Ben Laker, Jeremy Schoettle

In attendance for finance:
Joe Coffman, Rachel Miller, Donna Heinekamp

The meeting was called to order.
Father Showreddy opened the meeting with scripture, followed by Father Eustace leading us in prayer.

A motion was made to approve the October council minutes. Minutes were seconded and were approved.

Pastor’s Report from Father Showreddy:

• Beginning in January on the second Sunday of each month, Father Showreddy is starting a children’s youth Mass. Ben suggested maybe having an eucharistic minister training prior to the start of this for eligible teens. (There is one scheduled for January 18th)

• Beginning in December on the third Sunday of each month, Father wants the presiding priest to say a special prayer for those celebrating a birthday and or anniversary in that month. 

Pastor’s Report from Father Eustace:
Father Eustace shared that the priests have been visiting the sick. Patty and Tanya have been providing names of at least two parishioners each week to each priest. Last week, Father Eustace visited five people. Parishioners have been very appreciative.

Principal’s  Report:
Ryan Schnarr was not able to be present due to being out sick.

Outreach Update:

• Connie shared that the choir is doing an ecumenical prayer service. Our parish has a relationship with Friedens Church since we share their garden plot.  Choirs of both churches will sing. The pastors will have a prayer service.

• October was Respect Life month. 7 different ministries were highlighted. Representatives from each ministry shared what they do and helped to educate parishioners about them. 

• In preparation for Thanksgiving, the Food pantry will give out turkeys and Thanksgiving food.  Crabapple Creek is providing 100 bags of Thanksgiving food and 75-80 turkeys. 
  At Christmas time, the food pantry is asking the parish to help with donating hams.
  
  

• The giving tree will be up starting this Saturday.  Parishioners can grab a tag and provide a gift.  Most go to Catholic Charities. SSFC has helped with extra food for Chin families in need,  (turkeys and side dishes) 
  
  Faith Formation Update: 
  Maria shared that 7 were in attendance at their last meeting. 

• They have Advent resources ready to go. 

• The grandparents ministry asked for resources so we are using the bulletin to share brief Advent activities.  

• They discussed the children's Mass and what needs to be done to prepare for that.  

• CLOW begins November 30 for PreK-4th graders. They will continue to recruit volunteers - looking for 3 volunteers for each Mass.  

• Bible studies are wrapping up.  

• OCIA has 22 participants.  

• St. Barnabas has 32 teens and 7 adults going to NCYC this coming weekend. Trivia night raised $4500 for NCYC fees.  

• Kids’ Christmas Pageant - those with speaking roles met after 11 AM Mass.  Everyone else will meet subsequent weeks to practice.  

• ERE is going well. 

• Currently meeting for first reconciliation. Many have already registered.  

Financial Report:
Ja-Deen began discussion of tuition rates for the next school year. Usually this occurs at the finance meeting.  A couple of years ago, it was decided to incrementally increase rates each year over 3 years. (with the disclaimer that there would be an option to spread that to a fourth year if needed)  The goal is to to get teachers’ salaries within 90% of what Perry Township teachers earn. 
This year $62,000 was awarded in Warrior grants. (for families who don’t qualify or apply for the Choice Scholarship)
$7,900 was the on-track proposed tuition. It was noted that the applicant’s township of residence determines the dollar amount of the Choice scholarship they receive. 
We had discussion on changing course and spreading this to a fourth year.

Ja-Deen created two alternative scenarios, breaking down the numbers.
Scenario 1: School fees for a participating parishioner would be $6,400 before the Choice scholarship is applied.
Scenario 2: School fees for a participating parishioner would be $6,000
These scenarios would still allow us to cover teacher salary increases.


Discussion led to other areas of possible income. 

• With the universal choice passing, everyone will qualify for the choice scholarship so warrior grants may not be needed.
  
  

• Ja-Deen applied for an Archdiocesan grant to cover roof expenses.  We have paid half of it and we are asking the Archdiocese to cover the other half of expenses.

Rachel asked if the school pays for any capital improvements/costs associated with the building. Ja-Deen mentioned that the gym doors need to be repaired so she may have to approach the school to cover these costs. There may be a sharing of costs between the school and parish.

The council advised it best to remain conservative on school fees so as not to deter families, but proactive enough to utilize the availability of choice dollars. A student who lives in Center Grove’s district receives $6200 for a choice scholarship so this number seemed a fair rate for St. Barnabas’ school fees. It was proposed that Pre-K’s rates stay the same for next year so as not to scare families away.  Ja-Deen will discuss this proposal with Principal Ryan Schnarr. 
She will do a 3rd model with the $6000 going to $6200.

Theresa Roberts asked if we were doing an annual report. Ja-Deen said she shared numbers with Amberlie and one will be coming out with numbers from this past year. 
Previously we had shared monthly numbers in the bulletin. Brandi, our bookkeeper, will begin doing this soon.

Father Showreddy closed the meeting by leading us in prayer.

The next Parish Council Meeting will be January 27th at 6:30 pm in the Hope Center.