Cross Rock News & Events
Cross Rock ACC Board Members:
St. Stanislaus, Bowlus: Gene Bechtold and Dave Waletski
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Opole: Katie Knettel & Pat Maciej
Holy Cross, North Prairie: Peter Borash & Rich Zabinski
Immaculate Conception, Rice: Chris Van Heel & Natalie Schmitt
Holy Trinity, Royalton: Gary Opatz & Steve Bishop
Cross Rock Catholic Community Board Meeting Minutes
August 27, 2024
7:00pm Immaculate Conception – Rice, MN
Members Present: Dave Waletski, Ben Borash, Fr. Gregory Sauer, Sarah Anderson, Peter Borash, Chris Van Heel, Rich Zabinski
Members Absent: Gary Opatz, Steve Bishop, Pat Maciej, Natalie Schmitt, Sr. Jeanne Wiest
1. Opening Prayer: Led by Fr. Sauer
2. Introduction of New Member(s): Sarah Anderson new member from Opole
3. Approval of July Meeting Minutes: motion by Chris
4. Pastor’s Report:
a. Beginning Religious Ed Programs in September
b. Offered bookkeeper position to a candidate, awaiting response
5. Old Business:
a. ACC Meeting with Bishop Neary
i. Presentation went well, good conversations between ACCs
ii. Put our parish situation into perspective, the good and bad
iii. We were in the last group to present to Bishop Neary, a strategic plan should come out of the information gathered by the Summer of 2025 from Bishop Neary
iv. The Diocese has put a two-year hold on any building projects beyond routine or necessary maintenance
b. Communication in the ACC
i. How do we keep parishioners informed on what is happening at meetings and in the ACC? Possibly insert in the bulletin
ii. Can we send the financial reports to each parishioner and possibly put together a “year in review” newsletter?
c. Grief and Loss Ministry: pamphlets have arrived, need to be distributed to each parish
i. Parish Representatives will be in charge of finding a way to display pamphlets
ii. Have not heard back from the Diocese on Mental Health Ministry pilot program
d. ACC Picnic
i. Mike is ready to organize music
ii. Ben will work with Gary to order and bring food to the picnic
iii. Peter will gather and bring yard games
iv. Tables will be delivered and set up Saturday, September 14th
6. New Business:
a. Look over the ACC Council Bylaws next meeting to clarify the expectations of the council
b. Relevant Radio Sponsorship Renewal
i. The programming is an asset to our community
ii. We should be better about adding our events to the calendar
iii. Leaning towards renewing the sponsorship
c. Daily Mass Times
i. All of the daily Masses are during the workday
ii. One of the Tuesday Masses could be switched to a different time
iii. What time would be best to do a different Mass? Evening? Mid-morning?
d. Parish Mission
i. Something in the parish for spiritual and intellectual formation
ii. Would like to plan something for Summer of 2025
iii. Bring ideas for presenters to next meeting
e. Watch Parties from Eucharistic Congress
i. Could host a watch party during Religious Ed classes at any/all of the parishes and discuss
7. Next Meeting: October 24th at 7:00pm in Rice
8. Closing Prayer: Led by Chris Van Heel
We are hiring... The ACC Office is looking for a flexible part-time person to help out in the Office. If you are interested, please reach out to the ACC Office or to Father Sauer.
All 5 Parishes have Online Religious Education Registration up and running. Please register students online if possible. We understand that some may not have the ability to do online registration. If this is the case for you...please reach out to your parish DRE. Each parish has or will have their schedules out and on the website. If your child is receiving a sacrament this year (1st Communion or Confirmation) and they were not baptized in one of the 5 parishes, PLEASE provide a copy of their baptismal certificate. We need to record all sacraments into our sacrament books, and they all need a baptismal record with each sacrament record.
Bowlus Parish House: After the outdoor ACC Mass on Sunday September 15th in Bowlus, Parishioners and Visitors will be allowed to tour the parish house and bid on items before the parish house is demolished. Other dates for viewing items will be Friday after Mass on September 20th and Friday September 27th. All bids must be received by Sunday September 29th. Photos of the Items can also be viewed on the Cross Rock website www.crossrockacc.org. Bid forms and instructions will be available online and at the parish house and vestibules of the Cross Rock churches. We will take Highest Bid on each item.
THANK YOU to the Rice Knights of Columbus for donating a new Blessed Virgin Mary Statue for the grotto on the west side of the church. They spent many hours cleaning the grotto and placing the statue. Father Sauer will be blessing Mary after Mass this morning. We thank them for their dedication to this project.
Who is ready for an evening of Family Fun??? There is going to be something fun for everyone at Immaculate Conception's Fall Fest on September 28th.
*Fall Fest will start with indoor Mass at 4:00pm and then continue with Fellowship and Fun! Plan to hang out with family and friends for the evening.
*We will have Inflatables, Kids Activities, Beer Stand, Pull Tabs, Silent Auction, Cake Walk, 50/50 Raffle, Basket Raffle, Grandma’s Basement, Food, Beverages, Music, Grand Raffle and lots of Fun.
*We are still accepting Baskets for the Basket Raffle and Items for the Silent Auction.
*Reminder: Raffle Tickets are due back by Saturday September 28th by 8:00pm.
THANK YOU to all who have donated to the Roof Fund. We are well on our way to reach our goal. We currently are at $30,647.00. We are grateful for all the donations that came in and the parishioner that matched the donations up to $5,000.00. We do have a little way to go but we couldn’t be more grateful for where we are at.
Interested in becoming Catholic or learning more about the Faith? Please join us at 7pm - 8pm at Holy Trinity on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Sundays of the month until Easter (holiday weekends excluded). Classes have started but it is not too late to join in. Be informed and inspired! Call or text Ben Borash for info and possible changes in class location.
Pastoral Associate: Baptisms, Baptism Preparations, Weddings, Communion at Home, Visits, Funerals Contact: Ben Borash, Pastoral Associate crossrockaccpa@gmail.com or 320-412-9342.
Office Reminders:
*Office hours are Mon-Fri 8:00am-4:30pm - Lunch from 12:00pm-12:30pm
*Bulletin Information: If you would like something in the bulletin, please have it to the office by Tuesday of the week that you want it in the bulletin.
*When writing a check for giving, please write it out to the individual parish, as the bank will not cash/deposit a check written to Cross Rock ACC
*If you are writing a check for Mass Intentions for any of the parishes, the check can be made out to Holy Trinity. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the office at 320-393-2725. THANK YOU for your help with this.
*Mass Intentions - $10.00 each.
*If you have any changes to your household such as a phone # change, address change, member change please contact the office so we can update our programs.
*We keep children on their parents' registration until they are 24. If they want to remain members, they will need to contact the office or they will be taken off the census program.
**North Prairie: Holy Cross classes will begin on September 11th from 7-8pm.
**Bowlus: St Stanislaus is still looking for teachers for grades 8, 9, and 11. If we don’t find teachers we will probably combine some classes.
**Rice: Religious Education: Are you interested in making a difference in the Faith Life of your young parishioners? We are looking for a few Volunteers to help within our program and we are also looking for some engaging speakers for the students. If you or maybe someone you know are interested in volunteering or doing an evening (45 mins) of speaking on a topic (Mass Parts, Sacraments, Reconciliation, etc.) for our youth please reach out to Jean.
**Royalton: Holy Trinity Religious Education is looking for small group leaders (must have received the Sacrament of Confirmation) for grades 6-7 (possibly older grades if the need arises). A small group leader is someone who will meet with a small group of students each week after they break off from their large group lesson to guide discussion (discussion guides are given to the leaders to use) around the topic presented to them. This person will be with the same small group throughout the religious education year to act as a mentor and role model of the faith. If you are interested, but don't want to do it alone, bring a friend along to help. Please reach out to Nicole at 218-230-3482 or royalfaithformation@gmail.com to sign up or if you have any questions. - Holy Trinity Religious Education Online Registration is open. crossrockacc.org
**Opole: We are gearing up for our Religious Education Year and we are looking for a couple teachers. We are in need of a 4th grade and 7th grade teacher. This is a great way to share your faith with our young parishioners. If you are interested in teaching or even co-teaching, please reach out to Missy Sakry. - Online Registration for Opole is up and ready to go. Crossrockacc.org and click on Faith Formation.
The Holdingford council of Knights of Columbus will now begin seeking donations from businesses to help purchase winter coats for our school aged children. If any parishioners would like to contribute to this program, make checks payable to Knights of Columbus and either leave them with our parish office, or send to Marvin Eiynck, 19747 Morningstar Rd, Avon MN 56310. Coats will be distributed by our local elementary schools in early October. Thank you.
Mark your Calendars… Future ACC Events
September 5: Royalton - Confession, Evening Prayer & Benediction beginning at 4:30pm
September 6: First Friday Mass & Potluck at 6pm-9pm at Jim & Catie Daly’s Home, 23091 63rd St, Royalton
September 9: Royalton - Knights of Columbus Meeting at 7:00pm
September 10: Rice - Finance Meeting at 6:30pm
September 15: Bowlus - ACC Mass & Picnic beginning with outdoor Mass at 11:00am
September 24: Opole - Encounter Night at 7:00pm
September 28: Rice - Fall Fest begins with Mass at 4:00pm with festivities to follow
DCCW Fall Conference - “Come to the Table of Plenty” - September 21, 2024 - You won’t want to miss Frederick Blonigen, Keynote Speaker at this year’s St. Cloud Diocesan Council of Catholic Women’s Fall Conference on Saturday, September 21, at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, 2405 1st Street N., St. Cloud, MN. Registration and refreshments kick off the day at 9am. Talks by Mr. Blonigen, Mass with Bishop Neary, C.S.C. Registration is $20 by 9/10; $25 after 9/10 or at the door. Make check payable to St. Cloud DCCW and send to Lora Knafla, Treasurer, at 11719 16th Ave. NW, Rice, MN 56367; or contact Lora at (320) 393-2701.