The St. Emily Parish Pastoral Council
Collaborative ministry and leadership in a contemporary world
What is the Parish Pastoral Council?
The Archdiocese of Chicago requires every parish to form a Parish Pastoral Council (PPC). This governing body consists of parishioners who have been nominated by previous PPC members. It functions primarily as an advisory body to the pastor. The St. Emily PPC currently has nine voting members and one at-large member. Voting members serve a three-year term and members’ terms are staggered so that no more than four members leave in a given year. When a voting member’s term expires, he or she may choose to serve as an at-large member to continue work on the Council.
What does the PPC do?
The Council is responsible for:
- Pastoral planning, including periodic review of the Parish Mission Statement
- Defining parish goals
- Planning strategies for meeting those goals
PPC members are charged with researching the needs of the parish; encouraging and supporting parish ministries; evaluating the quality of the parish’s faith life; and planning and making recommendations for policies and programs that fulfill the Church’s mission. In the past, members of the Parish Pastoral Council have planned evenings of parish revival with music and prayer; hosted the quarterly Commissions meetings and the Ministry Fair; and participated in planning and implementing parish-wide social and milestone events.
What are the goals of the PPC?
The current Council’s goals are to design strategies for improving communication between the St. Emily Council and the ministries and, at the same time, improve connections among ministries. The Council strives to make parishioners aware of all the ways to become involved in parish life.
Who are the members of the St. Emily PPC?
Your Parish Pastoral Council wants to hear from you. Please contact us at parishcouncil@stemily.org.
Bobbie Dempsey, Chair
Bobbie and Matt Dempsey have been members of St. Emily since 1992. Their children both attended St. Emily School. Bobbie has worked as a volunteer at the school and on committees for the annual dinner dance and has taught in the St. Emily Religious Ed program. With the staff of the Religious Ed office, Bobbie has helped plan the parish Halloween Party. Currently she is a Girl Scout leader and is in her third year on the Council.
Lana O’Brien, Vice-chair
Lana and Tim O’Brien have been in St. Emily Parish for more than 11 years. Their son goes to St. Emily School and their daughter graduated from St. Emily in 2011. The O’Briens have been active volunteers, both in and out of the school. Lana has been on the St. Emily School Advisory Board and a member of the Family School Association Board. She helps coach both boys’ and girls’ volleyball at the school, and she updated the school’s website for more than nine years. She looks forward to the next two years working with the PPC.
David Mika, Secretary
David and his family joined St. Emily nine years ago. His parents and four siblings are all also very active in the parish, serving in many different ministries. David is a second-grade catechist in the St. Emily Religious Education program as well as a cantor and Eucharistic minister. He works closely with the Youth Ministry and Young Adults group. His goals include working to make every member of the parish feel connected to the church and to each other.
Donna Billmeier
Donna and her husband Joe joined St Emily eight years ago. They have three children and three grandchildren. Donna taught Religious Education for one year. In spring 2007, she participated in a Christ Renews His Parish weekend and is now on the Christ Renews His Parish Continuation Committee. She joined the St. Vincent DePaul Society two years ago. She is now the St. Emily Inclusion Representative in the Archdiocese. She hopes to work to welcome people of all abilities into active participation in worship and parish activities.
Peggy Cusick, At-large Member
Peggy and her husband David have been St. Emily parishioners for almost 20 years. All three of their children have attended the St. Emily Religious Education program. After serving as a member of the Parish Pastoral Council for two years, Peggy is now an at-large member of the Council. Peggy is also an active volunteer with River Trails Music Boosters Association, Hersey Instrumental Association, and Midwest Young Artists.
Marianela González
Marianela joined St. Emily Parish in 1998. In 2005, Marianela joined the St. Emily Religious Education program as a catechist and served as a catechist until 2010. Currently, she teaches Spanish at East Lake Academy, a Roman Catholic school in Lake Forest, Illinois. Both of her children attended St. Emily Religious Education classes. Her daughter Alexandra is now a sophomore at Loyola Academy and her daughter Andréa is in Grade 7 at River Trails Middle School. Marianela is in her second year with the Parish Pastoral Council.
Gail Kelliher
Gail is the mother of three children and the grandmother of five. She raised her family at St. Emily and her children graduated from St. Emily School in the 1970s and 1980s. Her family moved away for about 13 years, but they are now back and happy to be part of the parish again. She enjoys being a Eucharistic Minister and Lector, a member of the Bereavement Ministry, and, now, Parish Council. Her goal is to bring in more people to experience the joy of serving.
Lucy Le-Kissane
Lucy left her native Vietnam in 1972 and moved to Singapore to join the Good Shepherd Sisters. Four years later she came to the United States with 11 other novices. In ten years as a Sister, she lived and worked with Singaporians, Chinese (Hong Kong), Malaysians, Koreans, and Filipinos. After leaving the order in 1982, Lucy earned her bachelor’s and master’s of social work degrees and worked at the Indochinese Pastoral Center in Chicago. Later she earned her master’s of pastoral study from Loyola University. In 1990 she married
Dr. Joseph Kissane, and they joined St. Emily in 1998. Lucy, who works as the Life Enrichment director for Addolorata Villa, is a St. Emily Eucharistic minister. The Kissanes’ two grandsons have attended St. Emily School and are currently altar servers. Recently the Kissanes received the National Verbum Award from the Society of the Divine Word for their support of the Society’s Vietnamese candidates over the past 23 years.
Tim Nemmer
Tim and his wife Julie have been members of St Emily Parish for twenty years. They have three children, who attended St. Emily School. Tim has been a member of the Family School Association and has volunteered at many school activities. He is also active in Boy Scout Troop 235 here at St. Emily, where he is an adult leader and committee member.
Bill Roberts, At-large Member
Bill and Pat Roberts have been members of St. Emily Parish since returning to the Chicago area from Michigan in 2001. Their youngest of four daughters, Caitlin, attended St. Emily’s School, graduating in May 2010. Pat served on the St. Emily School Board and Bill has been a member of the St. Emily Family/School Association and served on the Parish Pastoral Council. As an at-large PPC member, Bill will be working as one of our parish representatives to the Archdiocesan Deanery Council.
Jerry Wester
Jerry and his wife Cindy, who have seven children, have been members of St. Emily for 23 years. He has been a member of St. Emily School Board and he taught Religious Education classes for two years. In 2004 Jerry retired from the Chicago Public Schools after 37 years. He is currently a Lector and a first-year member of the Parish Pastoral Council.
Louann Zundel
Louann and her husband, Kurt, have been married since 1986 and joined St. Emily Parish in 1989. Their sons, Daniel, 23, and Matthew, 21, are both graduates of St. Emily School and their parents couldn’t be more proud. Daniel, a Loyola University Chicago graduate, is currently in his second year of a two-year Jesuit volunteer program teaching high school on Chicago’s west side, and Matthew is currently in his senior year at Loyola University Chicago working toward degrees in Italian and psychology. Louann is a graduate of Resurrection High School and earned a BS in marketing from Northeastern Illinois University. She and her husband own Mr. Beef & Pizza restaurant in Mount Prospect, and baking is her passion. Along with chairing several of its fashion shows, she has also served on the St. Emily Women’s Club executive board as secretary, treasurer, and vice president. She looks forward to serving on PPC in its goal to make St. Emily Parish the best that it can be.
Fr. Roller Inclusion homily 8/14/2011