Present: Frank Pugliano, Pres., Joe Tamer, Tom Christman, Brian Evers, JB Zongo, Steve Morgan, Rudy Paulsen, Pat Tobin, Jackie DeSanti, Sandy Zelka, Fr. Farano, Frank Hughes, Mark Morrison, Dennis Mullahy, Marlene Papa, Tracey Coffey, Jeanne Pitkin and Pat Fitzgerald (School Board representative)

Absent: Paul Kutey, Dan Slavin and Julianne Ruff

Frank P. called the meeting to order at 7:01 PM. Frank led the prayer.

Minutes

Tom Christman made a motion, seconded by Sandy Zelka, to accept the December minutes as drafted. The motion was approved.

Action Items

Frank P. reviewed the Action Items from the December meeting.

Committee Reports

Hospitality Committee

• Sandy said that there will be a Welcoming Reception on March 25 after the 12:00 Mass. She encouraged all members of the Council to attend.
• Tom reported that Carol Daly wants to have a sleeping bag and toiletries collection again this year. Tom will contact Lou Buff to find out if there is any room on the weekend schedule to collect these items.
• Tom reported that the Capital City Mission at 259 So. Pearl St. distributed over 5,000 pieces of clothing.

Sister Parishes

• Brian spoke with Fr. John from the Sister Parishes church in Georgia. Another priest (Fr. Vince Burns) will be coming to assist Fr. John; Fr. Burns is newly retired from the service. He will be visiting the camps.
• There is a tremendous amount of poverty in the area because of immigration raids at the end of last year. The local chicken processing plant had almost l, 000 workers. As of this month, they have only 500 workers. As an aside, Jackie said that some of the information we receive in our newspapers about illegals taking over jobs is not always accurate. Even though they have raised the wages by $2.00/hour, the plants still cannot enough find men/women to work in this factory. Jackie says that the Catholic Relief Fund is doing a wonderful job with the people in this area.
• New migrants will be coming in soon, and the church at Swainsboro is overflowing. Six children from this parish are attending a get-together similar to the Youth Conference held at LaSalle last year.
• A collection of over-the-counter collection pharmacy items will be held at St. Pius on the weekend of February 3-4.
• Patti from the Sister Parishes will send pictures for Jackie. Frank suggested that the photos be posted on our parish web site.
• The Sister Parishes committee members would like to hold a fund-raiser.

Pastoral Care

• Jeannie said that she has been extremely busy filling in for eucharistic ministers at several assisted living sites. She is looking for volunteers to help with this ministry.
• On February 14, she will hold a “Footprints on My Heart” session, dealing with grief.

Called to be Church

Father, Sandy and Frank P. spoke about the January meeting (the first of l8 sessions to be held during the next two years). At least six representatives attended the meeting from each of the parishes included in our group (eight people represented St. Pius). Sister Anne Bryan Smollen is facilitating the monthly sessions for our Local Planning Group.

The first meeting was primarily an “ice-breaker” to give all of the participants a chance to get to know one another. The six parishes are very similar in many ways; we seem to offer many of the same programs and ministries, and we also share most of the same problems and concerns. A stenographer recorded everything that happened at the meeting; Frank P. will send a copy of the January meeting transcription to all Council members.

Frank P. said that, St. Pius, along with each of the parishes participating in the meeting, is concerned about finding a way to present the information that is discussed at these monthly meetings, to all of their parishioners in a clear concise way, to keep them as informed as possible about what takes place at the meetings. A Council member suggested that a report be made from the pulpit on a quarterly basis. Pat supported this idea, saying that it would be a good way to keep all parishioners informed. Steve disagreed. He said that he feels the “rank and file” members of the parish do not have any idea of what this process is all about.

Frank said that, whatever else we decide to do, information about “Called To BE Church”, including what takes place at the monthly meetings, will be posted on the parish web site. Before that can happen, though, he has to pull all of the information together, and discuss it with Peter Hines, our web master. Several members though that this would be a good idea, and suggested that parishioners be given the ability to send questions that could be answered through the site.

Tracey asked, “How much impact will our input have on the outcome of the meetings?”. Jackie said she has heard comments from parishioners that it does not matter what “we” say……..decisions have already been made. Frank P. said that the bishop has emphasized that, contrary to what some people may think, no decisions have been made, and that we should take the bishop at his word.

Frank P. will contact the facilitator to find out if arrangements can be made to produce a summary of each monthly meeting that can be distributed to each parish. That way, each parish will be sharing the same information with their parishioners.

Frank thanked everyone for their comments, and noted that he topic of discussion at the February meeting will be evangelization.

Parish Web Site

Peter Hines has made additions to the Council page on the parish web site (it now contains: a meeting schedule for the year; notes from each meeting from august to the present; a description of all Council committees; and the names of all Council members). Jackie will ask Peter about adding the quarterly parish newsletter to the site, but Father seems to recall that there was a problem with doing that.

Mission Statement

There was a great deal of discussion regarding the St. Pius X mission statement.

Frank H. and Marlene had been charged with redrafting the current mission statement. They presented their first drafts. Frank H. said that, in his version, he was trying to make the statement “short and sweet”. He said the statement should showcase what is unique about our parish.

Father said that he wants to make sure that the Eucharist is mentioned because it is the center of our religion. He also said that we should take a look at the diocesan mission statement, and make certain that whatever we come up with is consistent with what the diocese has in place.

The point was made that we should make the statement as inclusive as possible. We need to address the full community.

Jackie said “this is not a PR statement”. She said: “We are not trying to sell our religion. We are stating our beliefs”.

Frank P. thanked Frank H. and Marlene for their excellent work, and thanked all Council members for their comments. We will discuss the mission statement again at the February meeting. All Council members are to give thought to the draft statements presented, and are to be prepared to make suggestions at the February meeting for any changes they think are appropriate.

Greeter’s Ministry

Jackie spoke about the Greeter’s Ministry. She said that there are a few faithful greeters, but that there is no consistency and no fixed schedule. Father said that the greeters had a rocky start a few years ago at St. Pius, in some respects because, for some reason, Catholics hesitate to approach people at church even in a friendly way.

After much discussion, the sense of the Council members was that perhaps the whole ministry needs to be more structured. Frank P. said that he will ask the Prayer and Worship Committee members to discuss “greeting”, and make recommendations to the Council concerning it.

Discernment Process (2007)

Marlene made a report on the Discernment process. Four Council seats will be eligible for discernment. Two candidates from last year are interested in discerning again.

Marlene asked Sandy to call Lou Buff to find out when discernment sessions can be placed on the calendar. The School Board usually holds elections the first two weeks in May, so we have to work around that.

Parish Finance Committee

Mark Morrison presented a report for the Finance Committee:

• the budget for the Parish is about $l.3 million.
• the Christmas and monthly HELP collections were up about 5% this year.
• a number of accounting procedures have been put in place (for example: two signatures are required on checks; and a limit was established for writing checks, so that any amount over that limit must be reviewed by the Finance Committee before the check can be written). Father said that these, as well as other, procedures are being put in place to make certain that we are meeting diocesan accounting standards.
• an energy audit was conducted. One suggestion from the audit is to replace all windows in the buildings. That will be a long-term goal.

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Frank went over the Action Items from the meeting, and then closed the meeting with a prayer.

Respectfully Submitted,

Marlene R. Papa
St. Pius Parish Pastoral Council Secretary