ST. PIUS X PARISH COUNCIL MEETING In Attendance: Also in attendance were representatives of various committees: Sue Krosky, Gail Bouchard, and Terri Mason. Tom Christman shared a letter saying that his daughter was nominated by the Medical Intensive Care Unit at the Center for Donation and Transplant of Albany Medical Center for recognition for her caring and concern. Congratulations! Parish Survey Committee status reports: Welcoming - Kate Burns Volunteers held discussions to extract from survey comments ideas on making the St. Pius X Parish a more welcoming environment. The existing Hospitality Committee serves monthly Sunday refreshments which provide an opportunity to build on. Considerations being discussed include: additional information to promote ministries, an expanded welcoming table, invite new parishioners to have questions answered, and the welcoming folder and the ministry brochure should be updated. Welcoming materials could be expanded and the process improved. The process crosses various committees and the Parish Council is a good place for encouraging communication between committee chairs. The Ministry Fair could be combined with Parish Picnic. Prayer and Worship - Frank Pugliano Christian Works & Service – Tom Christman Building and Grounds - John DeFilippo - 16 of 19 responses that were forwarded to the Building and Grounds committee dealt with parking. Over 90% of responders were satisfied or completely satisfied with the work done by parish staff. A detailed description of comments, and responses was provided to council members. Highlights are included here for the biggest issue which is parking. One theme that developed after listening to the committees discuss actions as a result of the Parish Survey was that the parish is already doing some or perhaps much of what was recommended by parishioners. We should all consider if communication or “PR” is what we need more of. This dovetails with what we heard last month on the subject of communication to current parishioners. All Council members were asked to think about that and we will discuss next month in detail. Frank Pugliano will coordinate a bulletin note to parishioners detailing what was discussed and what next steps will occur in regards to the Parish Survey. Frank P asked that each committee representative provide a report of plans to him in writing via e-mail. Review of Action Items – Last month’s action items were reviewed, highlights include: Committee Reports were distributed to PPC members prior to the meeting. Discernment committee schedule – The discernment schedule was discussed and agreed to after one change to avoid a conflict. The schedule is as follows: All council members were reminded that they should reach out and personally invite prospective members to come forward. Discussion of parishioner’s individual letters handed out last month – Last month a personal letter from a parishioner was given to each council member. The council was asked to read it for discussion and they did. The letter was discussed, and the previous response that was delivered remained as the council’s recommendation. There were no dissenting opinions offered. Review of Action Items to be completed for the April meeting – Frank recorded action items for the next meeting. (These were distributed to the council after the meeting.) Pastor’s Comments - Father Farano thanked the committee and ministry members for providing the committee responses to the Parish Survey. These were meaningful and truly appreciated and moving the Parish in a good direction. This Sunday 98 young people, 4 from St. Joan of Arc, as well as two adults will be confirmed Father Farano met with the Finance Committee and the School board to explore ways to facilitate and accommodate school enrollment growth. Father Moore mentioned that over 100 people have signed up for the Parish Lenten Retreat, “Praying with Saint Ignatius”. Father Moore closed the meeting with a prayer.
March 18, 2009
The March 18, 2009 meeting was called to order by Frank Hughes, President, at 7:05 PM. Special intentions were addressed and Frank led an opening prayer.
Frank Hughes, Dick Connery (acting secretary), John DeFilippo, Dennis Mullahy, Brian Evers, Tom Christman, Cindy Pettit, Fr Moore, Fr Farano, Paul Kutey, Justyn Bates, Kate Burns, Frank Pugliano, Mike Rossi, Jean Baptiste Zongo, and Jennifer Morrell (School Board Representative)
The welcoming and sense of community comments overlap between several committees. As a result, a task force has been formed that crosses committees consisting of: Gayle Bouchard, Terri Mason, Sue Krosky, Jean Buff, Jackie DeSanti, Diane Parks, Liz Jelstorm, Lisa Snyder, Pat Tobin, Justyn Bates, and Cindy Bates.
Prayer and worship related comments have been shared with the committee chairman and discussions are ongoing. Recommended actions will be forthcoming.
Considered forming St. Vincent de Paul Society, but it was pointed out that it essentially exists within current parish activities. Ongoing activities include;
Children’s Library at shelter. Building books shelves. St. John’s-St. Ann’s: week end volunteers. Sacred Heart depends on St. Pius X. St. Pius X gets very few off the street help requests directly. Regular interaction with cluster churches and other local churches offer the opportunity to expand our outreach. Tom shared the appreciation he hears from Sister Sara at Sacred Heart, as one example. Several other good examples were provided. It seemed clear that not all parishioners were aware of what the parish was involved with already. More communication would also give parishioners additional opportunities to serve since they would become aware of the ongoing efforts. In an attempt to increase communication with parishioners and possibly provide more assistance for Sacred Heart, the council considered inviting Sister Sara to the next meeting to discuss better ways to communicate these successes to the Parish.
Adult Faith Formation – Sue Krosky (Mary Nardolillo is council liaison)
provided written information and reported on what this committee is considering. There was some overlap with the other committees. Sue discussed the need to communicate better. Once a month, one ministry could be highlighted in the bulletin and/or at Hospitality Sunday. Welcoming visitors and guests during the Prayer of the Faithful, or possibly before or after mass. Evening programs could be repeated during the day for those who find it difficult to attend evening events. Cluster activities should be publicized as well as our St Pius X activities. Adding a more welcoming invitation to worship as well as attending events was discussed for the parish website. Reaching out to churches that are closing. Creating a Parish PR committee or a single responsible person was considered. The Catholic Community of Colonie web site will be part of the Called to Be Church effort and these changes should be made there as well where appropriate.
Planned responses;
February Meeting Notes were previously e-mailed. The meeting notes were reviewed. John DeFilippo motioned and Paul Kutey seconded that the notes be approved as drafted, and all approved.
Changes were made to the parish website to enable Parish Council agenda items to be added on line by e-mail to the Executive Committee. Also, reports were provided on usage of the parish website. 2,320 non-unique users viewed the Parish website home page between January 1st and February 23rd (when the latest report was run). Frank H will work with Peter Hines to include this high level information monthly to the council.
May 2-3, bulletin insert with nomination form.
May 9-10, bulletin insert with nomination form, and lector comment.
May 16-17, nomination form will be distributed to pews, along with a comment from the pulpit.
May 16 and ongoing, Discernment committee personally contact all nominees.
June 2, immediately following 7:00 PM Mass, an informational meeting will be held for people interested in discerning for a Parish Pastoral Council position.
June 10, Discernment will be held. Sister Monica has graciously agreed to lead the process again this year.