St. Pius X Loudonville

St. Pius X Parish Pastoral Council
June 13, 2007

PRESENT: Tom Christman, John DeFilippo, Jackie DeSanti, Frank Hughes, Frank Pugliano, Pat Tobin, Jean-Baptiste Zongo, Peter Ranalli, Dennis Mullahy, Julianne Ruff, Paul Kutey, Father Farano.

ABSENT: Marlene Papa, Sandy Zelka, Brian Evers, Joe Tamer, Harvey Bowks, Dick Connery

Frank P. called the meeting to order at 7:03, and opened with a prayer. He welcomed Tom Christman as a returning member of the council, and John DeFilippo as a new member. He also welcomed Lisa Snyder, representing the school board.

May Meeting Minutes – Tom made a motion to accept; seconded by Frank Hughes. The minutes were approved as drafted, with all in favor.

Committee Reports

No one had any questions or comments concerning any of the reports that were previously distributed to members via e-mail.

Tom Christman (Christian Works and Service):

  • provided information about Sr. Mavis and the prayer shawl ministry;
  • advised that St. Peter’s Hospital has purchased four “Pope John Paul II” beds that cost $38,000 each (they are so named because it is the kind of bed that the Pope used).
  • and said that school supplies will be collected in August for inner city kids in Albany, and will be distributed through food pantries, etc.

Frank P. mentioned that assignments of council members to committees will be made at the August meeting. Contact Frank by e-mail to let him know what committee you are interested in working with; if you are already working with a particular committee, and want to continue doing that, let him know.

With respect to the Discernment Committee, the executive committee members have decided that one person from each of the three years of service on the council, should serve on the committee (that is, a first-year member, a second-year member and a third-year member will be assigned to this committee). That ensures continuity from year to year, and familiarity with the process.

Dennis distributed the School Report, and reviewed it with the members. He answered several questions about the “bullying” program that will be implemented in the school in the fall.

President’s Comments

Frank P. mentioned several things:

  • that a parish pastoral council rep will attend each school board meeting next year, starting in September. At the August council meeting, each discerned member of the council will be asked to sign-up to attend one of the school board meetings throughout the year.
  • the proposed meeting schedule for the coming year was discussed. Typically, the council meets on the third Wednesday of each month, but we changed that in November and February because of Thanksgiving and school vacation week.
  • the list of all council members was e-mailed to everyone prior to the meeting. Let Frank know if any changes have to be made to the information on that list.

    Frank then discussed his expectations for all council members, as follows:
  • attend the meetings
  • be on time for meetings
  • be prepared for meetings
  • participate in the meeting discussions
  • during discussions, when you have something to say, please do not interrupt. Raise your hand, and wait to be recognized.
  • if you leave a meeting with the responsibility for an “action item”, please take care of it before the date it is due to be completed
  • bring new business to the council, as appropriate. Talk to other people in the parish. We are here to represent them, so tell them what we are doing, and bring their concerns to the council for discussion.

Frank P. also listed the issues for the upcoming council year that had been identified by the members of the executive committee:

  • greeters ministry (Prayer and Worship)
  • the need for additional parking spaces for persons with a disability (Buildings and Grounds)
  • web page enhancements/improvements
  • additional amendments to the council constitution
  • “Called To BE Church” issues, including one that has already surfaced as a major concern for all of the parishes in our local planning group (that is, keeping youth and young adults involved in church and the parish)

Updates

Parish Picnic……..the picnic is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, September 23. Paul volunteered to find out if there are any other significant events planned for that day which would conflict with the picnic.

Parish Census/Survey…….Tom has done some background work on this, and Father and Frank P. met to discuss what to do next. Father thinks that we should do the census/survey in three steps: first, have parishioners fill out forms at Mass (in-pew); second, mail a follow-up note to any registered parishioner who does not complete a form at Mass; and third, have someone call or visit anyone who does not respond to either of the first two steps. Father, Frank P, Tom and Pat will meet with the St. Pius business manager, Nancy Uruskyj, to discuss next steps.

Paul raised two questions that will have to be addressed with parishioners before doing the census/survey: what will the parish do with the information/data collected; and how will the parish protect the information and data that is collected?

Sunday Morning Drop-in……….Brian and Judy will pick this up in the fall.

Weekday Parents Get-together………Gayle Bouchard will talk to several people about this to get their ideas and suggestions.

Fire Lane Parking……….the situation seems better. Fewer cars are parking where they shouldn’t be. Lector announcements about this will continue for a while, as will a note in the bulletin.

June “Called To BE Church” Meeting………Frank P. reported on the June CTBC meeting.

  • the work group that is looking at faith formation issues for high school and junior high students had its first meeting. The group is planning to do a survey of all parishioners in the six local planning group parishes, and will then conduct a large focus group session. Brian Evers and Judy Ranalli are representing St. Pius on this team.
  • the topic for the meeting was faith formation of young adults (19-39 years of age). The meeting participants watched a twenty-five minute DVD entitled “Young Adults and the Church”; it was six young adults responding to question posed by a moderator (Joe Tamer and Brian Evers were to of the six people in the DVD). The primary point made in the DVD is that the church has lost touch with many young people, and that much work must be done to bring them back to the Catholic church. The reminder of the meeting was spent discussing possible ways to do that. A summary of the meeting is available in the bulletin, and at the parish web site.

Part VIII of the Council Constitution

Frank P. advised that the amended version of the constitution refers to an “Education Committee” that no longer exists. He asked the council members what to do about that, and whether there is anything else in Part VIII that should be changed. Tom said that the description for “Christian Works and Service” is not accurate; what is in the constitution is more descriptive of pastoral care. John asked if the council still has a “Buildings and Grounds” committee, because there is no mention of it in the constitution.

After some discussion, it was agreed that Frank will delete reference to the “Education Committee”, will rewrite the description for “Christian Works and Service”, and will add a description for “Buildings and Grounds”.

Pastor’s Comments

  • An end-of-the-school year Mass was held, at which retiring teachers were honored.
  • Reminders were sent out about the Bishop’s Appeal to parishioners who have not yet returned their pledges.

Action Items

Julianne read the action items that she had recorded during the meeting.

The meeting was adjourned 8:25 pm.

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Next Meeting - - Wednesday, August 15 at 7:00pm

Respectfully submitted,
Jackie DeSanti (for Marlene Papa)