ST. PIUS X PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL The meeting was called to order by Frank P. at 7:15 PM, following a dinner from Genoa Importing. Frank said the opening prayer. In attendance: John DeFilippo, Sandy Zelka, Tom Christman, Mike Rossi, Pat Tobin, Frank Hughes, Harvey Bowks, Dennis Mullahy, Frank Pugliano, Jeanne Pitkin, Joe Tamer, Dick Connery, Jackie DeSanti, Peter Ranalli, Julianne Ruff, Brian Evers and Father Farano and Marlene Papa. Absent: Jean-Baptiste Zongo, Paul Kutey, Mark Morrison Frank reviewed the notes of the August 16 meeting. There were no additions or corrections. Joe made a motion to approve the minutes as drafted. Sandy seconded the motion. All agreed. Frank reviewed the Action Items from the August meeting. One of those items was that Sandy had volunteered to provide name tags for all council members to wear at parish functions as a way of being more visible to other parishioners. Sandy handed out the name tags. Thanks to Sandy for a fine job. COMMITTEE/PROGRAM REPORTS Pastoral Care Jeanne reminded everyone that the weekly bulletin always has information about the many programs that she coordinates. She also mentioned a few specific programs that she wanted to highlight: School Board Meeting Report (Sandy) There was a brief discussion at the school board meeting regarding the drop in enrollment. A committee was formed to research that decrease. Several changes in meeting dates have been made by the school board: the meeting originally scheduled for Oct. 10 will now be held on Oct. 4; the meeting scheduled for Nov. l3 will be held on Nov. 1; and the December meeting will now be on the 6th instead of on the 12th. Council members who volunteered to attend those meetings should check their schedules to assure that they can attend the rescheduled meetings. UPDATES Parish Picnic Frank reminded everyone that the picnic is scheduled for Sunday, 9/23, from 1:00–5:00. There will be two entrances: one behind the kitchen, by the children’s playground; and one at the main entrance to the parish center, outside the parish office. All council members are encouraged to attend, and to wear their name tags. Ministry Fair Frank asked for a volunteer to be at the parish council table at the Ministry Fair after the 5:00 Mass. Marlene volunteered. As a way of hopefully encouraging parishioners to participate in a ministry or program, Gayle Bouchard, who is coordinating preparations for the Fair, asked four people to speak at Masses on the two weekends before the Fair, to discuss how they got involved in ministry, and what ministry means to them. Council members Joe Tamer and Frank Pugliano, along with choir member Paula Messac and college student Bianca Pier will be speaking at the Masses. Joe mentioned that people in the pew in front of him had told him about the Ministry Fair, and had encouraged him to visit it. Parish Survey Fr. Farano, parish business manager Nancy Uruskyj, Tom, Pat and Frank P. met with Jim Kopp, executive director of Development and Stewardship for the diocese, to discuss our proposed parish survey. Jim was a great help, and we learned a lot from him. (As an aside, Jim also mentioned that the Bishop’s Appeal in our parish was, again, an overwhelming success. He said that when a parish does well in the Appeal, it is almost always directly attributable to the relationship the pastor has with the parishioners. He doesn’t have to tell us how fortunate we are to have Fr. Farano as our pastor.) Jim suggested that the survey be done in two separate and distinct parts: According to Jim, fall is the best time to do a survey, preferably in early-December. Joe said that many young people do not get parish envelopes, and probably are not on the list of parishioners. Sandy suggested that the demographic survey be available on the parish web page. Most younger people spend a lot of time on the web, and having the survey out there may encourage them to complete it. Sandy also offered to crunch numbers as the survey results come in. A question came up regarding what it would cost to hire Siena to do the survey for us. Tom said that it would likely be very expensive. Fr. Farano said that he will call Siena’s president, Fr. Kevin Mullen, and find out what kind of financial arrangement can be made. We also discussed people in the parish who may be isolated, and that we must be sensitive to the types of information that we will be asking people to provide. Sunday Morning “Drop-in” Judy Ranalli asked parents of children who attend the Sunday morning Religious Education program if they would be interested in a having a “drop-in” just to socialize while their children are in class. Nine out of the twenty-five people who responded expressed interest. Fire Lane Parking The situation is better, but council members agree that periodic reminders are still needed. There will be monthly notes in the bulletin and monthly reminders in the lector announcements. Called To BE Church September Meeting Brian summarized the work of the Youth Formation Task Force: A question was raised asking whether or not anything is offered or available to teens after they are Confirmed. How can we help our young people who are newly Confirmed to stay involved with their church? That is a subject of great concern to all of the parishes in the local planning group, and is one of the major issues that will be brought to Bishop Hubbard’s attention next year, during the recommendations phase of the CTBC initiative. The topic of discussion for the September CTBC meeting was “liturgy”, and included: identifying what elements are necessary for worship; what the purpose of liturgy/worship is; what challenges/obstacles prevent liturgy and worship from fulfilling its purpose; what our expectations are when we come together with other parishioners for Mass and sacraments; and what can the six parishes in our local planning group do to improve our liturgies and worship services. A summary of that meeting, with comments concerning all of those issues, was provided to parishioners in the bulletin the week after the meeting. One interesting outcome of the monthly CTBC meetings is that the meeting participants are beginning to refer to the six parishes in the local planning group as the “Catholic Church of Colonie”, and not as six separate and distinct parishes. Proposed Amendments to the Council Constitution There were no adverse comments concerning the three proposed changes. Consequently, Frank P. will place a notice in the bulletin, as required by the constitution, to advise all parishioners of the proposed changes, and inviting them to comment on the changes. John asked if there has been a problem with the fact that we now use a discernment process to select new council members, which means that parishioners no longer vote on the new members. The consensus of opinion is “no”, there has not been a problem with this, but we have to be more active in recruiting parishioners to participate in the discernment process. NEW BUSINESS Prayer Shawl Ministry Tom said that this ministry is a wonderful expression of care for those who are ill. Sister Mavis Jewel is having l,000 copies of her book printed, explaining her ministry. We will receive a supply of the books for our book racks. Handicapped Parking Spaces We would like to provide more parking spaces close to church entrances for people with a disability, but we can’t put up more signs for handicapped parking because we are not certain what the Town of Colonie requirements are concerning the size of the individual spaces. Jackie will call the appropriate town official for more information. PASTOR’S COMMENTS When we have completed our parish survey, we hope to have identified some of the needs that we are not fulfilling for people, especially for those who are no longer active or regular participants at Mass. One of the primary goals of the survey is to reach out to these people, and to find a way to bring them back to the church. ******************** ******************** ******************** Frank led the closing prayer. Next Meeting : Wednesday, November 14 at 7:00 PM * Respectfully submitted, Marlene Papa * The November meeting will not be the third Wednesday of the month. Because of Thanksgiving, we will meet on the second Wednesday of the month.
SEPTEMBER 19, 2007