St. Mary of the Miraculous Medal Catholic Community

Parish Pastoral Council

Meeting Minutes

October 11, 2011

6:30p.m. in Hospitality Room

St. Mary of the Miraculous Medal Catholic Community Parish Pastoral Council is a faith-based representative body committed to prayerful discernment of the movement of the Holy Spirit in understanding the needs of the parish in collaboration with the pastor.

The Pastoral Council identifies,articulates and communicates a vision to meet the needs of the greater community. The Pastoral Council promotes full, conscious and active participation in the Catholic faith.

Members: (Present – P, Absent – A)

Annette Arnhart – PCam Guthier – PSally Davila - P

Susie Ayala – AFr. Tom Ponzini – PBuster Cantrell - P

Cindy Del Bosque – PNina Sanchez – PAngela Cooper–A

Bernice Hibbitts - P

A. Opening Prayer and Faith Sharing led by Annette Arnhart; petitions followed.

B. Prayer Partners revealed andchosen.

  1. Approval of Minutes for September 2011.
  1. Liaison relationship
  1. Twenty-sixth featured ministry – Prayer Blanket – September 24-25, 2011 – Mary Pitts – (Bernice Hibbitts).Very nice presentation. This ministry recruited eight (8) new members. Note: Father Tom’s mother has sewn over 1600 prayer blankets.
  2. Twenty-seventh featured ministry – Mission Outreach – October 22-23, 2011 (World Mission Sunday) – Deacon Steve Mistretta – (Sally Davila). Will speak after Communion.
  3. Twenty-eighth featured ministry – Catholic Daughters – October 22-23, 2011 (World Mission Sunday) Shirlyn Baulch – (Annette Arnhart). Will speak before Mass.
  4. No featured ministries for Nov. and Dec. – N/A – Holidays.
  5. Need to contact Sheryl Calton regarding Catholic Schools Week for the January 2012 featured ministry.
  1. Old Business

1. Debt reduction Update – Moved thermometer down a bit. Now just barely above the $1 million mark.

Initiated $2500 & Over Challenge – list will be included in Book of Memories.

2. Storm Insurance Update – Moving along.

3. Community As One:

a. Continue discussion on current Spanish-speaking activities/overview -Father Tom will announce

Spanish ACTS retreat at Masses. (Need list of all those who’ve attended ACTS retreats.)

b. Brainstorm/discuss ways that could result in a more unified community – Discussed forming a

committee to work on events that would unify Spanish/English speaking members. Could include

both Spanish & English-speaking members. Discussed a program entitled “Building America’s

Villages”. The chairman gave an overview of this program. Two members volunteered to look into

having this program available again. Professor Carol Archer could be invited to talk more about the

program in a one-day training presentation. This program was a very powerful experience. The time

frame to initiate the program would be around Lent 2012.

4. Data Collection on Father Bill Roach:Father Tom, chairman, PPC member, and a STMMM

parishioner will travel to the Monastery of the Infant Jesus in Lufkin to talk with nuns about Father

Roach on Friday, October 14. There is also a continuing ‘on-line’ research study being done by a

PPC member. A questionnaire is being developed to try to obtain more information from anyone

who may know anything about Father Bill Roach. Discussions were also held regarding funding for

these research projects on Father Roach.

5. 100th Year Celebration for STMMM –Events will be mentioned in our new directory. Fall Festival

will have the 100th year celebration as its theme. Discussed having a special Christmas Mass since

that is the original date of the church centennial. Father Tino Barrera, originally from Texas City,

may be able to officiate at the 9:00 a.m. Mass. We could also ask other past priests that have served

at STMMM to attend. Could also have bilingual choir as at dedication services. Other groups

mentioned were the Campanas de America Mariachi Group, Timo Lozano (a Flamenco dancer), and

Tony Melendez. The Ronan Tynan concert is on 12/30/11. The family picnic is scheduled for April

22, 2012; and a Gala will be held around Oct./Nov. 2012. Cardinal DiNardo will preside at Mass on

January 6, 2013, thereby ending our celebration activities. Some new STMMM logo items discussed

that will be bought and sold are a mug, canvas bag, ornament, and a mouse pad.

6. Committee on communication of changes to the Roman Missal – The new wording is closer to the

Latin translation. Plans are to view clips of videos regarding the changes. There are also publications

explaining new changes as well as a DVD. It was discussed previewing the DVD. Folders have been

ordered to hold the new information to be placed in pews. Father Tom will continue explaining the

changes at each of the Masses.

7. PPC Representative on ACTS Core – The representative will have information at the next meeting.

8. Sale of t-shirts benefiting Altar Servers; 100 Year Celebration – Sales have been going very well.

Shirts are still available and all sizes can be ordered.

9. Christmas Party scheduled for Friday, January 6, 2012 at the PonziniFamilyLifeCenter. Hopefully,

more will be in attendance.

10. Commissioning of all Church Boards at all Masses, 9/24-25, 2011: PPC was VERY well represented

at all Masses.

  1. New Business
  1. Listening Session Update – Houston/Galveston Diocese membership (both English and Spanish) will increase; however, number of priests will remain the same. There is a need for more youth activities. Need to be sure next generations continue to practice the faith. Spanish-speaking congregation seems to learn more from ‘movements,’ i.e., Cursillos, Movimiento Familiar Cristiano, etc. Findings/results from this session can be found on
  2. Trip to Lufkin, TX, for data collection on Father Bill Roach – Discussed under old business.
  3. Spanish Healing Mission – February 11, 2012– Everyone (Spanish-speaking) is encouraged to attend.
  4. Ronan Tynan Concert – 12/30/11 – Tickets are still available.
  5. Campanas de America Mariachi Concert – April 28, 2012
  1. Bright Ideas
  1. Restrooms in church are messy for the 5:00 Sunday Mass and could use a deep cleaning. Father Tom will check into this. Also, restrooms in PonziniFamilyLifeCenter need automatic door closers as doors tend to stay open. Discussed putting a “changing table” in the women’s restroom.
  2. It was suggested that a brochure holder be placed in the lobby of PonziniCenter and/or Narthex of church.
  3. Ministry banners need to be uniform in size for consistency.
  4. One member talked about the difficulty hearing while sitting in the back pews of the church. We do have hearing devices that are kept in the usher’s room if needed.
  5. Also discussed forming a “lending library” with DVD’s, CD’s, books and other publications.
  6. A new parish directory will be mailed to all parishioners.
  1. Visioning (planning for the future, research, study, discernment)
  1. Future/Ongoing Items – Will add “lending library” to list. Also, discussion on ministry banners: All ministry banners should have at a minimum the same dimensions and the same type of holder to display or process with the banner. This would give uniformity to our parades, processions, displays. Special ministry banners could continue to be used by individual ministries.
  1. Important Dates

1. Applications for ACTS are available through the parish office

St. Mary of the Miraculous Medal

WomenNov. 17-20, 2011CRC

WomenJune 21-24, 2011CRC

MenSept. 27-30, 2012CRC

WomenOct. 25-28, 2012CRC

Women (Spanish)November 15-18, 2012CRC

  1. Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 8, at 6:30p.m.in the Hospitality Room.
  1. The meeting was adjourned with a closing prayer.