Parish Pastoral Council Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Attendees: Fr. Ed, Chuck Zech, Susan Hackett, Terry Lynch, Bill Wuest, Liesl Wuest, Mary
Anne Boylan, Bill Boylan, Julia White, Debra Traini, Mary Chollet Lordan,Jean Mulcahy, Mark
Vacha
Not In attendance: Dom D’Angelo
Opening Prayer: Julia shared a video set to music that depicted Jesus in the desert for 40
days. After watching the video, the group joined together to read The Forty Days of Lent Return to the Lord Your God.
General Comments/Announcements
Approval of Feb. minutes—Minutes were unanimously approved.
Google Docs - Liesl reminded us that all agendas and minutes should live on Google docs
where we can all access them. Mary volunteered to move the documents that are missing.
Gluten Free Hosts - In response to a parishioners request, Father Ed informed us that there
is a procedure in place for individuals who request a gluten free host. The procedure is for the
individual to notify the priest presiding at Mass or the sexton who will then inform the individual which line to use to receive Communion.
Health Ministry Coordinator- The position has been filled. Rita Frey will be working 20 hrs. per week starting in April. She will focus on reaching out to the elderly and infirm. This position will enable the parish to stay connected to all those who have no longer are able to attend Mass and will be a big support to Theresa White and the Bereavement Ministry.
Convent- Father Ed shared that the project has been on hold due to the magnitude of the
undertaking. The campaign will require $1-2 million in fundraising. Father Ed has a vision
for the space and shared how the current parish house has no space left for current staff let
alone new hires. PPC expressed interest in making this an agenda item for our next meeting to discuss how we can support Father Ed in moving the project forward.
Preparing for World Meeting of Families Sept 22-25- Father Ed encouraged as many PPC
members as possible to attend the Lenten Series talk on March 25th where the World Meeting will be highlighted.
Paper Resources-- Father Ed shared that the little prayer books (Daily Catholic Devotions)
as well as the book marks handed out at Christmas just don’t seem to have the same kind of
popular appeal that they used to. While certain parishioners still want these print resources,
the overall sense is that we do not need as much inventory for future years. Now that people
have access to so many more resources (daily emails, blogs, websites, etc… to access prayer material), the popularity of print is not what is used to be. As for the bookmarks, Father Ed’s sense was that Christmas Eve is just not a good time to distribute anything as people have lots of kids, relatives, coats, and are just not focused on taking materials at that time.
Term Limits
In order to ensure that Saint John’s PPC term limits are in line with the Archdiocese policies, the following decisions were made:
(1) The number of PPC elected members needs to be decreased by three and Dom, Mary
Anne and Bill Boylan have volunteered to step down at the end of this year, June, 2015.
(2) The remaining six elected members will step down two per year in 2016, 2017, and
2018. These remaining members, (Bill W., Liesl, Susan, Terry, Debra and Mary) need
to email Father Ed and express feelings about timing for their term---either letting Father
Ed make the recommendations or requesting a specific term.
(3) Ex-officio members stepping down will be Jean Mulcahy and possibly Julia White.
Father Ed will appoint an ex-officio member(s) to replace Jean (and possibly Julia).
Ministry Meeting
Mary Chollet presented a proposed agenda for the March 22nd. meeting. Following group
discussion the following is the working agenda including roles, responsibilities and proposed
outcomes.
12:30 - 2:30
Prayer and Lunch (*Susan to order sandwiches, water bottles and chips from
Swarthmore pizza)
Introduce New Ministry Leaders (Mary)
Presentation from the Ministry for Disabilities (Christina Vacha)
Presentation for Vision of Ministries (Father Ed and Chuck Zech)
Group Discussion
Debrief from the Group Discussion
Meeting Outcome: Each ministry leader is expected to leave the meeting prepared to meet
with their ministry participants and finalize 3 objectives for the ministry by May 31st. The
3 objectives will be expected to be turned into Father Ed by May 31st. Father Ed will then
determine if he wants to review them or ask PPC to assist. A scripted outline will be provided to each ministry leader on March 22 so that the leader will have support and guidance about what should be shared and discussed at their ministry meeting. The outline will include: (1) Asking them to review the new St. Johns new mission statement; (2) Review the 5 parish goals; (3) Identify 3 objects that relate to one or more of the parish goals. (*We will even suggest that one of their objectives should be to increase their membership)
2:30 Meeting Ends
Action Items:
● ALL- Mark calendars for Ministry Meeting March 22 from 12:30 - 2:30
● ALL - Mark calendars for Ministry Weekend (formerly Stewardship weekend) for April 26
● Terry to work with Mary and Susan to compile a list of FAQs. Two lists of FAQs will
be created: (1) specific for ministry leaders and (2) general parishioner questions.
The FAQs will be shared with the ministry leaders and also posted on the website. In
addition, we should discuss how we can also add something to the website that allows
parishioners to ask questions or make suggestions and get an email response.
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Closing Prayer: Julia led us in prayer
Next Meeting: Confirmed April 14th. 6:45 at the Stevenson Center. Pizza will be served!
Respectfully submitted: Susan Hackett