St. John Chrysostom Parish Pastoral Meeting Minutes September 9, 2014

Attendees: Fr. Ed, Chuck Zech, Jean Mulcahy, Bill Wuest, Liesl Wuest, Dom D’Angelo, Susan Hackett, Terry Lynch, Mark Vacha, Bill Boylan, Mary Anne Boylan

Not in attendance: Julia White

Prayer

Prayer at a New Beginning

With Hope in our hearts, we celebrate a new beginning for our Pastoral Parish Council. In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Scripture “Again, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.”

As a Council we can take this scripture to heart. We are gathered in His name and in Service to Fr. Ed. Praying and working together from this point on, we believe that we are going to foster wonderful results through St. John’s existing Ministries and Ministries yet to be formed.

We rejoice in this new beginning by our Council. Spirit guide and keep us in your care. Amen

Approval of Minutes

Minutes from July 12, 2014 meeting were approved.

General Announcements

I. Focus of Council: To start off our successful second year, Father Ed asked that we focus on:

(a) Improving our communication with each other, with ministry leaders and with all parishioners. We should be focusing on using all off the avenues St. Johns offers to improve communication including leveraging new social media outlets.

b) The Assembly Information: Father has had conversations with parishioners and others outside of the parish about reading Rebuilt and how for some, it can be disheartening that this wasn’t “the answer” for their parish the way it was for the parish in the book. Bottom line--- we should take from the book information that will help us be effective, but our focus should be on putting action to the information gleaned from the assemblies.

(c) Engaging Parishioners: Father Ed spoke about how he is re-thinking his approach to delivering the homily. He has found it very successful to include a link from the scripture to our parish goals and how to involve parishioners. New people who he has never spoken with before are now engaging in conversation after Mass.

II. 2014 Meeting Schedule: PPC will meet the second Tuesday of September, October, November, February, March and May. We will not meet in December, January, April, June, July, August. *If it turns out that it seems more appropriate to have a meeting in June or some other time, PPC can discuss and evaluate the need for additional meetings. Also, sub-committees may also meet in between in meetings and at other times throughout the year.

III. International Catholic Stewardship Conference: Father Ed, Rosemary Endres and Mary Chollet Lordan will attend this conference in Orlando in early October. Father Ed shared that the conference has many, many speakers and the group will divide up and gather as much information as possible to help inform our new approach to stewardship (time, talent and treasure). The group also learned that if there are really good speakers, that their presentations are available on DVD and the session could be brought back and shared with the parish as appropriate. Father Ed shared that he would like to hold off on scheduling Stewardship Weekend until after the conference.

IV. Parish Picnic: Mark attended the Knights meeting and shared that the logistics of the picnic are all coming together. Their request was to make sure that any and all efforts to get the word out about the picnic were being used including email blast, the church sign, etc….. Knights want to wear the new t-shirts to Mass on Sunday and we all agreed that we would too. Susan to coordinate with Jean to confirm when the t-shirts arrive and coordinate distribution. Several ministries are actively involved in the picnic including Youth Group, Ushers, Welcoming, Hospitality. In order to make sure that school families are being encouraged to participate, Marc will follow-up with Mrs. Waters. In order to ensure that the PREP families are encouraged to participate, Dom will contact Teresa Hedland. The idea of having some sort of “cause to donate to” was raised as a possibility for a future picnic. Father Ed shared that his preference is to keep the picnic “ask free” but could be open to discussion for future.

V. PPC Discernment: September 28th is the meeting. Terry Lynch will co-facilitate with Father Ed. Father Ed has been encouraging specific individuals to consider the opportunity and will also include in announcement at Mass from now until 9/28. He is emphasizing that attendance is mandatory at meetings and that folks who have work or travel conflicts should be discouraged from volunteering. Also, in order to provide as much opportunity as possible for different families to be involved, he is encouraging one family member (not married couples) to consider the position.

VI. Survey Monkey Results: Father Ed provided an opportunity for the group to discuss any outstanding issues or comments. Group felt that the July meeting minutes captured everything that was important and that needed to be discussed.

Goals to Parish

Group had a healthy discussion about the goals and how to best communicate all of our work to the parish including when, how, etc…. After much healthy discussion, it was determined that an article would be written that would capture the process PPC has been going through and include where we are now and where we intend to help support the parish in going. The article will be finalized by 9/28 so that the essence and content of the article can be shared (1) At the 9/28 Discernment meeting; (2) At the Oct 19th Ministry leader meeting; (3) In the new e-newsletter being spearheaded by Cathy St. Clair (deadline 10/1); (4) Other ways???

The article will include the 5 overarching themes that will be the initial focus of the parish for the next year including:

(1) Hands on work with Chester

(2) Creating a Welcoming Experience

(3) Maximizing impact of Social Media

(4) Revamping Stewardship

(5) Revitalizing Ministries

Terry Lynch has offered to take the lead in writing the article.

Action Items:

* PICNIC Action items

* Spread the word about the picnic as much as possible (ALL)

* Mark to talk to Mrs. Waters

*Dom to talk to Theresa Hedland

* Draft PPC process article to communicate to the parish (Terry)

* Mark Calendars/ Important Dates:

Sept 14th is picnic

Sept 28th—will be the Discernment meeting for new PPCs. Current members (or a subset) may be asked to attend to help discuss and share information about the roles and responsibilities.

Oct 19th – Ministry Meeting Follow-up meeting (May want to get into the routine of having a Spring and Fall meeting of ministry leaders each year)

Nov 22nd—Morning of reflection: 8:45 to 11 am

Next meeting: October 14

Respectfully submitted by Susan Hackett