Sts. Peter & Paul
Pastoral Council Meeting
June 1st, 2017
6:00 p.m. in Family Room
Those in attendance:
Father Tony Richard Pedraza Margaret Poling
Deacon Rusty Peter Hudson Bob Stewart
Patrick Mattingly Dan Bumbernick
Juanita Lopez Toby Gualandri
Darla Strawther Mike Senneway
Those not in attendance: Curt Hand Herbert Strunk
Guest:
I. Opening Prayer – Fr. Tony noted that it was the feast of St. Justin. He then related St. Justin’s life to our patron saints Peter and Paul, noting that Paul brought the faith to many people and Peter was a man of faith who embodied the “best and worst” of humankind and similarly that of the Church.
II. Reviewed Minutes of the May Meeting – Motion to adopt the minutes as presented was made by Toby Gualandri and seconded by Patrick Mattingly; motion
passed.
III. Confirmation- Second confirmation liturgy will be held Sunday, June 4th at the 5:30 PM Mass. The first liturgy was Monday, May 8 at 6:30 PM and went very well. Father commended Fr. Camillo for his inspiring words to the confirmands.
IV. Father’s Retirement and Farewell-
Deacon Rusty outlined the celebratory activities that the staff has planned for a ‘parish farewell’ weekend on June 24th and 25th. After all the Masses there will be coffee and snacks in the Family room. After the 11:15 Mass there will be a buffet lunch and light program in St. Mary’s Hall. The lunch will be provided by the parish, but seating will be limited to the first 400 who come.
V. Ministry Reports-
A. Margaret Poling
1. Prison Ministry: Need to recruit more people. Having some success in getting into the prison, particularly this month.
2. Sick and Homebound: Few requests for help have been received. A notice has been placed in the bulletin to solicit a new coordinator for this ministry. Mary Mims is willing to continue to serve as coordinator until the “right“ person is found to lead the group.
3. Eucharistic Adoration: No report.
4. Knights of Columbus:
- Members of the Gabriel Project, led by Ron Dashkevich and Mario Perez, gave a presentation at the late May meeting. $215,000 has been raised over the last eight years with the Mark Your Door for Mary campaign. Thirty people were recognized for their work on the Gabriel Project.
- Scholarship recipients were announced earlier this month. Eight scholarships were awarded.
- Trash pick-up will be this coming Saturday.
- Bingo continues on Monday evenings.
- The 4th of July family celebration is being planned.
B. Herbert Strunk
1. Archives: No report.
2. Healing Ministry: No report.
3. Gabriel Project: No report.
C. Richard Pedraza
1. American Heritage Girls: No report.
2. God’s Healing Love: Need volunteers.
3. Teen ACTS/Youth Ministry:
- Sunday, June 4, at the 5:30 pm Mass our second Confirmation liturgy for this year will be held with Archbishop Gustavo: 60 high school teens. On May 8 Fr. Camillo confirmed 52 teens and 7 adults.
- Have two Teen ACTS teams in full planning mode for summer retreats. Sts. Peter and Paul will host their summer retreat the weekend of July 27-30 at El Shaddia Retreat Center. Another group is taking Teen ACTS to St. Patrick’s in Dallas, TX on August 3-5.
- Julie Krug and her husband, Roger, will be hosting the first ever Catholic Heart Work camp in New Braunfels the week of July 2-8. Several groups from around Texas will join 40 youth, young adults and adults from our parish for that week. Toni Miller is in charge of our youth at this camp. The group of 90 will be staying at Canyon High School and working on various projects around New Braunfels. They will be painting, doing yard work, washing windows and doing light construction for a dozen residents in the city limits. Work crews will also be sent to Connections, The Kitchen Pantry, and WIC.
- In July (the 15th-21st) Julie and Chachi will be taking 60 more teens, young adults, and adult chaperones to Catholic Heart Workcamp in Wichita, KS.
- Toni Miller, Middle School coordinator, and Julie Krug will run a “Summer of Service” project every Tuesday morning for six weeks this summer. The day will begin with Mass at 8 am, followed by breakfast, a short lesson, a service project in the community, and lunch. There will be both middle and high school students in attendance. Once a month on the Second Sunday of the month during the summer there will be XLT for our high school students. This is an evening of praise and worship, a testimony from a core member, and Eucharistic Adoration.
- Our biggest news this month is the birth of a new little Diaz. Chachi and Emily welcomed Micah Joseph last Tuesday, May 23rd and he’s already stolen our hearts. Chachi is taking a few weeks off to help out at home and will be back in the office on June 13.
- We would like to thank Fr. Tony for his 11 years of service to our parish, and especially our youth. When Fr. Tony came in 2006 we had only done one Teen ACTS retreat. Since that time he has been with us on 22 Teen ACTS Retreats and heard confessions at countless Confirmation retreats.
4. Thrift Store: Has acquired new countertops and a new washing machine.
D. Patrick Mattingly
1. Men’s ACTS:
a. ACTS Core Team Meeting Tuesday, May 23, was cancelled. Next meeting Tuesday, June 20, 6:30p.
b. The May 13th, 100Year Anniversary of Fatima event was a huge success. Over 416 parishioners registered. The logistics for the event was excellent. Everyone was fed lunch in 8 minutes. The speakers were well prepared and everyone was glad to see Deacon John back at the pulpit.
c. Coffee with Christ was held Saturday, Saturday, May 27 7:30a – 8:30.
o 25 People attended.
o Memorial Day Tribute by George Gagnon talked about the 1,354,664 loss of American soldiers since the Revolutionary war. He also talked about his personal experience with 20 soldier ancestors buried overseas in military cemeteries. He has visited each grave as a personal tribute.
o Deacon Bob Leibrecht from St Thomas, Canyon Lake spoke about the Archdiocese’s Criminal Justice Ministry and their major points of focus:
§ Kolbe Prison Ministry: ACTS-like retreats in prison. 12 per year.
§ Chrysalis Ministry: For the formerly incarcerated.
§ New Life Ministry: For family members of incarcerated person.
Rick Sarabia & Mario Silva also spoke about their involvement in these ministries.
- Next meeting June 24.
2. Rachel’s Journey (formerly Project Rachel):
- Spoke to 45 nursing students in their OB rotation from St. Phillips College last Friday about our ministry and abortion in the US. We have been invited by the nursing instructors for several years now!
- We are having a June retreat-the 10th. No retreat in July.
- Team is planning to attend the Catholic Women's Conference in San Antonio in July.
3. Gardening Angels: No report.
4. Pro-Life: No activities planned.
E. Darla Strawther
1. Couples Prayer: No report.
2. Little Flowers: No report.
3. Rosary Guild: No report.
4. Parish Choirs:
- Transitioning to summer schedule: 11:15 choir, multiple musicians out of town at various times, no weekly adult choir practice, etc.
- Organizing special music for Fr. Tony’s last mass at SPP on June 25.
5. Women’s ACTS:
- Directors for upcoming Oct. retreat are Vanetta Hand & Christine Gonzales.
- Next core meeting is June 15.
- Next core mini retreat - June 24th.
F. Bob Stewart
1. Lending Library: No report.
2. Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic School Charitable Trust: Trust donated $15,000 to Saints Peter and Paul School for the 2017-18 school year.
3. Scouts:
Troop 163: No report.
Cub Scouts: This weekend the Cub Scouts are having a“Raingutter Regatta” at the K of C Hall. Each boy will make a boat from a kit, and then paired with another scout for races. In conjunction with this, the Den will have a Round-up to introduce other interested youth to the group.
In July there will be a sponsored trip to the “Cave With No Name” in Boerne.
Catholic Alliance: The 2016-17 school year has ended. Program will resume third week in August. There are approximately 45 youth involved in the homeschooling program with an average of 30 involved in each of the on-campus activities during the last year.
G. Toby Gualandri
1. Divine Mercy Cenacle: Our 9:00 am Divine Mercy Cenacle will soon come to an end after finishing three manuals and three and a half years of meeting every week on Tuesdays. We will have a closing blessing and celebration in August 2017 conducted by Deacon Rusty Brandt, our spiritual advisor. Another 9:00 amCenacle will begin in September 2017 and we wish them the blessings and graces that we have greatly experienced. Mary Canupp will be leading this one and the other two Cenacles will still continue.
2. Divine Mercy Chaplet: No report.
3. Helping Hands: Will provide report covering both May and June activities for the July Pastoral Council meeting.
4. Family Promise: No report.
H. Juanita Lopez
1. St. Anne’s Christian Mothers: No report.
2. Eucharistic Ministers: No report.
3. Lectors: No report.
4. SOS Food Bank: No report.
5. Catholic Daughters: No report.
I. Curt Hand
1. Bible Study: No report.
2. RCIA: No report.
3. CCD: No report.
4. Catholics for Freedom of Religion:
- CFFR is planning several activities in conjunction with the USCCB's annual Fortnight for Freedom,June 21 through July 4. These activities will include the placement of the blue prayer cards in the pew pockets for the entire two-week period, a rosary for religious freedom, and a very visible presence in the July 4 parade.
- Also looking into having the July 6 Holy Hour and Benediction dedicated to religious freedom, something we've also done in the past.
J. Peter Hudson
1. PTC: No report.
2. Marriage Encounter: Next WWME Weekend isJune 16-18in San Antonio.Spots still available. WWME Family Picnic for San Antonio/Corpus Christi isAugust 27that Landa Park.
3. Bereavement: No report.
4. CYO:
- Basketball: No report.
- Volleyball: Will begin preparations for coming volleyball season with discussions in June and open registration in July.
- Baseball: No report.
K. Dan Bumbernick
1. Life After Loss: Planning for the next ‘Life after Loss’ session has begun. Although the dates haven’t been finalized, the tentative schedule is for the first of the six week sessions to begin on the second Tuesday or Wednesday of September. Additional details to follow as we get closer to September.
2. SPP School: No report.
3. Ushers and Greeters: No report.
4. Welcome Ministry/Ministry Fair: The next Ministry Fair will be in 2018. There won’t be much activity to report until September or October when the activity level picks up and the planning will begin for the 2018 fair.
VI. Father Tony Comments
- The Council congratulated Father on his birthday and celebrated with cake.
- Father announced that he will be moving to an apartment/condo in Shiner once he retires at the end of June. There are 9 parishes within 20 miles of Shiner and he expects to keep busy assisting clergy needs in the area at his discretion.
- Father reflected on his 11 years at SPP and the pastoral council in general, which he started here.
- Father noted that at age 75 each priest in the Archdiocese must submit a letter of resignation which the Archbishop may accept or reject. This year the Archdiocese will have 6 priests retiring and only 4 being ordained.
- Father gave a brief introduction of Father Carlos to the council. Father Carlos will be coming from Holy Spirit parish where, ironically, Father Carlos also succeeded Father Tony as pastor 11 years ago.
VII. Other Business:
- Patrick Mattingly asked Father to write an article that Pat can submit to “Today’s Catholic” on Father’s reflections on time as pastor of SPP.
- Juanita Hernandez announced that her husband, Joe, has been honored by being selected as the delegate representing our Knights of Columbus Council at the Supreme K of C Council to be held in St. Louis in early August.
VIII. Next meeting will be July 6th.
IX. Father Tony adjourned the meeting at 7:05PM after the closing prayer.