Saint John Fisher Pastoral Council Meeting: December 4, 2008
Impact Report: Katherine Coolidge Eileen said the paper was initially a small in house paper, which eventually evolved into what the parish uses today. She felt the current Impact was irrelevant and not widely read. She said it should be as compelling as Peninsula People. Katherine gave the report: The Adult Formation Advisory Group and the Adult Education Board in tandem reviewed the Impact. They made some suggestions: It should go to color in keeping with the parish web site and bulletin, and it needs a design template, it also needs a theme or purpose. Because it is mailed to all registered households it is the only vehicle for reaching many of our unchurched parishioners. The two groups recommend the following: engage a graphic designer and recruit an editorial team to develop a long-range plan for Impact. They also recommend that it become more attractive, establish a theme for each issue, insure the content reflects the entire community, recruit reporters and photographers from the parish, commission a targeted article, and the staff representative will be the Director of Evangelization. They also suggested that the number of issues be cut from six to three or four per year. They proposed a time line that might roll out the first issue by May or June of 2009. Viktor suggested a focus group to tell us more. Jay De Miranda said it does not make sense to go to three issues - why bother? Flo suggested a new name. Pat thought it might be more relevant to the church if it came out in keeping with the church calendar. Eileen said it is the best communication tool to all those who are not at Mass. It should be of high quality. Jay suggested that it should accept advertising. Ann: do not reduce the number of issues; just add advertising to make it better. Katherine: Successful parishes have a very successful newsletter, and many national figures would be willing to write for us with a minimal payment. Pat: it could be evangelical and also newsy. Msgr. Sork: Thought a focus group was a good idea. Katherine asked Dave to look into the Paulich contract. Christ Renews His Parish: Victor Rzeteljski Members of the retreat team were introduced. Viktor explained the purpose and results of Christ Renews His Parish. It is a retreat that is parish based, and new to the west coast. It was a response to a request in the 2003 questionnaire for a parish retreat. The team now has 30 members from the two retreats held in the spring. It is very personal with participants sharing their faith stories and how they see God in their lives. It includes a web site. Since the retreat new parishioners have felt more welcomed because the participants have gone out of their way to be welcoming. The format is one weekend, with the leaders for the next retreat being chosen from that group. The weekends are segregated by sex, with women and men attending separately. It allows for more freedom of expression. Attendees have been inspired to bring more spirituality into their homes. Requests: Embrace the belief that the whole parish will be involved. Msgr. Sork said that the Pastoral Council was looking for a way to increase the spirituality of the parish. He was impressed with the preparation that went into it, and also with the team bonding by the end of the weekend. Katherine mentioned the book, “The Purpose Driven Life,” and talked about Pope Paul VI, and his proclamation that the church exists to proclaim the good news to ourselves and to others. Brochures were distributed to the members of the Pastoral Council, and they were asked to distribute them and to make a retreat themselves. The Building Project: Monsignor Sork At the last PV City Council meeting on November 18th, there were to be10 minutes from the neighbors and 10 minutes from the applicants. But, all rules were changed. Each side would get one hour to express their points of view. It was clear the opposition knew and was prepared. Our architect, Shelly Hyndman, was able to adjust and make an excellent presentation as was Msgr. Sork. One meeting was held at our site where a truck with a cherry picker bucket was used to point to the highest point on the new church. The Daily Breeze had a good report, the Peninsula News did not. Councilman Wolowicz came to the property for a simulation of the bells. He was here for over an hour and carefully listened from all points indicated in the sound report. Larry Clark has not responded to Msgr. Sork's request for a meeting. Msgr. Sork compiled the data from the last three years actual attendance as counted by the Pastoral Council in October. Using The average attendance for the 9:00 and the 10:30 masses comined was only 850. Parking was based on 870 in the new church, so we are well under. This demonstrates the lack of a parking problem in the future. There are now only 10 neighbors opposed to our project. Msgr. Sork urged anyone who is interested to write a letter, and attend the next hearing on our matter. Staff Report: Eileen Loughran The Religious Education Congress in 2009 should be attended by all. It is inspirational and educational. She needs reservations for the Marriot by January 5, 2009. Car pools will be formed to take people on a daily basis. Our faith formation program has 700 public school children in attendance and 500 families are represented. It is important to get more of these families to mass. We do have tremendous resources and great parental support. But the question remains, how to get them to mass? In the spring a survey will be done of the First Communion parents concerning mass attendance. Two hours of time are required from the parents of children who want their children to receive First Reconciliation and First Communion. Each week a faith formation class is held at the school for the teachers. Pastoral Plan Fulfillment: Ann Armstrong Pastoral Council members should go to ministerial meetings and report back so the ministers and staff feel that the Council cares and listens to them. Eileen suggested that the Pastoral Council and staff have a joint meeting as a sounding board for the parish. Various: Ann Armstrong The December Christmas Concert on December 14th. One council vacancy still exists and needs to be filled. Pat mentioned that the Our Lady of Guadalupe mass will be on December 12th. She described it and encouraged all to attend. Msgr. Sork reminded us to attend mass on December 8th - the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. There were minor typo changes in the October minutes which were reviewed and approved. The meeting adjourned at 9:45 | |