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ST. BONIFACE PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL MINUTES NOVEMBER 23, 2009
The meeting was opened at 7:00 p.m. For Faith Formation, Father Joe shared a story about a couple who, on the first New Year’s Eve after they were married, began a journal of things that happened during the past year. They continued this throughout their marriage. Some years things were good and some years things were not so good, but the couple always concluded their journal entry with the thought that they had much to be grateful for. If we reflect on our lives as we celebrate Thanksgiving, we probably would all agree that we all have much to be grateful for.
Roll call was taken. Members Present: Father Joe, Ted Boliske, Dave Bracken, Bob Frerick, Jim Kuhn, Tom LeSaint, Rick Salerno, Ruthann Sammarco, Rosemary Welz. Carol Roosa was also present.
The minutes of the September 14 meeting were approved as published.
Old Business:
Young Adult Ministry -- Carol Roosa reported that Jenni Lindgren conducted a Theology on Tap program in October for young adults in conjunction with other parishes. The program was very successful. Jenni also hopes to establish a Facebook for our Young Adult Ministry and also is sending a survey to high school and middle school students in the parish regarding having periodic meetings followed by an open gym.
Parish School -- There are currently approximately 180 students enrolled in St. Boniface School. The yellow bus situation has improved, but there are still occasional problems.
For the Good of the Parish
Father Joe and Council members reported on the following:
Liturgy: · Rosaries and rosary leaflets were available in church during the month of October. This was very well received. The 100 leaflets disappeared the first weekend. · November 29 is the First Sunday of Advent and Cycle C begins. We have one person for the Rite of Acceptance. · Tuesday, December 8, is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a holyday of obligation. Masses will be as usual for a holyday. · Forty Hours Devotion will be December 11-13. The opening will be after the 7:30 a.m. Mass on Friday and closing will be after the 12:00 noon Mass on Sunday. Adoration will be from 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on Friday and from 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. on Saturday. The closing ceremony will be followed by lunch in the school cafeteria. · Also on December 13, the Vocal Arts Ensemble will perform at 5:00 p.m. in church. · The Parish Penance Service will be Wednesday, December 16. There will be four priests hearing confessions. · There will be a Mass at the cathedral on Sunday, December 20, at 3:00 p.m. to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Archbishop Pilarczyk’s ordination. Admission is for ticket holders only. If anyone wishes to attend, they should contact Father Joe. He may be able to get them a ticket. · Christmas Masses will be 4:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve, midnight, and 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon on Christmas Day. New Year’s Masses will be 4:00 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon on New Year’s Day. · Deacon Jerry Yetter will preach at the Masses on December 26/27 and March 13/14. · Ash Wednesday is February 17; Easter is April 4. Financial: · The response to Father’s stewardship talk has been gratifying. The Sunday collections have improved somewhat. Tom LeSaint mentioned that people who don’t use collection envelopes are sometimes confused when there is a special collection. They want some of the money to go to the parish and some to the special collection. All money that is not in envelopes goes to the special collection. Ruthann Sammarco suggested that we have some envelopes printed with “St. Boniface Parish” and have them in the pews when there is a special collection. An announcement would be made before Mass informing the people of this procedure. · The windows are finished and Father is very happy with the work. The new windows have vents to reduce the heat between the inner and outer windows. · The new video camera is almost ready. · Father is still waiting to hear from the architect about the floor in front of the first pews. · The festival seems to have been a great success. There were over 400 dinners served. Pastoral: · On October 25 there was an evening prayer service for those who lost a loved one during the past year. Part of the service included the Requiem of Charles Gounod. St. Michael’s choir joined us and the service was very well done. · During October we averaged 604 people attending Mass per weekend. This was due in part to two weddings. Without the weddings we are exactly the same as we were for the past two years—500 per weekend. · The spiritual book club met last week to discuss the book, Care for Creation. In line with this, the Archdiocesan Social Action Commission wanted a person to represent the parish at a meeting about global warming. Father asked Steve Albert to attend the meeting, which was last week. The next book for discussion is The Story of the Church by Alfred McBride, a very readable history. · Ed and Judy Gettler, Tim Banish and Jenni Lindgren graduated from the LPMP Program in October. Congratulations on their hard work! Donna Banish is getting ready to do her project which Father hopes will be a census of the entire parish. The last full census was done in 1991 when we merged with St. Patrick. Although we try to keep our census up to date, people leave the parish without telling us and other people join the parish without actually registering or asking for envelopes. · On November 5/6 there was a convocation for all priests in Ohio held in Columbus. There were three major talks on marriage. Father hopes to get a CD of the talks.
New Business:
Council Minutes and Agendas -- Chairman Rick Salerno stated that he plans to have minutes and agenda sent to all Council members before the next meeting.
The next meeting will be Thursday, January 28. The meeting was closed at 7:45 p.m. with prayer by Father Joe.
Respectfully submitted,
Rosemary Welz, Secretary |