St. Mary Parish Pastoral Council
January 12, 2012
The meeting began at 6:35 p.m. with a prayer led by Father Joe.
Members present included:
Father Joe MacCarthy, Tom Nuttall, Vivian Hinderschied, Anita Alexander, Nicole Manfredi, Kathy Cartmell, Guy Roy, and Jeanne Evans.
Father Joe gave everyone an update on the following parish activities:
Old Business:
Facilities’ Locks
The locks to all parish facilities will be changed in accordance with perceived need some time in early February. A minimal amount of keys will be issued. When the need arises, groups will be able to request a key at the rectory and then return the key to the rectory.
Music Ministry
Music is now provided at all Masses. Organists are being paid and we are grateful to the cantors who sing as the gift to the church.
Youth Group
The Youth Group continues to grow and in the spring will include “field trips”. They are doing things and making goodies for the soldiers.
Parish Giving
The general tendency of those in attendance at Sunday Mass has been to increase the amount of their gift to the parish. For the calendar year, the net income for the year exceeded last year’s total by over $12,000. The average contribution is around $10. Online giving now numbers around 35 people. This is more than the average of other parishes. In another parish update, there has been an increase in attendance at weekly Masses for the past 6 months.
Family Mass
The shift of the Family Mass at the 10:30 needs further discussion. There has been a noticeable increase in the number of families at the 9:00 am Mass. It may be an option to move the Family Mass to that time slot.
Homeless Shelter
The homeless shelter, discontinued at St. Mary’s, continues to thrive at a non Catholic Christian church in Plymouth. Anyone who is interested in helping is encouraged and welcomed to do so.
Future of the Parish Council
The PPC structure and role will be changed in the coming weeks. It will include those practicing members who desire to continue to serve. It’s face will be changing in accordance with some of the guidelines anticipated by the emergence of the Parish Service Team (PST) model proposed by the Archdiocese.
New Business
New parish configuration
Father Joe gave the group an overview of the recent meeting regarding the Parish Service Team proposal from the Archdiocese. The future PST Model will be the alignment of most of the parishes in the Archdiocese. Initial information was shared with the priests and business managers. This proposal will involve collaboratives between parishes. Parishes will be grouped based on their geography and the aggregate of their total weekly attendance. The current parishes will be organized under “one parish”. Each individual parish will maintain it budget but key ministry components will be clustered centrally. There will be a pastor and a team of priests who will service all of the parishes. Churches will remain open, but other facilities may be shared or closed. The time line for this is about 5 years, though some PST’s will start this process as they are deemed ready.
Grand Annual Appeal and Goals
The parish Grand Annual drive is doing very well. Currently, $27,150 has been collected and Father Joe believes that the goal of $30,000 will be met.
Archdiocesan Appeal
The annual Archdiocesan Appeal is scheduled for March 17th. Father Joe reminded the group that we were very successful last year. The key component of this success was probably his explanation to the parish was that if we don’t give, the archdiocese will take it any way. As a result, the parishioners’ contributions were substantial and they enabled the parish to be one of the top performers in the Archdiocese.
Music Ministry
Father Joe reported that the physical arrangement for the music ministry in the church will probably change. The choir and organ may move back to the loft. The current organ may need some major work. Father Joe also indicated that a $30,000 organ was offered to us for $15,000. At this time, this is not a feasible issue.
Future changes in Liturgical Schedule.
There may be a change in the future weekday Mass schedule. For instance, we may not have a Saturday morning Mass due to lack of priests. This is especially true in light of Father Bailey’s recent medical issues. Other changes may occur in the future due to lack of priests. Parishioners need to be aware of the potential changes in the future.
Lenten Retreat and Opportunity for Reconciliation
There will be a three-night retreat with prayer service, reconciliation and Mass during Lent. The Advent retreat was well received and Father Joe plans on implementing a similar schedule for Lent.
Day of Prayer for Eucharistic Ministers
In the near future, a Day of Prayer will be done for the Eucharistic ministers that do homebound visits. There are some issues with this ministry that need to be addressed and clarified. Eucharistic ministers for nursing homes and scheduling Masses for them are coordinated from St. Peters. At St. Mary’s, we have some Eucharistic ministers who bring the Eucharist to some of our parishioners who are homebound. However, there is a need to tighten up the process and coordinate the program. Father Joe is planning on focusing on this shortly.
Parish 100th Anniversary
A committee for the 100th anniversary of the parish in 2015 will be formed in the near future.
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday March 13th from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 pm. The Parish Finance Council meeting will follow it.
Father Joe led the group in a closing prayer and the meeting adjourned at 7:30 pm.
