Pastoral Council Meeting Minutes of February 22, 2022
Holy Family Catholic Church Parish Council Meeting Minutes
Members Present: Fr. Ramon Baez, Freddy Andrade, Emelda August, Jack Beers, Sue Jones, Carol Krieger, Terry Mannion, Wayne Mattson, Joshua Munoz, Anselm Ojuah, John Zurcher
Date: 2/22/2022
Time Start: 6:37pm
Discussion Point 1: Guest Speaker for intercultural session-African American Community
-The representative for the African American Community (Karen Williams) was asked in what ways can the Parish help the African American Community as well as how the Parish can better serve the African American Community. ” It is important that you feel at home at church”; “We need to feel that we are a part of”. Music needs can be met, a Black History Month Celebration used to be held, it could be brought back. “The music can be more upbeat and can be changed to better fit the younger population. The African American Culture can be better nurtured not just in February but also throughout the year. Wonderful informative brochures regarding African American can be advertised or something could be done to garner the attention of those who pass by. Another subject that can be addressed is Social Justice especially from recent events. “How do we feed Spiritually, the different groups in the Parish”. The young, the young African American men and woman need Spiritual nourishment. “If someone asks, I will be willing to help.” In regards to social Justice, it would be helpful to know what Catholics should and could do to address Social Justice. The church needs to minister to the concerns especially today. There are things people want to do things their way, Karen has not experienced any form of racism but it could be happening. If it is happening, the Parish needs to fix it, if it isn’t then the Parish needs to prevent it from happening. There are social media platforms that in which we can say “we are here for you and there are people here willing to listen”. The Parish needs to “address the elephant in the room”.
-Beverly Carol could be here to communicate even more with the African American Community. Wayne will be in contact with her to see if she can come next month’s meeting.
-The parish does have a social ministry group, but they did not approach Father Ramon concerning meeting.
-Concerning social issues for the day when the Pastor went to speak with senators, not many went.
Discussion Point 2: Council Scheduled turn-over in June 2022
-Carol is stepping down at the end of her term this year. There are 3 vacancies. Sue will also be stepping down in June.
-Hopefully more young people will feel motivated to join.
Discussion Point 3: Upcoming Synod
-Synod listening sessions will be held on March 6th(English), 7th(Spanish), 13th (English) and 14th (Spanish). For all interested parties. They will be up to 2 hours and each person speaking will have a time limit of 3 minutes. There will be a note taker, facilitator to keep the session organized. Hopefully with these sessions, the people will feel that their voices will be heard. The packet sent by Father Planty contains 6 questions that will be asked and each question will be covered sequentially. Question 1: What experiences in journeying with your diocese and parish have you had?
-If not all questions are covered Father Ramon has the decision to make another future session regarding the rest of the questions. The note taker will take notes and condense the notes/record. Wayne and Freddy will facilitate the sessions. Everything will be due in April. There is no counting that will be done. The Pope wants to listen starting from the individual parishioner all the way to the cardinals. We are a mission church walking in a missionary journey. If we can get group leaders could advertise to the local communities (Agape, Legion of Mary, etc.) and invite them.
-A document describing about the importance of participation in these sessions.
Discussion Point 4: New Men’s Group forming
-A new Men’s group called “This Man is You” is forming and is already running at Sacred Heart, Our Lady of Angels, and other parishes. It runs from September to April. It is a fellowship, 25-minute video, and discussion group. We need a leadership team who can help with recruiting and organization. Small group discussion leaders would also be welcome to help.
Discussion Point 5: Liaison to Financial Council
-Terry briefed the council on the Finance Council Meeting. The Advent Confession gathering was well received and one for Lent will also be held. The Midnight Mass was also well received. In terms of repair and maintenance, Father Ramon was able to get someone to cut trees that needed to be cut. Security cameras were purchased and placed in the school and around the parish. Lighting conditions are nominal. $29,000 for the pavement of the parking lot was done and needs to be repaved every two years. 40% increase in cost for roof repair because of material shortage; $240,000 for roof repair for the school. $80,000 HVAC system for the church has been delayed by the manufacturer. A company has been hired to do a 10-year assessment of what the Church needs. The School Admin is gathering substitutes and a School Nurse. RE Director is still be located for the Parish. There will be a 5K in April. Copies of the financial statements were passed around. Assets increased by 13.9% from December 2021.There will be a town hall meeting in April regarding how everything is going in the Parish Financially wise. $39,000 was made from the Parish Festival. The increased offertory was better this year than it was in the past. We need people to give regularly to help the Parish. The amount of people going to mass every Sunday has been going up consistently every Sunday. It would be a great help if the people attending the 10 o’clock mass and 1 o’clock could give regularly. We are grateful of the help that the parishioners give in the offertory.
-A monthly birthday mass could be done to generate goodwill and they can receive a special blessing.
Discussion Point 6: Inclusion/bringing together/intercultural sharing
-Festival food coordinators were in a meeting. The African Group, African American Group, Filipino group, and Spanish speaking group came to an agreement to switch different choirs according to their cultural groups in different masses showcasing their cultures. An African choir can sing in a Spanish mass and the Spanish choir could sing in an English mass. The execution and planning is up to the groups. They must target two masses on every 3rd Sunday of the month: one English mass and one Spanish mass. A paragraph in the bulletin talking about that particular group’s culture. People will be told ahead of time of what will happen regarding the choir switch. Each group can also give small snacks
-The groups should also reach out to each other.
-A display will be made regarding an African American Servants of God that will be put up throughout the month. A display was made for Black Catholic Historic Month was done in November.
-Bulletin changes were made.
Discussion Point 7: Goal Setting meeting 2022
-The gym can be used but also other locations are also acceptable. The session will start with mass.
Discussion Point 9:Hymnal Status
-The hymnals are being printed as we speak. The choir has their copies. A booklet will be printed out for Holy Week giving the hymn numbers.
Discussion Point 10: Festival Update
-The meeting discussed getting volunteers. More food stands will also be placed. More sponsors are needed, and the parking situation will be organized. More help is needed with the festival especially with volunteers. Another meeting will be held in March.
Discussion Point 11: What is on Father’s Mind
-Lent is coming hopefully a lot of people will come on Ash Wednesday. Father will leave the evening of Ash Wednesday and will be back on Saturday evening. The Soup supper will be held at 6pm on Friday.
-Father asks that the council be a bit more proactive in regard to racism
-More Pastoral Council Badges will be made.
Discussion Point 12: Individual Council Member questions
-It would nice to bring back something that the parish did in the past where they ask new parishioners to stand up so that we can welcome them.
-Hopefully a new Priest can come to the parish in July. At the moment the Priests in the diocese are very busy. Please pray for vocations
Discussion Point 13: Next meeting
-The next Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 29th.
Closing Prayer: 8:16pm