January 26, 2023
Summary
The Holy Cross Pastoral Council met on January 26th at 5:30pm. The Council continued to review the results of a recent parish survey and possible ways to increase the Council’s connectivity with the parish. Action items included producing a handout of parish activities and holding a stewardship/volunteer fair after weekend masses in March and April. The goal is to increase awareness of parish activities and to provide a way to sign up and get involved. A mailing to the parish answering questions and concerns expressed in the survey will be discussed at the next meeting.
Holy Cross School Principal Walters updated the Council about a generous donation to the school and shared several upcoming dates: Catholic Schools week begins with the school open house on Jan 29th; the School Auction date is April 22nd; and 50/50 raffle tickets to support the school will be sold after weekend masses starting in February.
The next Pastoral Council Meeting will be downstairs on March 30th at 5:30pm. All are welcome to attend and are invited to speak during the comment period at the start of the meeting.
Minutes
January 26, 2023 | 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
Members Present: Carl Thomas, Fr Kurgan, Margaret Ingraham, Karen Markoff, Ron DeLuca, Claude Pilon,Nina Walters,Linda Cadaret, Kay Sgarlata, Fr Foley, Ken Kirkman, Beth Schafer, Tom Griffith.
Members Excused/Absent: Cookie Dunham, Lola Gualtieri, Mark Bentz, Bill Leiker
Opening Prayer: Father John
Meeting Call to Order: Karen 5:29pm
Community Comments: (limited to 3 minutes)
No community members present to offer comments.
Old Business:
Frame with Pastoral Council members in Entrance: Dan has all the photos.
Pastoral Members' names in the bulletin: Plan is for them to be put in the bulletin once a month.
Pastoral Council Survey Next Steps
Thank you Dan for a great handout with graphs of survey results; very well done!
Reminder of surveyed areas: Mass/Worship-liturgy direction, music, sense of community, hospitality, Parish Life and Community, Events/Formation for Adults, Stewardship, Events/Formation for Youth, Communications, Facilities, Holy Cross School.
Goal: To increase parishioner connectivity to Holy Cross through the Pastoral Council communication and action steps.
Planned Action and Stewardship/Volunteer Fair: A handout of ways to get involved with Holy Cross & an opportunity to meet & speak with parish leaders of those ministries. Tables will be set up in the gathering area after weekend masses where parishioners can ask questions and learn about various volunteer opportunities at Holy Cross. Ministry leaders will be present to answer questions and collect sign-ups. For example: Eucharistic Ministers, Lectors, Hospitality Greeters, Music Ministry, Volunteers for Visitations of Homebound or those wishing church visit/delivering Holy Communion.
The Hospitality Committee will lead this effort: Cookie, Kay, Carl & Claude.
Handout of Opportunities at Holy Cross: Claude presented an example of a
pamphlet about volunteering done many years ago Something like this would be distributed before the volunteer fair. It will be distributed by Pastoral Council members handing it out after mass. We will request this from Dan with a print deadline by the end of February.
Tables & Format: After mass during March & April, tables will be limited to 4 ministries per week, advertised ahead of time in the parish bulletin & social media.
A one pager should be created & distributed to ministry leaders so they can understand our expectations. We will require 1.) a person present to answer questions 2.) Sign up sheet, 3.)poster, 4.) a take home handout that includes contact info, roles & responsibilities.
Ministry List: Karen will get a list of ministries together with Fr John & Dan, and then the hospitality committee will choose 3 or 4 for tables each week. The committee will prioritize and contact each leader, starting with Liturgical committees & choir in the first group. Ministry entries should be limited to only ministries who meet at the parish. School volunteer opportunities should be included.
Holy Cross School update
School Open House after 10:30 am Mass tomorrow: HC kids will be singing & reading, followed by an Open House at the School. Other Catholic Schools week activities will include: red & white games, service project every day, fun events & pancake breakfast. A Channel 9 video of HC school shows Fr Foley blessing the children.
HC School Auction: will be held April 22nd; 50/50 raffle tickets will be sold after mass starting this weekend. Proceeds will go to the purchase of: Steam lab equipment, safety equipment, pre-K toys & other needs.
Enrollment: The entire pre-K class will be moving on & several 3 year olds will be moving up with us. Scholarship Donation: Deceased parents of the Wengert family, whose children attended HC School, generously donated 300 thousand dollars for scholarships for HC school students. The Christmas concert & play were wonderful. Spring Concert and Play: April 27th & 28th are the dates for the play Annie. A spring concert is also planned.
Prayer Hotline: It was proposed that we add a message on our parish office telephone system in case someone is seeking someone to pray with them. People could choose to speak in person with someone on staff or choose a prayer recording that will be available for people seeking prayer.( For example: If you would like a recorded prayer, press this number or to speak with someone & leave a message or choose a different number to speak with a staff member.) Why: because blessings from the Pastor may be a consolation.
Daily mass recording: A request to include a generic intention that acknowledges people at home and lets them know that we are praying for them. For example: we pray for those of you watching at home, we are praying for your intention. (This will take some time to implement, as prayers of the faithful are written well in advance. Also we would not add this intention at Sunday mass.)
Turning and introducing ourselves to nearby parishioners before Mass: Fr Kurgan feels that this is not appropriate: the greeting at the sign of peace is sufficient.
Video clips before Mass: to increase awareness of ways to get involved at Holy Cross. It could be shown after the groups have formed and as a static display before mass.
Bulletin notice for family members of homebound individuals: It will be requested that we add a notice to the front page of the bulletin informing people: if you have a family member who is homebound or if you know of someone in need of prayer, please contact the Parish office. A reminder to family members that they can take communion to their homebound family members could be included.
Communication to those on the Prayer List; We will remove a person from the Prayer List after 6 months. Perhaps a phone call -we’ve been praying for you-how are you doing? Pastoral care ministry used to do this (before covid) The group has dwindled and is in need of new volunteers. The Rosary group gets specific requests for prayer. The Ministry fair could include an opportunity for people to be on a prayer committee or join the Pastoral Care ministry.
Phone calls: When a parishioner calls the office, can we encourage the staff to ask: Is there anything else we can help you with? Answer: Josh recently resigned, so there is not enough staff at this point.
Increased diversity in school/parish-add HC school & religion classes could include black saints. Word of mouth is the most effective way to increase enrollment: everyone should invite family and friends to check out the school.
Communicating better- Bible Study, Young Adult Group, etc.-handout & tables.
Group going to Mass and then out to eat after Mass- do we extend this periodically to parishioners at a location (would have to register in advance to find location)? Tabled
Survey – if opportunity doesn’t exist, what would you like to see? add this to the pamphlet
How can we follow-up from our survey in other ways?
February-Comprehensive Mailing with Q and A from survey
What are some specific questions we should highlight and answer in a February mailing?
Margaret: Wednesday adoration is appreciated. Let’s-turn the chapel into an adoration chapel for the east side. Reaching out to homebound with communion.
Claude shared a St Rose Bulletin from Fr Celetano: It informed his parish about proper behavior at mass and reminded them of reverence for the eucharist & catholic practices. Fr Kurgan will look it over and send suggestions to the council to work on at future meetings. Communication committee will look into publications and internet offerings that provide this kind of information that can be inserted in the bulletin to be presented at the next meeting.
Ken: We need a refresher class for people returning to the church. fasting, etc did you know? Catholic practices type of things. It was suggested above that the Communications committee take on this project & bring suggestions to the next meeting.
Fr Foley: Lenten preparations are in place. Peg will put Lenten activities in the bulletin.
Carl: Mass at St Anthony’s was an example of church in support of the wider community-it brings people together. Worship music can help people enjoy music from other cultures. Perhaps school opportunities to learn about black saints. Would like to encourage a Parish Mission. Perhaps sponsor an event where people could learn about Gun violence, Racial inequality, Christian Nationalism. It would include a facilitator or monitor for group discussion. Kay: Reiterated the Pastoral Councils’ deep appreciation for Dan’s graphs & survey handout.
Ron: Activities at night/social events (return to night movies) We need more diversity-perhaps the scholarship can be used to invite children of color.
Beth: There seems to be a desire for Bible study opportunities & Young Adult groups. Perhaps we can offer info about diocesan wide options if we don’t have anything here at HC.
Action: The Communication committee (Bill, Beth, Lola, Ron, Ken & Margaret) will prepare a formal announcement to the parish. It will let the parish know that we are working on these things & there will be more info to come in the near future regarding Parish Pastoral visits and a Volunteer Fair. Perhaps include a further piece about things that we are not able to do?
Pastoral Committee Updates:
Finance- Claude: Hope appeal finished at $196,000.00. All of the funds that exceed our goal will be added to the parish budget,with spending limited to Hope Appeal focus areas.
Closing Prayer: Father Foley
Next Meeting Dates: March 30, May 25, 5:30pm
Carl motioned, Beth seconded: Meeting adjourned at 6:55pm