Pastoral Council Update
Updates and Election of New Members
First, I want to thank you from the Franciscan Sisters at the Villa for the yarn you donated. We took over more than four large bags of yarn. They were surprised and overwhelmed that we will be conducting an annual Yarn Drive in February to honor their continuous ministry for newborns, young children, and teens in our diocese. One of the nuns shared that she knits a hat every day, and they just crossed the threshold of making over 12,000 hats. Many of the sisters are educators and have worked in the diocese, so they know the needs for children’s hats during our winter months. Many other nuns at the Villa have retired here from Hawaii, so they have joined in as they are experiencing our Central New York winters which are some different from winters in Hawaii!
Next, it is the time of year where we hold elections for new membership to the Holy Cross Pastoral Council. We will be electing three new members this year, so anyone who wishes to join this ministry, we ask you to contact the Parish Office from June 1 to June 21, providing your contact information (phone and email). I will contact you and ask you to submit a short biography and a picture which we will put into the bulletin for a vote on the weekend of June 29-30. Then, I will notify applicants of the results; Father Kurgan or I will contact you, and we will notify all parishioners of new membership the first weekend in July. So that you know the responsibilities of Pastoral Council Members,
We meet for five times during the year, with additional meetings as needed. Our meeting months are July, September, November, January, March, and May. Many years we have additional monthly meetings depending on our business and supports for the parish.
Members are provided meeting agendas, minutes, updated notes from the Syracuse Diocesan Pastoral Council, and additional information regarding parish, diocese and national activities and notifications for our Council to discuss.
Members serve on ministerial committees and reach-out supports as Council ambassadors, helping us bridge communication between parishioners and Father Kurgan, so that we may continue to grow as a vibrant parish which supports the needs of all our parishioners. We have members representing the general population, our youth, and our school as voting members, and then our three trustees are non-voting members.
Overall, our mission is to represent all parishioners and to work with our priest and parish leaders to welcome and serve Holy Cross. If you are interested but have questions, please contact any Council member.