St. Jude Pastoral Council

Meeting Minutes

Wednesday November 1, 2006

Participants: Don Cairns (Chair), Fr. Dave Rogerson (Pastor), Lauren Sing, Debbie McCormick, Bob Johnson, & Bob Stephens

Absent: Suzanne Henderson, Anusha Fernando, Gary Smith

The meeting began @ 8:10 p.m. following the All Saints Day evening liturgy with an opening prayer led by Debbie McCormick.

Old Business:

¨      Tent City: Fr. Dave reported that a Parish informational meeting was held last week with Tent city & Share Wheel representatives present. It was a small gathering with only about 30 parishioners in attendance, but a good dialogue took place. Fr. Dave plans to contact the Principles at the neighboring schools, and make plans to conduct a town meeting with the surrounding neighborhoods. Redmond city officials have previewed the proposed site for Tent City located behind Lovett Hall, & found it to be workable as long as sufficient electricity can be provided. St. Jude Tent city committee members have attended St. John Vianney’s  Tent City committee meetings & followed their permitting  process to gain helpful information with the process in our parish.  St. Jude parishioner Jay Beavers is spearheading the effort to obtain a permit from the city of Redmond for St. Jude to host Tent City. Don Cairns will contact Jay & report back to the council.

¨      Mission: The council discussed the pros and cons of waiting with the initiating of Mission work until Tent City plan is resolved. Don discussed how relevant  Archbishop Brunett’s homily message was this past Sunday at the 11:00 a.m. liturgy, as to St. Jude’s identity, The consensus of the council was not to wait, but instead move forward with input from the finance council, and  then meet with the Stewardship committee to start goal setting, plot out a strategy, and time line.

Pastors Report:

¨      Carl Smith’s role as Deacon:  Fr. Dave informed the council that Carl Smith had stepped back from his role as Deacon when he came on board St. Jude’s staff because he was going through a divorce and needed time to decide if he was going to be able to continue his Deaconate vocation. Carl has since recommitted himself to that calling, and is actively taking on the responsibility of Deacon. Council members expressed some concern & confusion of the role of a Deacon, since St. Jude parish has never had a Deacon on staff before. Fr. Dave informed the council that as an ordained Deacon, Carl can baptize, do the Gospel reading at Mass, & occasionally speak to the assembly at liturgy, in addition to his job as liturgist, and coordinating the RCIA program. Council members expressed concern that no formal introduction, or announcement of Carl, or his role as Deacon has been made to the parish. Fr. Dave offered to arrange a time for Carl to be introduced as Deacon to the parish during weekend liturgies.

¨      Religious Education: Since R.E. enrollment is down considerably this year Fr. Dave proposed that Patti Fitzsimmons & Sr. Betty conduct a dialogue with parents of R.E. age children. The purpose of the dialogue would be to discern why they have or haven’t enrolled their child, what they want, or are looking for from the R.E. program, so as a parish we can better meet their needs and expectations. The feedback will help staff to prepare and make any necessary changes for next year.

 New Business:

·   Review of 25^th Anniversary celebration of the dedication of the church building:  The council reviewed the project review report submitted by Gary Smith.  Discussion was held regarding some of the confusion that occurred as to food planning. The plan was changed several times on short notice due to some miscommunication, but the outcome was still positive. Fr. Dave suggested that the parish hold an annual celebration to commemorate the Feast of St. Jude, and to make it a priority on the Fall schedule so as not to compete with other parish fall activities, & volunteers.

Action Plan:

¨      Don Cairns will get an update from Jay Beavers regarding the permitting process for Tent City

¨      Fr. Dave will work with Carl Smith to arrange his introduction to the parish

¨      Don Cairns will extend an invitation to  the leadership of the Finance committee to attend our December meeting

¨      Lauren Sing will coordinate a potluck dinner for the December meeting

The meeting was adjourned with a closing prayer at 9:40 pm. The next meeting will be held Wednesday, December 6, 2006 at 6:30 pm in Lovett Hall.

 Respectfully submitted,

 Debbie McCormick