St. Jude Pastoral Council

Meeting Minutes

August 31, 2005

 

 

Participants: Father Dave Rogerson (Pastor), Nancy Pisconski (Staff), Don Cairns (Chair), Tim Thompson (Vice-Chair), Suzanne Henderson, Anusha Fernando, and John Lacey (Parishioner)

 

Absent: Bob Clancy, Lauren Sing, Gary Smith, and Deb McCormick

 

Meeting was opened at 7:10 pm with introductions, individual check-in, and  an opening prayer for the victims of Hurricane Katrina (note: this meeting replaced the scheduled September 7 meeting due to the Greece and Turkey pilgrimage)

 

 

Pastor’s report from Father Dave:

 

• We agreed to take up a second collection for victims of Hurricane Katrina at the masses on September 4 (Father Dave)
• Father Joey needs our prayers and support. He will leave September 19 for a health assessment in Spokane for 2-4 months and is scheduled to return to St. Jude.
• We agreed to give Fr. Joey a Parish blessing after the masses on the September 18 week-end and a reception when he returns to St. Jude (Father Dave and Nancy will follow-up)
• The new bronze sculpture for the outdoor courtyard south of the main entrance is scheduled to arrive September 2. It will be temporarily placed in the narthex until a pedestal can be constructed in its final location.
• Father Dave is interested in adding more graphic art to the weekly bulletin
• There will be a nativity display again on the Epiphany
• Father Dave passed out a “Pastoral letter on the year of the Eucharist” from the Archbishop that offers insight into the direction of the Archdiocese (Don will distribute to Council members who were not able to attend the meeting)

 

 

Staff report from Nancy:

 

• Nancy provided a staff report in advance and offered highlights at the meeting

• Nancy’s report highlighted her adult enrichment programs, an administration report from Jerry Kuntz, a liturgy report from Denise Pyles, a youth ministry report from Rick Casolary, and a religious education (elementary school age children) report from Patty Fitzsimmons
• The Vacation Bible School for K-5 was a partnership with Redmond Presbyterian Church and received many positive comments from parents
• The music Gather books will be replaced with an updated version and red covers – John suggested new numbers for the side displays that are also in red (Nancy will investigate)
• The next edition of Parish Pulse will posted on the web-site and only a limited number of copies will be printed
• Some people are starting to use the electronic payment option provided on the web-site
• Council members were asked to come to the Thursday September 29 RCIA Open House (Nancy will extend an invitation)
• There was discussion and general agreement that a Master Calendar for St. Jude would be beneficial the web-site (Nancy will investigate)

 

 

Parish Ministry Days (John Lacey)

 

• John is organizing the Parish Ministry Days this year for the September 18^th week-end
• He requested that the Pastoral Council participate in set-up (Saturday the 17^th from 9am-12noon), staffing a booth after all masses, and clean-up (Sunday 7pm to 10pm  (Tim Thompson volunteered to coordinate Council participation at Parish Ministry Days and develop a brochure about the Council)
• The event has traditionally been sponsored by Council and is an opportunity for Council to get to know people in the Parish and other ministries

 

 

Pastoral Council Priorities and Goals (Don)

 

• Don reviewed two key goals from last year: development of a clear mission and vision statement to help guide the Parish and creation of a process for selecting Pastoral Council candidates
• We agreed to continue work on the “mission” process at the next Council meeting (Don will include on agenda for next meeting in October)
• We agreed that a retreat session would be beneficial to establishing goals and priorities along with more focused work on “mission.” (Don will  include on next agenda)
• We agreed to work with the Archdiocesan staff to help us in the “mission” work (Don will contact Leigh Stringfellow at the Archdiocese and Patty Fitzsimmons on staff who is interested in helping with this effort)
• It was suggested that a new process for Pastoral Council candidate selection be in place by the end of this year well in advance of official May 15 selection date (Needs a Council member to take responsibility for developing this process))
• Father Dave spoke about a proposed school connected with the Woodinville Parish. He thought a new school could be built within 5-6 years or an existing facility could be purchased, renovated, and operational in about 3 years.
• Father Dave asked that Council empower a group at St. Jude to consider how St. Jude could participate in a new school and make a recommendation to the Council. It was agreed that this ad hoc committee will benefit from having a representative from Council and needs to be formed and underway by January 2006. (Needs a Council member to become of this committee)

 

 

Open Topics (issues raised that are not listed on the agenda)

 

• It was mentioned that there has been a shortage of alter servers during the summer (Nancy will investigate)
• There is a list of military personnel from St, Jude but no photos on the kiosk. It was also suggested to consider non-military people connected to St. Jude who are serving in various outreach ministry roles away outside the local community. Another suggestion included photos in the bulletin. (Nancy will investigate)
• (revised) Suzanne suggested consideration of an outreach program where children visit the elderly in nursing homes within our  Christian community, making physical contact, then further contact by mail or email, allowing  both to have a better understanding and appreciation of one another. (Suzanne will follow-up with Patty Fitzsimmons and a person she knows who is willing to coordinate this project)
• Several parishioners asked about the addition of the Corpus to the cross – Father Dave responded that he wanted to put it up for a while during ordinary time and it will be taken down before advent. He intends to put it up again during Lent
• Several parishioners have inquired about having a daily mass (at least one day a week) during a time that is more available to people who work (i.e. 7am or 5:30 pm) – Father Dave responded that this can be provided during Advent and Lent but is too difficult to include with reliability during other times of the year.

 

 

Next Steps and Key Action Items

 

• The next meeting will be on October 5 which is the first Wednesday of the month
• The October agenda will include:
  • Discussion about “mission” process
  • Discussion of a retreat agenda and date to establish goals
  • Follow-up on the 15 action items listed in bold italics   
• Key Action Items for Pastoral Council

 

• Sign up for Parish Ministry Days September 18
• Need a volunteer from Council to  coordinate development of a new Pastoral Council selection process
• Need a volunteer from Council to be a member of a committee to examine alternatives for St. Jude involvement in a “Woodinville Catholic School.”

 

The meeting was ended at 7:15 with a closing prayer

 

 

 

• Special thanks to the following people:

 

• Nancy for taking on 6 of the 15 action items!
• Tim for volunteering to coordinate Pastoral Council involvement in Parish Ministry Days
• Lauren for agreeing to help with keeping up the web-site
• John Lacey for volunteering to coordinate Parish ministry days not only this year but forever!
• Father Dave for his continued dedication to the Parish and support of Council
• All the members of Council for your commitment to St. Jude

 

These minutes submitted by Don Cairns on September 3, 2005 (revised October 3, 2005 – 1 item under open topics)

 

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