Saint Rita Parish |
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26 September 2005 Pastoral Council Minutes
Attendees: [Use the Meeting Sign-In sheet to assist in completing the attendee list.]
Documents Reviewed: [list the documents presented/reviewed at the meeting]§ July 25, 2005 Parish Council Meeting Minutes § Family Life Center Site Plan § Hurricane Preparedness Requirements from Bishop § Youth Group Survey Results § Council by-Laws § List of Events for Coming Months Agenda: Imbed soft copy of the Meeting Agenda
________________________________________________________________ Discussion [should include all items on the agenda] § Father Tom opened the meeting at 7:00 pm with a prayer § Minutes from previous meeting were accepted § Four new members to the Council were introduced (Ken Borick, Bill Loiacano, Bill Hodge, Richard Page) § Latest Master Site Plan for future development was presented, based on inout received at the 8/3/05 parish presentation: o Gym & Family Life Center appear to be situated o School location is still under consideration. Two options proposed: - Two buildings that use much of the wetlands - One two-story building preserving more wetland but less functional in design o Ken Borick raised the potential to ask the property owner next door to allow us to purchase land for mitigation. The option has been pursued in the past and does not appear to be feasible. Mitigation will likely require acquisition of non-adjacent land and/or negotiating performance of in-kind activities. o The goal is to get a permit for rest of development at the same time, thus getting the entire site plan approved prior to commencement of additional construction o The Building Committee will continue working this project and present additional modifications to the site plan in future meetings § Discussion of new security procedures – Father described the new technology and processes implemented. Several technical questions were asked by members and answered by Father. While the current system appears to be protective, the potential of adding video surveillance was discussed. § Finance Council Update o The Council developed by-laws and established its organization structure and processes. Richard Page has been appointed as the Chair of the Finance Council o An overview of budget and actual fiancés was verbally discussed. The current budget has been developed and is close to breakeven. BOOF collections continue according to plan. o Father discussed upcoming fund-raising drives. - CSA will likely be the primary focus for fund-rasing in 2006 - The Bishop may require each parish to set aside funds to be used for future insurance deductibles. Therefore, we may integrate this into the fund-raising drive. § Hurricane Katrina Update: o St. Rita adopted a parish in bayou Labtry (SW AL). Several members have visited and brought supplies. We will continue to support the re-development of the parish. o St. Rita has also divided relief efforts into five teams providing help across the spectrum from temporary housing to care packages. o Parish has raised > $28,000 to date (in addition to in kind contributions) § Issue of electing new council officers was discussed. Due to the absence of several council members the decision to elect officers was postponed, with the exception of appointing Richard Page as Secretary. § The council voted on an amendment to the by-laws to re-classify the council slot currently held for Renew / small Christian communities. The current member vacated his position and no other member has stepped up to fill the role. As a result, it was decided to fill this slot through general parish election. § Addressing Youth Group questions/concerns discussed. Results from Judy Rutland’s survey were presented. o Youth requested more leadership and mentorship o Youth requested adding more youth based music: - It was determined that it is currently not feasible to add another mass that would be a youth group mass - We can add more music to the repertoire, but requires copyrighting and preparation of a music booklet o The potential to hire a Youth Minister is possible but probably not the most efficient use of resources given the size of the youth group and extent of youth volunteers currently in the parish § Father’s “Jeremiah Homily” was discussed. Father requested feedback on the appropriateness of the homily. He felt he was called to deliver the homily but acknowledged that it offended some parishioners to the point of departure from the parish despite the fact the content was consistent with church teachings. The council re-assured Father that he is a trusted leader and we support his liturgical approach. § Hurricane preparedness requirements from Bishop were discussed. o Bishop may require hurricane deductibles to be set aside in a special fund - Plan will likely be to use this as a component of our fund raising strategy for 2006 o Harden our facilities - David conducted a site survey and is developing recommendations for key issues to be addressed for facility hardening - Extent of glass at church – Father proposes to replace glass as required instead of all at once. § Status of Shannon Dr. exit was discussed. Landlord was informed that were not willing to pay the $2,000/month lease expense. Pros and Cons were discussed, but the final position is to not sign the lease agreement. § Meeting concluded with praying the Our Father and adjourned Decisions [list decisions made and action items assigned, if any]§ Election of Council President & Vice President postponed until next Parish Council meeting. o Richard Page appointed as Secretary § Parish Council by-laws were changed to reclassify the Renew slot on the council to a general parish election slot § Create an ad hoc role on the Parish Council for a Youth Group leader to participate as a representative § Develop a new music booklet of youth-based music § Next Parish Council meeting will be held 11/14/05 Action Items [fill in as appropriate]
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