Present: Fr. Bill Graney, Ruth Sanders (staff), Jack Sanders, Kim Guillen (Liturgy Committee), Dick Schwer, Anita Delaney (Christian Formation), Kathy Swain, Mary Beth Cote, Pat Sormani, Linda Malm (Guest), Rich Mayes, Nancy Maloney (staff), Maritza Poza-Grise, Susan Sheahan, Mike Reis (Finance), JoAnn Hedrick, Al Mercatante, Sharon Gidumal, Joseph Quinn
Call to Order: 6:37 p.m.
Opening Reading and Reflection: Kathy Swain
Approval of March Minutes: moved by Kathy, seconded by Dick Schwer
50^th Anniversary Committee update: Ruth – Anniversary Mass on June 9, 10:30 Liturgy with reception after Mass. Parish Picnic will be on June 23, also after 10:30 Mass. We ran an ad in last week’s Dialog for Mass and picnic. [Send postcards to invite former parishioners. Check website for other activities.] Sign up three weekends before picnic to volunteer or to bring something. June 9 ^th Mass will be bilingual – Tamil and English.
Attracting New Parishioners team is now Parish Life Committee. Their report was given.
  
Improve Pastoral Council Committee reported that they’ve focused their activity on the Bylaws Revision project. A discussion on this topic will be taken up later in the meeting.
Promote and Grow Social Justice Committee reported that they met and decided to focus their activity on:

1. Education Programs
2. Awareness Campaigns
3. Charitable Giving

The committee is planning to

• coordinate its efforts with pastoral council.
• transition into the Social Justice (Standing Committee?), the function of which will be oversight of activities, as opposed to conducting them.
• meet quarterly; next on July 31, by which time they hope to see increased involvement.

Pat Sormani will be helping with communications of SJ activities and opportunities for ministry.
SJ Committee is planning to introduce “Just Neighbors”, a program similar to “Just Faith”. There are nine one-hour modules; and training sessions for parents of Christian Formation Program students will be held.
The committee also plans to update the parish website, to incorporate current SJ initiatives.
The budget for SJ was reported as $200, which could be appropriated by Family Promise.
 
The Communication Committee then gave its report (see below).
 
Parish Council Objectives & Goals Team Status Report
 
A Status Report should be submitted by every Objectives Team prior to our monthly PC meeting. This report does not require extensive detail (unless necessary for clarity).
 

Objective: To improve communications in the parish	Date:  5.18.19
Team Members: JoAnn Hedrick, MaryBeth Cote, Pat Sormani, Joe Quinn	Reported by: JQ
Team Members:	Date of Last Report: March

 

Activities/Accomplishments:	Since your last Status Report, what have you accomplished on your Objective & Goals work?   Met to discuss upcoming Community Weekend; parish survey; wearing a nametag while active in ministry in greater community; adopting a “motto” for placement at top of webpage, bulletin, elsewhere.
What overlaps do you see with the objectives and goals of other Teams?	In the course of doing your project work, please note any overlaps you see with other Objective Team goals.   Having council members serve as greeters on Community Weekends may Improve Pastoral Council as we are directly interacting with parishioners.
Challenges/Discoveries:	What did you do about the problems or challenges you encountered: actions taken, results achieved, people informed, etc.?
Resources and Information Required: Do you envision a point where PC approval is needed prior to implementation of goals?	What additional resources or information do you require to continue to make progress? If so, from whom would you like assistance and for what actions?   We would like assistance on Community Weekend, 6.8/9 to make sure there are people to greet parishioners and guests, and to encourage worshipers to wear nametags.   We will need the approval of council to conduct a survey on day of picnic, 6.23.   If other members of council, and staff, support the idea, we could adopt a motto or tagline to further identify parish. “A Culture of Encounter in Pike Creek” has been suggested.
Consider the impact that implementing your goals or actions are likely to have on parishioners. What will you do to prepare parishioners for the changes you are proposing to implement?                 Planned Activities (Please use the Timeline on page 3)	Please describe your approach to inform parishioners of the changes you are proposing. What parish committees will be impacted by your proposed changes?   With council’s support, parishioners who attend picnic will have the opportunity to relate their experiences and express their views. This could be announced beforehand: perhaps sharing the questions with parish in the coming weeks would give members time to think about their answers.       What are you planning to accomplish prior to your next scheduled Status Report? (Please use the Timeline on page 2)   Community Weekend, Parish Survey in June.

 
 
A discussion was held on the proposed parish survey. Linda Malm suggested we (the council) invite parishioners and guests to Room 4 on the day of the parish picnic (6.23.19) to discuss their view of the parish. Ruth Sanders offered that the “chat table”, where members and guests would naturally be gathering, could also be a location for council members to solicit feedback on the state of the parish. Jack Sanders said another possibility would be to personalize the survey by sending it to parishioners via phone or text.
  
Next was the Charitable Giving Committee’s report:
 
Dick Schwer reported that the Charitable Giving Committee noted that our projected income from the weekly collection has been  reduced from $520,000 to $485,000 for Fiscal Year 2019-2020. To meet the 5% giving target the committee recommends cutting the donations to Friendship House and Family Promise by $10.00 per month and reducing monthly contributions to other organizations by $5.00 per month. The parish is no longer financially supporting the food closet, as this charitable activity has been assumed by the St. Benedict Outreach Program, managed by St. John the Beloved Parish and Community of Christ Church. [Note: Resurrection will continue to collect food donations here at the parish, which will then be delivered to the St. Benedict Outreach Program site.] The committee also recommends that Emmanuel Dining Room continue to receive $225.00 per month, the cost of food purchased by the parish. At this point, Sharon Gidumal thanked Dick for his work on behalf of the committee and reported that the Social Justice Committee will administer charitable giving going forward.
A review of the 2019-2020 Parish Budget followed.
 
Key Discussion Points:

• Three added expenditures for the current fiscal year:
  •  pastoral council administration
  • New kitchen
  • 50^th Anniversary Celebration
• Three requests for funding for 2019-2020 fiscal year:
  • Painting building
  • Youth ministry: vacation bible school ($500). Granted
  • Pastoral council administrative costs ($1,000)
• We should consider creating a task team for generating revenue, investing endowment. Our savings can be invested to increase return. The parish could have financial specialists visit to advise. More people with financial expertise are needed on finance council.
• Offertory collections are incomplete. We need more ushers, and ushers must be aware of second collections.

Next there was a report from the Nomination and Election Committee:
The parish is having difficulty attracting people to serve on parish council. Thus far, we have one steward out of the four needed; and one trustee out of the two needed. A proposal was put forth to have an elected representative from each of the five standing committees, as these are parishioners already taking an active role in the parish who have a strong interest, knowledge, or expertise in an area of ministry. Although this would add a member to council, the idea was met with support from the majority of those present.
Other suggestions were to limit parish council meetings to 1.5 hours; limit number of meetings to 6 per year; and to conduct more of the council’s business over the internet. Pastor Bill Graney emphasized the need to have monthly meetings but stressed that they can be cancelled if necessary.
Possible changes to Parish Bylaws figured heavily in the above deliberations. A consensus was reached to recess the May 2019 meeting until August 11. Meetings for June and July were cancelled due to the need for new council members and bylaws considerations for the next council.
Respectfully submitted, June 11, 2019
Joe Quinn
  
The May 19, 2019 meeting was reconvened on August 11, 2019 at 6:33 p.m. by Al Mercatante.
 
Opening Prayer:  Father Graney reminded us that tomorrow, August 12, is a day of celebration for the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales and then prayed that the Spirit will guide us through the meeting.
 
Members Present:  Joan Budd for Mike Mitchell, Anita Delaney, Sharon Gidumal, Father Bill Graney, Deacon John Falkowski, Jane Hanson, JoAnn Hedrick, Rich Mayes, Al Mercatante, Jim Murray for Mary Beth Coté, Maritza Poza-Grise, Joe Quinn, Sandy Landoll for Jack Sanders, Dick Schwer, Susan Sheahan, Pat Sormani, Kathy Swain.
Guests: Kim Guillen, Hugh Kelly, Linda Malm, Nancy Maloney.
  
Old Business:  Executive Officer Mercatante expressed his hope that the bylaws revision process, which had begun in March, 2019, would come to a successful conclusion at this meeting by consensus. He went on to say that, if consensus is not possible, a vote would be taken. He stated that if any member of Council can absolutely not live with a provision in the 4 ^th draft, please say so.
 
Jane Hanson inquired about what prompted revising the bylaws. She referred to Al Mercatante’s earlier explanation that Staff and members and former members of PC pointed out that the bylaws no longer represented how the parish is functioning at this time. In addition, the Diocesan Guidelines for Pastoral Councils and Finance Councils were brought to our attention.
 
After inquiring what prompted the revision, Jane Hanson, who has much experience with pastoral councils in both large and small parishes and large and small dioceses, suggested that there are other models out there and that perhaps we should consider engaging in “informed dreaming” to make our Council effective, productive, and enjoyable.
 
Al proceeded with a review of the latest suggested amendments to the 4 ^th draft. After brief discussion, it was agreed that the diocesan guidelines statement on the role and purpose of a pastoral council would be inserted in Article II, Section 1 at the behest of Jane.
 
Additional text from the diocesan guidelines will be inserted as a preamble to Article III, regarding membership of Council.
 
A question from Hugh Kelly about the Finance Council being separate from the Pastoral Council was answered by John Falkowski who stated that Canon law requires Finance Council to be a separate entity.
 
The provisions contained in Article IX, Section 5, specifically paragraph C, prompted prolonged discussion. It was finally concluded that the Committee name will be “Social Concerns” and the description will be the all-inclusive “Catholic social teaching”.
 
Jim Murray expressed concern about Article VII, Section 5. It was his opinion that an Executive Officer could be in the position of serving as such forever if the wording were not changed. It will now read “until the next Executive Officer is elected”.
 
Rich Mayes pointed out that the Buildings and Grounds Committee is more properly named the Property and Grounds Committee to more accurately reflect the responsibilities of that Committee. The name “Property and Grounds” should be consistent throughout the document.
 
Al asked whether everyone had been heard. Susan reiterated the suggestion she had made earlier about the number and length of meetings as well as stating that there should be no meetings held during the summer. She believes that limiting the number of meetings as well as limiting them to two hours will encourage more participation in Council.
 
After ascertaining that all who wished to speak had done so, the 4 ^th draft as amended was adopted by consensus.
 
Susan thanked the Bylaws Committee for all of their hard work over the past few months.
 
Al then presented a transition plan (attached) which was approved without discussion.
 
Father Graney led the Council in the Glory Be.
 
The meeting was adjourned at 8:12 p.m.
 
Respectfully submitted,
JoAnn M. Hedrick
Secretary du jour
  
Proposed Transition To The Revised Bylaws
Of The Pastoral Council of Resurrection Parish
August 11, 2019
 
1. Whereas the terms of Standing Committee Representatives may have ended as of the end of this last Council year, we ask that the Representatives remain in their roles until elections take place next spring. (This will eliminate the need for a special election at this time)
 
2. Stewards will need to have a new alphabetical list of the parishioners assigned to them.
 
3. The Parish Life Committee has been newly constituted and will therefore need to have a representative on Council. Again, to avoid having a special election, we propose that the Parish Life Committee appoint a representative, with the approval of the pastor, for the remainder of the 2019-20 Council term.
 
4. Whereas the terms of the Pastor’s Appointees have ended, our pastor, at his discretion, will select up to two Pastoral Appointees to serve on Council for the remainder of the 2019-20 Council term.
 
5. Election of Pastoral Council Officers in September will be open to the four stewards and the four Standing Committee Representatives whether elected or appointed for the 2019-20 Council term.