Present: Sharon Gidumal, Mary Beth Coté, Pat Sormani, Fr. Bill, Linda Malm, Nancy Maloney (for Anita Delany), Jane Hanson, Mike Reis, Jack Sanders, Deacon John
Absent: Fr. Greg, Joe Quinn, Joe McClory
Guests: Ruth Sanders, Dick Schwer
Call to Order: Sharon called the meeting to order at 6:32 p.m.
Members and guests were welcomed, and members were asked to provide name and contact info for their alternates.
Opening Reading and Reflection: Mary Beth Coté. Members were asked to sign up for a turn at a reflection and/or reading.
Amendment/Approval of Minutes:
September 8 minutes were reviewed with two corrections and approved as corrected.
Old Business:
50th Anniversary Committee update:
Ruth provided the following updates:
Upcoming is a meal from the time of Jesus next Saturday, 10/19.
Please see the 50th anniversary page on the website for more information.
Nov 10 fair trade coffee tasting is scheduled.
There is a Jubilee Songfest and chili dinner 11/9.
There was a reminder about the 50 Acts of the Apostles effort. Officially it’s closed, but let Debbie know if you really want to do a submission. There may be some ongoing effort in this. (After the meeting, Debbie provided the following information: Parishioners were invited to contribute to this 50th Anniversary feature as a way of celebrating our Parish Life. The booklet is now printed and available to take home and enjoy. The booklet is also on the parish website. On an ongoing basis, reflections may be submitted on the parish website at https://resurrectionde.org/50-acts-of-the-apostles-stories or via email to dseymour@resurrectionde.org.)
Note: Revised By-Laws
Sharon advised we should all have a copy of the revised by-laws, but will send another copy out to everyone to make sure everyone has them. Dick commented we will try to live by them as best we can, but if members see an issue that needs to be addressed, please let him know, and they will try to address them.
New Business:
Progress/Update on Pastoral Council Goals:
Increasing involvement in Standing Committees:
Parish Life: Linda is the committee chair, and provided an update for the past month and upcoming goals, and a summary of their meeting. They are trying to implement as many suggestions from parishioners as possible. An electronic copy was sent by Nancy after the meeting and is included. Amanda Axe has also joined the committee.
There was a discussion about getting new people to help with activities. The committee will ask people who made suggestions to try to help carry them out. Linda commented they have to look at the suggestions and decide best dates for various activities and figure out how to combine events/suggestions, right places to put events.Council was asked if we could provide any additional comments/suggestions.
Ruth asked a question about the reference to “increasing involvement,” does that mean more people serving on the committees or increasing activity of the committees?Fr. Bill asked for the committees to communicate their activities, and said he thought there’d been a lack of such activities/communication.
Social Concerns:Jack provided an update on his meeting with Al Drushler, on the possible presentation of Just Faith to the parish, which he believes should be offered to small groups. Deacon John reminded us that Sandy had done portions of Just Faith. Problem can be that it requires a substantial commitment, although there are versions that require less time. Ruth indicated the previous program at Resurrection was about 9 months. Facilitators are needed for this. There is a possibility of collaboration with St. Catherine of Siena.
Sharon indicated the Social Concerns team is meeting October 30. There were not enough interested people for a planned offering of Just Neighbors, to CFP families, so the session was not held. We will open this up to the wider parish and also invite CFP parents to participate. Sue Dagenais indicates 6 – 25 people are appropriate, and the ideal number may be 10 people.
Jack also announced a program based on the book
Finding Jesus in Islam Why Loving Muslims is Making me a Better Catholic. He plans to do a program with the Islamic community. He has also reached out to Hindu, Quaker, Protestant, and Jewish communities.
Christian Formation:Nancy Maloney reported that Joan McConnell was added as an adult formation rep for the Christian Formation, and also as sacramental catechist. Still looking for CFC rep on Christian formation committee, since Anita’s term is up.
Liturgy: Ruth is transferring representation of the Liturgy Committee to Jane, who is also chair of the Liturgy Committee. Joe Paulus has joined the committee. Current activities:
Formation session with environment ministry
Musicians’ meeting October 16.
Children’s choir started last week, youth music started today 10/13.
Lector team leads meeting is planned.
Talking with Tamil community about Epiphany bilingual liturgy.
Thanksgiving Eve service, with Ebeneezer United Methodist Church, will be at Resurrection this year at 7:00 pm.
Jane informed us of the Christmas Eve Mass Schedule: 4 and 7 pm on Christmas eve, and 10 am on Christmas morning.
Both Ruth and Jane emphasized that everyone should pay attention to the liturgy section of the parish web site, which contains a lot of useful information. For example, the liturgy calendar is posted, and lots of links to other info on the Resurrection site. Another example is an informational page with bulletin inserts. Ruth commented there is a whole program/course on the Mass that could be used by small groups, because it includes sharing questions besides useful information.
Marketing Resurrection outside of the Parish
Sharon mentioned one way to do this is via our website.From previous discussions, Sharon recalled that we were going to try to get someone with some marketing expertise, and asked if there been any communication/work on this?Jack commented on interactions with St. Mary’s in Hockessin.Small groups at SMOTA use the upcoming readings on the parish web site to guide their reflections.Debbie does most of the web site content updates, and has been sending out the parish weekly newsletter, which is greatly appreciated by all. Ruth mentioned a couple of instances of communication facilitated through the parish website.
Linda commented on the inactivity of the parish Facebook page. Fr. Bill thought that people can respond to posts on the parish Facebook page, but can’t make independent posts. There could be some constraints on this related to rules around protecting children, Ruth thought. And Fr. Bill mentioned needing to consider who can post because it could appear incorrectly like the parish is endorsing various ideas or activities. Better use of the Facebook page should be further investigated.
Mary Beth suggested the little anecdotes of reaching others through the website be in the bulletin from time to time.
Linda suggested council members should invite parishioners to come to the PC meetings specifically.
Nancy mentioned the possibility of a presentation by a CFP family member (Mr. Saldanha) who is an expert in cybersecurity IT. It might also be a good idea to have something for college students.
Fr. Bill says we occasionally get people from a “Mass times” internet search.
There was some discussion about people noting incorrect Mass times from the web site. It’s possible some of this could be due to looking up the information on a phone, but the mobile site should also be looked at, to see if it needs to be redesigned or corrected.
Small/Faith Group Sharing
The team of Deacon John, Mary Beth, and Anita has not yet met.
Deacon John commented there are a few official groups, led or facilitated by Pat, Mary Louise, Leo, Jack (who probably will lead for Eva). There may be other “unofficial” groups. Fr. Bill had made a suggestion about Joy of the Gospel that John passed on to Mary Beth. John thinks most of the people in the parish have been through lots of iterations of small groups. We need to encourage other people, perhaps from CFP, for example, to take those steps. Linda wondered if any long term small group members would be willing to take on a new group. Jack commented that his group has had a lot of diversity but people tend to not stay much more than a year. Fr. Bill is not sure what topics would attract people; this needs to be figured out. There was some discussion about “Bible Study.” John and Ruth both said sometimes people respond to our web site or contact them saying they are interested in Bible Study, which is different from what we are talking about with small faith sharing groups. Mary Beth commented that while we don’t tend to want to offer literal Bible study, perhaps we could do a session on historical background for the upcoming Sunday readings as a “Bible study.” Fr. Bill thought it might be worthwhile to do a concrete brief study, and Ruth commented we could do specific small segments on upcoming scriptures for Mass, and then when you come to Mass you have a better understanding. Jack suggested Ken Tulenko might be willing to lead such a group. Deacon John commented we have offered this sort of thing in the past and sometimes have not had good responses. Mary Beth emphasized small scope, so it’s more manageable, so it’s not asking people for a lengthy commitment.
Jane commented this discussion reminded her of RCIA and how the candidates and catechumens reflect as part of that process. Some of this has been written up and is available as a resource, by Mary Birmingham. Fr. Bill thought she always has a personal example that would plug into someone’s life.
Fr. Bill suggests the committee discuss this and decide how they want to focus their efforts.
Additional Volunteers for visits to sick, homebound
Fr. Bill said we have about 3 new volunteers, and are dealing with preparations.There was discussion about the distinction between bringing Communion to the sick vs. visiting the sick, since bringing the Eucharist requires additional training.We do try to keep in touch with our homebound. There are several facilities with Resurrection parishioners.Fr. Bill thinks it is good to visit, get to know their family situation.John pointed out that sometimes people from other parishes also visit the same facilities we do, and so the people can get confused.It becomes hard to keep up with people, and hard to bring them to Mass, but you want to keep connected with them.
Fr. Bill suggested to just talk to people at Mass and ask them if they’ve thought about doing this.
Finance Council Update
Mike Reis reported that at the end of 1
st quarter, offertory is on target.But that target is $35K less than last year’s target.It’s not useful to look at budget vs. deficit because it’s really a function of when bills come in. The stewardship campaign will likely be early November.
Mary Beth suggested the emphasis should be on how tithing was so important early on in the parish history, since she is not sure everyone appreciates that fact, or that everyone is aware of that. Mike expects Chip will be the speaker at Mass for the stewardship campaign.
Mike also mentioned finance council recognizes that the offertory has been able to cover the bills, but bigger projects require dipping into savings, so they are considering special collections for specific needs. Deacon John suggested to make people aware that some of the funds from the Sustaining Hope Campaign were returned to the parish for things like the new kitchen, but those funds are now exhausted.
Jack suggested even the classic illustration of the thermometer showing progress could be done to encourage giving for special campaigns/collections. John mentioned that the font pump seems to be a potential upcoming candidate for repair.
8)
Other Committee Reports (if any updates)
Sharon did not hear anything from Rich (property & grounds).
9)
Floor open to Council and members of the parish Jack made a suggestion to consider combining the two Sunday Masses. Sharon asked if we are struggling with resources to support all 3 weekend Masses, Ruth said we sometimes struggle with a lack of ushers, greeters, and altar servers, but not lectors or musicians. Dick reminded us of the struggle when we made other changes to the Sunday Mass schedule. Pat expressed concern about losing people if there were only 1 Mass on Sunday.
Mary Beth commented it’s easy to be a sacristan and a greeter, because you’re at the parish a bit early getting everything ready and then counting people, so it’s easy to also greet them. Ruth said this comes down to what we ask people to do, how we use our resources.
10)
Pastor’s Comments and Advice Fr. Bill informed us that the book that will be given out at Christmas this year is another by Matthew Kelly:
Rediscover the Saints: Twenty-five Questions That Will Change Your Life.
He also let council know that Medal of Merit will be given every other year by the diocese to recognize the importance of the laity.
Fr. Bill attends a 1
st Saturday prayer service monthly in Wilmington. The purpose is to work to decrease violence. He invites anyone else who is interested in participating in prayer with our urban brothers and sisters to let him know. It takes place in different churches around Wilmington. Breakfast is at 8:30 and prayer begins at 9. There are no guest speakers, they simply pray together during the prayer service. Attendees include bishops, bishops’ wives, deacons, pastors, but many bring 1 or 2 people from their churches. Fr. Bill would be happy to have someone go with him, and would like a couple of people to go each month. December 7 may be the next one he is able to go to.
11) Closing Prayer
Fr. Bill offered a closing prayer.