September 17th 2008

Pastoral Council Meeting Minutes
September 17, 2008
7:30 PM in the Parish Library

Members present: Andy Anderson, Tony Cadiente, Ali Dwyer, Bob Erbe, Pat Golditch,
Fr. Joseph Grimaldi, Tom House, Vince Hurley, Paul Vitali, Tim Walsh
Members absent: Margaret Kristich, Gary Smith
Staff Members present: Susan Mahan, Mary McConnell, Gloria Suarez
Recording Secretary: Vic Suarez
Candle Lighting Prayer – Ali Dwyer
Opening Scripture Reading – Vince Hurley
Opening Prayer – Tony Cadiente
Vince Hurley called the meeting to order at 7:42 pm.
The minutes of the previous meeting were approved as written.
Fr. Joe Grimaldi –
Vision of the Church – Many people to thank for events since he’s been here. Grateful for the warmth and welcome shown to him.

Spiritual aspect of our parish: proposal of “columbarium” – resting place for ashes of the deceased. Peace garden area could be a good location—possibly a free-standing wall, well-landscaped. Cremation is becoming more commonplace (convenience, expense, etc.). Could be profitable for the parish, although this is not a primary concern. Licensed personnel must place ashes and set them correctly. Parish needs an architect to review the parish’s master plan and update it. Father shared two artist’s drawings (from the time the church remodeled—probably done by Charlie Franks).

Related concerns:

Input of parishioners is very important.
Pastoral Council asked to manage these projects: the updated master plan; the columbarium.
Some members indicated St. Francis in San Jose and St. Benedict’s in Hollister have columbaria. Tony Cadiente offered to take photos of the columbarium at St. Benedict’s.
Fr. Joe has approached Bishop Garcia and was directed to the diocesan director of cemeteries who indicated that it was a possible project. The director will send some artists’ renderings.
Concern expressed that a church must be considered permanent – would our church qualify?
Is it possible to get estimate of costs of the columbarium in Hollister?
This project also presents a “teachable moment” to parishioners about the Church’s teachings concerning cremation and the resurrection of the body.

Fr. Joe would like to introduce one Spanish Mass each week (e.g. Saturday at 7 PM—other church events often occur on Sunday mornings and afternoons). Many unchurched Hispanics live between Corralitos Rd. and Watsonville! He would like to start in January 2009.

Related comments:

Why not try it for about a year and see how many people come?
Would the Mass be bilingual or Spanish only? Fr. Joe says homily would definitely be given in Spanish. Fr. Joe has contacts with priests at Star of the Sea and elsewhere to give the homilies.
Fr. Joe shared his experience at Star of the Sea (three Hispanic masses in the evenings—very well attended!)
Some families of Hispanic children in our catechetical programs have indicated they would attend Mass here.
General reaction of council to the idea was positive and felt this is worth a try.

[Fr. Joe also consulted some elderly members of the parish who attend the 5 PM Mass on Saturday about changing it to 4 PM – overwhelming reaction was against this idea.]

Fr. Joe hosted a dinner for Catholic and non-Catholic pastors from Corralitos, Aptos and Watsonville--thanks to the generosity of some parishioners. Some non-Catholic ministers did attend, with positive reactions. Fr. Joe feels the experience was positive and would like to make this a regular, annual event.

Facilities Committee – Fr. Joe would like to establish this committee with 4-5 people (Paul Vitali and
Bob Erbe are currently doing this work). He is requesting names (“new blood”).
Fr. Joe also announced that Gary Smith will not continue on Pastoral Council—again, Fr. Joe is seeking some names. Robbie Rocha, John Meade, Kevin Fennimore were named, but some council members would like to see another woman on the council (e.g. Barbara Smith, Gary’s wife).
Election of Officers – Nominations were taken from the floor, with the following consensus results:
Pat Golditch, president; Paul Vitali, vice president.
Pres. Hurley reviewed constitution’s process for future elections. Fr. Joe stated that names of nominees be cleared by him beforehand. He would like to reconsider the current method of collecting names of nominees.
Elected and appointed members’ terms need to be staggered. Various means to do this were discussed.
Fr. Joe noted that a distinction must be made between the roles of the pastoral council and the facilities committee.
Pres. Hurley affirmed Fr. Joe’s comments and noted that the pastoral council was sometimes an “events committee” in the past.
There is a constitution for this pastoral council and there are diocesan guidelines. The current constitution was reviewed about three years ago.
An elections committee will be established in January 2009.
Special Events Committee – Richard Dwyer will convene a group of people to plan fun- and fund-
raising events.
Budget 2008-2009 – Finance Committee meeting will occur next month. The Finance Committee decided to give the pastoral council the P/L budget, not the detailed budget. Fiscal year begins September 1.
Parish Needs List

Bell Tower—all clear, ready to move ahead. All documentation on hand. Project will take about 30 days. Peter Truman working on this project. Contractors picked and start date needs to be determined.
Roof Repair – going ahead with contract on this, permit in hand, within next two weeks lead foreman to meet here and to begin work at the end of first week or start of second week of October. Also, new exhaust fan to be put in for kitchen. While funds under budget, money is available in other categories. Initially, plan to be presented to parishioners in June, but delayed due to local fires. Now presentations to be given during project, which will take only about one week. About $20,000 needed still.
Resurface Parking Lot— one day to resurface and one day to re-stripe—Mondays or Tuesdays are best to do this project.
Chairs and Tables for Patio— ordered and starting to come in.
Storage— Fr. Joe wants Mary McConnell and Susan Mahan to go through two containers in back and discard unused items, and to make room for new tables and chairs. Mary indicated that some special, creatively designed liturgical art is kept and re-used over the years. If consolidation of the units doesn’t provide sufficient space, another storage container may be needed.

AOB – Andy Anderson—referred to Salesian Sisters’ presentation and need for more cultural/ethnic diversity in the student population. Could the parish provide scholarship to one or more of the local Catholic schools to this end?
Reactions:

The parish has a limited budget and could not afford this. Additionally, the parish does support other community organizations each month, using the “Alms” funds, which don’t cover all of the expenses. Parish does advertise local Catholic school events and supports them in other ways.

[Related issue: should parish be reminded of the purpose and use of the alms collections?
This could be done as an announcement or in the bulletin.]

The schools themselves are in a better position to deal with some situations.

Pat Golditch—referred to proposed new altar platforms and new envelope to designate donation. Fr. Joe stated that $18,000 was too high for the platforms. Mike DeNike will come up with an alternate plan.
Fr. Joe--new statue of Mary to be placed in the church—Mr. Dias will build a new pedestal at no cost to parish.
Pat Golditch—for next meeting’s agenda: emergency plan/evacuation plan—need more detail, e.g. who knows how to locate and use shut-offs, who will check parish after earthquake? Loree Borelli is in charge of this project and will be handling this, as well as CPR training, etc. Fr. Joe asked that Loree should be contacted.
The next meeting will be Wednesday, October 15
Candle Prayer: Vince Hurley
Opening Scripture: Bob Erbe
Opening Prayer: Andy Anderson
Closing Prayer – Rev. Joseph A. Grimaldi
Meeting adjourned at 9:06 PM.