St. Francis de Sales/Blessed Sacrament

March 5, 2009

Hanley Hall Final Minutes

 

Present: Fr. Amato, Eleanor Glenn, Rob Drapeau, Matthew Drapeau, Bill St. Jean, Lauralee Merkley, Gerry Lipscombe, Jamieson Lee, Ed Kozlow

Regrets: Kerry Houlahan, Carrie-Lynn Gahaney, Lorraine Fenn, Dan Davidson, Sue Thomas, Sue Alder

 

1) Rob Drapeau called the meeting to order @ 6:35 pm the new members were welcomed and a brief explanation of the meeting format was delivered to them by Rob.

 

2) Bill St. Jean led the opening prayer.

 

3) The Agenda was approved (all in favour).

 

4) The minutes of the Jan 22, 209 meeting were approved

 

5) Committee Reports:

 

 

• Liturgical Committee: They met in February. Planning for Easter was the focus of the meeting.

 

• Education and Family Life Committee: nothing to report

 

• Community Life Committee: nothing to report

 

• Pastoral Care Ministry: They meet every second month for a short video and talk. They continue to bring Communion to many persons at home and at Senior Residences.

 

• Social Justice Ministry: The Ministry is on-hold with the lack of resources to lead and run the program at this time.

 

• Stewardship Committee: The parish directory will be published in March and distributed as soon as it comes back from the printer. Bill suggested that we offer some kind of Thank you recognition to Parish volunteers. Some ideas were put forward and the idea will be explored further.

 

• School Councils:

 

• St. Francis: a written report was submitted by Lorraine Fenn. It was not received by Rob on time for the meeting but is included in these minutes:

 

• The intermediate division for public speaking, the following students placed at the Legion - Cassie Hull, first place and Rebecca Seward, second place. Cassie went on to the Regional in Carleton Place, and placed third.

 

• In the junior division the following students placed at the Legion - Kendra Kinch, first, Julia Graham, second. The financial crisis that is currently hitting our community has certainly affected our school. There is over $1200 in school fees that have not been paid since September, and no chance of recovering those funds as the families are simply unable to pay. The Breakfast Program is going to expand to 5 mornings a week from 3 as there is a definite need. Could a call for additional volunteers be placed in the parish bulletin? The school is looking into possible ways of getting support from community groups and community members that are looking for ways to help out.

 

• We had a very busy February and are trying to slow down for the month of March and during Lent. Our next school mass will be on March 27th at the church at 10:00 a.m.

 

• Our school choir is practicing weekly and will be singing at the Youth mass, once a month.

 

• St. Luke’s: Matthew Drapeau reported on the behalf of St. Luke’s. The report included participation at school Masses and student participation at various community events. As a Lenten project selected students attended the facilities of Operation go Home in Ottawa. They are raising awareness of the organization.

 

• St. James: No report available.

 

• St. John’s: No report available.

 

 

• Catholic Women’s League: The CWL will be providing crosses for Lent. Parishioners may take a cross and wear it as a memory of somebody’s cross. Persons are asked to return the crosses on Palm Sunday. A bake sale will be held following the masses on March 28 and 29th.

 

• Knights of Columbus: No report available.

 

• Finance and Property Committee: The committee is considering the many building challenges that the parish faces. Funds are available from the building and maintenance fund. The members will look at the list and the funds and plan accordingly. A financial report will be delivered in March to the parish.

 

5) New Business:

 

 

• The newly formed parish council members will receive a commissioning and blessing at the masses on the weekend of March 7 & 8 in Smiths Falls, and in Lombardy on March 14th. At the same time Father will acknowledge those whose terms have completed. These persons will also be invited to the formal Parish volunteer thank you that is being planned.

 

• The new council members will start a 2 year term Jan 2009 to Dec 2010. Bill St Jean and Rob Drapeau, whose terms ended in Dec 2008, have agreed to stay on until Dec 2009 as a transition period. Their positions and the position that was held by Eleanor Glenn, and any other vacant positions, will have to be filled prior to January, 2010. This format will help with an easy transition so that not all of the terms will end at the same time.

 

• Father presented the idea of the Scripture study series that Fr. Shim’s parish took part in. The format is to have a group study comprised of a video series for a period of four weeks. The study time would be proceeded by the participants taking part in a meal. The idea is to be run in the fall with the Parish Council leading the initiative. All agreed to having the series start in the fall of 2009.

 

• A review of the Parish Strategic Plan 2005 was reviewed. The action items and initiatives were updated. See attached plan for the updated document.

 

Pastor’s Report: The parish is anxiously awaiting the NET Team’s decision about the application that our parish made with St. John’s in Perth for NET 2009/2010. If we are successful we will need to do a lot of planning and arranging to be ready for the October, 2009 start date. We will need homes to billet NET members as well as some fundraising events planned to help offset some of the costs. This will be a great opportunity for our youth and our parish if we are chosen.

 

6) The date of the next meeting is April 2, 2009 @ 6:30 in Hanley hall.

 

8) Ed Kozlow will lead the prayers at the next meeting

 

9) Bill led the closing prayer.

 

10) The meeting was adjourned at 8:30pm