PASTORAL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES August 22, 2024

 IN ATTENDANCE: Kimberly Bowen, Father Francisco, Damian Gonzales, Susan Greenfield, Deacon Houle, Mike Mallon, Linda Powell, Brad Thompson Jr. ABSENT: Shealyn Barnes, Mayra Marchand, Rosalie Merrow, Joe Smithdeal PARISHIONERS ATTENDING: 1 (representative from Parish Finance Committee) 

OPENING: Meeting opened with prayer by the council.

MAY MINUTES: No revisions (June and July meetings were canceled) UPDATE ON ITEMS

IDENTIFIED AS IMPORTANT – COMMUNCATION ISSUES: 
• Pre-Mass Announcements – It was agreed that this has been a positive change. The council discussed possibly including more details about the parish activities in the announcements without being too lengthy. It was discussed that announcements should not be redundant and should not last longer than five minutes. The main purpose of the announcements is to notify the parish about changes to information in the bulletin or additions that were not able to be included in the bulletin. It may be good to bring attention to any activities that are occurring that same day, even if they are mentioned in the bulletin. Father approves all announcements. The council discussed having an extra copy in the back for the lectors to review where they sign in. Office staff has been contacted about this, and the lectors will be notified. 
• Weekly Bulletin – Sample bulletins are being gathered by council members. Ideas for formatting were discussed. This initiative is in progress.
• Parish Directory – A company has been contacted regarding the directory. A group will be formed to implement the next steps in this process.
 • Dropbox – Files that council members have been working on have been added to Dropbox for the council to review as needed.
• Activities Calendar – Concerns have been expressed that some parishioners are using rooms in the hall for activities without notifying the church or reserving the rooms. This creates problems for groups who have reserved the rooms and could cause liability issues. It was discussed that there needs to be written guidelines for use of the hall, and they need to be publicized. If groups are going to use a room, they need to contact the office in advance to reserve the room. The office needs to know who is using the rooms and who will be the group locking up the hall in the evenings. It was discussed that office staff can post a daily schedule of the room reservations and times on both entry doors each day. If a group who has a standing reservation needs to cancel their meeting, they should notify the office. The office staff will be asked to follow up with this, and Father will approve the final guidelines/procedures. 
• Website Enhancement – The test site is ready to go live. It was discussed that the 70 pages of information about the ministries of the parish is unwieldy as a PDF file and has to be updated manually. Our software provider does not have another option on handling this issue. Father will do a final review of the test site before it goes live. Once it is changed over, any needed updates can occur. It would be best for the changeover date to be a Monday or Tuesday. 
• Parish Ministry Book – The most recently updated book will be printed and placed in the narthex by 9/14/24. 

PARISH PICNIC: It was discussed that volunteers are needed for the parish picnic, which is scheduled for 10/13/24. It was discussed that one person needs to be in charge and Father needs to approve all decisions regarding the picnic. The council is not involved with the picnic. 

OTHER DISCUSSIONS: It was discussed that the parish needs more communication from the council. The council needs to notify the parish when meetings are canceled or changed. The council needs to start setting clear deadlines for projects. It was agreed that the enhanced parish website will go live and the Parish Ministry Book will be placed in the narthex by 9/14/24. The promised summary of the parish initiatives will also be uploaded on the new website, as well as the minutes from the council meetings by this date. An announcement will be made to the parish regarding this, and a QR code will be included in the bulletin for people to access the minutes, if desired. The council once again discussed the role of the council. We help Father Francisco by researching issues, considering, reflecting, and proposing solutions for action. Father gave approval for council members to attend finance committee meetings and vice versa, if needed. 
NEXT MEETING: The next meeting is scheduled for 7:00 pm on September 19, 2024