October 5, 2009
Thu, 2009-10-15 11:16 — dan
Pastoral Council Minutes
October 5, 2009
Attending: Rose Braun, Matt Bolton, Kevin Kohls, Brian Krause, Debbie Meinhardt, Claudia Miller, Jane Mueninghoff, Joan Seibenick, Ray Sousa, Barb Utrata, Fr. Mark Burger, Fr. Don West and Mary Ann Lampe (scribe).
Preliminaries: The Council Meeting opened with the Pastoral Council prayer at 7:00 pm. The reflection was led by Barb Utrata.
Agenda Items:
1) Approval of minutes from August meeting – All The minutes were approved as written.
2) Assembly of Parish Leader Articles Discussion – All Fr. Mark asked members to fill out a questionnaire on the documents he previously had given them on the description and Charter of Good Shepherd Parish’s “Assembly of Parish Leaders”. Fr. Mark – Is this of any value for our parish? Debbie – I read a lot on line from a parish in New York that has a similar program and I would like to attend one of Good Shepherd’s meetings to see how they coordinate that many people. I find it a bit overwhelming.
Joan – the concept is good but how do you harness that energy, how is the discussion part managed? Fr. Mark – Good Shepherd has a trained facilitator that is not part of the group. Debbie – you would almost need someone from outside the parish to remain neutral. The goal would be to keep order.
Claudia – I called Mark Westendorf, Good Shepherd’s Director of Pastoral Care and Outreach, and asked how their meeting went. He was very positive about it. I, also, went over where they got the sixty-seven people and found there was some over- and under-representation. I think if we went this way we would have to review the representation quarterly. A lot falls on Father to pick the people.
Kevin – I think people would get frustrated only having one minute, and I think it is too large a group for meaningful discussion. I think it would be better to have one or two meetings a year where the committees report on their goals, needs, challenges, etc. I don’t think it would work and would require a lot of follow-up.
Barb – I think it would be very wise to go to one of Good Shepherd’s meetings. It may be that it needs to be broken down into small groups which develop a consensus and a representative of each of those groups brings it to a combined group. Some of us represent a variety of ministries; I think in this case, you would want one per ministry.
Jane – I think an annual open meeting is a good idea. How is the group of facilitators chosen? Where is the spiritual side, or does it just become another task.
Ray – I think it’s a good concept. I think here is an opportunity for more members to get involved. You always see the same people coming forward and this could be an opportunity to pull in others. I agree that I would have to see this in action.
Brian – I, also, am concerned with the numbers. Where did they come up with the goals?
Rose – It would provide for more communication among the committees to know what each other is doing.
What are the best qualities of the plan? Debbie – I think it could help Father and the staff. Matt – I really liked reading the vision and direction section. We don’t have this shared sense of goals/vision. It could give us a sense of where the parish is going. Kevin – Everyone would focus on a mission. Joan – I like the cross-communication. You are adding all of these layers and the work will come back to the staff. How do things actually get accomplished? Rose – their list of goals paralleled our parish. Fr. Don – who decides the vision? Sometimes we give the vision arbitrarily, how do you set the goals for longer than tomorrow, long term? It needs to be something that comes up from the parish, not down from administration. It needs to be inclusive, something that the people want. Is this really going to give growth in the parish?
Jane – How is the committee of Facilitators chosen? Fr. Mark – at Good Shepherd by the pastor. Jane – If it’s not improving the spiritual life of the parish, it’s just another program. Fr. Mark – this appears to me to be a business model. How do we tweak this to be a parish model? Fr. Don – How do you get people to volunteer? Debbie – From what I read on-line one parish posted an ad in the bulletin that read “Help Wanted”. Who decides what that “Help” is? Brian – an example is the Tanzania Promise. Everyone bought in to it because of its presentation. Joan – do we know of parishes that meet the need of their parish well? Fr. Mark – some are better than others; but I don’t think there is a parish around that can say “we do it well.” Joan – there is a consensus of this group what the needs of the parish are. I have spent some time at Good Shepherd and I feel that they run like a corporation.
Debbie – How large is Good Shepherd? Fr. Mark – 4200 families and we are 2400-2700. Good Shepherd started as a “new concept” parish. I think this is a way to look beyond the box. Is this a better way for us to preach the gospel? People’s lives should be transformed by their experience in church. How do we make church a welcoming place where people are transformed? Ray – as far as the “spiritualness” of this parish, you don’t want to get too businesslike, but you need structure to accomplish your goals, so you develop a plan. You need some sort of structure in place to see that you stay on track. Rose – I don’t know that this plan is the way for us to go, but I do think there needs to be a connection between the various groups. We need to go about it slowly.
Fr. Mark – Would you recommend this model? I am going to discuss this with Pastoral Staff. Jane – I think we do want to get more people involved. I would start by adding to this group (Pastoral Council). Debbie – I think we should start on a smaller scale. It would be easier for people to adapt to. Ray – How do we get people to want to be involved? Barb – Is this just helping us to come up with a “well-oiled machine?” Jane – Instead of bringing in the Pastoral Staff every year to report on their duties, etc. we could invite, for example, the nursery workers to come and share with us their issues, needs, etc. We could ask a Greeter to a Pastoral Council meeting and ask why do you do what you do? Matt – I see a value of having everyone get together once a year and get some input from each other. Fr. Mark – what is your recommendation? Claudia – I would like to attend one of their meetings before I make a decision.
Other business:
Rose – There have been a lot of comments about the hand sanitizer for the Ministers of Communion; e.g. “Why should I sanitize my hands, then drink from a common cup?” Perhaps we need to print something in the bulletin that explains how the alcohol content of the wine and the process we use between parishioners addresses this concern.
Jane – The announcements seems to have been very lengthy the last few weeks, what other methods are there to insure parishioners get the info they need, read the bulletin, etc.
3) Adjournment and Closing Prayer of Thanksgiving – Claudia Miller
Claudia led the closing prayer and we adjourned at 8:40 pm.
Next Meeting: Monday, November 2, 2009
- Reflection by Kevin Kohls
- Prayer of Thanksgiving by Matt Bolton
October 5, 2009
Attending: Rose Braun, Matt Bolton, Kevin Kohls, Brian Krause, Debbie Meinhardt, Claudia Miller, Jane Mueninghoff, Joan Seibenick, Ray Sousa, Barb Utrata, Fr. Mark Burger, Fr. Don West and Mary Ann Lampe (scribe).
Preliminaries: The Council Meeting opened with the Pastoral Council prayer at 7:00 pm. The reflection was led by Barb Utrata.
Agenda Items:
1) Approval of minutes from August meeting – All The minutes were approved as written.
2) Assembly of Parish Leader Articles Discussion – All Fr. Mark asked members to fill out a questionnaire on the documents he previously had given them on the description and Charter of Good Shepherd Parish’s “Assembly of Parish Leaders”. Fr. Mark – Is this of any value for our parish? Debbie – I read a lot on line from a parish in New York that has a similar program and I would like to attend one of Good Shepherd’s meetings to see how they coordinate that many people. I find it a bit overwhelming.
Joan – the concept is good but how do you harness that energy, how is the discussion part managed? Fr. Mark – Good Shepherd has a trained facilitator that is not part of the group. Debbie – you would almost need someone from outside the parish to remain neutral. The goal would be to keep order.
Claudia – I called Mark Westendorf, Good Shepherd’s Director of Pastoral Care and Outreach, and asked how their meeting went. He was very positive about it. I, also, went over where they got the sixty-seven people and found there was some over- and under-representation. I think if we went this way we would have to review the representation quarterly. A lot falls on Father to pick the people.
Kevin – I think people would get frustrated only having one minute, and I think it is too large a group for meaningful discussion. I think it would be better to have one or two meetings a year where the committees report on their goals, needs, challenges, etc. I don’t think it would work and would require a lot of follow-up.
Barb – I think it would be very wise to go to one of Good Shepherd’s meetings. It may be that it needs to be broken down into small groups which develop a consensus and a representative of each of those groups brings it to a combined group. Some of us represent a variety of ministries; I think in this case, you would want one per ministry.
Jane – I think an annual open meeting is a good idea. How is the group of facilitators chosen? Where is the spiritual side, or does it just become another task.
Ray – I think it’s a good concept. I think here is an opportunity for more members to get involved. You always see the same people coming forward and this could be an opportunity to pull in others. I agree that I would have to see this in action.
Brian – I, also, am concerned with the numbers. Where did they come up with the goals?
Rose – It would provide for more communication among the committees to know what each other is doing.
What are the best qualities of the plan? Debbie – I think it could help Father and the staff. Matt – I really liked reading the vision and direction section. We don’t have this shared sense of goals/vision. It could give us a sense of where the parish is going. Kevin – Everyone would focus on a mission. Joan – I like the cross-communication. You are adding all of these layers and the work will come back to the staff. How do things actually get accomplished? Rose – their list of goals paralleled our parish. Fr. Don – who decides the vision? Sometimes we give the vision arbitrarily, how do you set the goals for longer than tomorrow, long term? It needs to be something that comes up from the parish, not down from administration. It needs to be inclusive, something that the people want. Is this really going to give growth in the parish?
Jane – How is the committee of Facilitators chosen? Fr. Mark – at Good Shepherd by the pastor. Jane – If it’s not improving the spiritual life of the parish, it’s just another program. Fr. Mark – this appears to me to be a business model. How do we tweak this to be a parish model? Fr. Don – How do you get people to volunteer? Debbie – From what I read on-line one parish posted an ad in the bulletin that read “Help Wanted”. Who decides what that “Help” is? Brian – an example is the Tanzania Promise. Everyone bought in to it because of its presentation. Joan – do we know of parishes that meet the need of their parish well? Fr. Mark – some are better than others; but I don’t think there is a parish around that can say “we do it well.” Joan – there is a consensus of this group what the needs of the parish are. I have spent some time at Good Shepherd and I feel that they run like a corporation.
Debbie – How large is Good Shepherd? Fr. Mark – 4200 families and we are 2400-2700. Good Shepherd started as a “new concept” parish. I think this is a way to look beyond the box. Is this a better way for us to preach the gospel? People’s lives should be transformed by their experience in church. How do we make church a welcoming place where people are transformed? Ray – as far as the “spiritualness” of this parish, you don’t want to get too businesslike, but you need structure to accomplish your goals, so you develop a plan. You need some sort of structure in place to see that you stay on track. Rose – I don’t know that this plan is the way for us to go, but I do think there needs to be a connection between the various groups. We need to go about it slowly.
Fr. Mark – Would you recommend this model? I am going to discuss this with Pastoral Staff. Jane – I think we do want to get more people involved. I would start by adding to this group (Pastoral Council). Debbie – I think we should start on a smaller scale. It would be easier for people to adapt to. Ray – How do we get people to want to be involved? Barb – Is this just helping us to come up with a “well-oiled machine?” Jane – Instead of bringing in the Pastoral Staff every year to report on their duties, etc. we could invite, for example, the nursery workers to come and share with us their issues, needs, etc. We could ask a Greeter to a Pastoral Council meeting and ask why do you do what you do? Matt – I see a value of having everyone get together once a year and get some input from each other. Fr. Mark – what is your recommendation? Claudia – I would like to attend one of their meetings before I make a decision.
Other business:
Rose – There have been a lot of comments about the hand sanitizer for the Ministers of Communion; e.g. “Why should I sanitize my hands, then drink from a common cup?” Perhaps we need to print something in the bulletin that explains how the alcohol content of the wine and the process we use between parishioners addresses this concern.
Jane – The announcements seems to have been very lengthy the last few weeks, what other methods are there to insure parishioners get the info they need, read the bulletin, etc.
3) Adjournment and Closing Prayer of Thanksgiving – Claudia Miller
Claudia led the closing prayer and we adjourned at 8:40 pm.
Next Meeting: Monday, November 2, 2009
- Reflection by Kevin Kohls
- Prayer of Thanksgiving by Matt Bolton
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