Members Present: Bill Keilen, Debbie Hansen, Anjanette Indelicato, Sandra Messer, Megan Miks, Denice Hood, Dave Holman, Peter Waterman, Ernest Villicana, Fr. Rick Mc Guire and Carol Flood.
Members Absent (Excused): Deacon Jack Benware, Crystal Marquez-Whitlatch and Nancy Carlson.
The committee opened with a special prayer for remembering September 11, 2001. Introductions of committee members were made.
Focusing on this year’s Advent season, the committee participated, reflected, and discussed individual formation exercise for Advent spiritual reflection. Reflection questions included: What meaning does the phrase “coming of the Lord†hold for you this Advent? What changes would you make if you were told you only had a few weeks to live?; and How will you make time to celebrate Advent?
Bill and Sandra gave a report from the last PAC meeting on September 11th. At the meeting, Parish Director gave an overview of the PAC where it was and where it is now. It is time to revisit the long term planning process for the parish. Findings included that the document “Pastors Forming Pastors†is not actionable by way of the structure of the document. Next possible step would be to develop a strategic plan for development of specific goals and objectives with timelines, based on the document. Communication across the board should continue among and between the staff, PAC and BOGS. Called to Protect information was also given and discussed.
Fr. Rick reported that the first step towards stewardship will be involving the toddlers and children of the parish. With the initiation of this project, Planting the Seed, during the Children’s Masses the children will be invited to bring up food items to donate to the needy of the parish and place them in a basket during the Preparation of the Gifts. In time, this action will become a regular part of the liturgy as a teaching tool. The kickoff weekend will be the weekend of October 21st -22nd, which includes the children’s liturgy at the 10:15 AM mass.
This weekend will have a witness speak about stewardship. The following weekend, October 28th-29th someone will speak on treasure, possibly give a financial account and have an opportunity for parishioner to make an annual pledge at that time. There will be a stewardship retreat on October 13th at Mt. Claret from 9AM-4PM for those interested in learning more about stewardship. January 9, 2007 from 7:15-9:15PM there will be a stewardship planning meeting for our parish facilitated by Katie Mc Laughlin from the Diocese. Please plan on attending. Information handouts “What is Stewardship†and “The Spirituality of Stewardship†were provided to the committee members. Handouts found on pages 4 & 5 of this minutes report.
The mini “ministry fair weekends†were questioned if they were productive or not. There is not as much “hype†as when we had a big event in the past. The committee recommends that we look into the “big event†approach. The stewardship committee is looking into ministry fair with liturgy, focusing on the stewardship of talent. Spirituality – treasure – talent.
Co-chairs were asked to check the calendar of events already scheduled, posted on our website, when trying to book a room for meetings, training, and events. The Altar Server ministry reported that they will add a 5th server to the mass in order to provide more opportunities to serve. The duties of this server would include handling the procedure for the Book of Intentions. The committee agreed. The lector ministry will act as back up for this procedure in case of 5th server shortage. This new procedure will begin the first week of Advent. The committee has requested that the clergy address the community in regards to communion reception every so often so that new parishioners and visitors are aware of the practices in our Diocese and parish. Carol prepares a weekly Visiting Presider Book for visiting presiders with gathering and closing songs, prayers, scripts, etc. so that our visitor feels welcome. It also acts as a reference and back up as needed. This book is located in the Sacristy. Diocesan requirements for EME, MOC, and Lector certification were provided to the EME and Lector ministries. The committee welcomed Peter Waterman as new co-chair of the EME ministry to take Dave’s place with Denice. Crystal Marquez-Whitlatch is the new chair for the Liturgical Dance Ministry.
MOH – Next training Oct. 2nd. Working on fixing inconsistencies. Ministry Fair Oct. 14th-15th with Oct. 23rd training to follow. Mass captains are beginning to become more uniformed. Communication between mass captains and sacristans has greatly improved.
EME’s – Text training Sept. 15th (30 candidates-4 teens) and training 10 Sacristans & Captains on Sept. 18th.
WE – Getting ready for Advent. Now have an 8 foot ladder for in-between jobs. Currently have 4 active members. Recruiting in October.
Servers – Recently trained new servers (13+) and re-trained current servers.
Music – Children’s Choir has 67 members; 12 boys. Currently 6 children on waiting list.
Lectors – Recruited 5 new lectors for training. No teens at this time. Issue of concern to staff: the teens are not responding to emails, phone calls, etc. During the Confirmation process, the teens had been strongly pressured into signing up for a ministry but don’t really have a desire for commitment. However, having a parent involved with them in a liturgical ministry has proven to be very successful. Is there a better process of discernment for the teens? The first taping of participating lectors is complete. Currently in evaluation process of project.
Dance – Recruited 17 new candidates (11 senior, 6 junior) at the Ministry Fair. Next meeting September 24th. Will be evaluating the goals for the year. Will choose representative from the ministry to attend worship committee meetings due to college schedule.
Advent – The committee agreed to the Advent 2006 focus of, “Second Coming of Christ: Hope and Longing.†Detailed information provided on page 3 of this minutes report. A staff member asked the committee to review the logistics and consider the demands on the limited environment ministry decorating the church in such a short time on Christmas Eve this year. Since the large items in the church would be taken down (Advent Wreath) and Christmas lights and greenery would be put during the week before the 4th Sunday of Advent/Christmas Eve-, would the committee consider recommending having all the masses in the social hall so that they would have all week to decorate? The committee is in agreement to this, however, attendance could be an issue, but not likely. The decision is up to the Pastor. The standing Advent Wreath will be needed for that weekend.
The Christmas schedule is as follows…Christmas Eve: 4:00 PM – Church (Children’s Liturgy), 4:15 PM – Social Hall (inside only this year), 6:00 PM – Church (Children’s Liturgy), 8:00 PM – Church (Youth Mass), Midnight – Church (Traditional). Christmas Day: 8:30 AM, 10:15 AM and 12:00 PM in the Church.
There will be three opportunities for on-going formation education offered by the Office of Worship for liturgical ministries this year. The Liturgical Formation Days will be on November 11th at St. Paul’s in Phoenix; November 18th at Holy Cross in Mesa, and February 17th at St. John Vianney in Sedona. Each session begins at 9AM and ends at Noon. The focus will be spirituality and theology for ministry with prayer and a guest speaker. Breakout session for lectors, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, Ministers of Hospitality, Environment and Music will follow the speaker. The cost is $5.00. Registration forms will come from the Office of Worship soon. Committee was instructed to inform their ministries of this opportunity.
Upcoming liturgical events for the Fall were reviewed.
Food handler’s card test will be on September 27th from 6:30-8PM. Study booklet available in the narthex or website.
Recommended reading: Mighty Stories, Dangerous Rituals: Weaving Together the Human and Divine, by Herbert Anderson & Edward Foley, Paperback Feb 2001; Jossey-Bass Publisher.
Committee ended with a closing prayer for world peace.