Sacred Heart Parish
MINUTES OF THE PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL MEETING
Jan. 12, 2012
Attending: Fr. St. Martin, Winifred Murphy, Fr. Connelly, Joe Franco, Jacob Joseph, Mystica Alexander, Fran Noll, Peter Castellanos, Rick Johnston, Kristen Golden, Maura Iversen, Danielle Betancourt, Govind Sreenivasan; Interpreters: Amanda Dupuis, Anne Freeman
Welcome and Prayer: .
Report from Pastor.
No action on St. Philip Neri; no settlement on school contract
Comments from Fr. C. on Dec. 5 meeting of priests with Cardinal Sean in regard to new Pastoral Planning initiative to form stronger Christian disciples by strengthening our identity as a Christ-centered, mission- minded, welcoming and evangelizing Eucharistic community of faith.
It is a call, a summons to refocus our attention and to move from a mindset of “maintenance” to one of “mission.”; the mission of the Gospel.
This draft proposal presents a way to structure the archdiocese to create a new culture of partnering and collaboration in which 1-3 parishes would be served by a Pastoral Service Team. These parishes in the local collaborative would make decisions about best way to serve the people.
There are many unanswered questions since each local grouping would be making decisions best suited to their situation. Some valid concerns were voiced: danger of being shortsighted toward the future; concern about 1 pastor being able to serve 2/3 parishes; how do language, ethnic groups fit into this model. PPC members are urged to go to www.2012Planning.org
to download and study the documents presented.
Consultation is going on with various groups and one is scheduled with PPC/PFC on Tues., March 6 (see note from Obed).
Report from Deaf community:
National Catholic Office of Deaf (NCOD) holds an annual pastoral ministry conference; Deaf Apostolate of Boston is hosting Jan. 13 -17, 2012; on Sat., Jan. 14, 2012, Bishop Sean O’Malley will celebrate Mass here at S.H. at 5:30pm, to which all are invited; the usual 4pm Mass will transfer to 5:30pm; a dinner and reception follows in parish center.
The Deaf Leadership cte. has reformed, to provide avenue for deaf to be more involved in life of the Church, forum for comments and discussion; to meet once a month with Fr. Carey. Some members are Ken Osborne, Bruce Bucci, Danielle Lualdi, Fran Noll, Cheryl Johnston, Andy DeFrancesco, Justin Simon. Fr. St. Martin is settling into his new position as Pastor in Townsend; Rick applauded and thanked Fr. for his ministry with the deaf.
Homework: Pastoral Planning initiative from the archdiocese.
Download material (if not already done) from www.2012Planning.org
“Strengthening Our Parishes as Primary Communities of Faith”, a proposal. See lines 11-16, “Mission Initiatives” that set the context for this model and #2 on strengthening parishes. Pray, reflect, study this document and 15 FAQ
Make notes on your comments, concerns, questions so as to be prepared for discussion on Feb. 9, PPC and March 6 Regional meeting for PPC/PFC
Revisit PPC efforts to study 3 areas of parish life (See Nov. 30 memo);
Select 1 area (if not done already); come prepared to Feb. 9 meeting for concrete discussion.