Saint Francis of Assisi Parish
Summary of Pastoral Council Meetings
(Last Updated 5/16/2010)

Provided below are brief summaries of recent Pastoral Council meetings.  More detailed minutes from Pastoral Council and Commission meetings can be found on our Pastoral Council Web page.

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May 2010
Executive Summary of the May 4, 2010, Pastoral Council Meeting

The council voted to approve changes made to its bylaws that reflect the new method of selecting members for commissions. It then voted Debbie Fish in as the new council chair, Paula Moran as the new council co-chair, and Francesca Forrest to continue as council secretary. The council accepted a gift of 40–50 padded chairs from the Knights of Columbus for use in the parish social center. The council thanked Judy Trickey for her many years of service as coordinator of religious education and discussed forming a search committee to look for a new director.

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March 2010
Executive Summary of the March 2, 2010, Pastoral Council Meeting

The Family Life commission had the most to report this month: CYO basketball is flourishing, with many parents volunteering to coach. Karen Corey has taken over the coordinator role from Jack O’Brien. Games will be written up in the parish bulletin, and photos taken this season will be on display at tryout time next winter. Family Life also reported that motion-activated lights are being installed outside the Pine Room and the lock on the door has been fixed. The bereavement ministry will move to once-a-month meetings after March, when Beth Buczko takes it over. Family Life will be offering cookies and punch after the 4pm Mass and coffee and doughnuts after the 10:30 am Mass on the weekend of March 20–21, and at that time a suggestion box will be available to get other ideas from parishioners of activities Family Life can sponsor. In other news, the new rectory should break ground around Easter, and we will have a groundbreaking celebration, as we did for the church. Gerry Amprimo reported that the faith-building CDs available in the gathering space for the past month have been very popular, and she has placed two more orders. The council voted to keep the CD kiosk permanently.

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February 2010
Executive Summary of the February 2, 2010, Pastoral Council Meeting

The Faith Development commission, whose work has largely been taken over by the office of religious education now that Generations of Faith includes adult education, has changed its name and its brief to Marriage Enrichment. The Marriage Enrichment commission is organizing the establishment of Teams of Our Lady in St. Francis. There was an informational meeting on January 17; 9 couples said they were interested. The Family Life commission remains busy with many activities, including the bereavement ministry (which is looking for a new leader), the Helping Hands ministry, the cancer support ministry, and various events planned for the future, including a family swim night (date not yet set) and a coffee and doughnut break after the 10:30 Mass on February 21. The finance committee reports that Sunday collections for the previous six months are $4,400 behind where they were in the previous fiscal year. In better news, the parish raised $5,400 for relief for Haiti. The Pastoral Council also voted to approve Father Vern’s permission to let a series of faith-building CDs be sold in the gathering space for the next four weeks.

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December 2009
Executive Summary of the December 1, 2009, Pastoral Council Meeting

There were two main discussions at the December 2009 Pastoral Council meeting. The first was a continuation of the discussion on bringing “Our Lady’s Team” to Belchertown, following the explanatory presentation couples from St. Cecilia’s gave to the council last month. Council members are interested and believe the congregation as a whole will be interested, so a coffee/tea presentation for parishioners some time after Mass will be planned to introduce the idea to the rest of the parish. The other discussion was on the presentation, first at Mass and then following the brunch on November 15, by Always Our Children, a support group for relatives and friends of gay people. Several parishioners attended the pastoral council meeting to speak for those who had been made uncomfortable by the presentation at Mass and who felt that the discussion after the presentation on November 15 went beyond support of gay people to endorse a gay agenda at odds with Church teachings. Father Vern agreed to speak at Mass on the matter.

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November 2009
Executive Summary of the November 3, 2009, Pastoral Council Meeting

At the November 2009 Pastoral Council meeting, two couples from St. Cecilia’s explained how “Our Lady’s Teams,” a marriage and faith enrichment group, works. A team of 5–7 couples meet once a month for a couple of hours. They share a meal, study the Gospel, and talk about their lives and challenges. A chaplain is also present. This may be something that couples at St. Francis are interested in becoming involved with. Also discussed at the council meeting were the current demographics of CYO basketball, the issue of cleaning out the refrigerator in the Pine Room, the proposal of a gift of a television and DVD player to Chestnut Hill School (in thanks for use of the school for Generations of Faith), and the current state of St. Francis finances. The parish is behind in the first quarter of its fiscal year.

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October 2009
Executive Summary of the October 6, 2009, Pastoral Council Meeting

At the October 2009 Pastoral Council meeting, Father Vern mentioned two presentations that will happen in November. One is “Always Our Children” (November 15), about reaching out/being sensitive to gay family members, etc. The other is “Our Lady’s Team,” a marriage support method originally developed in France that will be explained by a group from St. Cecelia’s (no date yet set). On a related note, the Faith Development Commission will dissolve (as its tasks are being handled by Generations of Faith) and a new, marriage-oriented commission will likely be formed. New pastoral council chairs were also announced: Laurie Erickson joins Beth Buczko in Family Life; Pat Antonovich and Judy Dudek will continue with Spiritual Life, and Rob Letendre rejoins Pam on Hospitality. The Knights of Columbus will be sponsoring our seminarian, Peter Naranjo, for his personal expenses.

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September 2009
Executive Summary of the September 1, 2009, Pastoral Council Meeting

At the September 2009 Pastoral Council meeting, Stan Wyman reported on the success of the tag sale (initial profit of $8,300, in spite of bad weather and added expenses to deal with the weather) and Father Vern discussed progress on the new rectory. The Spiritual Life and Vocations commissions talked about plans to honor the year of the priest through a holy hour on the first Friday of each month and through recitation of a prayer for priests at each Mass, after the bidding prayers. Bill Bowen noted that the Knights of Columbus had raised the money it needed for the monument to the unborn, which will be installed in October. We also discussed making new parishioners from closed parishes—and new parishioners generally—welcome at St. Francis with the gift of a loaf of bread. The new parish directory is also complete and should be available around Thanksgiving.

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June 2009
Executive Summary of the June 2, 2009, Pastoral Council Meeting

At the June 2009 pastoral council meeting, Family Life reported that the Helping Hands ministry has 15 members and that they are expanding their services to include taking people to church and cooking for them. The widow and widowers group will not meet during the summer. This year for the Crop Walk, the commission will just collect money rather than try to organize walkers. Family Life’s many other ministries are continuing their work. The Vocations commission will join with the Spiritual Life commission to organize something to honor the Pope’s decision to have this year (beginning in June) be a year that we pray for priests. Commissioning Mass (Volunteer Mass) for those who offer their services to the parish will be on October 6 at 7 pm. Extra photo sessions have been scheduled for the parish directory (June 26-27). Parish still awaiting diocesan approval to put the rectory project out to bid. Tag Sale will be August 29; Ray Coulombe is the director this year. Donations will be accepted Aug 1–Aug 24.

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May 2009
Executive Summary of the May 5, 2009, Pastoral Council Meeting

At the May 2009 pastoral council meeting, we heard how many people signed up to help in the various commissions (Communications: 3; Faith Development: 1; Family Life: 16; Hospitality: 20; Spiritual Life: none; Vocations: 3). We will aim to have new members start meeting with the commissions in October. Our current chair and co-chair, Paul Pierce and Debbie Fish, were reelected to serve another year in their positions. Father Vern reported on land preparation for the new rectory. Hiring someone to reflag it so we can keep the house the required 100 feet away form wetlands will cost only $1,000, as opposed to the $21,000 a land engineer wanted to charge for land preparation. Father Vern also reported that Bill Brawner would be ordained in May and that we would have a seminarian helping at the parish during the summer. Stan Wyman reported from the finance committee that the Mother’s Day cash raffle looked set to net approximately $2,500.

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April 2009
Executive Summary of the April 7, 2009, Pastoral Council Meeting

At the April 2009 pastoral council meeting, the council approved Beth Buczko’s proposal that the cancer support group take advantage of the American Cancer Society’s offer to host makeover sessions for cancer patients. Beth also suggested starting a good Samaritan initiative to help those who need help doing shopping, going to doctor’s appointments, etc. The council supported her idea. Father Vern mentioned the possibility of drawing on Food Pantry funds for extraordinary emergency cases. Council members agreed but noted that we must be careful not to put an undue burden on the Food Pantry funds. The schedule for recruitment to the pastoral council was changed (bulletin insert to go out May 2-3, invitations to volunteer to go out May 9-10), and Bill Bowen of the Communications Commission discussed the organization of the photo-taking sessions for the new parish directory. Father Vern discussed his meeting with the diocesan building coordinator regarding the new rectory. The announcement that work will begin on the rectory will go out in the Easter Sunday bulletin; any bonded and insured local contractors can bid to do work. Stan Wyman of the Finance Committee reported that the building fund is doing well but the operating budget is still running a loss: although receipts went up 10% from July 08 through March 09, expenditures went up 17%.

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March 2009
Executive Summary of the March 3, 2009, Pastoral Council Meeting

The March 2009 pastoral council meeting covered the new procedure for nominating people to serve on commissions of the pastoral council. Rather than hold elections to a three-year position as chair of a commission, the new procedure will be to take nominations to serve as a member of the commission for a year. Commissions will elect chairs from among their members. We also received updates on the Monument to the Unborn that the Knights of Columbus is organizing, and Father Vern announced that we will be putting together the updated parish directory (complete with new photos) this spring, and that the rectory proposal is moving forward. Cost for the 4-bedroom, 3,000 sq. ft. house is estimated at $330,000 with a $56,000 contingency; estimate does not include land development.

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February 2009
Executive Summary of the February 3, 2009, Pastoral Council Meeting

The Faith Development Commission announced the “To Love and to Serve” social-justice workshop, which runs for seven consecutive Fridays, beginning Friday February 13, 7-9 pm. The Family Life Commission discussed developments with its cancer support group, its support group for widows and widowers, and Food Pantry news. Father Vern reported that the Vocations Commission is considering having a seminarians talent show as a fundraiser for the seminarians. There was also more discussion on Pastoral Council elections, with Father Vern’s suggestion being to nominate people to serve on commissions for a year (rather than putting names forward stand for elections to chair the commissions for two years). Stan Wyman from the Finance Committee also described upcoming and potential future fundraisers.

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December 2008
Executive Summary of the December 2, 2008, Pastoral Council Meeting

This meeting was held in the Pine Room after festivities hosted by the Knights of Columbus following the lighting of the Christmas crèche. There was no major news from the commissions. The question of pastoral council structure and method of conducting council elections was again discussed. More discussion will occur at the next meeting, in February. Religious education director Judy Trickey brought up a proposal made by Father Gary Dailey, the diocesan vocations director, to have St. Francis Parish sponsor Diocesan Vocation Day. Council members brought up problems relating to cost, logistics, and the dates suggested (in March and April). The Vocations Commission will take over discussions with the diocese on the matter. The council also voted to approve a donation from the St. Francis Food Pantry to the Ecumenical Fuel Assistance Fund. Father Vern also reported that so far, parish households have donated $5,000 toward the parish’s fuel expenses.

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November 2008
Executive Summary of the November 4, 2008, Pastoral Council Meeting

Family Life reported that the Food Pantry refrigerator had food in it that had gotten moldy; there’s now a sign on the fridge saying that food without ID will be thrown away. The fridge belongs to the Food Pantry but is used by others on occasion. Family Life also is thinking of starting up a social group for widows and widowers. Father Vern suggested putting out notice to get others involved in the organization effort. Everett Hume presented on pastoral council models. There were three: a commission model such as St. Francis uses, a ministerial model with ministries instead of commissions, and a comprehensive planning model, which is a new concept whose details have yet to be worked out. Everett also discussed the bishop’s goals for parishes: (1) evangelization, (2) youth ministry, (3) faith formation, and (4) communication. In new business, Father Vern announced that Rev. Todd Farnsworth of the Congregational Church has launched an ecumenical fuel assistance program for families in Belchertown. Donations can be made via the parish (make check out to St. Francis Parish and indicate it’s for fuel assistance program).

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October 2008
Executive Summary of the October 7, 2008, Pastoral Council Meeting

This council meeting started later than usual (approximately 8:30) and was shorter than usual because it was preceded by the Commissioning Mass for parish volunteers. The only commissions with updates were Communications, which reported that the sandwich board signs for the front of church are nearly done, and Spiritual Life, which reported that it is creating a wall of remembrance with Generations of Faith. Parish members will be invited to place a small photo of a deceased loved one on the wall, so that as a parish we can collectively remember and pray for the dead. In financial news, Father Vern announced a postcard campaign that will involve a series of three postcards, mailed on three consecutive weeks, designed to get the nonparticipating two-thirds of the parish to contribute to the needs of the parish. This will be followed two weeks later by a special appeal to help offset our estimated budget shortfall of $21,000.

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September 2008
Executive Summary of the September 2, 2008, Pastoral Council Meeting

All commissions gave reports on what they are planning for the year ahead. Highlights include new signs for the front of church to publicize events (Communications) and a 7-week course in social justice, led by Kathryn Buckley-Brawner, who is an expert in the field (Faith Development). Judy Trickey, the religious education liaison, gave updates on Generations of Faith and this year’s special guest, Jason Kotecki, who will be performing 4–5 October. Our discussion of various pastoral council models has been put off until November. Other topics discussed at this meeting included the Knights of Columbus’s request to put up a monument to the unborn child on church property (to be further discussed in November), contacting people who had offered to greet at church, and ways of welcoming new parishioners (one suggestion was with a loaf of bread). The tag sale did as well as last year’s despite economic downturn this year, which was good news, but our heating bill for St. Francis properties will be almost $13,000 more than last year. A letter will go out to all parishioners asking for a contribution.

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