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FEBRUARY 2008 MINUTES
MEETING MINUTES
Genesis Vicariate Pastoral Council
Meeting
7 p.m. ~ February 25, 2008
Our Lady Queen of Heaven Parish
AGENDA:
-
Opening Prayer
-
Report From Vicar’s Meeting
-
Tracking Committee Updates
-
Vicariate Assessments
-
Social Outreach Survey
-
Parish Incorporation
-
“The Other Health Crises”
Presentation Review
-
Open Forum / Announcements
OPENING
PRAYER
The meeting was opened with a
prayer from the “Office of Readings”. All attendees
received a copy and participated in reading the prayer.
Mike Kostrzeba then passed around a “Get Well Soon” card
for Louis Joseph, the St. Martin DePorres VPC
representative.
REPORT FROM VICARS’ MEETING
Father Andy presented his report
from the Vicar’s Meeting. He stated that he Vicars are
the last ones to approve the raises that the Diocese is
suggesting. Each year the pastors receive a package
which includes a number of forms for the budget. It
contains the suggested percentage for raises and scales
for the different positions as well as an estimate of
how much the cost of insurance is going to increase.
Because of the economic problems in the state, the
Central Offices have decided that they will take no
raise this year. The only part they are accepting is the
raise to cover their insurance cost.
The Vicars are suggesting the
parishes follow suit and that the priests and staff
receive no raise except for their insurance, however
these are just suggestions. If the pastors wish, they
can give a raise that they believe is fair.
There was a discussion regarding
raising teachers’ salaries. They would like the teachers
to be at 75% parity with public school teachers, which
they are not at this time. This is being left to the
individual parishes (that have schools) to determine.
This year is the 175th
anniversary of the Archdiocese of Detroit! There will be
Mass celebrating this milestone at Blessed Sacrament
Cathedral on May 18th with a reception on the
grounds to follow. More information will be made
available to all of the parishes soon.
The Pope’s upcoming visit is by
invitation and ticket only. The tickets have already
sold out, have been distributed and are
non-transferable.
TRACKING COMMITTEE UPDATE
The February Clergy Tracking
Committee meeting was well attended. They met to get a
first-hand report of the status of each of the parishes
and to discuss stewardship, the schools and youth
ministry and every Vicariate had a similar meeting. They
asked about every parish and they thought that our
Vicariate is moving along well. When asked, Fr. Andy
stated that the schools have not been participating in
the process to this point.
There are 3 parishes that do not
yet have cluster partners; Our Lady Queen of Apostles,
St. Florian and St. Mark. The other parishes have been
working together and moving towards their clustering and
merging goals.
A surprising comment was made at
that meeting - the thought that our Vicariate “was not
unified” because of the fact that we cover such a wide
variety of socio-economic areas. Our Vicariate reaches
from city to the northern part of Warren and we are the
only one that does that – none of the other Vicariates
cross county lines. This is thought to be a ‘daring
approach’. They suggested that since we have such a
diverse community in our Vicariate, maybe we should
consider a breakdown into quadrants. For example; the
northern part of Warren, middle part of Warren and
Detroit/Hamtramck each being a quadrant.
It was suggested that this comment
was possibly made because neither of the 2 schools in
our Vicariate participate in meetings, nor provide any
types of reports to the Council. This has been an
ongoing issue that sparks much discussion and debate at
our monthly VPC meetings and the question of their
accountability has been raised. Jim Kiefer, AOD
representative, found some encouragement at the Tracking
Committee Meeting by Bishop Boyea for both pastors of
the parishes with schools to be more involved.
Fr. Andy described some of the
responsibilities of a pastor. First, they are
responsible for teaching Catholic doctrine; that the
Liturgies and Sacraments they perform are according to
the Catholic norms; to submit an in-balance, reasonable
budget and financial report every year; to make sure all
of the staff’s insurance and all appropriate taxes are
paid; and to make sure that the parish is not
tremendously in debt and any loans are being paid. It
was also pointed out at the earlier Clergy Meeting that
they are also to be involved in their Vicariate
activities.
There are a number of parishes that
have not paid all of their insurance; there are some
that have not paid taxes; some are in litigation because
they have not paid contractors and some have not
submitted financial reports for a number of years.
Steve Fallon, St. Sylvester VPC
representative, inquired how the new high school in
Macomb County is being funded. There are 4 parishes
involved in building the new school and each had to
pledge a certain amount of money. They have raised over
$6 million so far, but need to raise about $30 million
to complete the project.
The topic of youth ministry was
touched at the Tracking Committee Meeting. They are
trying to put together a Board comprised of college-aged
people and it is now in the preliminary planning stages.
More information will be available at the next VPC
meeting.
Also at their meeting, Bishop Boyea
suggested the possibility that St. Hyacinth might be
joining our Vicariate and they may possibly partner with
Our Lady Queen of Apostles. This would work out well for
them as they are geographically the closest parish to
St. Hyacinth. Fr. Andy wrote to them (after confirming
with the Bishop) that their pastor and committee will
need to approach Bishop Quinn, their Regional Bishop,
asking to be released from that Vicariate. Bishop Boyea
and the Genesis VPC would then have to approve their
joining Vicariate (which we have already done).
VICARIATE ASSESMENTS
Fr. Andy distributed the final
version of the Vicariate Assessments for each parish. He
asked that each representative take this document back
to their pastor. Our Vicariate is assessed at $1.50 per
unit (unit = family). Next year this may be dropped to
$1 per unit. The newly clustered St. Terese of Avila
inquired how they should be assessed and if they should
just divide the amount and Fr. Andy instructed them and
any other clustered or merged parishes to receive
adjusted assessment figures by either calling the CSA
office or by using a current parishioner census (if one
is available) to determine each campus’ liability.
Parish pastors are encouraged to call Janet Morgulec at
St. Sylvester if they have any questions regarding their
payments.
SOCIAL OUTREACH SURVEY
Jim Kiefer of the AOD spoke on the
“Parish Social Outreach Survey”
which has been distributed to
all of the parishes. This wonderful project is to
identify and literally map out the outreach
opportunities, programs and services throughout the
different areas of our Vicariate. This is not the same
as the previous survey for “Michigan in Crises”. This
survey is to determine the available services, for
example; health services, legal aid, drug counseling and
rehab, outreach to those suffering from AIDS, food and
housing programs, active St. Vincent DePaul outlets etc.
Mr. Kiefer distributed a sample map
of another Vicariate to show what the final version will
look like. It was well designed, with great detail and
color coded to show the different programs and services
available by location and zip code and makes it much
easier for the parishes to refer people looking for aid
to the proper outreach center. The completed survey can
be sent to Jim Kiefer by postal mail or email at
kiefer.jim@aod.org. You can also contact him with questions regarding the survey. CLICK
HERE for information and to
download a copy of the Survey!
Doris Ranke, OLQH representative,
mentioned concern about parishes publicizing their
programs/service and then being inundated with requests.
Jim Kiefer noted that this would require greater program
leadership. Fr. Andy suggested that the parishes within
the Vicariate should help each other by donating goods
they have on hand (for example, donating the items left
over from the Transfiguration-OLHC Closet Sale to the
parishes within the Vicariate that provide clothing
distribution services) in order to help keep their
program active. By completing this survey, each parish
will know which parish to call to donate items where
they will be put to the best use. Fr. Andy requested
that the parishes complete and return these surveys to
Jim Kiefer before the April 14th meeting.
PARISH INCORPORATION
Fr. Andy reminded the
representatives that, although we are not moving toward
incorporation at this point due to legal hurdles, each
parish needs to have designated a board of directors.
Also, each pastor needs to fill out the incorporation
form that was distributed and submit it to the Diocese
so when the legal matters are settled, the parishes will
be ready to incorporate.
“THE OTHER HEALTH CRISES”
PRESENTATION REVIEW
In December, there was a brief
presentation for clergy and laypeople by Fr. Larry
Ventline. It was put by together by a Spiritual
Director, Priest Psychologists and Sociologists and
addresses the different stresses that priests are under,
especially now with all of the clusters, mergers and
current issues going on within the church. Although they
couldn’t get the DVD player to work, Fr. Ventline gave a
summarization of the content. It was sparked by an
article titled “The Other Health Crisis: Why Priests are
Coping Poorly” and stated some changes that can be made
to reduce the stress on parish priests.
Some ways
mentioned were for the pastors to rely more on their
lay-leadership; allow capable people to assist with
administration; priests should take sabbaticals every 10
years or so to rejuvenate their mind and soul, and much
more. This presentation will likely be given at one of
our meetings in the next year once the priests have had
time to discuss it.
Fr. Bill McGoldrick entertained at
the meeting by doing impersonations, telling jokes and
playing songs on the harmonica. He is a very vibrant 88
years young and plays for many Irish organizations. He
has released a CD and can also be seen at the “Blue Note
Cafe” at Cadieux and Warren in Detroit. He performs one
Monday each month (by reservation only because it’s
always a sold out crowd) and the proceeds benefit the
Gaelic League of Detroit’s “Irish Radio Show”. For more
information, please go to
http://www.gaelicleagueofdetroit.org.
2008 MEETING SCHEDULE
March - Easter Break
v April 14,
7 p.m. – St. Mark Parish
v May 19, 6
p.m. Clergy & VPC Dinner Meeting – St. Ladislaus Parish
(Changed to Transfiguration Parish)
OPEN FORUM/ANNOUNCEMENTS
A question was raised - “When you
have a point of discernment between parishioners and a
priest, what is the process to get rectification or to
get your point heard?” The example used was in the case
of a priest (not in our Vicariate) that wanted to do a
very expensive kitchen reconstruction without the
approval of the parish. In the case of new construction,
they have to have the money up-front, or at least 90% of
it before the Archdiocese will approve it. Even if the
money is available to do the project, the Archdiocese
still needs to approve it. If it’s an issue of
maintenance there’s not as many restrictions, but any
amount over $25,000 needs approval by the Archdiocese
Consulters.
If the parish and the pastor have a
discrepancy and are at a stalemate, the proper process
is to first call the Vicar. If the Vicar can’t help
resolve the issue, he should then discuss it with the
Regional Bishop. Any parishioner can do this if they
feel they have a concern that can’t be resolved directly
with the pastor.
Jim Kiefer stated that there is a
document that the Catholic Charities USA has released
titled “Poverty and Racism”. His department and other
departments of the diocese are studying the document and
trying to respond to it in a helpful fashion. It’s the
first time this agency has put forth a document that
blends the problems of poverty and racism and sees the
overlapping issues. Fr. Clarence Williams, who served in
the diocese for over 25 years, has authored a book
“Recovering From Racism” using the AA model and
approach. There are approximately 60 people within the
diocese trained to be facilitators of groups who work
through some of those questions. He is now on Staff with
Catholic Charities USA and we are encouraged to take a
look and see what the church’s response might be to this
at different levels. The document is available on the
VPC website for review. He asked the representatives to
review it and come back to the Council to determine if
it’s something you’d like to explore to a greater
extent.
St. Louise is selling Kraut &
Potato Cheese Pierogi for $6.50 per dozen, Mondays thru
Fridays throughout Lent. The hours are 9 am – 4 pm
Monday thru Thursday and 9 am thru 5 pm on Friday.
Trudy Gorski, St. Cletus
representative announced that about 6 months ago their
credit union was approached by the Bishop Murphy Credit
Union and that they recently merged. They now have
$10,000,000 in assets! It was a very smooth transition
and everybody is very happy with it! It is on the
grounds of St. Cletus across from the Parish Office.
They are also hosting a Lenten Scripture Series with
Sister Ruth Platte 7 – Every Tuesday throughout Lent
from 7 pm until 8:15 pm. The last series is March 11th.
Seminars are held in the Social Hall. Sr. Ruth is a
great speaker and is showing people how to read the
Bible and everyone is learning a great deal!
As per Fr. Sid Eckert’s suggestion,
the VPC Recording Secretary contacted every parish in
the Vicariate to find out what activities they were
doing for Lent (Fish Fry’s, Stations of the Cross,
Speakers, etc.). The information was put together and
the document was distributed to all of the parishes and
representatives for inclusion in their parish bulletins.
The information is also available on the VPC website on
the “Lenten Activities” page.
St. Cletus had a Blood Drive and
their cluster partner, St. Louise had one the following
day. These parishes are working very well together and
have participated in many activities together. Their
next Blood Drive will be in the summer and will be
combined and hosted at St. Cletus They are a perfect
example of how clustered parishes can work together and
are a true sign of unity within our Vicariate!
There was a discussion by the
churches that host a “Food Pantry” of the frustration
with the people that come in and get the food then sell
it. This happens quite often and there is really nothing
that can be done about it. It was suggested that the
parishes contact the “Continuum of Care” in Mt. Clemens.
There is a state-wide network to identify the
individuals in Macomb County as well as other counties
that need assistance. Each person is issued an
identification number that is put into a computer system
so it can track the amount of food or assistance they
have received. If the person has already received their
allotment and tries to come back for more, the charity
can then look at what they’ve already received that
month. If they’ve reached their limit, the charity can
then tell them that they need to come back the next
month for more. There was a great deal of discussion on
this subject and Fr. Andy summed it up well when he said
“Sometimes we just have to take a chance and do the best
we can because our intention is to do what is right”
The meeting was closed with The Lord’s Prayer and
adjourned at 8:43 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Monica Archibald
Genesis VPC Recording Secretary |
VPC
MEETING MINUTES - FEBRUARY 2008
