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MARCH 2010 MEETING MINUTES
Genesis Vicariate Pastoral Council Combined Meeting
7 p.m. – 9 p.m. ~ March 22, 2010
Blessed Sacrament Cathedral Offices
AGENDA:
- Opening Prayer/Agenda
- St. Bartholomew School
Presentation
- Youth Ministry
- Financial Report
- Operating Procedures
- AOD Updates
- Announcements/Open
Discussion
OPENING PRAYER/AGENDA
The meeting
was at opened at 7 p.m. with an introduction and prayer
by Msgr. LeFevre. This month’s agenda is a combination
of February and March because of the cancellation of the
February meeting due to inclement weather.
ST.
BARTHOLOMEW SCHOOL PRESENTATION
St.
Bartholomew (St. Bart) has the only Catholic School in
the Vicariate and Msgr. LeFevre met with them to learn
what they are all about. He invited them to give the
same presentation to the VPC as he was given during his
visit. The presentation was given by Mrs. Anita Kolo and
Sharon Perko, Principal.
They provide a
safe environment and have an active student leadership
that meets once per week. They have applied learning in
Grades K thru 8 and are helping the students become
competitive in technology. Wireless internet is
available to all students and Palm Pilots and graphic
calculators are used in Grades 7th and 8th.
They have Teacher’s web pages with homework and daily
information and the students learn Microsoft Office,
Wiki, Social Bookmarking and WEB 2.0.
They are
recognized by the Skillman Foundation received the
2007-2008 Good School Award under Improving Category for
high test scores in English, Math, and Science; a strong
leadership team, challenging curriculum, support
programs for students and parental and community
partnerships. St. Bart’s is also accredited by the
Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools.
St. Bart’s
instills the fundamentals of the Catholic faith and
students are taught self-discipline and respect for
others. This approach appeals to all denominations and
faiths. They have “Reading Destination” which improves
comprehension and reading scores; a Resource Room for
Math and Reading; offer Computer, Gym, Art, Music, and
Spanish classes and take Field Trips.
They have PTO
sponsored activities such as the MLK Walk and have
collected cans for St. Dominic’s and clothes for St.
Leo’s. Extracurricular activities include: Glee Club,
Boy Scouts, free in-school & after-school tutoring
through Title I Services and Catholic Youth Organization
Sports which include Cheerleading, Boys JV & Varsity
Basketball and Girls JV & Varsity Basketball.
There are 88
students currently enrolled with a capacity of 200. 67%
of the students receive a free or reduced-cost lunch.
Tuition is $3300 but the actual cost is $6100. The cost
to educate a student in a public school is about $8000.
They did a mass mailing and received 23 responses from
people that are interested in the school. Last year they
did same mailing and got 45 new students. There is a
possibility of growth, but the downfall is the cost of
tuition and parents experiencing economic plight. With
current DPS trends, they may be picking up more students
this year.
Msgr. LeFevre
stated that the school’s relationship with Vicariate
came from the Trinity Vicariate. They had a commitment
to Catholic education, took care of the schools in area
and offered scholarships. They had 4 Catholic Schools
and annually voted to fund them. We hope this practice
will be continued by the new Vicariate.
During the
question and answer period we learned the children go to
Mass monthly and religion is taught every day. The
students participate in Mass as Lectors and bring up
Offertory Gifts. A member asked how many are Catholic
and 12 out of 88 students are Catholics and there are
one or two conversions per year. The total capacity of
the school is 200, possibly more.
They are
located at 20001 Wexford in Detroit and are 2 blocks
west of Ryan. You can contact them at (313) 366-3640 or
by email at
stbartholomew@sbcglobal.net . You can also
visit their website at
www.stbartschool.org.
Msgr. LeFevre
said part of challenge as a Vicariate is our vision,
mission and values and thought it was important to hear
about St. Bart’s. It is also important to have Catholic
Schools in the City and we will be discussing the role
of schools further at future meetings.
YOUTH
MINISTRY
Education is
not just what happens during the day at school, but what
do we do with young adults as a whole. Msgr. LeFevre
introduced Joi Hunter, who coordinates Young
Adult Ministry for the Central Region. Young adults are
classified as 18-35 year olds, single or married, and
with or without children.
Joi works with
parishes that have or do not have a Young Adult ministry
program. Her office strives to strengthen their programs
and helps to plan events such as workshops, retreats,
and social events. If a parish does not have a young
adult program and would like to develop one, she helps
them build one. They are a resource for the young adults
to get more involved in their parishes and help them
develop a religious life.
Her outreach
includes Wayne State and works with parishes that have a
Young Adult ministry. Her office strives to strengthen
their programs and helps to plan events, workshops and
retreats. They are a resource for the young adults to
get them more involved in their parishes and help them
develop a religious life.
They are
having a Day of Reflection titled “Created for Love” for
Young Adults. Details for the event are below in the
“Announcments” section. There will also be some large
events coming, possibly even a Festival. Joi is
currently working with parishes to plan retreats and
programs throughout the year and will give us more
information at future meetings.
FINANCIAL
REPORT
The Vicariate
Secretary presented the current Financial Report. It
shows that there have been a lot of questions regarding
the CSA Assessments for the 2009-2010 Fiscal year, which
runs from July ‘09-June 2010. The assessments are based
on a formula $1.50 per unit (household).
Some parishes
inquired if they will receive a pro-rated refund for the
months that they are with the new Central Macomb
Vicariate. The determination had been made in November
2009, that the assessments for the current Fiscal Year
will stay with the new Genesis Vicariate, as it would be
too difficult to give a refund to the parishes for them
to turn around and give to the Central Macomb Vicariate
– then we would have to ask for a pro-rated refund from
the Trinity Vicariate for the parishes now in the
Genesis Vicariate, then have to give it to our
Vicariate. This would create a bookkeeping nightmare and
be difficult to accomplish, as some of the parishes now
in the Central Macomb Vicariate are currently unpaid.
At the Central
Macomb Vicariate’s March Meeting, Fr. Cooney, Vicar,
announced that the parishes from the Genesis Vicariate
will receive a pro-rated refund which has caused a lot
of confusion. We need to have a final determination of
how the funds are to be handled.
Please note
that the assessments for parishes now in the Central
Macomb Vicariate make up over one-third of our total
budget. After looking at the Administrative and
Chaplaincy budgets, the secretary noticed they total
$19,150 and our total income from assessments is only
$16,660.50 which isn’t a balanced budget. Although $1500
of the Administrative budget has not been spent yet,
there is still a $990 difference. The unpaid assessments
to date total $5017.50.
The W2’s for
the Vicariate’s 3 employees have been distributed and
the W3 has been filed with the IRS. Advanced CPA LLC in
Warren assisted with these at no cost to the Vicariate.
The 941’s (business taxes) for the 1st
quarter (January thru March) have been paid and filed as
well.
Lori McGlinnen,
the AOD representative noted that there are different
models for determining assessments used for other
vicariates. The Genesis Vicariate is the only one who
uses the formula based on $1.50 per family.
Msgr. LeFevre
stated that he and Fr. Wesley, the past Vicar, went to
the bank that holds the accounts for the Vicariate to
change the signers on the accounts. The bank wouldn’t
let them change contacts without the meeting minutes
showing that the VPC approves of the changes. He also
noted that the Vicariate needs 2 people to be signers on
the accounts.
Monica
Archibald, Recording Secretary, proposed a motion that
Fr. Wesley and Msgr. LeFevre can change the account
signers, Horace Thompson, representative for St.
Bartholomew-St. Rita Parish seconded the motion and the
committee agreed and the motion was carried unanimously.
It was noted
that the Vicariate still needs to identify a Chairperson
and Treasurer. We also need a volunteer to be a second
signer on the accounts. There are 2 accounts – one for
the Vicariate and one for the Catechists. Often times
the people that give the catechists don’t charge so
there is not a lot activity on that account. After the
2009-2010 Fiscal Year that account may go away or
transferred to the Central Macomb Vicariate.
OPERATING
PROCEDURES
The council
reviewed the Operating Procedures sent out last month.
Msgr. LeFevre drafted the document and said he amended
our Vision Statement, “To share Christ in and through
the urban Church”, to match the direction the Archbishop
is working towards.
Our “Mission”
is to be a resource and share ministry within the
Vicariate; Participate in Pastoral Planning (Together in
Faith) and to share decision-making with the Regional
Moderator. We will be reviewing the TIF information from
the Archbishop and councils, and then returning it to
them.
“Values” are
the supportive piece, so no parish has to stand on its
own. They are to promote an on-going dialogue and
communication between the Archdiocese and the Vicariate
parishes; provide each parish an equal opportunity to
grow in faith and dignity, and to challenge each parish
to be good stewards of their resources – both human and
financial.
The 3rd
part, “challenging each parish to be good stewards”, is
where we can see creativity. We will learn how to
resolve issues that are uniquely our own, such as the
large Muslim population in Hamtramck. This is a gift and
opportunity for us and Fr. Wesley of Transfiguration-Our
Lady Help of Christians is already involved with this
dialogue. The question is how do we enlighten our
parishioners to avoid fear?
The Operating
Procedures are a blueprint for where we are going. They
are flexible so it can be changed. Some may become more
important and prioritized. This is where the Msgr. sees
us going structurally and lay-leadership is an integral
part of the process.
Within the
last 2 weeks Archbishop Vigneron has asked people to sit
on the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council (APC). Their first
meeting is April 29th; they will have an
orientation of members then form subcommittees. They’ll
be concentrating on creating a plan for diocese that
comes from TIF for the last 5 years. They will be
building it into a plan that will be addressed first at
the Diocesan level, then the parish level, the family
level, etc.
They’re
recruiting people from each Vicariate and Brian Sadowski,
St. Florian’s representative, will be the person from
our Vicariate sitting on the council. More information
will be available after they meet next week. Our
Regional Moderator, Msgr. Hanchon, will also be a part
of this council.
AOD UPDATES
In January of
2008 the Together In Faith Planning process was updated
and a letter was sent to all of parishes. It stated that
each Vicariate parish needs to be seriously considering
a cluster partner. There are many reasons for having a
cluster partner, such as in case of a pastor’s illness,
vacation, emergencies, etc. The cluster plan will go
into effect when pastor retires or because of some other
unforeseen circumstance that would warrant the need.
Lori McGlinnen,
the AOD rep, distributed the document that had been sent
to the parishes with the TIF letter. She asked the
members to review the information for their parish to
see if it is accurate. It includes information for each
parish such as the date each pastor’s eligible for
retirement, number of households in the parish, number
of weekend Liturgies they have, church seating capacity,
number of deacons, etc. She requested that the pastors
review and update the information for each parish and
bring the changes to next month’s meeting. The
information contained in the document is current through
January (or what was most recently submitted) and is
only as accurate as the numbers given to their office.
Lori noted
that under the “Number of Staff” heading that 2
part-time employees equal one full-time employee and
that “Total Accommodations” equals the number of
liturgies multiplied by the number of seats. Parishes
should be able to accommodate 70% of households for
liturgies and there are probably more Masses in our
Vicariate than are needed. This is because of the
different language masses offered and other different
reasons we have so many masses. However, the most
efficient use of space is 70%. A new directory has been
electronically distributed.
A number of
task forces looked at many different areas of diocese
and some things unequally enforced. One area the diocese
needs to do is to review and restructure its debt. The
Archdiocese is only as strong as its parishes. On March
4th they will email an information request.
There will be 11 questions that are general and designed
to put all information in one place and give the report
to the Archbishop. He will review the results in each
region.
They are going
to try to develop a better sense of the financial
situation of the Diocese such as loans, repayment and
investments to get a true picture of the church’s
situation. They will be waiting to have regional
meetings before having one-on-one parish visits to
discuss the report’s information. The questionnaire is
due April 2nd and clustered parishes are to
fill it out for each individual parish, not the cluster
as a whole.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
On Palm Sunday
at 11 a.m. Archbishop Vigneron is inviting
youth and
young adults throughout the Diocese for a Palm
Sunday Mass at the Cathedral. Be a part of the
celebration of the Palm Sunday Mass with Archbishop
Vigernon!
He will be
sharing a special message for young Catholics in the
Archdiocese of Detroit, and we'll have refreshments and
an opportunity for a tour of the Cathedral following the
Mass. The courtesy of an RSVP would be much appreciated!
The “Created
for Love ~ Making Gifts of Ourselves” Young Adult Day of
Reflection will be on April 25th at St. Paul
of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center,
23333 Schoolcraft in Detroit. It runs from 2 p.m. until
8 p.m. and is just $15 per person and includes dinner.
Sessions Include: “Reconciling Ourselves with God: Why
Go to Reconciliation?”; “What Does God Want from Me?”;
Discerning God's Voice In Our Lives” and “Stations of
the Cross: Experiencing Jesus' Passion (hands-on
experience)”. Take a day to reconnect with yourself and
share your faith in a unique way! For more information
or to register for the event, please go to
www.theconnectionyam.org.
Msgr. LeFevre
distributed a flyer for the “Living the Word II –
Ministering on the Front Lines ~ Strategies for More
Effective Parishes” workshop at Sacred Heart Major
Seminary in Detroit. It will be held on June 5th, 2010
from 9:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. with keynote speaker Fr.
Gregory Chisholm, Pastor of St. Patrick in Oakland, CA,
and will have programs to speed the renewal of Spirit in
our faith communities; provide practical steps in
reordering parish priorities, give a peek at the future
land use plans for the City of Detroit, and show
successful ways to involve parishes in the economic
development in the City. For more information please
call (313) 537-5770. The event is sponsored by the
Trinity Vicariate and is perfect for Parish Council
leadership. The Trinity Vicariate is looking to us to
collaborate with us and this is an invitation for
collaboration on a deeper level.
The
Transfiguration ~ Our Lady Help of Christians “Annual
Spring Fun Festival” will be on Saturday, April 24th
and Sunday, April 25th from Noon until 8 p.m.
both days. It will feature Homemade Dinners, Games for
Adults & Children, Music by Wally Duda, a Major Raffle
and lots of fun for everyone! Saturday will be a
homemade Meatball Dinner; Sunday will be a City Chicken
Dinner – both with all the trimmings! Both days there
will be Czarnina and Chicken Soups, Fast Foods and
refreshments, including Beer, Wine Coolers and Pop. The
Festival is indoors and has plenty of guarded parking.
The meeting
was closed with a prayer by Fr. Kotlarz at 8:32 p.m. Our
next meeting will be April 26th at 7 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Monica Archibald
Genesis Vicariate Secretary
ATTACHMENTS:
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VPC
MEETING MINUTES - MARCH 2010
