MAY 2010 MINUTES

MAY 2010 MEETING MINUTES

Genesis Vicariate Pastoral Council Combined Meeting

7 p.m. ~ May 24, 2010

Blessed Sacrament Cathedral Offices

AGENDA:

1. Opening Prayer/Agenda

2. AOD Presentation on Marriage, Family & ProLife

3. Catechist Formation Presentation

4. MOSES Presentation

5. Paco Gabreliedes’ Presentation

6. Financial Report

7. APC Rep Report

8. Vicar’s Report

9. Announcements/Open Discussion

The meeting was opened at 7 p.m. with a prayer and we reviewed the evening’s agenda

AOD Marriage, Family & ProLife Presentation

Our first order of business was a presentation on Family, Marriage and ProLife by David Grobbel and Soccoro Tauchan of the AOD’s Dept. of Evangelization, Catechesis and Schools, Office of Evangelization and Catechesis.

They want their office to be a resource for our parishes and create a dialogue among them and their office. They have 3 areas of concern in the area of Marriage: Marriage Preparation, Marriage Enrichment and Marriage Healing, as well as Family and ProLife issues. They have programs available for our parishes to tap into if they don’t have them or if they want to improve their own.

They have several programs being developed for marriage enrichment, one being a “mentoring” program by couples who have a strong Catholic marriage of more than 5 years. They are asked to go through a brief facilitating program after which they work with young couples to help them stay married. They are also working on healing for couples that are having problems in their married life and want to aid couples in bringing up their children in the Catholic life.

ProLife is a crucial part of both marriage and family and on January 22, 2011, Archbishop Vigneron will be the main speaker at an all-day conference titled “Life is a Gift” at Sacred Heart Major Seminary and more details will be forthcoming. Archbishop Vigneron feels very strongly about this issue and believes we are called to be messengers of the gift of life and wants to concentrate on the entirety of what that means. Soccoro stated that they want as much input as possible in the months leading up to the conference.

David Grobbel spoke of Project Rachel, a confidential healing ministry that provides healing and hope to women and men wounded by abortion. Free, confidential, professional counseling for anyone who has had an abortion experience, Monthly spiritual support group meetings and Retreats (for women only at this time) and spiritual direction or reconciliation.

There is going to be a conference on July 20^th, 1 p.m. until 5 p.m., titled “Cracking the Contraceptive Myth” with featured speaker the Most Reverend Auxiliary Bishop Francis Reiss and Keynote Speakers Janet Smith and Fr. Michael McGivney, Chair of Life Ethics. It will also include speakers Fr. Jeffrey Day (“Be Not Afraid”); Dr. Daniel Greene (“Why I am Not a NFP Physician”); Mary Bieniasz, NP, who challenges parish and school nurses to expand their role and advance healthy life alternatives; David Grobbel, LMSW, who shares his experience of inviting engaged and married couples to experience the advantages of NFP; Deacon Ron McIntyre and his wife Amanda, who will share their challenges in teaching NFP in a parish setting; and Dr. Margie Crooks, MA, DM in addressing NFP’s role for educators and parents regarding chastity, Theology of the Body and Sacramental preparation for school children and young adults.

The cost is $30 per couple/$20 per single and registration closes July 19th at 5 p.m. You can register online at www.aodonline.org/nfp/conference and for more information contact (313) 237-4679 or email to: nfp@aod.org. Price includes refreshments and resource package. Register now, space is limited.

After the presentation, Msgr. LeFevre suggested that whatever programs are developed, they should take into account the diversity of the inner-city, where we have African-Americans, Hmong, Hispanic, Polish, Pakistani, Bangla and Chaldean people. Soccoro agreed that we do need to take this into consideration because we’re seeing more interfaith marriages and marriages involving Byzantine rite. Part of the marriage prep procedure will have to involve role models from each of the different communities.

David Grobbel did bring up the fact that Catholic Social Services used to provide many counseling opportunities but funding has dried up. It is becoming more and more difficult to provide special counseling, especially for low-income people.

Msgr. LeFevre suggested that the Parish Councils see if they can get married couples to take part in the training for the mentoring program and Soccoro said they should get in contact with her, as she will be working in the program development. She can be reached by calling the Office of Evangelization and Catechists at (313) 596-7306.

Catechist Formation Presentation

Ms. Patty Chase, Religious Ed Director of the Central Division of Vicariates spoke on Catechist Formation. She is the Regional Coordinator for Catechists in the Central Region and she brought handouts on Catholic Formation topics that will be held at the Seminary. She stated that she is really looking forward to working with us on faith formation.

SEE HER OFFICE INFO ON AOD.org

MOSES Presentation

The following is the actual presentation text sent to me by Aaron:

“Good evening everyone. My name is Aaron Walker and I am a Community Organizer with MOSES. Blessed Sacrament, the cluster parishes individually and MOSES have worked together for a number of years on various issues in the past. We would like to continue to do so presently and into the future.

MOSES is an acronym that stands for Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength. We are a non-profit organization located here in Detroit with an impact that reaches throughout the entire region and other areas of the state. We are a group of diverse congregations that organizes communities, develops leaders and builds relationships to advocate for social justice. Another key component of MOSES is found with our trainings. We help train leaders within your parishes to do just that, lead.

We are an affiliate of a national network called the Gamaliel Foundation. Our primary issues include: Health care Reform, Quality Supermarkets, Neighborhood Safe Zones, Immigration Reform, Mass Transit, and Regional Equity.

On June 10, 2010 from 6-9pm is the MOSES Annual Meeting at Temple Emanu El in Oak Park, MI. The theme of the meeting will be A Call to Justice. Here there will be dialogue on what works and what doesn't within the various congregations. You can present issues that are important within your Parish or community. All are invited.

I met with Father LeFevre the other week and we concluded that a group of leaders representing each of the 4 parishes could help make our partnership an effective and efficient one. This is an excellent opportunity to serve God, members of your parish, and the community as a whole. If anyone is interested in leading this effort, or helping in any capacity, or if you have any questions, please see me afterward. For additional information on MOSES please visit www.MOSESMI.org”

AOD Report

Paco Gabreliedes is from the AOD Central Office of Evangelization and Catechists, in particular the area of strengthening Catholic Education. This is one of Bishop Vigneron’s priorities. One of Paco’s responsibilities is to work with schools to develop a Catholic identity and culture. Three pilot schools have been chosen to work with in these areas. He did not name the schools, but whatever they develop will be introduced to other schools as time goes on.

Because of the loss of personnel due to the reorganization, they are involved in a transition phase. Over the summer they are going to look again at what they have been doing and reassess the resources they have so they can do their work at a reasonable pace.

Another area that Paco works in is Men’s Ministry and Men’s Conferences. Men’s Ministry really has a broader concept than just having conferences. It is really about working with men in parishes to help them develop a Christian character and understanding their responsibilities to their families and many other areas where they are being challenged today, young and old. In the last several years there have been two expressions of this ministry:

1)    The development of men’s groups or men’s faith support groups where men meet together on a weekly basis. They share their lives together, pray together and study together. They share with each other the challenges in their lives and try to guide and support each other so they can manage these aspects of their lives. It is not just spiritual matters, but matters of life where men can really help one another in practical ways as well,

2)    The second area in parish-based men’s ministries or outreach. This is more than just a small men’s support group. It can vary in size from 25-200 men. They take tapes, discuss them and break into small groups to discuss how the topic will apply to their own lives. There is also a social aspect where men will go to sporting events together. They do things with their wives like have special dinners and celebrations. Some who have become involved in the men’s ministry also become active in the parish and effectively become the most active in the parish in doing service work.

Paco, through his office in the Archdiocese, is willing and able to assist anyone who wants to establish this sort of group in their parish. He can show them how to do training, how to lead and facilitate these kind of groups and work with younger or older men.

As far as evangelization, the AOD and Paco’s office hope to have a plan by the end of the summer, but even if they don’t he still left his contact information (313-237-4689). He will be more than happy to talk with anyone on these topics!

Financial Report

The Secretary distributed the May Financial reports which included a Monthly Cash Flow Report generated in Microsoft Money for the last 5 months. Our only source of income is from the 2009-2010 Parish Assessments and we are still awaiting payment from 3 parishes, all in Macomb County. The total outstanding is $4717.50. Unfortunately, it is unlikely we will receive payment on these invoices. We could really use their assessments because after this month’s payroll and 941 Business Taxes, our Savings account is depleted and we will not be able to meet June’s payroll and 941’s taxes.

The new fiscal year starts July 1st. Also, we are no longer paying for Macomb County Hospital Ministry at Bi-County & South Macomb Hospitals.

The following is the sample budget presented for July 2010 – June 2011:

If you would like a copy of any of these reports or need further information, please contact the Vicariate Secretary at (517) 552-6492. If you have a question about your parish’s assessment, please contact the C.S.A. Office.

Msgr. LeFevre has been working with the AOD and budget committee. 15% from parishes with Charter Schools may have to fund a portion of our budget. Not all parishes are giving the 15% at this point and some reps were quite surprised. The Archbishop is meeting with a group of priests to develop a proposal dealing with this issue, but if and when anything changes is unknown at this time. Lori McGlinnen, AOD Rep, said that ALL parishes paying their 15% assessment is the policy but not all parishes participate.

Msgr. LeFevre still wants to meet with the pastors from our Vicariate to discuss this issue, especially with those who have Charter Schools, but he’s been waiting for the Archdiocese to have their discussion and to develop a policy. Thus, we cannot give a response to St. Bart’s because we really don’t know how much money we will have coming in.

In addition, St. Bart’s school is looking for assistance from the Vicariate to help keep their school going. There was to be a meeting of parishes with Charter Schools receiving lease money to determine where the 15% school assessment should be directed. St. Bart’s is waiting and we don’t know if that meeting has taken place yet.

This leaves St. Bart’s hanging. In the past, St. Bart’s has received quarterly payments of $8-$10,000. We have 9 Charter Schools in our Vicariate. Lori asked if it would be helpful to convene a meeting with the Education Department and Msgr. LeFevre agreed.

Horace, the St. Bart’s rep, agreed that it is urgent that St. Bart know when they’re getting money because they want to send out their letters out with the next year’s tuition amount. They are asking for over $100K and if they receive it, intend to use it to have more funds available for scholarship plans and to grow their enrollment.

Fr. Bogdan, Pastor of Our Lady Queen of Apostles, informed the members that in addition to the 15% assessment they pay for their Charter School, they also pay tuition grants to Queen of Apostle’s students who attend their Parochial School.

APC Report

Brian Sadowski of St. Florian’s, our APC rep reported that they had an initial meeting with Archbishop Vigneron who expressed a deep concern for the Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park.

In the Archbishop’s discussions and meetings with the people from the inner city, senses that the people have a profound feeling of loss and abandonment, and that the Archdiocese must turn that around. Two things the Archbishop wants to explore are:

·         The City is everyone’s responsibility and must not be abandoned.

·         An emphasis on the priesthood to serve the Catholic community and concern for vocations

The APC has been divided into 4 committees and each committee has been charged to meet 3-4 times to build up ideas in their area of expertise. Brian was assigned to the Youth Committee. Sometime in July or August the committees are to meet with the Archbishop and report to him what they have come up with.

So far the Youth Committee has had two meetings. They feel that they are starting from scratch because they really don’t have an idea of how many young people they’ll be dealing with and what the age groups are. In the past, the parochial schools served the needs of the youth. With the closing of the schools many left for the suburbs. Now the parishes have parishioners that are more mature, have different needs and there are not as many young people as in the past. St. Florian, Q of A, Trans-OLHC and St. Lads are examples of this issue.

Brian feels that the Archbishop is very sincere in his feelings for Detroit and will do all in his power to help the City and parishes survive and feels there must be a ‘healing’.

The committees will not break for the summer but will continue to work because there is a sense of urgency in what the Archbishop wants to accomplish Again Brian emphasized that Archbishop Vigneron DOES NOT want the people of Detroit to feel that the Archdiocese is abandoning them.

Msgr. LeFevre noted that the biggest thing the Genesis Vicariate has asked is that through the APC we continue the TIF (Together In Faith or Parish Merging & Clustering) plans. Archbishop Vigneron

has added two groups to the Pastoral Council: one to address Catholic Schools (but not Catholic Education), and a secondary committee, the ‘Church and City Committee’, to meet with the representatives from the  City of Detroit. Msgr. Don Hanchon, our Episcopal Vicar, will chair that committee.

Priests have already been to one meeting and there is another committee that is going to make recommendations to the Archbishop and APC Council. These meetings revolve around the specific issues that the Church and the City have. Some issues raised were that our Vicariate is down to one school; second, there is no girl’s Catholic School within the boundaries of the City and third, access to Catholic education in the city has been let go.

Msgr. Hanchon has 4 areas that he wants the committees to focus on. Some ideas were immigration, senior citizens, evangelization and youth. The committees have been charged to complete this work by the end of the calendar year. Msgr. LeFevre suggested that these areas should be discussed in our Parish Councils as well.

The Archbishop is trying to change the language we are used to. Instead of talking of parishes, mission or shrines, he will use a word like ‘vehicles’. Instead of saying “we need 60 parishes”, he says “what are the vehicles we need to deliver this?” He wants to change our language so that we will look at things differently. Then he wants to look at who will drive these vehicles. Does it have to be a priest, deacon or religious? What is the team that will drive the vehicle? The last question will probably be where is that group going to be based?

Msgr. LeFevre feels that this is a must as a discussion point at our next council meetings, especially in Hamtramck with our Polish Heritage. We are lucky in that Brian is on the APC and Polonia has a stake in this. The problem is that it usually comes down to real estate. We will have to deal with this without coming down to real estate. He will also try to develop some questions with Lori, our AOD rep, to help us in our discussions and suggest that some of these discussions take place during the summer, as the AOD plans to move on this in September.

The AOD will also be sending out questionnaires to the parishes dealing with Church in the City.

Vicar’s Report

Msgr. LeFevre then spoke about the upcoming fundraising campaign. The Archbishop is moving forward with the recommendation that we do a major parish-based stewardship campaign that will be kicking off in the Fall and the goals are not yet known. It was not well received at the Presbyteral Council meeting and some pastors pushed back very hard saying it is the wrong time.

It is based on the debt to the Archdiocese. 70% of the parishes have unpaid, non-performing loans. They went to the banks for a bond issue, but were turned down because the debt is too large. One rep asked if the parishes can go to the banks for money. They have never had to do that in the past, but some are. In fact, the Rochester parishes have done that.

One of the council members made the suggestion that we ‘lean on’ the parishes not paying their debts.

The Bishop knows that there is a library in Washington D.C. that is a white elephant around our necks and he is trying to sell it, but is hard pressed as what we can do right now. The Presbyteral council asked how we got here, financially that is. Msgr. LeFevre noted that there is a website that lists what Archdiocesan properties are for sale.

Msgr. LeFevre noted that one of the 7 priests that were ordained is John Dumas from Assumption Grotto.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Nancy Deacon, Blessed Sacrament’s Music Director, announced that it is a privilege for them to host the National Pastoral Musicians Conference. There will be a Liturgy with the Archbishop and Nancy will be directing all the choirs! This is the second one they are hosting and they are expecting over 1500 Church Musicians from around the world. The event is July 12^th through the 15^th at Cobo Hall and the Renaissance Center. The big events are around 1 p.m.

They are looking for volunteers to help with the event and those who volunteer ahead of time to work 4 hours get 50% off admission. This is a wonderful opportunity for the Worship Commission to attend and the weekend before there is a large Gospel event. For more information please contact Nancy at (313) 865-6300 or by emailing her at deacon.nancy@aod.org.

Congratulations to Fr. Bob Kotlarz, he is now the Pastor of Our Lady Queen of Heaven. Unfortunately, the previous pastor is currently having medical problems and we will keep him in our prayers.

Msgr. LeFevre announced that the Budget Committee will meet in June. We will not be meeting as a whole until our next meeting on September 2010.

The meeting was closed at 8:45 p.m. with a prayer.

Respectfully Submitted,

Monica Archibald

Genesis VPC Secretary

ATTACHMENTS:

• May 2010 Financial Report