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SEPTEMBER 2008 MINUTES
MEETING MINUTES
Combined Genesis Vicariate
Clergy & Pastoral Council Meeting
7 p.m. ~
September 15, 2008
St. Anne Parish,
Warren, MI
AGENDA:
- Opening Prayer
- Vicars’ Meeting Report
- Pastoral/Liturgical
Concerns
- Tracking Committee Updates
- Vicariate Assessments
- Catholic Schools
- CSA Goals
- Stewardship
- Ballot Issues
- Vicariate Council Meeting
Dates & Places
- Announcements/Open
Discussion
VICAR’S MEETING REPORT -
PASTORAL LITURGICAL CONCERNS
The meeting was opened at 7 p.m.
with a prayer and the agenda was distributed to the
council members.
Fr. Wesley reported that the Vicars
are looking into several Pastoral and Liturgical
concerns. One point of concern is that certain parishes
have specific charges for each service provided at
funerals (i.e. if the priest goes to the cemetery there
may be an extra fee). The Vicars believe this practice
is very inappropriate.
There is also concern with the role
of funeral directors who, in some cases, are making
decisions that should be made by the priest (for
instance if the person should be buried from the parish,
should there be a Mass or should the service be held at
the funeral home, etc). The Vicars are going to keep
these as agenda items to be further discussed.
Another concern is the care of the
sick. Each parish has a different way of caring for the
sick members of their community. Some have committees
that bring communion to shut-ins, others have a Pastoral
Ministry or the priest himself visits the individuals.
The consensus is that there should be a coordinated
effort so that people in need are being anointed and
visited.
The last concern centers on the new
translation of the Sacremenatary (the Book the priest
uses during Mass). Some changes have been completed and
approved by Rome, while others could take another couple
of years. For example, when the priest says “The Lord be
with you”, instead of responding “And also with you”,
the new response will be “And with your spirit”. In the
Profession of Faith, instead of saying “We believe in
one God…” it will be “I believe in one God…”. The
changes are a more accurate translation of the Latin.
The specific page with instructions to the Sacramentary
can be found at: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20030317_ordinamento-messale_en.html.
You can also find the information at the U.S. Catholic
Bishops website:
www.usscb.org.
TRACKING COMMITTEE REPORT
Last year the Vicars had given
their reports before a subcommittee of the Tracking
Committee, who was reviewing all of the pastoral plans.
The Tracking Committee’s purpose is to make sure that
parishes are working more closely together and that each
has a cluster partner. The subcommittees were to take
all of the information gathered from these meetings back
to the Tracking Committee, and each Vicariate was to
receive a progress report and suggestions on how to
proceed from this point on, in order to prepare for the
future. Bishop Reese who heads the Tracking Committee
and has been ill with cancer, so the reports have been
delayed. However they will be sent to each Vicar soon
and are to be discussed at the next VPC meeting.
Fr. Wesley asked if there has been
any progress within our Vicariate’s cluster partnerships
since the last meeting. It was reported that St. Edmund
and St. Anne are partnered, and St. Sylvester has
partnered with St. Martin DePorres. The parishes in our
Vicariate that have not yet formed a partnership are:
St. Florian, Our Lady Queen of Apostles and St. Mark.
Fr. Wesley pointed out that there have been instances
where having a cluster partner would have been
beneficial for parishes whose priests have had health
problems and were unable to say Mass.
VICARIATE ASSESSMENTS
There are 2 parishes who have not
yet paid their Vicariate Assessments (the rate is $1.00
per registered member). Those who are unpaid are asked
to do so as soon as possible, as it helps to cover costs
such as salaries and postage.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
Fr. Bondy gave a report on the
status of St. Anne’s School. He noted that the two lower
grades are not as full as the upper grades, which means
that the student population is declining. Last year the
enrollment was 586 students and this year there are 525.
No information has been made
available in regards to St. Clements’s School as of this
time although it is believed that their student
enrollment is down from previous years.
Sr. Mary Gehringer, Superintendent
of Schools, has asked the Vicars to continue discussing
the issue of how to keep our Catholic schools going,
which the Vicars have been doing for 2 years. There are
a couple of proposals right now; one is that all forms
of Catholic should be funded “Diocesan-wide”. This means
that all parishes, whether they have a school or
religious education program would receive financial
support from the Archdiocese. This Catholic education
fund would come from an assessment of every parish.
Another proposal is that each vicariate would have a
school which may require a Vicariate Board, School
Committee and/or other governing bodies as well as
financial support from the parishes in the Vicariate.
Fr. Bondy, who has been an educator
for over 44 years, believes that a “Vicariate School” is
a good idea, but that it should be run by one pastor,
otherwise it would constitute a lack of consistency. He
has been in many Diocesan school systems throughout the
country that are much more successful than our own.
The parishes that have school
buildings rented to charter or public schools are
already required to pay a certain amount to the
Archdiocese each year. This money amounts to
approximately $1.2 million. St. Anne doesn’t receive any
money from the Archdiocese.
There was a great deal of
discussion on this subject that Fr. Wesley will take
back to the Vicars as a report.
CSA GOALS
Many parishes feel that the yearly
CSA goals are too high and that they are unable to meet,
let exceed them. The amount of the goals rose because
parishes’ offertory collected rose. The goal will not be
reduced unless the offertory declines or if there are
extenuating circumstances. A parish can petition the
Archdiocese for a lower goal.
Mike Kosztreba, VPC Council
President, requested that the Vicars & Archdiocese look
into what programs funded by CSA collections are working
and which are not.
The council was informed that some
parishes double their goal; whatever money is collected
over the parish’s goal amount is returned to the parish
and is not taxed.
The link to the CSA department of
the Archdiocese is
http://www.aodonline.org/AODOnline/Giving+Opportunities+2259/Catholic+Services+Appeal+2261/2008.htm.
Here is a link to the page with the programs the
CSA pays for titled “Your CSA Dollars At Work” -
http://www.aodonline.org/AODOnline/Giving+Opportunities+2259/Catholic+Services+Appeal+2261/Dollars.htm.
Questions about a parish’s CSA
Goals or how they are formulated should be directed to
the pastor.
STEWARDSHIP
The Int’l Catholic Stewardship
Council (ICSC) is a professional organization recognized
internationally as a source of education, networking and
information to advance the ministry of Christian
Stewardship as a way of life in the Roman Catholic
Church and to promote the cause of Catholic philanthropy
in Diocesan parishes worldwide. This organization helps
parishes begin and maintain stewardship programs. More
information is available at
www.catholicstewardship.org or by calling (800)
352-3452.
BALLOT ISSUES
All pastors will be receiving
information about Proposal 2 which will be on this
year’s ballot. Prop 2 would allow embryos to be grown
for research purposes This is an immoral process.
Cardinal Maida has already distributed a letter to the
pastors about the subject. More information can be found
on the Michigan Catholic Conference website. This type
of legislation, if passed, opens the door to other
“crazy science” being voted in.
MICAUSE (Michigan Citizens Against
Unrestricted Science Experimentation) shows that
scientists are not only using embryos to look for cures
for illnesses, but are also experiments such as mixing
human and animal DNA. Once a proposal such as Proposal 2
is passed, these strange scientific groups immediately
apply for funding. PLEASE - VOTE NO PROPOSAL 2!!! For
more information, to receive bulletin inserts and
educational materials or to pick up your own yard sign,
please contact MICAUSE by going to
www.micause.org (there is a link on the VPC
website).
ANNOUNCEMENTS/OPEN DISCUSSION
Fr. Sid Eckert of St. Cletus
announced that they are sponsoring a “National Life
Chain Sunday” event on October 5th between
2:30 and 3:30 p.m. The Life Chain will run along Ryan
Rd. between 10 Mile and 11 Mile Road in front of the
church. Across the U.S and Canada hundreds of thousands
participate in these events to help save the lives of
unborn children taken by abortion. For more information
please contact the St. Cletus Parish office at (586)
755-1313.
St. Raymond Church will be hosting
a Prayer Breakfast “Praying with the Scriptures,
Reflecting on the ‘Our Father’ on September 27th,
from 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 a.m. featuring speaker Leary
Glipin. To register or for more information, please call
Sr. Rosemarie at (313) 527-0525. This is a “Life Streams
Event” by the Home Visitors of Mary.
Jim Keifer, AOD Rep., introduced a
number of upcoming events which include:
The 6th Annual Catholic
Women’s Conference “Empowering Women To Make A
Difference In The World” at the Macomb County Community
College Sports & Expo Center, 14500 E. 12 Mile, Warren,
MI, Saturday, October 25th, from 8:30 a.m. –
4 p.m. For more information or to register please call
(313) 237-5806 or go to
www.aodwomensministry.org. You can also find a link
to the registration page on the VPC website.
The AOD presents a Gospel Of Life
Concert titles “Requiem for the Innocents” in memory of
those affected by abortion. It is composed by Louis
Canter & performed with a full orchestra and chorus. It
will take place at the St. John Retreat Center on
Sunday, October 19th at 3 p.m. It is
sponsored by the Dept of Parish Life & Services Office
Of Worship and for more information you can contact
Louis Canter at (313) 237-5782 or Joyce Hyttinen at
(313) 237-5905.
Jim distributed information about
Campus Ministry and how you can participate in their
programs. Campus Ministry offers a variety of gatherings
including Picnics, Service Mission Trips, Game Nights
and much more. For more information or to find out what
colleges & universities have an established Campus
Ministry or how to start one at your school, please
contact the Department of Education of the AOD at (313)
237-4675.
He also distributed a brochure for
“Young Adults Decide In Faith”, a website you visit to
learn what the Church has to say about election issues,
gather facts and talk to other young adults about how
your faith intersects with the issues. The “for young
adults, by young adults” website is
www.decideinfaith.org and is sponsored by the AOD
Young Adult & Campus Ministry Office.
There will be a conference for all
maturing adults ages 55+ on November 5th from
6:45 p.m. – 9 p.m. entitled “From Success to
Significance, Listening to God’s Call in our Maturing
Years”. It features nationally known speaker Richard P.
Johnson, PhD and is sponsored by the AOD. It will focus
on “becoming well, wise and whole in our maturing years”
and you can register by contacting your parish staff, by
calling Sr. Janet Schaeffler at (313) 237-5936 or Faith
Offman at (313) 237-4961.
Fr. Bondy graciously proposed that
the newly combined Clergy & VPC meetings at St. Anne
each month, which was unanimously approved. The
meetings will take place at 7 p.m. and the meeting
schedule is as follows:
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October 13, 2008
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November 10, 2008
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January 12, 2009
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February 9, 2009
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March 9, 2009
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May 11, 2009
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June 8, 2009 (if deemed necessary)
A closing prayer was said and the
meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Monica Archibald
Recording Secretary
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VPC
MEETING MINUTES - SEPTEMBER 2008
