Sts. Peter & Paul
Pastoral Council Meeting
September 3rd, 2015
6:00 p.m. in Family Room
Those in attendance:
Father Tony
Jill Peterek
Steve Minus
Joyce Blasizzo
Curt Hand
Those not in attendance:
Deacon Rusty
Mary Kay Wilson
Mario Silva
Cyndi Foster
Greg Machalec
Juanita Lopez
Mike Senneway
David Henk
Lidia Rodriguez
Guests: Ann Hill
Carol Freimuth
I.
Opening Prayer – Father Tony offered a prayer on the “Spirit of
Guidance” from the book, “Out of the Ordinary”.
II.
Reviewed Minutes of the June and August Meetings –
The minutes were reviewed.
Motions to adopt the minutes as presented were made and seconded,
respectively, by Cyndi Foster and Steve Minus for June and Jill Peterek
and Cyndi Foster for August. Both motions were adopted.
III.
Curt Hand was introduced and welcomed as a new member of the
council –
Curt will complete the remaining term of Bill Barry, who asked to resign
due to personal issues.
IV.
Guest Ministry Presentation by the Thrift Shop – Guests Ann Hill and
Carol Freimuth informed the council of the history of the Thrift Shop and
some of the salient facts regarding its operation and benefit to the parish.
Some of the key points they covered are listed below:
1. The Thrift shop began in the old convent (now St. Mary’s Hall) under
Father Flannagan’s tenure as “Bargains and Beauties” to aid in the
financing of the then 190 student parish school.
2. Norma Miller took over leadership in 2003 and Jerome Friesenhahn
joined the team as merchandiser in 2004. Norma provided inspired
leadership and Jerome has been essential as the merchandise manager
and he logs over 190 hours per month.
3. In 2004, the shop moved over to the Blue Bonnet building and was
staffed by 22 volunteers.
4. In 2014, Norma retired and now Ann, Carol, and Marilyn Weber share
the running of the operation, involving about 130 volunteers. There
are 11 day managers and 22 department heads.
5. Some volunteers work remotely.
6. The revenues are split roughly 80% to the parish school and 20% to
the youth ministry programs.
7. The shop always needs more volunteers, especially anyone with
trading card or stamp expertise. A major concern is who will step up
to fill Jerome’s shoes when he decides to retire.
Father Tony praised the work that the volunteers perform and commented
that in all his pastoral experience, he has never seen an operation such as our
Thrift Shop. They contribute significant money to the school which in turn
lowers the tuition for our students and allows Catholic education to be more
accessible. A hearty “Thank You” to all who are involved!
V.
School, CCD, and Youth Ministry –
- Father Tony reported that the school currently has 370 students
enrolled for this school year.
- Father complimented Julie Krug, Tony Miller, and Chachi for their
work with the youth ministry. He was particularly impressed by the
62 student leaders who went on the retreat to Giddings, TX recently.
Julie and company worked hard to prepare a great experience for the
students for the upcoming confirmation class.
VI.
Ministry Reports
A. Joyce Blasizzo
1. Catholic Daughters:
- We will have our first meeting this fiscal year on Sept 15 in the
Family Room. The first meeting usually is a 'get organized' event
filling all our need responsibility slots for the coming year.
Refreshments at 6:30 pm and the meeting starts at 7:00 pm.
- At the October 20 meeting we will host Cy Laurent of the Laboure
Society as our speaker. The Laboure Society helps those seeking
the religious life, but who have student loan obligations to get
started with their formation as soon as possible.
2. St. Anne’s Christian Mothers Altar Society:
- We will resume our Prayer Breakfast starting Monday, Sept. 14th.
- Monthly meetings are held on the 3rd Thursday and will resume on
Sept. 17th.
3. Helping Hands: No report
4. Doll Ministry – No report
B. Greg Machalec
1. SOS Food Bank: No report
2. Little Flowers: No report.
3. Ushers and Greeters (Hospitality Ministry) – Still are recruiting.
4. Knights of Columbus:
- Initiating a new program called “Domestic Church" for families
and we will host at the K of C Hall once a month. The
announcement will be in the Church bulletins.
- "K of C Family Movie Night - The Family Fully Alive Program!
All families are invited every third Wednesday of the month from
6 to 9 PM at the K of C Hall!
September 16: The evening includes: pizza dinner, movie, and
brief presentation on this month's family theme. Children will
enjoy this month's movie, Mulan, while parents will discover ways
to bring our faith into the home, even in the midst of a busy family
schedule!
RSVP’s strongly encouraged to ensure food for all: Contact Joseph
and Jaclyn Ruli 210.274.3312 or Jaclyn.ruli@gmail.com. Walk-ins
welcome.
- There are many other K of C programs noted on their Web page.
C. Mario Silva
1. School – No report
2. Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic School Charitable Trust – No report
3. Lectors: Nothing to report
4. Eucharistic Ministers: Nothing to report
D. Cyndi Foster
1. Healing Ministry – Asking everyone to pray for a member who has
been with the support group since its beginning who is battling
cancer for the 3rd time. The treatments aren’t working and the cancer
has spread. She’s currently in the hospital at Christus.
2. PTC –
- First Friday Social, tomorrow 9/4 after Mass.
- Having a Grandparent’s Breakfast on Sept 11.
- Having a Fall Family Fun Festival Night on October 30th at the K
of C Hall with games, music, food and fun. They are not going to
have any vendors at this festival.
3.
Family PromiseSP&P is hosting the program the week of September 13. Sign up
genus link to volunteer is:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a45adaa2aa3fc1-week1
The link will tell you all the positions they need to be filled.
The overnight volunteers are always the hardest positions to fill, so
they are always looking for volunteers to help us in this capacity.
The co-coordinator, Michelle Pawelek, and Kerri take turns staying
the nights that don't fill, but both of their kids are involved in
numerous school activities in the evenings and Kerri is 8 months
pregnant, so, for this host week they would be especially grateful for
any overnight volunteers.
Overnight volunteers are required to obtain the VASE certification,
but Dora has always been great in quickly assisting them with this
certification, if needed.
There are currently 3 families in the program that we will be hosting
and a 4th family is expected to be added next week, so we will be
assisting a pretty full house.
Please pass the link above on to other ministries to let them know of
this volunteer opportunity.
E. Lidia Rodriguez
1. Bereavement: No response.
2. Rachel’s Journey (formerly Project Rachel): No respose.
3. Lending Library: No response.
4. Divorce Support Group: Will start a new session after the year.
5. Welcome Committee-Ministry Awareness Weekend – No
response.
F. David Henk
1. Catholics for Freedom of Religiona. Focusing much time/effort in preparing for the Oct. 31, 2015
FEARLESS FAITH Seminar.
1) Flyers and posters are going out to churches all over town,
and out of town, as well.
2) Ads will be appearing soon in Today's Catholic and the
Herald-Zeitung.
3) Met with the pastors or youth ministers of a few area
churches and more such meetings are scheduled.
4) New Braunfels Christian Academy is pushing the event, as
are SP&P School and St. JP II Catholic HS.
5) A double-sided bulletin insert will be placed in the
September 19-20 SP&P bulletin.
6) Would appreciate any help you can provide in spreading the
word.
b. Also will be conducting “Keep Christ in Christmas” activities
during November and December, beginning with auto
magnet, window decal, and yard sign sales and culminating in the
“Keep Christ in Christmas Musical” in the NB Civic Center at 5
PM, Sunday, December 13.
c. In addition to the above, planning a movie night in observance of
National Religious Freedom Day, January 16, 2016.
d. On March 9, 2015, will be hosting a presentation on the
Foundations of Religious Liberty by noted Constitutional
Attorney, Author, Speaker, and Radio Host Kris Anne Hall
(http://krisannehall.com/).
2. Marriage Encounter – (Note: the following report was not received
in time to be aired at the meeting, but is being included with the
minutes for record.)
- The August Weekend was well attended - 22 couples.
- We also had a good turnout for the Renewal.
- On Saturday, Sept 5, we will have a Community Enrichment at the
Oblate for all previously Encountered couples.
- Our next Weekend will be Oct 16-18 at the Oblate.
3. Gardening Angels – There are parish grounds gardening tasks to
accomplish this fall, but nothing organized as yet.
4. Disaster Relief – No Disaster Relief activities in New Braunfels
G. Steve Minus (Note: following reports received after meeting,
included for record)
1. Divine Mercy Cenacle –
- Exploring the idea of having an afternoon cenacle catering
primarily to the mothers of children in our school.
- Other Divine Mercy works coming up in conjunction with the year
of Mercy which starts on Dec. 8.
2. Divine Mercy Chaplet: No report.
3. Prison Visits:
- Had a couple of visits where we were turned away due to lack of
staffing to assist with setup and monitoring. We're attributing this
to the summer schedule with vacations and also the attrition that is
common with jail work.
- Supplies of bibles, rosaries and other items are holding out well.
- We have had requests for "Our Daily Bread" but I think the rules at
the jail are that the inmates can only have one book....most select
Bibles (which is probably the better to make sure is available).
- We've lost one of our volunteers and will be trying to spread the
word for a replacement.
- Our best wishes and most profound thanks to Father, the Council
and you for your continued support of this ministry.
4. Scouts:
a. Boy Scouts:
- Had a hot summer camp at Sid Richardson near Mineral Wells on
lake Bridgeport, had 15 boys attend working on various merit
badges i.e.. Sailing, Windsurfing, rifle shooting, hunter safety,
camping, nature, canoeing and geo-caching.
- Had a great camp out @ Garner State Park on the 21-23, 11 boys
attended we set up camp late in the evening, completed 5 mile hike
on "OLD BALDY", Highlight of campout was rope swing and
learning to two step @ Famous Garner dance slab, boys were
nervous at 1st and soon got into the swing of dancing! They are
ready to go again next year!!
- Just had joint Troop Court of Honor and fraternal meal with the K
of C's. Scouts provided a pulled pork meal and all the sides etc.
Scouts served the Knight's and their families.
We received a $ 2,000.00 donation from K of C's while also
honoring 3 Eagle Scouts- Aaron Hill, Charles Lotz and Collin Hill.
- Upcoming events Troop Elections, October camp-out on Ingram
Ranch Oct 17-18th, Merit Badge University Nov 7th.
Please ask anyone on council if they have a ranch/place for the scouts
to go camping????
b. Cub Scouts: No report
H. Juanita Lopez
1. Archives – No report
2. CYO:
a. Basketball: No report
b. Volleyball:
o CYO volleyball registration has closed.
o We have formed 7 teams and are looking to start season on
September 12.
o Our CYO program is looking to reach out to the community
and implement 2 events to give back. CYO will select one
day during the volleyball season where canned dog or cat
food can be brought in for admission instead of cash. All
items collected will be donated to NB Humane Society.
More details to follow on results.
c. Baseball: No Report
3. Youth Ministry – No report
I. Mike Senneway on behalf of Bill Barry
1. Catholic Alliance: No response
2. Pro Life Coordinator: No response
3. Eucharistic Adoration: No response
4. Thrift Store: (See guest ministry report above.)
J. Mary Kay Wilson
1. Bible Study: New programs to start over next few weeks
2. Parish Choirs: No report
3. CCD – We are in the midst of registrations. Running just over 30%
above last year’s pace at this point. Hopefully some of that is due to
greater awareness that now is the time to register thanks to the new
marquee and having instituted a late fee last year to encourage
registering on time but we are over 320 compared to 232 last year.
This number should double after the first week of class and pass over
700 by the end of the year.
4. RCIA – Program will start in next few weeks
K. Jill Peterek
1. Gabriel Project:
- The Gabriel Project received 13 new families into their program in
August.
- The hotline answered 64 calls.
- 4 families received new cribs during the month
- Had 7 referrals from area agencies.
- Helped 160 families with diapers
- Gave clothes to 37 children during our 10 diaper days in August.
Our Diaper Days continue to be a source of comfort and love for moms
who have no one to talk to. We listen, and listen and care for and then
listen some more. We show the moms that they are important and we
love them through their problems. Diaper Days are not just for diapers!
This past week we helped a mom fill out her free lunch application for
her school children. She did not understand it and we helped her with
the questions. We also reassured her that she is a good mother and
encouraged her to keep going in her struggles. This mom was
abandoned by her husband and is struggling to survive. Her special
needs daughter is a real challenge for her. She felt better when she left.
This is what Gabriel Project is all about.
- Pat Gittinger represented The Gabriel Project at the Community
Agency in August. She wrote a detailed report for The Gabriel
Project to keep in their resources folder. There are so many
wonderful things going on in New Braunfels to help people in
need.
- Many Thanks to all the generous parishioners who support The
Gabriel Project with prayers and donations. Thank you to Father
Tony and all the staff of Sts. Peter and Paul Parish who do so much
to help The Gabriel Project keep going! God Bless you all.
2. Rosary Guild: – No report
3. Couple Prayer Series: No report until next year
4. Sick and Homebound – No report
VII. Father Tony’s Comments 1. The Trust Fund has hit $1 million!
2. Father Don Schwarting, unfortunately, is still struggling with
recurrent health issues.
3. Father announced that planning is underway to do a bereavement
program in February, 2016. He is very interested in developing a
program to help grieving parishioners. Currently, Father sends a letter
to the family when a death occurs and calls are made by concerned
parishioners, but he would like to offer more, especially for the time
after the services are over when deep loneliness often sets in.
4. Mary Kay is receiving part-time help with the finances.
5. Father Tony will attend a priest’s training by the Archdiocese on 9/18
covering proper conduct concerning interactions with children.
6. Father noted that sometimes businesses will use our parish directory
for sales solicitations. Father stressed that these efforts are NOT
authorized by the parish, but they occur. Father informed the council
about these occurrences so that the council members will be able to
explain the situation to any parishioners who may bring this matter up.
VIII. Other Business
1. Cameras have been installed for the adoration chapel so worshipers
can see who is at the door before opening it during off times.
2. Fr. Jason Martini from our parish was assigned to St. James parish in
Gonzales and Father felt that it was a good placement for a new priest.
3. The prayer plaza is awaiting the statue and the lettering for the wall.
Should occur by the end of the year.
IX.
Next meeting will be October 1st.
X.
Mike Senneway adjourned the meeting at 7:10 PM after the closing
prayer.