FAITH FORMATION-SERVICE-LITURGY-STEWARDSHIP-EVANGELIZATION
St. Stephen Parish Pastoral Council
October 8, 2015
“We, the parish of St. Stephen, will carry out the mission of Jesus Christ, as a
welcoming, worshipping, Catholic Community by sharing, growing and living the
Gospel.”
In Attendance: Chris Deaver, Father Larry Kolson, Father Paul Breczinski,
Jeannette Falbo, Sr. Angela DeFontes, Mary Bateman, Lisa Myers, Mary Morgan,
Duffy Laws, Tim McNamara, Janet Bitzelberger, Anne Fox
Members Unable to Attend: Drew Bonthron, Jim Kalinosky, Renee Eppig, Bob
Melewski, Laura Holland, Rob Hott, Kellie Reynolds, Mary Patrick, Steve Ramp
Opening Prayer and Welcome: Mary Morgan, Secretary, opened the meeting (Drew
Bonthron, Chairman and James Kalinosky, Vice Chairman were unable to attend the
meeting).
Jeannette Falbo led the Council in prayer and all Council members read the “Prayer for
the World Meeting of Families 2015”.
Pastor’s Comments:
Father Larry said that there was a meeting with the Archbishop about the consolidation
parish planning. The meeting took place over an entire afternoon. Father Larry was
unable to attend the meeting, but Father Paul did attend the meeting. Father Paul
informed Father Larry of the highlights of the meeting.
The Archbishop suggested that each parish gather a committee to accomplish the
following:
 to engage the parishioners and all clergy and staff to read the pastoral letter “A
Light Brightly Visible”.
 to engage the parishioners to complete a survey. There are two surveys: one
adults 18 years and older and another survey for children 11 to 17 years.
The recommendation is to take the survey online where possible.
A committee will be assigned to chart a course on how best to engage the parishioners
to do the survey. Father Larry has invited 4 people to be part of the Committee: Tim
McNamara, Patty O’Brien, Ray Colombo and Drew Bonthron. Father Larry said that if
any Council member was interested in being a member of the committee to let him
know.
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The survey will evaluate the readiness of the parish to be an evangelizing community –
Be Missionary Disciples.
Father Larry said that the deadline for completion of the survey is December 31, 2015,
but it is hoped that it will be completed by the middle of December. The data will
provide us with the tools to analyze what our parish strategic plan for the future will be
and how it will tie into our neighboring parishes and the region.
Tim McNamara noted that there are 3 parishes that did the survey and samples have
been provided of how they accomplished getting the survey completed.
The committee will decide how best to get the parishioners to complete the survey.
Minutes of the September meeting:
Mary Morgan, Secretary asked if there were any correction to the September PPC
meeting. There were no corrections.
Committee Reports:
Faith Formation: Sr. Angela and Duffy Laws
Sr. Angela said that one of the Faith Formation goals is to educate the children and the
parish on the Spiritual Works of Mercy. She commented that each week the Bulletin will
contain information on each Work of Mercy.
Faith Festival: Sr. Angela said that the Festival will take place on Pentecost Sunday this
year. The theme will be “Living God’s Mercy”.
New Program for the Children: Sr. Angela said that Faith Formation is using the
PfLAUM weekly program which means that the children are focusing on the Gospel and
all of the documents that spring from it. She said that the teachers were trained via a
workshop and the teachers were asked for their input. Their response has been very
positive. She said that one of the goals was to see if they could get parents more
involved. Specifically attending Mass would be more of a priority. She said that the
second grade program has remained the same for sacramental preparation.
Sr. Angela said that the Blessed Virgin Mary will be honored on December 6th.
RCIA: Sr. Angela said that there are 5 people who are coming into the Church. Of the
five people, one person is renewing her faith.
CHRISTLIFE- Discovering Christ: Both Sr. Angela and Duffy Laws commented on how
wonderful the Discovering Christ sessions have been. Sr. Angela said that some of the
participants faithfully are coming to set up, clean up, help with food distribution and so
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much more. She added that it is apparent that every participant clearly has a strong
desire to grow more deeply in their faith.
Parish Dance, November 7, 2015: It was suggested that we revise the wording for
costumes and add that St. Stephen Church is sponsoring the event. Jeannette Falbo
acknowledged and gave a special “Thank You” to Nicole Kalinosky who created a
Weebly website for registering for the Parish Dance. She said that the website is very
festive and easy to access. Jeannette said that door prizes will be a part of the Dance
festivities. She requested Council members help to solicit door prize donations. She
said that the President of the Father’s Club was asked to send the Dance flier to School
parents. It is hoped that some of the parents from the School will come to the Dance.
Service Committee:
Janet Bitzelburger said that the Baby Bottle Drive is underway. The annual baby bottle
drive will help the Center for Pregnancy Concerns in Essex.
Mary Bateman added that the Fall Festival is in need of volunteer. She said that the
Fall Festival date may change next year.
Liturgy: Father Paul
Father Paul said that there is a new pascal candle stand. He said that donations would
be appreciated. Father Larry said that two new Holy Water fonts have been donated by
one of our parishioners. They have been installed on each side of the main doors at the
back of Church. He said that the pedestal font has been relocated beside the
Reconciliation Room door. Father Paul shared that the Holy Water Bucket used during
Mass will need to be replaced. Duffy Laws recommended that perhaps we might
consider using the old Holy Water Bucket for parishioners to place donations.
Father Paul said that there are new altar servers being trained. He said that at this
point they are all girls.
Papal Mass: Everyone commented on how proud all of the Parish is that Christina
Massimei was chosen to sing at the Papal Mass in D.C. Her performance was stellar!
Council members suggested that our Homilies be taped for anyone to access.
Evangelization:
Jeannette Falbo
Jeannette said that the Fr. Larry and the FF Committee have decided on "Living God's
Mercy" as the theme for the Year of Mercy. The Evangelization Committee is working
to develop a Mercy speakers series. To date, Sr. Rose Mary Eve will begin the series
on December 2, 2015 with an overview of the Spiritual Works of Mercy. On January 20,
2016, May Ellen Russell, Executive Director of the Maryland Catholic Conference will
speak on immigration, physician assisted suicide and in general talk about how
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seemingly politically disparate issues the church addresses in the public square actually
are very consistent when viewed in light of the Gospel. Also we are hoping to engage
Kerry Weber, author of "Mercy in the City" (the Church Christmas gift to parishioners) to
speak. We are also planning a panel discussion with 4 very knowledgeable speakers.
ORIENTATION SESSION FEEDBACK DISCUSSION:
Group 3: Anne Fox, Mary Morgan, Lisa Myers
Music: In review they felt that the congregation singing at Masses was very good.
School: The concerns were the School and the Faith Formation families’ participation in
Mass. The children are receiving very good religious education, but they are not
attending Mass with their families. Findings ways to help parents make it a priority to
get their children to Mass is one of the major concerns.
Some of the suggestions were:

establish a platform for parents to get feedback on why attending Mass is an
issue for them (perhaps a dinner with our clergy on a regular basis)
Other suggestions were:



to have a signup sheet for children for participating in the Offertory
make participation in Mass friendlier for children
altar servers who are unable to serve should be getting replacements,
Further discussion:
Sr. Angela commented that it is definitely the parents’ responsibility to have their
children attend Mass and she has repeatedly stressed its importance to parents each
year. She added that she does see some parents attending Mass when they bring their
children to Faith Formation but many do not take their children to Mass. The question is
- why is it not a priority? She commented also that some parents will sit in their cars
and wait for their children. Father Larry said that this has been an issue for many years.
Jeannette suggested that perhaps a Faith Formation parent focus group could help
shed light on this issue. Chris Deaver suggested that Fr. Larry might consider inviting 3
or 4 couples to dinner to discuss this and other issues.
Societal Challenges: Mary Morgan said another concern is helping families to combat
societal challenges (e.g. drugs). Duffy commented that it would be good to have the
Home School Association and Faith Formation jointly schedule speaker nights with a
child psychologist speaking about addiction, sexual assault, etc. These speaker nights
could be opened to the parish as well.
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Group 4: Father Larry, Father Paul, Jeannette Falbo
Homilies: Jeannette attested to the Homilies being strong and inspiring.
Challenges:
 More efficient use of our campus space. Scout building which needs attention,
mold correction, water leak and in need of proper ventilation. Do we tear down
the building?
It was commented that the Scout building could be ideal for many uses. Tim
McNamara said that there are no rain gutters between the 2 buildings so water
runs off the roof and into the building. He added that once corrected, heat would
have to be maintained in the winter which is costly.
Duffy added that the Discovering Christ program is the beginning of great participation
in our events and we should consider how we are going to handle other events, as
participation grows stronger. Jeannette added that if we are going to target (market to)
the 30 and 40 year old age group to return or join our Church, we will need additional
space hopefully to accommodate new programs and parishioners.
Tim said that we tried a capital campaign several years ago and noted that we would
need at least 50% of the building funds before attempting to build. Father Larry
commented that in the past that we have raised 1.5 million over a 3 year period so we
would need a 3 year period to raise just half the amount needed to begin a building
project. He added that currently we are able to use the Holy Spirit facility. Father Paul
commented that we cannot think about building until we are, in fact, over-crowded.
Father Larry added that we are $17,000 behind in income the first quarter of this year.
Father Larry commented that he will be speaking on Stewardship at all Masses on
November 7 and 8 to try to improve our financial situation.
Father Larry said many religious groups seem to be dropping in attendance. On the
other hand, some of the mega churches are growing in attendance but there are also as
many people leaving.
Marketing: Chris Deaver said that we should have more presence on Facebook and
other social media. He recommended that we have more social media accounts.
Tim said that there are 2 things going on with Missionary Disciples and the Jubilee Year
of Mercy. So as a Council that advises the Pastor, perhaps our greater focus ought to
be how we concentrate on these areas.
Jeannette said that Discovering Christ series has been very successful and is a major
focus. She also said that our Living God’s Mercy speaker’s series is under
development and soon to be marketed. Also in the past, our Forgiveness speakers’
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series was quite successful and grew in attendance as we marketed the series with
Spotlights, fliers, notices in the bulletin.
Father Larry said that marketing appears more than once and perhaps we need to use
our marketing venues better to promote the concepts of Mercy and Discipleship.
Jeannette said we might consider having a marketing committee and Chris Deaver
added that we should consider hiring a part time marketing person to work with Mary
Harkins to get the word out via all social media, etc.
Duffy shared a comment from a Discovering Christ participant. She said that a person
came to her and said that when we saw the Discovering Christ brochure and the
welcoming and decorations in the Hall, she truly felt that the Parish cared about her.
Duffy added that having a higher level of marketing was very impressive and wellreceived by our parishioners. Duffy thanked Jeannette, Chris and Anne for their
marketing efforts.
Closing Prayer: Mary Morgan led the Closing Prayer with the Hail Mary.
Next Meeting: Mary Morgan said that the next meeting will be on Thursday, November
5, 2015 in the Art Room in the School.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeannette Falbo for Mary Morgan, Secretary
who conducted the 10-8-2015 PPC meeting
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