Pastoral Council Minutes - 2019-11-12

St Robert Bellarmine Catholic Parish
Pastoral Council Minutes
Boland Hall
September 12, 2019
Members Present: Fr Sofie, Frank Rodrigues, Rhecy Currie, Clyde Burkett, and
Amy Cabaniss.
Opening: There being no Chairperson, Fr Sofie called the Council to order at
7:05pm and began with prayer.
Pastoral Council Survey: In an effort to help Fr Sofie better understand the needs
of the Parish, a brief Survey was completed by the members present. Among the
issues identified as pressing are: (1) encouraging inactive parishioners to return;
(2) have a functioning Pastoral Council; (3) ensuring good communication
between the various committees in the parish; and (4) ensuring membership of
the Pastoral Council and the various ministries of the parish are truly
representative of parish membership and our diverse cultural population.
Revision of the current Pastoral Council Constitution: The current Pastoral
Council Constitution was approved on April 12, 2001, by Most Reverend Oscar H.
Lipscomb. Minor revisions were made and approved on February 18, 2004.
Since then, Archbishop Thomas J Rodi issued a template or guidelines for all
Parish Pastoral Councils. It is no longer necessary for a parish’s Pastoral Council
Constitution to be approved by the archbishop, provided the Constitution does
not contradict the Code of Canon Law or the guidelines for Parish Pastoral
Councils.
Fr Sofie began reviewing the current Pastoral Council Constitution with the
guidelines issued from Archbishop Rodi and revised the current Constitution
accordingly. It was presented to the Pastoral Council for review. A vote will be
taken at the next Pastoral Council meeting to approve, amend, or reject the
revised Constitution.
Officers for the Pastoral Council: Officers of the Pastoral Council are: (1)
Chairperson; (2) Vice Chairperson; and (3) the Secretary. The pastor serves as
Pastoral Council Minutes September 12, 2019 – Page 1

president of the Council. In the current Pastoral Council, no officers have been
elected. It was suggested that this Pastoral Council should be seen as an “acting
Pastoral Council” since all members were appointed and not elected by the
Parish. Elections for a new Pastoral Council, per the revised Constitution, will be
held in April each year. At that time, Officers will be elected.
Committee Reports:
Finance Committee – The report was given by Amy Cabaniss. The Finance
Committee met once with Fr Sofie. In the meeting, a history of the parish’s
finances was given. New policies have been put in place in terms of the
parish’s collections. The Committee has found ways to trim the budget as
we become financially stable. The general collections are up and the
Building Fund is doing satisfactory, but there is always room for
improvement.
Liturgy Committee – No report. It will meet on September 26.
Religious Education Committee – The report was given by Amy Cabaniss.
Religious education for the children begins Sunday, September 15. As the
Parish Catechetical Leader (PCL), Amy has reached out to families who
participated in the CCD program last year in the hopes they will continue in
the faith formation. Amy mentioned the program is always in need of
volunteers.
Fr Sofie stated that RCIA, which is a part of the Religious Education
Committee, begins Sunday, September 15.
Adult religious education was led during the summer months by David
Kralik in a class called “Coffee and the Catechism.” Fr Sofie will begin an
adult education series in October called “Apologetics 101”.
Social Committee – The report was given by Rhecy Currie. She and Fr Sofie
will meet soon to discuss the Committee and the hope is to create a
calendar of events. Rhecy too mentioned the Committee always is in need
of more volunteers for the various events.
Maintenance Committee – No report. It will meet on September 19.
Respect Life Committee (St Gianna Molla Society) – This is a new
Committee for the Parish. It will be known as the “St Gianna Molla
Society”. The Bishops’ Conference would like every diocese and every
parish to have such a committee. The Committee’s concerns will be all life
issues (from conception until natural death). Fr Sofie has reached out to
Save-a-Life in the hope of coordinating with them certain events, such as
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the annual Life Chain. The Society is open to others from the Parish who
wish to serve our community.
There being no further business, the Council was adjourned with prayer by Fr
Sofie at 7:54pm.
The next Pastoral Council meeting is November 14, at 6:30pm, in Boland Hall.
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