Attendees: Sylvia Catania, Alma Cortes, Steve Gaitan, Tom Leahy, Mike Kehoe, Kathy Lewis, Alicia Moral, Fernando Ramos
Opening Prayer to the Holy Spirit, 6:00 pm, Father Robert
Fr. Robert expressed gratitude for the inspiration, creativity, service and support of our community embodied by the council. Observations at January meeting led chair and Fr. Robert to suggest the need for a more methodical approach to reaching our desired outcomes. The goal is to have a three-to-five-year pastoral plan in place in the first quarter of 2026. The people and the tools to accomplish this are present. A timetable and task list between now and August were presented by the chair and accepted by all the members.
It was emphasized that each committee member does not have to do every task in the analysis stage. Members were encouraged to decide who on each committee would do the following tasks:
-Study what the parish is currently doing (youth, family faith formation, hospitality and welcome)
-Interview pertinent staff about what the parish is currently doing and the direction they would like to take around new initiatives.
-Interview at least three of those who will be served about what they would like to see.
-Interview those who minister in these areas about their hopes for the area.
-Consult with other parishes about what is working or not working as well as speaking to diocesan leadership.
-Finally, read from at least two sources.
The work by each member and their personal reflection around what pastoral priorities should achieve, avoid and improve will be accumulated as a group by each committee in the months ahead. By August, each committee will conclude the analysis stage with concrete goals and objectives in a written report that will be given to the council. Sometime thereafter, the need to present the council’s goals and methodology at arriving at the same goals should be shared with the parish so that everyone is part of the parish pastoral plan. Before and after, there will be a need for prayer and reflection as well as making recommendations to the pastor.
After the chair presented the road map, the three committees (youth, family faith formation, welcome and hospitality) met separately. Members of the committees made arrangements to meet before the next scheduled pastoral council meeting March 20th.