September 2021 – Pastoral Council Minutes

St. Ignatius Pastoral Council Meeting

Monday, September 13,2021 at 7:00 PM

Virtual Meeting via Zoom

Present: Father Casciotti, Andrew Lacovara, Len Heckwolf, Joe Hillery, Barbara Ipsaro, Toni Moore-Duggan, Kevin Burdinski, Rene DeBrabander, Kate Walsh, Ted Engelke, and Julie St. Croix

1. Opening Prayer – Father Jim
   1. Prayer composed by Father Jim

1. “Last time” he’ll do this, as the preference is for lay members to perform more prayers

2. Pastor’s Report – Father Jim
   1. Ministry Vignettes
      1.  Fr. Jim has been working with John Odean and representatives from various ministries and groups within the Parish to film videos to attach to the end of Mass (which has started) to recruit additional involvement
      2. Enough have been recorded to last the Parish through Thanksgiving

2. CHAP meeting on school
   1. Will be taking place tomorrow (14 September)
   2. Important due to fact that CHAP approval is necessary to move forward on school plans
   3. Overall, optimistic due to the fact that there will be minimal alteration to the external features of the relevant buildings.
   4. Also received a significant amount of signatures after Mass this week.

2. Financial Report
   1. Next week, Fr. Jim will present the financial report to the parish
   2. Intended key points:
      1. Overall, we did well due to PPP
      1. Reduced costs due to the reduced Masses
      1. The Parish is comprised of four (4) “corporations” – and donations to any are subsequently furthering the mission of the Parish:
         1. Trust
         1. Radio Mass
         1. Loyola School
         1. Parish corporation (e.g., staff salaries and ministries)
      1. Does not plan on asking for more donations from regular donors until a bit more analysis takes place on needs and ability to fulfill current plans. However, he will solicit donations from those who are not regular donors for future efforts and reserves.

2. Fr. Rick Malloy, SJ
   1. Fr. Jim is currently in discussions with Fr. Rick Malloy, S.J., to see if he is able to become more involved in the Parish – to include part-time residence in the Rectory

3. Strategic Plan – Julie St. Croix
   1. The Council then began a review of the strategic plan and had subsequent discussions of progress since last discussion (~ three (3) years ago) and begin generation of new ideas

3. History
   1. Three (3) years ago, in coordination with the Archdiocese, St. Ignatius started the planning process for a Strategic Plan
   2. This plan was based on the core identity of the Parish, and resulted in the creation of five (5) pillars:
      1. Vibrant Liturgy (VL)
      1. Spiritual Growth (SG)
      1. Social Responsibility (SR)
      1. Community Building (CB)
      1. Mission Support (MS)
4. From this, a mission was established, and a list of activities was generated to action the mission and align with the five (5) pillars

3. Review of Mission Activities
   1. The group then discussed each of the current activities outlined in the Strategic Plan three years ago, and identified new potential mission activities for future discussion (Julie St. Croix will be sending the notes from this session for additional context to the Council; below are a listing of key points in discussions)
      1. Sustainable Mission Mass Schedule (VL1):
         1. Completed

• Improve accessibility to church and hall (VL2):
  • Completed

• Survey Needs (SG1, CB1, SR1):
  • Completed; St Ignatius has performed five (5) surveys, which suffices; do not want to overwhelm parishioners with surveys

• Lay led prayer at meetings (SG2, CB4, SR2):
  • Needs work – was making progress but COVID impacted this with stopping of in-person meetings; will need to rebuild

• Visitors & newly registered parishioners (CB2):
  • Anecdotally, receiving a significant amount of email from new parishioners
    • Fr Jim personally reaches out to all new Parishioners upon registering
    • Engagement will likely improve once coffee starts up again after Mass
    • However, struggles exist to retain those who attend the Parish for marriage and baptisms
      • Proposed potential solution: Further utilization of laity to develop friendships and increase involvement/build community that way?

• Reach out to inactive parishioners (CB3, CB5):
  • Not doing a whole lot in the originally defined realm of “reach out to parishioners who have been inactive for three years”
    • Virtual efforts add to this category though, so shouldn’t sell ourselves short on work in this realm
    • Deacons and Fr Watters are taking communion to those who are homebound and trying to recruit more extraordinary ministers

• Parish staffing needs (MS1):
  • Completed

• Gather data on attendance, volunteer hours, services provided (MS2) [which Julie noted is primarily about marketing what we’re doing]:
  • Started, but impacted by COVID
    • Accomplished somewhat due to metrics/analysis of surveys (sans volunteer hour tracking) – so again shouldn’t sell ourselves short – but still work to be done

1. Cost effectiveness of parish operations (MS3):
   1. Completed and Ongoing

3. Strategies and Areas
   1. Julie then reviewed previously identified strategies and areas within each of the five (5) pillars, and the group discussed this as well and provided additional ideas (Julie St. Croix will be sending the notes from this session for additional context; below are a listing of key points in discussions)
      1. Vibrant Liturgy
         1. Promote deeper understanding of the sacraments, Mass, and Scripture
            1. Parish should strive to get more people involved in this (especially women), to include the intercessions; important the laity say the names of those who have died/been killed
            1. Incorporate more music that is reflective of the diverse cultures involved in the Parish (beyond historically White music)
         1. Progress has been made on altar server recruitment
         1. Should a coordinator be appointed again to facilitate more extensive/new participation?
         1. Succession planning
            1. Could we use task forces, ministry pipelines to call more forward?
               1. Discussed current success of task forces, noted groundwork has therefore been laid

• Spiritual Growth
  • Provide more introductory information on Ignatian spirituality
    • Might be an opportunity for laity to get more involved
      • Could add onto the end of Mass broadcast videos
      • Retreat options for those who can’t commit to full Exercises
      • Develop a cadre of personnel who have completed the Exercises/otherwise willing to become Directors for others in the Parish
      • Could make a point to say a prayer to St. Ignatius or Suscipe at the end of each Mass

• Community Building
  • Probably should move “succession planning” from “Vibrant Liturgy” pillar to this section

• Social Responsibility
  • Some ministries within the Parish are more prone to this than others

• Mission Support
  • Somewhat covered due to the fact that Fr. Jim is going to delay continued donation solicitation
    • Major focus will be overall increase in engagement levels across Parish

4. Time of Parish Council Meetings – Len Heckwolf
   1. In response to a question raised by Kate Walsh about the necessity to have Parish Council meetings at 1900, vice 1800, due to the current use of virtual meetings (instead of meeting at the Parish), Len Heckwolf held a vote of all present Council members. The vote totals were seven (7) in favor of changing the time to 1830 as a compromise, and one (1) in favor of keeping the meeting at 1900.

5. Closing Prayer – Len Heckwolf
   1. “A Prayer of Gratitude for Creation” by Fiona Murdoch:

God of the universe,

We thank you for your many good gifts:

For the beauty of Creation and its rich and varied fruits,

For clean water and fresh air, for food and shelter, animals and plants.

Forgive us for the times we have taken the Earth’s resources for granted,

And wasted what you have given us.

Transform our hearts and minds

So that we would learn to care and share,

To touch the Earth with gentleness and with love,

Respecting all living things.

We pray for all those who suffer as a result of our waste, greed, and indifference.

And we pray that the day will come when everyone has enough food and clean water.

Help us to respect the rights of all people and all species

And help us to willingly share your gifts

Today and always.

Amen.

6. Upcoming Meetings
   1. 11 October
   2. 8 November
   3. 6 December