Town Meeting Report for St. Andrew Parish
A Meeting of Parishioners of St. Andrew Church held on Wednesday, June 12, 2002 at St. Leo's Hall, Waterbury
Father Bernie opened the meeting around 7:00 PM, immediately following a delicious Pot Luck Dinner with a summary of what has happened in the parish during the past year.
Sacraments
Since our meeting last year in June of 2001 there have been:
- 21 Baptisms
- 16 Funerals
- 4 Weddings
- 15 Confirmations (2 adults)
- 21 First Communions (5 adults)
Religious Education
We have had two sessions of adult classes during the past year with approximately 50 people attending the Fall session and 35 attending the Spring session. Three people were brought into the Church.
There were a total of 148 children registered in our religious education program during the past year for Grades 1 through 10. We have 18 teachers and classroom aides.
We have a strong religious education program. Parents are supportive and help out wherever they can.
Mass Attendance
Approximately 225 - 250 census cards were completed and returned (representing registered households in the parish).
When the school year is in session, it is difficult to find a place to sit at the Sunday morning Mass. Our church can seat approximately 288 people downstairs and 30 upstairs. On average, 150-160 people attend the Saturday afternoon service. Therefore, approximately 400 people attend Mass every weekend.
Our 125th anniversary celebration last November was a wonderful evening. The anniversary Mass was beautiful, the meal was delicious, and attendance was strong. The new parish sign has been very well received.
Our parish has a strong liturgical presence; people are involved, participate and pray together; it is a wonderful gift that we have. There is a strong sense of community.
The music at our services is meaningful. Our Holy Week services were impressive.
Social Action
Father Bernie listed some examples of activities our parish has participated in during the past year, including strong support for our local food shelf and Good Neighbor Fund by way of food and monetary donations as well as volunteers workers. Food and money collections at our Thanksgiving Day Mass have been impressive. We support Crop Walk. Our youth group delivers meals to shut-in, visits nursing homes; send boxes of requested personal care items to a mission in India annually; students in our religious education program participate in several community outreach events annually. Our Knights of Columbus provide lunches for the Special Olympics every year. We are an involved parish and we work well together. We are a truly blessed parish.
Financial Picture
Father Bernie distributed an Income and Expense Statement for a two-year period, a copy of which is attached hereto and incorporated into the minutes of this meeting. He went on to provide the following information pertaining to expenses:
- St. Andrew Parish is responsible for one-half of the priest expense and the two Valley parishes are responsible for one-half.
- The Christmas Bonus (which is given to the Pastor) and Diocesan Support (a fund created to help struggling parishes in the Diocese), each represent 20% of the total Christmas collection. The remaining 60% of the Christmas collection stays with the parish and is included in the Sunday/Holy Day collection amount.
- The Priest Benefit Fund and the Diocesan Assessment expenses are each 7% of the collection and are paid to the Diocese quarterly.
Roger Fraser noted he was glad to see we have a line item for music. Father Bernie explained that although Roger Haigh has refused to accept payment for his services, we now pay Penny Arslanian.
Anne-Marie Nichols questioned why the Priest Expense was less this year than last year. Dianne Bilodeau, bookkeeper, explained that last year's figures included one month's salary for Father Bernie's predecessor, Father Ritchie, for the month of June, 2000. (Father Ritchie's monthly salary was greater because of his longer years of service.)
Father Bernie then introduced Roger Fraser and explained that Roger serves as contact person for the parish whenever work needs to be contracted out. Father Bernie expressed his gratitude to Roger for the many hours he has volunteered to the parish. Roger provided the following information regarding work done during the current year on buildings and grounds:
| Church | 10,652 | |
| repaired ceiling in Church | ||
| structural repairs and steeple work | ||
| new ceramic tile floor in vestibule of the church | ||
| Rectory | 7,468 | |
| repaired roof | ||
| installed two new garage doors | ||
| painting and wallpapering offices | ||
| Parish Hall | 9,848 | |
| purchased room dividers | ||
| painted classroom walls and flooring downstairs | ||
| New Parish Sign | ||
| Total collected from donations | 6,075 | |
| Total expenses | 5,983 | |
| Excess | (92) | |
| General Grounds Maintenance | 700 | |
| tree removal on parish property |
(Father Bernie explained that the money used for the room dividers came from money received from the Alice Howland Estate.)
Father Bernie pointed out that although we spent more than we took in over the past 12 months, the good news is we still have over $88,000 in cash and savings.
Future Prospects
- New handicap accessible entrance to St. Leo's Hall. Roger Fraser is heading up this project. We have been in contact with the State Agency and plans are now in the works. We are presently trying to find contractors willing to give us a bid on this project. The one bid we have received so far is around $30,000.
- Some windows need to be replaced in the Rectory. We will work on getting this done, a few at a time.
- Father Bernie would like to look into the possibility of renovating the Church; i.e.,
- put in a bathroom
- install a sink in the sacristy
- paint inside of the church
- remove paneling in the sanctuary
- refinish wood flooring under pews
- restore pews and kneelers
- upgrade our speaker system
- clean or refinish floor in balcony
- restore the outside of the building
The Finance Committee will be reactivated this Fall and will start to work on these and any other items which need to be addressed. It is Father Bernie's hope that a year from now the committee will be in a position to present a list of what we want to accomplish and how much it will cost.
Judy Woodruff asked whether the bell is still in the steeple. Father Bernie explained that it is still up there; however, it cannot be rung. When repairs were made to the steeple it was determined that the bell was too big for the size of the steeple and actually contributed to the deterioration of the steeple because it hit the sides of the steeple every time it was rung. It was decided that it would be too costly to remove it, so it was disabled and left there.
Challenges
Father Bernie observed that it is often the same people who do a lot of the work when special events or projects come up. It is sometimes difficult to get people to help out. An example of that is the International Dinner. Although appeals for volunteers were made several times, the International Dinner was canceled due to lack of help. He acknowledged that people are busy, young families have a lot of other commitments which take up their time. Suggestions from parishioners included perhaps staggering events every other year; posting a schedule of the year's events well in advance; have an information night so people could come out and learn more about the different ways they can get involved; conducting a survey, perhaps in the Fall, to find out what people are interested in; organizing a welcoming committee -- sometimes it is difficult for new people coming into the parish to join in.
Roger Fraser observed that there are a lot of new faces in Church. When a new family joins, could they be introduced to the congregation?
Connie Zack suggested expanding the weekly bulletin to include new parishioners, baptisms, weddings, list of the sick.
Sherry Hermanowski questioned how much we depend on fundraisers like the International Dinner and annual Lawn Sale.
Father Bernie acknowledged that the amount of money generated does not have a big impact on the parish's budget.
Lynn Bergeron pointed out that at our anniversary celebration a lot of people volunteered to help in many ways and a lot of people attended the event.
Tom Beardsley commented that the parish web site is very informative. He questioned whether we shouldn't establish a data base and use e-mail as a way to solicit volunteers for special projects.
Susan Wilson provided information on an informal group of parishioners who gather together to make Rosaries to send to missions in India. She invited anyone interested in learning more about the group to contact her.
Gina Callan expressed her appreciation for the pot luck dinner held before the meeting and hopes to see more of these types of get-togethers.
Rolland Lafayette mentioned that we will have our annual Parish Picnic again this year but it will be held on the parish grounds instead of Father Logue's camp. Father Bernie proposes to hold it the last weekend in August. Watch for more details about the Parish Picnic in the weekly bulletin later this summer.
It was acknowledged with gratitude that Grace King made the wall hanging of the Lord's Prayer for St. Leo's Hall and Roger Hamel had it framed.
Father Bernie stated that he continues to be impressed with what we do here and is happy to be here with us. Dr. Felix Callan responded with “We feel blessed because you are here Father Bernie”, which was followed by a resounding round of applause.
In conclusion, Father Bernie will:
- conduct a survey this Fall in an attempt to involve more people
- conduct a lecture series for adults this Fall
- present his Crash Course in Catholicism again this winter
- reactivate the Finance Committee
Meeting adjourned.
Dianne Bilodeau, Parish Secretary
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