Summary of Annual Parish Meeting for St. Andrew Church
June 22, 2004
A meeting of the parishioners of St. Andrew Church was held on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 at 7:00 PM, St. Leo's Hall. Approximately 70 people attended the meeting.
Father Bernie welcomed everyone and opened the meeting with a prayer. He then gave an update on the parish renovation project, explaining that we are presently at a standstill. Parish members met with the Diocesan Building Commission on May 27th and presented our request for permission to commence renovations. The Building Commission approved our plans. Our next step was to obtain approval from the Administrative Board. They met on June 8th and gave us permission to proceed with the following renovations: electrical work, installing a bathroom and reconciliation room in the church and new handicap access ramps for both the church and the parish hall. The Board had some questions regarding the remaining requested renovations. Father Bernie provided them with answers to their questions and we are now awaiting their decision. We are hopeful that the Board will grant us permission for the entire renovation project and are ready to commence with the work this summer.
Father Bernie then explained that the Diocese has asked each parish to meet for the purpose of considering the following questions regarding parish life:
- What is a vibrant parish? Is this parish a "vibrant" parish?
- What needs to happen to improve parish life?
- How are we going to get there? How do we increase lay involvement?
After breaking down into discussion groups and sharing ideas, those in attendance came up with the following ideas and suggestions:
What makes a vibrant parish?
- a vibrant priest
- fellowship among parishioners
- high participation in liturgical, governance and social events
- quality liturgical services
- attendance by small children, teenagers and young adults at services
- good adult and youth religious education
- distributed and clearly defined accountability
- good turn-out at special events, as well as Masses
- strong devotion to sacramental life
How do we improve parish life?
- Find ways to support families of young children
- trained youth minister to work with teens
- parish hospitality program for elderly/shut-ins (examples: visits, do errands, read a book, etc.)
- parish welcoming committee
- provide greeters for our weekend masses
- small Bible study groups
- form more small groups/get-togethers covering variety of subjects of interest to parishioners
- more social events
- provide opportunities for "working" get-togethers
- events for children
- devotional prayer services
Father Bernie then distributed a handout on which he listed various possible committees and the topics which would be included under each committee; i.e.:
- Faith Formation
- Social Outreach
- Social Life
- Prayer
- Finances, Buildings and Grounds
He explained that he is looking for volunteers to serve on these committees and invited parishioners to sign up under those committees that are of special interest to them, indicating next to your name if you are willing to serve as a member of that committee. (He also invited parishioners to sign up if they want to work on a certain topic but would prefer not to be a committee.) A chairperson will be selected for each committee and that person will report to the Parish Council, which will oversee all the committees, more as a clearing house than an approval process. Father Bernie will oversee the initial coordination of the various committees and a list will be made available to parishioners who were not at the meeting and they will be given an opportunity to sign up as well. He noted that participation in these committees should not be a burden. Meetings will not be a weekly event.
It was suggested that people on each committee work on trying to bring in a new face - extend an invitation to someone who is not yet involved.
The committees will be listed on the parish web site at a later date.
Father Bernie then thanked everyone for coming and bringing a dessert and looks forward to helping organize the various committees in an effort to improve our parish life.