Summary of Parish Meeting for Our Lady of the Snows and St. Patrick Parish
June 23, 2004
A meeting of the parishioners of Our Lady of the Snows and St. Patrick Parish was held on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 at 7:00 PM at Founders' Hall, Waitsfield. Approximately 55 people attended the meeting.
Father Bernie welcomed everyone and opened the meeting with a prayer. He informed parishioners that pledges slightly exceeded the goal of our capital campaign and that to date the money has been coming in as pledged. The walkway to Our Lady of the Snows are currently being worked on, a new furnace has been installed in St. Patrick Church and Founders' Hall. Mike Geoghegan will soon be putting in a water free chemical toilet in St. Patrick Church. We still need to deal with the water problem in the basement of St. Patrick Church. We will soon need to replace the furnace in Our Lady of the Snows Church. Founders' Hall will also see some work - refinishing floors, bathrooms, kitchen work and outside/building work. The finance committee is working on getting these projects done.
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?
- one that is alive with vigor and energy
- active and committed parishioners with appropriate participation and staffing
- network to organize different committees
- knows and loves fellow parishioners
- multigenerational involvement
- parish activities appealing to a broad range of parishioners
- young adults present
- continuously growing
- educating; financially sound
- friendly
It was noted by a parishioner that Founders' Hall is not being used for social functions which would help the vibrancy of the parish.
Father Bernie agreed that the building is not being used by the parish. CCD classes are currently being held at the Moretown Elementary School.
How do we improve parish life?
- networking is key
- parishioner profiles - what are our talents? Interests?
- need higher percentage of volunteers
- 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 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. 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. However, it is important that the committees remain fresh; that as people resign from a committee new members should be recruited.
A parishioner questioned whether it would be possible to publish the names of parishioners who are sick or homebound in the Bulletin. Father Bernie pointed out that some people prefer not to have their names published.
The committees will be listed on the parish web site at a later date.
Father Bernie 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.