St. Stephen Roman Catholic Church
Pastoral Council Minutes
November 28, 2007
Meeting called to order at
7:08 pm in the Stonegate Conference Room
Attendees: (Members)
Rich McKean, Rhonda Aleszczyk, Gary Sapienza, Marcia Miller, Nivia CiFuentes,
Kathy Boyer; (Ex-Officio) Fr.
Vince Orum, Sr. Bernadette Leahy; (Guests)Dennis Rooney, Sam Loperfido,
Catherine Broome, Donna McKean, two Stonegate residents
Absent: Excused: (Members)
Betsy McBride, Kathy McKenna, Joey Scavuzzo; (Ex-Officio) Fr. Ed Lipinski,
Sr. Ruthann O’Mara, George Tutwiler, Pat Higgins,
Deacon Ernie Picknally
Unexcused: (Member) Tom
Corbett
Prayer: led by Rich McKean
Minutes from the October 25,
2007, meeting were read and approved.
President’s Report:
Rich McKean
Introduction of Pastoral Council
member Nivia CiFuentes. Nivia was
appointed by Fr. Stan to the Interim Pastoral Council and has been invited to
be a member of the newly reformed Pastoral Council.
As Betsy McBride was absent,
Donna McKean attended for the sole purpose of taking minutes. Consideration should be given to assigning a
person not on the council to take minutes.
Everyone agreed.
By-Laws and Organizational
Chart: The Pastoral Council is
continuing to review, revise and update the by-laws that will govern the Pastoral
Council and Parish Ministries. For a
full report, please contact the Rich McKean.
When approved they will be available on the website and in the back of
the Church.
Meeting with Father Vince:
Rich McKean stated that he and
Betsy McBride met with Fr. Vince. Healing
is still needed. Fr. Vince suggested a
“speak up” session and a prayer service be scheduled sometime during Lent. Administrative issues should be discussed
with Fr. Vince, and when necessary, he will discuss with Fr. Ed. He indicated that an important goal of the
parish is to have a strong youth ministry and that attention will be needed in
that area. Job descriptions will be
obtained from all current employees. A
joint meeting will be scheduled between the PC and Finance Council. Goal is transparency.
Finance Report:
Report submitted by Tutwiler
was read. He will have the 6 month
report by the January meeting. Rita
Vogt is now chairperson of Finance Council and Mary Ann Meloni will serve as The
need for a joint meeting between Pastoral Council and Finance was discussed, as
well as the importance of transparency.
The two groups need to work
together, interact, and communicate with a common goal. Need for monthly finance reports was
discussed. The report that was given
out to the parish the week prior to the parish-wide finance meeting contained
incorrect information and the corrected report should be distributed. Finance Council is still awaiting the audit
results from the Diocese and we are also conducting our own audit.
Parish Planning:
Report submitted by Tutwiler
was read. The Deanery planning
committees are still working on Region 3 and 5. They should begin working on our region at Tuesday’s meeting and
the 3rd Tuesday in December meeting. Final recommendation due to Diocese by January 15th. Report submitted by Craig Otto was
read. Updates have been posted to the
parish website.
Religious Education Report:
A report submitted by Adeline
Gramlich was read. There are 24
students in CCD program, expecting two more.
There are 37 students preparing for Confirmation. Awaiting a date for Confirmation. There are 22 students preparing for First Communion. First Penance is scheduled for Feb. 9th. Only one teacher returned from last
year. There are 6 teachers including
two Sisters of St. Joseph. There is one
aide and Adeline has been in contact with Camden Catholic and Bishop Eustace
about getting aides for the teachers. Rich
McKean will contact her about asking our own high school parishioners to
volunteer as aides through the weekly bulletin.
Liturgy Report: Mary Ann Meloni
Liturgy had its first planning
meeting Nov. 17th. Ministries
involved in Liturgy will be asked to develop their purpose and objective and to
work collaboratively. Families will be
asked to light the Advent Candle at each Mass. For Advent, an Evening of Reflection and Music is scheduled for
Dec. 14th. The Music
Ministers have been informed that due to financial cut-backs only $15,000 has
been budgeted for them this year, a decrease from the $25,000 they had
previously been receiving. Thanksgiving Liturgy was discussed. There is a need for ongoing training for
altar servers. It was suggested that
some fun elements be incorporated into the ministry (pizza party, etc.) and
Holy Days should be scheduled on a rotating basis to allow for each altar
server to have an opportunity to serve.
Catherine Broome informed PC of a need for Eucharistic Ministers to go
to the Nursing Home on Wednesdays. Sam
Loperfido stated that it is difficult for the ushers to identify the families
who are having a Mass said and asked for families to come forward so they can
carry the Gifts. Next Liturgy meeting
is January 5, 2008.
Buildings & Grounds Maintenance Report:
A report from Joe Scavuzzo was
distributed. Along with Principal and
school Maintenance supervisor, Scavuzzo is making plans to re-install the
playground equipment. Need to better
define the role and responsibilities of the Bldgs & Grounds committee. We are ready for snow. A spring grounds clean up day will be
scheduled. Scavuzzo also recommends
moving the benches from the rose garden to circle between school and church to
provide a seating area that will be more utilized. Suggestions from PC and parish are welcome.
Spiritual Life Report:
A report from Sr. Ruthann was
read. She met with chairpersons to
inform them of the system for scheduling events on the parish calendar and to
establish goals for upcoming year. Sr.
Ruthann and the Young Adult chairpersons will meet with an officer from St.
Rose parish to plan a young adult program at St. Stephens. The Mothers of Preschool Children (MOPS) is
currently meeting at St. Andrew Parish in Gibbsboro until they have a large
enough group to organize a program at St. Stephens. Beginning in January, Youth Group chair, Tery Mattera, will
forward a list of monthly youth group activities and events to Sr. Ruthann.
School Report:
A report from Principal, Pat
Higgins was read. School is at full
enrollment – has 236 students plus 29 in pre-k. Christmas play will be Dec. 12th at 7pm – visitors are
welcome. Stonegate residents have
been approached about volunteering and a CAP session was scheduled for their
convenience, however, only one person showed up to volunteer. There are several projects in the works under
George Tutwiler: science lab,
playground, leaking gym roof, and making the bldg. handicap accessible. The official announcement expected regarding
the school closings/mergers. A letter
will go home to families after the announcement.
Administrator’s Report or Comments: Father Vince
On behalf of himself and Fr.
Ed, Father Vince thanked PC for their positive energy and stated he is
appreciative of their generosity of time, talent, and treasure. He suggested we continue to put the past
behind us and continue to work through Christianity and spirituality. Our goal should be to work as a team and be
collaborative. Our foundation should
always be our faith and spirituality.
There will be no December
meeting. Next Meeting January 23rd,
location to be determined. Prayer led
by Sr. Bernadette.
Closing Prayer was led by Fr.
Vince
Meeting adjourned at 9:45 pm
Respectfully submitted: Donna McKean