MINUTES

Pastoral Council Meeting

St. John Chrysostom Church

April 23, 2008

Present:

Father Bajorek, Paul Corey, Theresa Hedlund, Kay Kelly, Mary Moody, Jean Mulcahy, Bill Murray, Bill O'Connor and Paul Woods. (Tom Felton and Jim Ryan were out of town; Barbara Weyler was unable to attend.)

Prayer and Enrichment:

Mary Moody led the Council in prayer, by reading from a series of interviews given by her cousin, Father Bill Atkinson OSA, at St. Thomas Monastery, Villanova University, about two years ago. Father Atkinson became a quadriplegic as a result of a tobogganing accident in his late teens, within his first year at the Augustinian Novitiate in New York. Despite his severe injuries, he continued his formation as an Augustinian and his theology studies, and he was ordained to the priesthood almost nine years after the accident. He spent most of the next thirty years at Monsignor Bonner High School in Drexel Hill, his alma mater, as a teacher, counselor and spiritual advisor, and he enjoyed writing poetry. Father Atkinson suffered lifelong complications from his paralysis, which ultimately led to his death in 2006. Father Atkinson's honesty and humility in answering questions about his injury and impending death gave evidence of his deep faith and hope in God, and were very inspiring and thought provoking. Mary also distributed copies of one of Father Atkinson's final poems, "Night is falling…" We are very grateful to Mary for sharing these reflections with us.

Minutes:

Minutes from the February 19, 2008 PPC meeting were accepted. (Jean will arrange to have these minutes posted to St. John website.)

Finance Committee Report:

Father Bajorek distributed a statement of the financial highlights for the nine months ending March 31, 2008 and 2007, which Rosemary Endres provided. He summarized the results, noted factors that represented variances from 2007 to 2008, and indicated that income results are on target with budget. Expenses are being closely monitored and are on target with budget.

Capital Campaign:

Father Bajorek said the Capital Campaign is very close to the $2 million mark. We have had only 55 people who been asked to pledge and have said 'No'. We sent one mass mailing to the active parishioners who had not been solicited last year, and have decided NOT to do a second mailing to this group. In addition, we have decided NOT to solicit pledges from the inactive parishioners who are being contacted by Theresa Hedlund's Outreach initiative. We are counting on people to honor their pledges, and this DOES appear to be happening. Most donors pledged over a three-year period; therefore, if construction begins this summer and we need to pay contractors before pledged donations are completed, we may secure a bridge loan.

Building Update:

The Building project is a little behind schedule (final documents to send out for bid had been due to be completed by April 7). Father Bajorek met yesterday with the key players to push to get the documents completed ASAP. Initially, the plan was to close the Church in August to do all the "dirty, noisy stuff". Father is pushing the Committee to finalize the Church closing date, as we have to be aware of the School needs in early September. Also, there are two August weddings scheduled and they need notice as far in advance as possible. Both wedding parties are aware of the possibility that the Church might be unavailable to them in August.

§ Elevator feasibility research continues: Early investigation led us to believe the cost was prohibitive (considerably higher than the $100,000 we had tentatively budgeted). Recently however we found a new elevator provider (with references for three installations in our area: one of which is Swarthmore Presbyterian, where people are reported very happy with it); this contractor may be better able to meet (or come close to) our budget. Elevator construction is expected to take 6-8 weeks. If we can finalize plans / budget/ contractor selection in time, we may be able to start elevator in June 2008; if not, then it will have to be June 2009.

§ Ceiling project is a 6-week timeframe, and may be up to 8 weeks. Builders are looking for work, so the Building Committee is trying to get all questions answered up front, so contractors doing bidding understand exactly what we need. Committee is struggling to try to include the ceiling "lantern" (beautiful, but expensive), working closely with contractors to tell them exactly what we want and negotiate costs. We may have to eliminate ceiling lantern if cost is too high. In addition, including the ceiling a lantern may extend the time that Church will need to be closed.

§ Work in the front of Church must be done in the summer months; this could occur this summer or next summer.

§ Pews and stairways are also being re-furbished.

§ Biggest negative in the construction is the length of time that Church needs to be closed.

§ Miscellaneous details: Tabernacle is moving to center where ambo is now located; Baptismal font is moving to where Blessed Sacrament Altar is now located; Open space will be where Baptismal font is now located. The shape of the new ambo will match / complement the shape of our altar.

Father Bajorek expects we will have most answers within next two weeks.

Father Bajorek also related that we need to replace the air conditioning for the Church. The new equipment has been ordered and is scheduled to arrive May 10; installation will take about two weeks, so we will not have air conditioning for First Eucharist (May 4), or Confirmation (May 15).

Update on Outreach to Inactive Parishioners:

Theresa Hedlund distributed a handout with statistics on the results of the Outreach. There were 387 inactive parishioners identified to be called, and 25 volunteer callers. There remain 40 people yet to be contacted; Theresa said this would be completed by May 4.

There will be hospitality (coffee and donuts) in LCH on May 18. Inactive parishioners will be invited to join fellow parishioners after the 9:30 Mass, where they can meet the volunteer(s) who had called them. Invitations (a letter from Father Bajorek) will go to the 30 who said, "Yes, call again" and to the 77 who were never spoken to personally (volunteer called 3 times, left messages, but never reached anyone; and no one returned the volunteer's calls.)

The 64 people whose phone numbers were wrong and/or disconnected need more research. – Perhaps pass names around to see if anyone recognizes the name, or knows someone on that street? We need to clean up database for these 64 people.

We also need to clean up database to:

§ Remove the 57 people who were called and said "No...take off registry…";

§ Mark as active the 11 who were called but we found out they should not be on inactive list (they DO attend Mass, contributions are cash only);

§ Decide how to handle the 11 "questionables" (these people may be IN the database, but are not registered?)

We will add a notice in the Bulletin periodically throughout the year to remind parishioners to notify the Parish House about changes of address, email, or phone number.

Father Bajorek thanked Theresa for all her hard work on this project from its inception, and for all her team's efforts. He suggested that Theresa and her team write up what this effort has been, for an article in The Angelus.

School Report:

Kay Kelly stated that overall the school enrollment is stable (one day last week: down 12 but then 3 new enrollments came in; so generally stable). Faculty is very good, and remains stable. Pre-school enrollment is packed. Father Bajorek noted what a very positive presence Kay Kelly is in our school.

Pastoral Council Elections:

Mary Moody distributed a handout with the timeline for the nominations / elections for Parish Pastoral Council in 2008 that she and Jim Ryan put together. Father Bajorek encouraged current PPC members to suggest nominees.

Announcements:

§ Father Arnholt will not be coming back to St. John's. After Fr. Arnholt completes rehab for his shoulder replacement and broken arm, he will probably be assigned to another parish. Monsignor Senior will continue to come for one Mass each Sunday. Father Bajorek said there is an outside chance that a priest will come in June to help, perhaps a resident priest.

§ Parish Directory has at last arrived!

§ New Beginnings (newly formed group at St. John's for single, divorced, widowed that Jim Ryan talked about at the last PPC meeting) had its first meeting in April. It went well, with 9-12 people attending. There was positive feedback afterward. Next meeting is May 5.

Coming Events:

Ascension Thursday: May 1

First Holy Communion: May 3

Parish May Procession: May 4

Confirmation (Bishop Maginnis): May 15

School Graduation: June 11

Next Parish Pastoral Council Meeting: Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Prayer: Paul Woods

Minutes: Mary Moody

The June meeting includes a social where we express thanks to PPC members Jim Ryan and Mary Moody, whose terms are expiring, and to Barbara Weyler who has resigned (she has moved and is now registered at St. Mary Magdalene Parish), and where we welcome the new PPC members.

Closing Prayer: Blessed Sacrament Chapel

Submitted by Jean Mulcahy