UPDATE ON SUGGESTIONS GENERATED FROM THE PARISH OPEN FORUM – NOVEMBER 2003

P – Items to be incorporated into the Parish Pastoral Plan

N – Items to be referred to an existing parish ministry or parish staff

S – Items to be surveyed for additional parishioner input

Please refer questions to PPC members Jack Flynn, JandMFlynn@aol.com or Pat Scotto, 610 874-4174 lpscotto@comcast.net

	PROJECTS		GOALS/ IDEAS - General
P	Improve church lighting and light windows at night.	N	Revive the liturgy energy and hire Director of Liturgy.
P	Handicap accessibility issues – parking lot and LCH.	S	One year long theme.
N	Need altar rug and altar steps padding.	N	Bereavement ministry.
N	New mass vestments.	N	Restore First Friday Divine Mercy devotions.
P	Speaker and comfortable seating in vestibule.	S	One year devoted to help poor more.
S	Renovate gym floor/ kitchen equipment.	N	Revise mission / school statement.
N	New collection baskets to pass individually / do not store on windowsills.	N	6:30 AM daily mass during Lent.
P	New Baptistry.	N	Display crucified cross at mass.
P	Replace ceiling tiles over altar.	N	Introduce names before mass.
P	Repairs to the sanctuary: tabernacle, marble, etc.	N	St. John Christmas card.
P	Replace flower stands – safety issue.	N	Ladies Auxiliary.
S	New gathering space.	P	Redesign choir seating / piano.
P	Improve parish grounds / landscaping.	P	Volunteer resource directory / on line.
N	Angel monument to the unborn.	N	Analyze demographics and meet need of each group.
	GOALS/ IDEAS - Family		CONCERNS
S	More parish picnics / carnival / fair / fundraisers.	N	Traffic Flow / adhere to signs.
S	Family faith sharing groups over dinner.	N	Traffic “police” after mass.
S	One day Family Retreats.	P	Open gate in back of church to Morris Rd.
S	Renew Program – share faith experiences.	P	Masses are too long / start late / losing attendance.
P	Invite inactive parishioners back – Pastor.	N	New money matters approach/ in memory of / in honor of donations.
N	Groups of 10 – 12 for faith sharing.	N	Improve communion procedure for Eucharistic ministers.
		P	Improve two-way communication with rectory / quicker responses.
	GOALS/ IDEAS - Youth	N	Open parish boundaries.
N	Children’s choir / youth guitar group. Have them play for summer masses to increase 9:30 attendance	P	Increase cluster interaction esp. with St. Katherine Drexel.
N	Fun service projects / religious education, pro-life issues	N	Promote getting to mass on time and not leaving before the liturgy ends.
N	Teen dances.	N	Promote proper dress for mass
N	Sunday evening mass.	N	Make Parish Pastoral Council minutes available.

N	Make 5PM mass quiet – no singing.
P	Reduce island in front of Church for better traffic flow.
P	The participants of the Sunday liturgy need to be “ready” five minutes prior to starting time in order to encourage the parishioners to be on time.
P	Focus on utilizing outside means of communication, namely, newspapers on a regular basis. Get a volunteer to do this exclusively.
P	Utilize signage more effectively; follow the Protestant churches’ example.
S	Ring the church bells – noon time, etc.
S	Lenten parish mission with parishioner witness talks.
N	Use songs dedicated to Mary at the Sunday masses in May.
S	Ring the bells at mass.
N	Sell St. John’s apparel to build parish pride.
N	Begin a Theology on Tap program for the young adults.
N	More apologetic teaching (defending the faith) during the homilies.
N	Have more than one First Holy Communion Mass.
S	Have greeters at the doors.
S	More activities for seniors.
P	Make the 9:30 mass children friendly and shorter.
N	Host a fundraiser through St. John’s Home and School Association with proceeds going to teachers as a bonus for the purpose of reward and retention.
P	Establish a standard length of time (55 minutes) for the 9:30 Mass.
	Safety issue of unsupervised CCD kids outside the gym.
	Drop in attendance of parents and children. Compromising CCD instruction time (75 minutes)
	CCD teachers are pressured by losing up to 25 minutes of instruction time.
N	Establish a Stephen Ministry.