Pastoral Council Minutes October 10, 2017
Pastoral Council Minutes October 10, 2017
Pastoral Council Members: Bernadette Drabik (Chairperson), Zoriana Mangione (Trustee), Irene Skalij, Diane Filak, Patricia Dudley. Representatives: Jo Ann Dunne (OMPHS), Fr. Mikhail Myshchuk, Fr. Deacon Thomas Gutch
In Attendance: Fr. Mikhail Myshchuk, Bernadette Drabik, Patricia Dudley, Zoriana Mangione.
The meeting was opened by Fr. Mikhail with a prayer.
Our Mother of Perpetual Help Society: Bernadette Drabik reported that Society members continue to visit and call to our sick and homebound parishioners. A November luncheon is planned for 3 parishioners who have reached the age of 95 or older. Three will be honored: Marion Locke, Alexander Pidwerbetsky, and Nadia Sembrat, but not all will be able to attend.
Religious Education: Bernadette Drabik noted that enrollment is down substantially this year. Numerous students who are eligible, are not enrolled this year; and a lack of commitment to promptness and attendance are evident. Fr. Mikhail stated that a parent meeting may be necessary to reinforce the value and benefit of religious education for our youth, as well as to remind parents of their responsibilities to promote successful and conscientious students.
Suggestions: There were two suggestions: one suggestion was to have a first aid kit available upstairs in the back of the church or in the vestibule. Fr. Mikhail agreed that it was a good idea, and Zoriana offered to purchase and mount a first aid kit. The other suggestion asked that either the opening or closing song sung during combined liturgies be in English. It seems that both songs have been sung in Ukrainian lately, making it difficult for non-Ukrainian speakers to participate. As a possible solution, it was suggested that if the opening song is sung in English, the closing song should be sung in Ukrainian, or vice versa.
First Sunday luncheons: October’s luncheon came together at the last minute, involving foods donated by several parishioners, as well as some leftovers from the pyrohy sale the day before. The event was well-attended, and people were pleased with the food selections available. November’s luncheon will be sponsored by the OMPHS society, recognizing our remarkable parishioners in their mid- to upper 90s. December’s luncheon will celebrate St. Nicholas’ feast day. Neither Joe Proctor, nor another caterer who volunteered to help make pyrohy are available. Pat Dudley will contact Deacon Blues for their catering menu, and Zoriana will contact McGrievey’s. According to the caterers, it is becoming impossible to provide a hot meal for $10 per plate. We will need to consider raising the ticket prices so that we can continue to offer a hot meal.
Sight and Sound Theatre: Fr. Mikhail called for information for the upcoming Christmas show, which promises to be a very worthwhile experience. Due to the long bus trip, an overnight stay, plus meals and show tickets would be needed, making this trip costly. Several concerns were raised, including potentially bad weather for travel, family finances, and being an additional expense at Christmas. We wish to offer this trip as an option, but will continue to develop the idea in time for the Easter show in March.
Movie night: On October 13, the movie will commemorate the Miracle at Fatima. A possible selection for November’s movie night will be “Bitter Harvest”, which tells the story of the Holodomor, or famine in Ukraine. This movie must be previewed for suitability.
Lenten Mission: We will start planning our annual mission now, to allow ample time to reserve a speaker. Fr. Roman from Ukraine was brought up as a potential speaker, because he was so well received in the past.
Neighborhood Outreach: It has come to Fr. Mikhail’s attention that several of the church’s neighbors have experienced illnesses and deaths recently, which went unrecognized by our parish. Wanting to be considered good neighbors and using these events as a way to reach out to our local community, we discussed several options that would allow us to better connect with our neighbors. We will develop ideas that will thank our neighbors for sharing their parking spaces and driveways with us on Sundays and event days, will offer a day dedicated to our neighbors by giving them a chance to list family members and friends whom they wish to have remembered in a prayer service, which they will hopefully attend, and offer a small reception with coffee and sweets afterwards. We will target a date near Thanksgiving to promote this theme of Thankfulness.
For Christmas, we will try to coordinate with and complement existing Christmas gift-giving programs to needy local families. Bernadette Drabik will contact the Immaculate Heart of Mary parish for ideas on how our parish can help.
Clergy Days: Fr. Mikhail summarized the theme of his recent clergy days, which stressed the importance of supporting families and Christian family values, encouraging shared experiences through church sponsored camping trips or other outings, and offering ways of making divorced or separated members partake more fully in the liturgy. We will continue to develop and implement these ideas.
Father closed the meeting with a prayer.
Next Meeting: November 1, 2017 at 6:00 p.m
Respectfully submitted,
Zoriana Mangione
