January 17, 2021
Pastoral Council Minutes
Members Present: Fr. John Kurgan, Fr. Matthew Rawson, Brook Gleasman, Thomas Griffith, Lola Gualtieri, Claude Pilon, Karen Markoff, Carl Thomas, William Leiker, Kira Reed, Kenneth Kirkman
Members Absent: Mark Bentz, Cookie Dunham (Linda Cadaret & Bob Macrone- tried but difficulty getting into Google Meet)
Opening Prayer
Brook Gleasman led the opening prayer.
Meeting was called to order by Brook at 9:11.
Minutes of March 1, 2020
Motion to accept minutes by Karen Markoff. Second by Lola Gualtieri.
Minutes unanimously accepted.
Old Business:
Ann Wright discussion about recognizing her years of service. Some members said they thought she had been Pastoral Council President for 27 years. Council discussed recognition and longevity. The plaque will be placed in the entry and will also recognize past presidents. Karen suggested a plaque, and Father John said he would investigate and bring back prices to Council. Karen moved the Council authorize Fr. John to investigate purchase of a plaque that will commemorate years of service of Pastoral Council Presidents. Kira seconded the motion. The vote was unanimously in favor of the motion.
Election of Pastoral Council Membership. Brook asked Tom if he had a matrix of Council terms of service and those coming up for election. Tom did not have it, but will send out to everyone, and he stressed the intent of staggered elections to prevent all members from exiting at once without provision of someone on the Council with history of process and past actions. Karen mentioned the Diocesan Pastoral Council has postponed election for the year based on Covid which has shut councils down, meaning elected members did not serve a full term of meetings and action steps. Karen moved Holy Cross Pastoral Council postpone election of members for a year due to Covid. Lola seconded the motion. Unanimous vote to accept motion.
Stewardship Campaign- obviously stopped with Covid. Fr. John to follow-up with Jack Kearns to get a final report from him. Tom and Kira suggested we establish yearly communication reminding parishioners of inflation, tax increases/benefits, etc. to continue increases in our parish offerings. Karen commented on the need to not universally keep asking those who are giving to keep giving more, but to appeal to those who are not providing any or enough support for maintenance of all of parish services. Claude said 60% of registered parishioners give less than $100/per year in support of the parish.
New Business:
Discussion of congratulations and regrets to Fr. Matt for his new pastoral appointment for the parish linkage of Christ our Hope in Northern Oneida County. As of February 1st, he will be reassigned to the linked parishes of St Josephs in Booneville, St Patrick’s in Forestport, and St Mary of the Snows in Otter Lake. Pastoral Council sends good wishes, and Father Matt we love and will miss you.
Father John Updates
Thank you to Bob Macrone, Nina Walters, school staff and maintenance at Holy Cross School. The sanitation and practices during the pandemic have allowed us to stay open, only one day of school closure. Hats off to the staff, parents and students.
Hope Appeal- we are over our goal of $101,000. Bishop Lucia has said parishes will keep their overage above the Appeal this year to help offset Covid costs. That said, our parish will have about $50,000 at the present time.
Diocesan Reorganization- As we know the diocese entered into bankruptcy, and this has produced a need for parishes to collectively work for protection of their interests, so they have contracted with two attorneys to represent all individual parishes and agencies (such as Catholic Charities, Neuman Center, etc.). Fathers Joe O’Connor and John Kurgan are the co-chairs of this committee. One of the attorneys is from Rochester- Tim Lister, and the other is from Idaho- John Ford Alsayser. Both attorneys specialize in representing parishes and diocesan entities. The bar date for bringing claims against the diocese was set for April 15, but individual claims could be brought against specific parishes or entities after this date. Fr. John anticipates it could take a year for the committee that has been set up to review claimants’ cases and allocations. Allocations will be negotiated for just reward and paid through insurance and diocesan monies. At this point, we have no claims against St. Mary’s in Jamesville or Holy Cross in Dewitt.
Parishioner return to mass- both priests are pleased by the return numbers as we have been able to increase capacity of parishioner return. The 4:00 mass yesterday had over 130 attendees.
With Fr. Matt going, how will we keep masses going? Fr. John explained we will return to schedules before Matt’s appointment to us. He will be saying most masses but will have the continued support of Fr. Vavonese to say at least one daily mass per week and to assist for weekend masses. In the event Fr. John were to get Covid (and he has taken first vaccination), we would try to get coverage by another priest, or in the worst scenario- revert to onsite mass or virtual mass attendance at another parish until Fr. is able to return. Tom said he hopes virtual masses continue as an option after Covid, but Fr. John stressed that there is no replacement of the in-person Mass and receipt of Communion. Father did say the virtual capabilities have allowed family members who could not travel or to be present for weddings and funerals, and he sees this virtual capability continuing.
Committee Updates:
Communication-Lola: Lola has new laptop that she is learning to use and requested assistance in sending a summary of today’s minutes to Dan and Peg. Karen volunteered to do this.
School Relations- Karen: Karen Met with the principal of Holy Cross, Bob Macrone on Friday. The school has to complete a Middle States Accreditation Audit by the end of the school year. Karen will be meeting with Bob every two weeks, so we can complete this and submit it to the diocese before the end of the school year. Other than that, Karen said Bob is very positive and doing a great job of identifying curriculum and instructional practices that can improve our students’ achievement at Holy Cross School. Kira added she is pleased that Rena who is doing Catholic virtual instruction is maintaining her Holy Cross position and the alignment of instruction is consistent between the two offerings.
Parishioner Engagement- Karen- Fr. John and Karen met to discuss supporting the return of our parishioners as the church capacity limitations and restrictions are eased in coming weeks. Additionally, we need to note this committee will be called the Hospitality Committee in the future, grounding its work in efforts to promote Catholic faith and Christ’s teachings. The main purpose of the Hospitality Committee is to reach out within our parish community to build relationships and supports that enrich our Holy Cross capacity of service. Reminder: Council and Church staff members to be included on this committee are: Karen, Cookie, Claude, Carl, Beth Schafer. In addition, we will put an invitation in the bulletin for parishioners to volunteer for this committee. Karen will meet with Fr. John to establish a future date for the Hospitality Committee to meet.
Trustee Updates: Claude-The fiscal year was July 1-June 30. We are down about 7%. The Christmas offering this year was $36,000. Last year it was $46,000. We were down about 9.5 % from last year. Expenditures are holding. $578,000 spent each year. There was a reduction in staff, but it was offset by the need for new fences at the rectory and the need to take trees down. Overall, we are down about $103,000. $50,000 that we get back from the Hope Appeal will offset the deficit. We are not as bad as could be during this difficult year. We recovered almost 100% of our investments. We will be impacted a little, but we are holding. Father also said he really thanks the congregation for its offerings. Claude said we have increased the number of online offerings by 50% over the previous year. Father mentioned he applied for the parish for the PPP loan and is will be following up with the PPP Loan Forgiveness Application.
Next Meeting
Brooke suggested we set our next meeting for March 21, two months from now as we are still limited on our committee work. Karen moved our next meeting should be scheduled for March 21 at 9:00 (virtual or onsite depending on Covid restrictions). Lola seconded the motion. There was unanimous approval.
Closing Prayer
Brook led the closing prayer.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:01.