March 2015 - Saint Sebastian Parish

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St. Sebastian Parish Pastoral Council
Regular(Meeting(–(26(March(2015(((
IN ATTENDANCE: Father John Valencheck
Pat Clark-Varga, Chair
Jan Alpeter, Member
Todd Dekatch, excused
Rob Sveda, Member
Chris Montana, Member
Cyndy Cook, Member
Rich Dobson, excused
Sara Beis, Member
John Jewell, Secretary
Jim Dietrich , Member
Brandon Foster, Member
Candace Bates, Member
Fr. Ed Leonard
Call to order at 7:00 PM by Council Chair, Pat Clark-Varga.
The Opening Prayer: Jan opening prayer (St. Patrick).
Special Report:
• None.
Pastor’s report (Father Valencheck):
• Brick parking lot update – Tom Walker (parishioner) acting as general contractor. Before his
involvement there were a few mistakes, and he is involved in correcting them and getting a reevaluation of the costs. Moving forward with the parking lot is a certainty. It will probably be more
that the $450K that was originally proposed.
• Bishop and his staff are becoming more involved IF we are moving forward with the special needs
school (Julie Billiart School model – children on autism scale).
• Fr. V. gave a handout regarding the school – highlights some issues and questions and answers. See
attached at the end of the minutes.
• Starting to develop a board. Fr. V. gave the names of some of the potential board members. Looking
for bankers, accountant and lawyers (who believe in catholic mission and are not part of the St.
Sebastian community – for broad representation).
• (Cyndy) How will Julie Billiart School feel if this school comes to fruition?
• (Fr.V.) JB School is at its limit and has/does turn students away. There would not be direct
“competition” because of its location and need in the community.
• (Fr. V.) St. Sebastian Parish has a long history of establishing a variety of community programs and
eventually they spin off on their own.
• Any volunteers who might be interested in the Diocesan Pastoral Council.
• 11 parishes looking for a principal. Difficult finding people to step up to these positions.
• September Spectacular had its first volunteer meeting tonight. Steve and Holly Wilt are the chairs for
the 2015 Spectacular.
• The new painting is causing a stir. This is positive in that there is discussion among many members.
Finance and Marketing Committees:
Finance
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(Pat) Joe Ruscak, Chair of Parish Finance Council, reported the following:
1) Our parish diocesan audit is in April. This occurs every 2-3 years.
2) We had a significant discussion on the brick parking lot project. The initial estimates provided
were in error. We are reviewing the project and funding to see if we can recommend proceeding
at the higher amounts.
3) Father provided background on the Julie Billiart School.
4) This meeting was my last as chair – I will stay on through summer. Ken Contrera will transition
to the role of chair.
Marketing
• (From Michelle Huber via Pat)
• Pilgrimage Walk – Scheduled for Saturday, June 6th. Depart at 12:30 from Byrider Hall. Marcy Smith
is coordinating this with myself and Cathy Sivec
• Press Releases – These have gone out for Crucifixion painting, State Science Olympiad team, Power
of the Pen first place winner, 3 on 3 tournament and others
• Parish Handbook – Expecting proof back from LPI any day. It should be printed next week and sent
to Labels & Letters for mailing.
OLD BUSINESS
Minutes
• February meeting minutes approved and will be sent to be posted.
Other
• Discernment of Officers: Nominations
o Chair [will be Vice Chair for right now who will become Chair (July 1, 2015)]
! Todd
! Fr. V. motioned and Candy seconded. Todd will be Vice-Chair for right now and then
convert to chair July1, 2016.
o Vice Chair for 2015 [becomes chair July 1, 2016] – nominations open until end of April.
! Candy
o Secretary – nominations open until end of April
! Cyndy
Discernment of new Parish Council Members
• Nominations need to occur now and continue to March 31st.
• John, Jan, Rich and Sara are rolling off June 30, 2015.
• Pat is receiving nominations and will make contact with the nominees to see if they are interested.
Then they will be given the questionnaire to fill out for the Nominations committee to review.
• Nominations Committee:
o Pastor (Fr.V)
o Chair (Pat)
o Vice-Chair (Todd)
o 2 council members (Cyndy, Jim, Sara)
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Nomination meeting needs to happen prior to April 15th and then make recommendations to PCC.
Will adjust date due to Easter.
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o Nominations committee will meet Wednesday, April 15th in Church meeting room (basement).
NEW BUSINESS
Partners in Excellence - Weaknesses
• PCC discussed the information provided by the comments.
Pulse of the Parish
• (John) Hearing a great deal of comments on the change to the yearbook. The decision to change the
yearbook company and have an early deadline for photos was not a good decision. Parents and
students are upset that the yearbook was changed and the critical milestones in the school year are not
going to be included (e.g. Confirmation, First Communion, Graduation, Walk-a-Thon, spring sporting
events, etc.). The general consensus is that waiting until the latter part of the summer to receive the
yearbook was not a big deal (even for those who had graduated 8th grade). The second issue was that
the cost of the yearbook had also increased by $10.
• (Candy) HASA told the principal that they were not going to do the yearbook anymore. She had to
contract with a company to do the yearbook and asked the librarian to be involved.
• (Sara) Ron saw Deacon Terry and he is feeling better. He is missed at Mass.
• (Pat) Peg complimented PCC for weekly ministry article (Louise actually does that). Pat passed on the
info to Louise.
• (Pat) Dick Spangler sent a note that things are going well at the 1pm Mass. There was even a couple
who had come to Mass from the Columbus area.
• (Pat) Jane Walker (PSR teacher) was inquiring about the lack of Catholic items in view at various
places in the school.
• (Fr. Leonard) Seems as though the screen for the projector hides the crucifix. Easy fix by moving the
crucifix to another place in the room.
COMMISSION REPORTS
Please note that Secretary will endeavor to include highlights of commission reports if they are sent ahead by
email and those reported during the meeting. If items are sent ahead, please be sure that the name of the
Commission is on the report as well as the date of the report. Typed (paper) reports may be included by
reference only.
Worship:
• (Cyndy) Latin Mass servers are preparing for Palm Sunday. They are practicing a complicated route
for the Mass.
• (Candy) Children’s Liturgy of the Word are using mats now – making things much easier to clean up.
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(Candy) Music Ministry – Lynn Frey-Steward:
Sat., March 28 - this weekend - Messiah Part II with St. Hilary and Our Lady of the Elms - 7 p.m.
Sun., April 12 - 4 p.m. - Singers Company
Sun., April 19 - Parish Choir to sing at Jennings Senior Center, Cleveland area
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Triduum Booklets - this year we are providing Triduum booklets for Holy Thursday through Easter
Sunday that includes readings as well as music. No hymnals will be needed.
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(Jim) Are we going to do the 7am Mass for the summer? Yes if we have 3 priests.
Spiritual Life and Faith Formation:
• (Candy) Baptism team / class next meeting Monday May 11th.
• (Candy) Parish School of Religion (PSR) – Melane Francis:
• The PSR students and many of their families prayed the Stations of the Cross with Fr. Kovacina. We
were in Church between Masses. Our 8th graders celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation with the
day students.
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(Candy) Pre-Cana – John and Cindy Kendrick:
St. Sebastian hosted a successful Pre-Cana day on February 14th, of all days. Despite the treacherous
weather, we had 24 engaged couples attend. We couldn’t have done it without a wonderful team of
volunteers.
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(Jan) Eucharistic Adoration: Chair Marga Bohm:
There have been more people present at Adoration during Lent. After Easter the attendance usually
decreases. I can only repeat my request: We need the continuous support of our priests to keep
reminding us of the benefits we receive and the importance of spending time before the Blessed
Sacrament.
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(Pat) Mom’s of St. Sebastian was approved by Fr. V.
Parish Life:
• K of C
o Our Council sponsored a table at the Annual Bishop’s Brunch (supporting our seminarians)
on Sunday March 22nd at Landerhaven. The KOF major fund raising event of the year will be
to participate in the Ohio State Council KofC Super Cash Bonanza with winning tickets drawn
at the state convention on May 22. The Knights will be selling tickets at the international
Festival. The other fund raising activity will be the annual golf outing in late summer (date
TBA).
• Ski Club
o Ski Club is over for the year. No one was injured. Scott Reymann will continue as advisor for
one more year. Steve Borkenkircher will likely take on the role the following season.
• Scouts
o Resolved re-charter issue.
• Athletics
o 3 v 3 basketball tournament was a success. Team slots were sold out well before the event.
Gym was packed for the 3 days.
o Track and Volleyball are up and running.
o Physicals for next year are tentatively scheduled for June 2nd. Paulo Berges and his partner
have volunteered to conduct the physicals.
• Donut Sunday
o Barb Neman has recruited Rosemary Reed to be our next Chair of our Donut Sunday
operation – with Rosemary’s husband serving as her assistant. Barb is working with Rosemary
to secure a proper handoff of duties. Donuts Sunday hosts are secured thorough June ( May –
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Youth Group; June Jennifer Sullivan and the El Savadore mission troupes). Rosemary has also
secured an assistant Katy Majdanik to assist her in the effort.
• (Candy) Director of Religious Education and Youth Ministry: Cathy Sivec
Faith Lodge - Father Kovacina will discuss Holy Orders on March 26th. We will not have Faith Lodge on
April 2 and April 9.
RCIA - We are looking forward to the Easter Vigil. We have three Elect who will receive full initiation
into the church and three candidates to receive Confirmation and Eucharist. We also had three candidates
Confirmed by Bishop Gries on March 13th.
PSR - We will not have classes on Easter Sunday
CLOW - We will be using mats for CLOW each week, instead of setting up chairs. We found a place to
store them in the church basement and teachers are looking forward to using them in April. We will not
have CLOW on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday
Confirmation - It was a beautiful Mass! The teens and families loved Bishop Gries!
We’re already planning next year’s dates.
First Reconciliation - We are currently planning dates for next year.
First Communion - The First Communion practice is scheduled for Monday April 20th from 7-8:30 p.m.
in the church. Parents and students attend. First Communion Mass will be Saturday April 25, 2015 at
11:00 a.m.
Baptism - Our next Baptism session will be Monday May 11th from 7-8 p.m. in Byrider Hall
Youth Ministry - Our High school group attended the Parish Lenten Mission and really enjoyed the
speakers.
We had a Steubenville fundraiser for the junior high students last Friday night. It was an open gym night
at Byrider and also included a movie, games, service projects and snacks in the back rooms.
We are planning to host a dance in May for the junior high students from St. Sebastian and neighboring
parishes to earn additional funds for Steubenville.
The Knights of Columbus have donated $500.00 towards our Steubenville trip and have decided to rent
us a 15 passenger van to help transport our teens to the conference. We thank them for their support!!
Social Justice/Community Outreach
• Social Justice – Carolyn Varner:
• Discussion of Evangelii Gaudium paragraphs 217-258. “The Common Good and Peace in Society”.
Encouraged members to submit names for parish council.
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Regarding the Catholic Commission update, Mary T reported the commission did not meet in
February, but sponsored a forum (at Holy Family, Stow) on February 26 on the Recommendations
from the Task Force on the Death Penalty. Judges John Russo and Michael Donnelly from Cuyahoga
County, who served on the Task Force, were featured presenters; attendees also heard from two
Ohioans who had been recently exonerated and released from prison; one of whom had been on
death row. The Commission may hold the forum again, for the entire diocese.
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Faith Lodge series - Members who have been able to attend the Lenten series on Sacraments and
Social Mission have been pleased with the program and presenters, Fr Kovacina and Deacon Terry. It
was gratifying to note the attendance has gone up each week. Harry agreed to pick up/return hymnals
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for this Thurs’ program. All felt that it would be great to expand the program to allow for
consideration of the discussion questions, so that more dialogue could occur.
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Carolyn had a conversation with Cathy S about the poor lighting, etc at Forest Lodge and was told
we’d have to take it up with the city of Akron, who owns the facility.
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Book Rack - Carolyn contacted Pat Clark-Varga and completed the steps necessary for Fr V’s
approval and the appearance of the document “Being Neighbor: The Catechism and Social Justice”
from the Campaign for Human Development of the USCCB to appear in the parish book rack.
Carolyn will keep an eye on them and re-order and replenish as needed.
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Carolyn also delivered our award from the Catholic Commission and asked Cathy Sivec to display it
near the library. It is currently visible in the Ushers’ room.
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Announcements:
o 1. St. Hilary Lenten program on Islam this Wed at Faith Lutheran 7pm.
o 2. Faith Lodge program on Sacrament of Matrimony with Fr Peter and Deacon Terry this
Thurs at 7pm. Final program on Holy Orders will be March 26.
o 3. Program at St Hilary Wed March 25 @ 7pm– Faith Encounters the Ecological Process,
based on “Living Beyond the End of the World: A Spirituality of Hope”
o 4. First Friday program April 10 @ Quaker Station: Fr. George Smiga “Families of the Bible
and Our Own Families: Finding God in the Irregularities of Life:
o 5. Crown Point Ecology Center Saturday April 18 – 9:30-2:30 – program on ecology
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(Pat) Went to a Right to life dinner. Met Terry Schivo’s brother.
School
• (Jan) No report from the principal.
• (Jan) Information provided by Michelle Huber:
o Grandparents Day is Thursday, April 30th. Invites will be going home with children this
Thursday. Last year we had over 300 guests.
o Kindergarten Screening: Over 40 children came for screening Monday and Tuesday. This
year screening was done at the Center for Early Learning, and parents were invited to stay in
the library. Many parents stayed and had the chance to talk with Mrs. Isabella, Dr. Savitski,
Cathy Sivec, and Michelle Huber.
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Administration
• (Todd) Parish Foundation – Jen Ciarlariello
o Lisa Steel retired from her position and just completed training of my new hire, Rosanne
Burns. This is for the position of Bookkeeper/administrative assistant. Rosanne is a fast
learner, smart and the perfect addition to my team. We are doing very well with all things right
now.
• (Todd) Rectory Cooks – Catherine Paparella
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o Rectory Cooks currently has 23 cooks that are scheduled on the rotation and 4 substitutes that
can be called upon.
o Seems that the Lord provides—because whenever we have 2 – 3 cooks retire, 2- 3 cooks come
on board! (We did indeed just have 2 retire and 3 new cooks added.)
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(Jan) Academy of Culture and Arts: Headmaster: Adam Keeler:
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Adam is presently going through all of Judy Gillick’s files and getting organized. He wants to pursue
continuing the summer camps and Brick Street Festival in order to continue raising funds for the
Academy. He is currently searching for a vocal instructor and a percussion instructor. The
requirements are that they have degrees in music and/or are performing at a professional level. If
anyone has any leads, please forward them to Adam at his email address or contact him via phone.
His email is: [email protected]. His cell is 330-990-2839 and his direct line is 330-271-0698.
He can also be text at either number. He prefers the direct line as he associates that with the Academy
and will treat all calls to that number as for the Academy.
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Adam would also like to establish a prayer group specifically for the Academy, perhaps having
volunteers to sign up to say a rosary for the academy and its students once a week/day etc.
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He is working on getting a master list of all students and teachers into some form of word document.
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Adam would like to come to a Parish Council meeting to introduce himself.
Other
• (Pat) Found in the PCC By-laws that the Chair of the Finance Council brief PCC about the budget
before it is approved by Finance Council.
Closing Prayer presented by Brandon. Meeting adjourned – 8:45 PM
Next meeting scheduled for 23 April 2015
Opening Prayer: Rich & Closing Prayer: Todd.
Respectfully submitted,
John Jewell, Secretary
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