FR. McCLANE`S RESPONSES TO THE PASTORAL COUNCIL

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FR. McCLANE’S RESPONSES TO THE
PASTORAL COUNCIL & FINANCE COUNCIL
RECOMMENDATIONS
Compiled in response to the October 2014 Sharing Session
February 18, 2015 (updated February 4, 2016)
A. Welcome and Evangelization (recommendations from the Pastoral Council)
1. Identify individuals/families who no longer attend Mass at St. Gregory’s and have Fr. McClane send them
a simple note saying ‘we miss you’. Follow up with a note about some upcoming events they might want to
attend. Priests should make a pulpit announcement asking that if anyone knows someone who has left St.
Greg's to put their name and address down on a signup sheet in the back so Fr. McClane could send them
personal letters inviting them to come back to our St. Gregory parish family.
✓ Approved
✓ Not yet completed.
2. Include a brochure about the various parish ministries with a short mission statement and contact
information in new parishioner Welcome package.
✓Approved
✓ Not yet completed. We do have a Welcome Brochure and Annual Report available in the
Welcome Center in the gathering space.
3. Host an interfaith service to commemorate a common cause or honor someone admired by people of all
religious faiths.
✓ Approved
✓ Not yet completed. We have, however, hosted two ecumenical (Christian only) services, one
during Advent on December 16, 2014, and one for Thanksgiving on November 24, 2015.
4. Publicize unique events and opportunities at St. Gregory’s to people outside the parish in, for example,
Our Town and Robbinsville newsfeed and Hamilton and Robbinsville local papers. Great examples are ‘The
Friars are Coming back’ February 16 – 18, new Young Adult ministry, new Grace Ministry, our Annual
Blood Drive, Loaves & Fishes, the Carnival, etc. Reach out to Deacon Bill Wilson’s granddaughter,
Brittany Wilson, who is in charge of promoting evangelization through social media for Catholic parishes in
the Monitor.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed and ongoing
5. Encourage people to invite a friend, neighbor or family member to attend Mass with you. Have a welladvertised 'Back to Church' weekend.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed and ongoing. We held a Back to Church weekend on September 26 & 27, 2015.
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6. Identify an initiative, a service project, that everyone in the parish (not segmented groups) could get
involved with. i.e. making minor repairs to kitchen at St. Mary’s Cathedral.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed. The project is to expand our Food Pantry even further and make it available to even
more people.
7. Hold a special Mass and blessing honoring specific groups, and invite them to bring others who
participated in specific sacraments; i.e. godparents, grandparents, wedding party members, etc.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed partially, see below.
In January – on the feast of our Lord’s Baptism, invite all those who had a child baptized in the
parish in the last year and include a special blessing for them.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed. The Mass this year however will not be in January but will take place on
Sunday, April 24, 2016 at the 12:00 pm Mass.
In February – on the weekend closest to Valentine’s Day, invite all those newly married in the last
year, and maybe all engaged couples that are planning upcoming weddings.
✓ Approved. The day most appropriate for this is World Marriage Sunday in February.
✓ Completed. This will take place on Saturday evening, February 13, 2016. The couples will
be blessed at the 5:00 pm Mass. Then at 6:00 pm we will have a Valentine Sweetheart Couples
Dance in Ferrante Hall.
In March or April – invite all those who have registered in the parish in the last year.
Include their last names on a banner or poster that is displayed.
✓ Approved with qualification: The names may or may not be displayed on a banner or
poster.
✓ Not yet completed.
In May - invite all those who received Holy Communion during the past 2 years.
✓ Approved
✓ Not yet completed.
In June – invite all those who have graduated from high school that year. It is
easy to get those names by going back to 8th grade records from four years ago.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed. The Mass will be 12:00pm on Sunday July 31, 2016.
Have a special Mass during the summer for College Students.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed. The Mass will be 12:00pm on Sunday July 31, 2016.
8. Continue to publicize and encourage use of the parish website and Facebook page to keep people engaged
and motivated and spread a positive message. Use Twitter to keep in touch with younger people and remind
them about special events, etc.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed and ongoing.
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9. Ask the principal or pastor to write to school families encouraging greater Mass attendance.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed. The letter was sent to Academy parents in September 2015.
10. Make sure parents of small children feel welcomed at Mass and encourage them to take advantage of the
Little Cherub Nursery services available at the 9:00 am mass.
✓ Approved
✓ Not yet completed.
B. Liturgy (recommendations from the Pastoral Council)
1. Efforts to play the organ at a lower volume should be continued. The relief organist (not the 7:30 AM
organist) should be asked to lower the volume of his music.
✓ Approved with qualification: The organists must use a volume in accord with the best practices of
their art while also being sensitive to the comfort of parishioners. Organ volume also involves issues
such as participation of the congregation in singing, music education and the sound system.
✓ Completed. Please note that since the time that this recommendation was presented, the relief
organist mentioned stopped playing here at our Masses.
2. Priority should be given to efforts to improve sound quality in the church. Problems with the sound
system should be addressed.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed and ongoing.
3. Current lectors should be reminded of proper microphone technique, and the training of new lectors
should emphasize proper microphone use, so that parishioners can hear the Mass readings.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed.
4. Each Sunday the liturgy should be introduced by the cantor as follows:
Reason for change: The introduction is not part of the lector ministry. Also, it is not necessary to
add an entirely new role of commentator for these few words of welcome. Since the cantor currently
announces the entrance hymn anyway, it makes sense for the cantor to give these words of welcome.
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Give a brief welcome to visitors and newcomers once per month.
✓Approved with indicated change. Reason for change: It would be more appropriate to do this
occasionally rather than making this a regular part of the introduction to the liturgy and a new ritual
just before Mass begins.
✓ Completed.
Provide a brief period for congregants to greet each other (not to include handshakes). If an exchange
of greetings is not done every week before every Mass, perhaps it could be done on a regular basis for
special occasions
✓Approved once per month and on certain special occasions as appropriate. And handshakes are
perfectly fine!
✓ Completed (but we should do it more).
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Announce the names of the presider and deacon if they are not regular celebrants of the parish.
✓ Approved with indicated change. Reason: Most of the people in congregation will already know
who the celebrant is otherwise.
✓ Completed (but it is not done 100% of the time).
For the purpose of refocusing the congregation on the proceedings of the Mass, give a brief
introduction to the liturgy based on the readings (e.g. This first Sunday of Lent, the readings remind
us of God’s covenant with Moses and Christ’s 40 day journey into the desert).
Not approved. Reason: Much of this should already be done in the homily. Plus this would have the
danger of making the liturgy seem too much like a lecture hall and would add too much time.
Announce the entrance hymn.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed.
5. The bulletin, Father McClane’s blog, and the website should be used to provide instructions and
reminders of the acceptable and proper Mass behavior, including issues such as talking unnecessarily, eating
or drinking during Mass, chewing gum, reading the bulletin, and leaving early.
✓ Approved with regard to using the bulletin and website to do this.
✓ Completed (but we need to do more) and ongoing.
Not approved with regard to Fr. McClane’s blog. Reason: Many people have said that the priest
has taken on this role of speaking about behavior at Mass in the past to an excessive degree, and so
the priest is not the ideal person to give instructions to the parishioners about this at this time.
6. Enhance children’s liturgies so as to expand opportunities for all of children of the parish to participate in
a meaningful way. Enhancements would include giving children specific roles during the Mass, e.g. altar
servers, lectors, gift bearers, and ushers in the liturgy, as well as asking an Academy class to host on a regular
basis.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed and ongoing.
7. The practice of priests and deacons being available in the gathering space after week-end Masses should be
continued. Note: The group is aware that this may not always be feasible, particularly when only one priest is
onsite.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed and ongoing.
8. In the past, the Easter Vigil service involved more singing by the cantors of the readings. That format was
changed several years ago. The group suggested that the format previously used for the Easter Vigil be
identified and a determination be made as to whether that format is liturgically correct. If so, and at pastor’s
discretion, the recommendation is to resume its use next Easter.
✓ Approved. Please note that the likelihood of returning to this previous version of doing the
readings is low, because the lector has the role of proclaiming the readings at liturgy – not the cantor
– and the Word of God should not be changed around but should be read as written.
✓ Completed. The determination was made that in general it was not required to make any changes
to the way that the Easter Vigil liturgy was celebrated in the last several years.
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9. Use a song board so that the congregation can “see” the hymn numbers.
Not approved. Reason: The church is too large for people in the back to be able to see a song board.
10.a. Sing/play fewer verses of hymns at Sunday liturgies, particularly at the entrance and recessional.
10.b. Play more music selections at Sunday liturgies that are joyful and conducive to participation by the
average parishioner in singing.
Not approved. While the pastor and Director of Sacred Music will certainly take these suggestions
into account when selecting and organizing music at liturgy, they cannot make these
recommendations a new policy for all music played and sung from now onward unfortunately. The
reason is that it is difficult to legislate an art in this way. For example, some hymns require for him to
play a longer number of verses to complete a narrative of the story told by the lyrics. For point b)
specifically, the Director of Sacred Music must follow liturgical guidelines and cannot simply select
from one genre of music or only select music that conveys one particular emotion. Music during
Lent, for example, tends to have a more somber tone, whereas music in the Easter Time tends to be
more joyful in tone to help convey the mystery of the Resurrection. Furthermore, with regard to the
entrance song, for example, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal in number 47 states that the
purpose of the entrance chant is “to open the celebration, foster the unity of those who have been
gathered, introduce their thoughts to the mystery of the liturgical time or festivity, and accompany
the process of the Priest and ministers.” The Director of Sacred Music must take all of those
elements into account when he selects the type of music that will be played and sung at Mass.
11. Suggest that cantors LEAD the congregation in song, not HARMONIZE with the congregation.
Not approved. Once again the overall reason is that it is too difficult to legislate an art like music in
this way. At times the cantor may feel inspired to do improvisation, and it seems needless to forbid
this always as long as that improvisation is done well and in accord with musical practice. The
General Instruction of the Roman Missal number 104 says that the cantor is to “direct and support the
people’s singing.” Improvisation is an accepted practice among cantors, and it can be done as long as
the melody is being sung strongly by the others who are singing at that moment.
12. Conduct one Sunday liturgy that offers contemporary Christian music.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed. Guitarists rather than organ & piano accompany the cantor at the 9:00 am Mass on
the first Sunday of each month. This is not to say, however, that we do not ever play contemporary music
(accompanied by organ or piano) at all of the other Masses (with the exception of the 6:00 pm Sunday
Mass).
13. Provide simple instruction on the meaning of the various parts of the Mass (i.e. why we do the things we
do at Mass). This instruction might be given in homilies or as a “Did You Know…” series in the bulletin.
✓ Approved with qualification: An instruction in the bulletin will not necessarily be called “Did You
Know.”
✓ Completed (but we need to do more). The October 11, 2015 edition of the bulletin had an article
on liturgical chant, for example. Fr. Mike Hall has also written columns on Anointing of the Sick and the
role of liturgical ministers at Mass.
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14. The crucifix on the altar is large and can partially obscure some congregants’ view of the priest during the
Consecration. A crucifix should be placed on altar in the church in the same manner as in the Chapel (i.e.
lying flat).
✓ Approved with qualification. The crucifix will either be lying flat or will just be smaller.
✓ Completed.
15. Whenever possible, follow guidelines for separation of ministries (i.e. have different individuals assigned
to first reading, second reading, Eucharistic Minister, etc.)
✓Approved. Please note that this will be done “if possible.” It depends on the number of available
volunteers.
✓ Completed and ongoing.
C. Unity (Church-Academy-Religious Ed) (recommendations from the Pastoral Council)
1. Develop a communication plan between the Academy and the ministries to encourage greater youth
participation in the events that are planned.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed.
2. Link Social Concerns to the Academy to give students the opportunity to participate in the many activities
they support.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed (but more needs to be done) and ongoing.
3. Link the Knights of Columbus to the Academy to potentially have both the Knights and the Academy
participate together in one of the many drives
✓ Approved
✓ Completed (but more needs to be done) and ongoing.
4. Have Academy students adopt a grandparent from a nursing home, homebound, or hospital that they
write letters to and make cards for on holidays. Work in conjunction with the Eucharistic Ministers.
✓ Approved
✓ Status currently unknown.
5. Require more student participation in Mass. Have the upper school students (5th-8th grade) read the first
and second readings at Mass on Fridays.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed.
6. Form a Religious Education Parent Committee to support the RE families
✓ Approved
✓ Not yet completed.
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7. Have PTA and RE Parent Group JOINTLY plan and advertise a dance social event for the 5th and 6th
graders of the parish
✓ Approved (with the indicated change). Reason for change: A dance is not necessarily the best
type of social event to achieve this purpose.
✓ Not yet completed.
8. Hold a children’s rosary
✓Approved
✓ Not yet completed.
9. Jointly sponsor an event with the Franciscan Friars when they are on campus.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed. The Friars were on campus Friday 14-18, 2015.
10. Revisit the fundraising calendar and work to limit/streamline the number of fundraisers.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed and ongoing.
11. Focus on integrating the Academy and parish fundraisers.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed. One example of this is the 1st Annual St. Gregory the Great Gala that will take place
on November 19, 2016, at The Stone Terrace in Hamilton. Also, the annual Carnival seeks to integrate
Academy and wider parish as well.
12. Market and advertise those fundraisers through all channels of our parish family, such as our ministries,
Academy, Religious Education and the church.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed and ongoing.
13. Highlight a parish or Academy student with their picture in the bulletin each month recognizing them
for an exemplary achievement or act of good faith as those achievements occur.
✓ Approved (with the indicated change). Reason for change: Rather than obligating ourselves to
doing this every month, we think it would be best to highlight the students on a more flexible basis as
the achievements occur.
✓ Completed (but we need to do more) and ongoing.
D. Finance (recommendations from the Finance Council)
1. Develop a sustainable plan to reduce the subsidy to the Academy from church funds.
✓ Approved
✓ Not yet completed.
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2. Develop a capital improvement plan funding strategy to convert the chapel/church basement into useable
space for parish activities.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed.
3. Develop a communication plan to inform parishioners of the need for reliable weekly collections to
support all of the parish activities.
✓ Approved
✓ Completed and ongoing.
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