Parish Pastoral Council

- Enhancing our Parish
Minutes of Parish Pastoral Council Meetings

Minutes from all Pastoral Council Meetings shall be posted on the website after acceptance at the following general meeting. All written reports, as well as Meeting minutes, shall be available for review at the rectory office during regular business hours.
Meeting Notice

The Parish Pastoral Council will hold their next meeting on Wednesday, July 25 at 7:00 PM in the Convent Bldg. Meetings are open to all parishioners, however, parishioners who wish to address the Council must submit, in writing, the topic of discussion along with their name and contact information. This information should be submitted to the Council Chairperson, c/o the Rectory, at least 15 days prior to the meeting. Minutes of all meetings are available for review after they have been accepted at the rectory and on the parish website. Written committee reports shall only be available for review at the rectory office during regular business hours.

                 Parish Unifying Statements

Mission Statement:
     St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church is called to foster a welcoming community, to
            form disciples for Jesus Christ and to joyfully evangelize.

Unifying Vision:
    Walking together with Christ, igniting the Spirit within, living God’s Call

Goals:
    *Create a welcoming environment in all aspects of parish life
    *Provide opportunities to grow in knowledge, love & appreciation of the rich
           tradition of our Catholic faith and sharing the Good News of Christ through
           word & deed
   *Cultivate viable & relevant ministries to form disciples of Jesus Christ
*Implement & support the plans of the Ninth General Synod of the Archdiocese of
          New Orleans
                      2018 Transition Team

Ex-Officio Members (6):
Fr. Chris DeLerno, Pastor; Fr. Vincent Phan, Parochial Vicar; Deacon Chuck LeBlanc; Valerie Rodriguez, School Principal; Linda Earle, Parish School of Religion Coordinator; Susie Sullivan, Parish Coordinator

Representative Positions (7):
Lorraine Mylie - Parish Unity Ministry: welcome parishioners to parish as well as to
         parish events; coordinate events which promote unified parish community
Mark Fleming - Faith Formation: plan & implement activities/events to enrich the
         spiritual life of the parish
Jack Biven - Discipleship: work with parish ministries & organizations to promote
         cooperation & support to one another; help develop new ministries where there
         is a need
Kelan Madore - Communications & Social Media: handling all parish publicity thru
         use of the bulletin & website, etc.
Jennifer Edwards - Finance & Stewardship: oversee major parish financial projects,
        reviewing and approving all budgets and passing upon all expenditures; promote
        parish online giving options; coordinate any parish fund raisers (except the
        Annual Fall Festival) or capital campaigns
Mike Condon - Maintenance: provide a preventative maintenance routine;
       investigate the needs for any repairs, reconditioning or replacement of any parish
       property and correct said needs within the limitations of the current budget
Jody Moreau - Archdiocesan Synod: coordinate information from following
       committees: Social Justice; Respect Life; Marriage & Family Life; Evangelization;
       Disabilities; Vocations

3 Parishioners-at-Large/2 Appointed Parishioners:
      Judy Scholzen, Charlotte Bourgeois, Deborah Bradbury, Charlie O’Malley,
      Kevin Burke

Elections & New Appointments to take place in November 2018 in order for Formal Parish Pastoral Council to be installed in January 2019.
January Meeting Minutes-accepted 4/18/18

St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church
Parish Pastoral Council
January 24, 2018
Minutes

The meeting started at 7pm.

Opening Prayer by Fr. Chris DeLerno. Opening prayers for future meetings will be the
responsibility of the Adult Faith Formation representative.
Members Present: Fr. Chris DeLerno, Fr. Vincent Phan, Deacon Chuck LeBlanc, Valerie Rodriguez, Linda Earle, Susie Sullivan, Lorraine Mylie, Mark Fleming, Jack Biven, Kelan Madore, Jennifer Edwards, Jody Moreau, Judith Scholzen, Charlotte Bourgeois, Deborah Bradbury, Charlie O’Malley, Kevin Burke
Members Absent: Jim Heneghan, Mike Condon

Election of Officers
Chairperson-Lorraine Mylie
Vice Chairperson-Charlotte Bourgeois
Corresponding Secretary-Jack Biven
Recording Secretary-Judith Scholzen

Presentation of new Bylaws
Bylaws were reviewed and corrections noted. Revised Bylaws will be amended by Susie and emailed to Council members before the next Parish Pastoral Council meeting. They will be ratified at that time if no furthers corrections are needed.

Committee reports
Parish Unity-see attached report. Suggestion box cards are collected by Susie and distributed to appropriate committee or person. Results are printed in Bulletin and on Website.
Faith Formation-see attached report. Report to include 4 part series on Mary, the Mother of God in September facilitated by Judy.
Discipleship-see attached report. Acolyte Jim will become involved in forming a new Bereavement Ministry after he is ordained. Until that occurs, those who signed up @ Ministry Fair have been contacted and a meeting date with Jim will be arranged so that discussions may start. Meeting date will be posted on website and in bulletin so any other interested parishioners can attend.
Communications/Social Media-see attached report. The eCatholic training will be facilitated by Kelan and he will send emails about the date once it has been set.
Finance/Stewardship-see attached report. Parish diocesan assessment will be decreased as of 7/1/18. There will also be a decrease in the Parish flood assessment as of 7/1/18. There was discussion about keeping the parishioners informed on a regular basis of the parish financial status and also, all that we have accomplished over the past 2 years.
Maintenance-see attached report.

Archdiocesan Synod-see attached report. Jody will work with Fr Chris to set up a class for the Parish Pastoral Council with John Smestad on the roles of newly formed pastoral councils. Brother Steven, from the Arch. Retreat Center also offers a pastoral council retreat. Fr. Chris will contact him for further information.
School Report-Valerie reported that new registration is ongoing and current enrollment is 225 students-up from 215 last year. This is the first year enrollment has gone up since Hurricane Katrina. The school no longer has Open House because personalized tours are given by the school principal. The Men’s Club and the Knights of Columbu s have been active in helping to maintain and add to the school property.
Executive Committee/Pastor’s Report-Fr. Chris is going to discuss with the Sunday 6pm Mass attendees the possibility of changing the Mass time to 7 pm. His desire is to have a more youth oriented Mass with contemporary music. There are no other churches in our area that offer a 7 pm Mass.
Discussed having Very Rev. David Caron, OP, come to SMM to give presentation on Evangelization. This will be offered to all interested parishioners. Fr. Chris will arrange date with Fr. Caron. See attached flyer.
Alpha/Christ Life programs and Small Faith Family groups was also discussed. We currently have Come Lord Jesus groups that started with one group and have now expanded to 3 groups. Fr Chris and Charlie will meet to discuss if those meetings could be incorporated into Small Faith Family Groups. Judy will reach out to the LaPlace parish that will be starting an Alpha program to see how they are planning it and what kind of response there has been.

New Business
There was an emergency in Massett Hall earlier in the month. The AED(Automatic External Defibrillator) that was located in the school was used to save the person’s life. It was noted that we need to have AEDs in each building on the campus. Valerie is working with the Parents’ Club president to order defibrillators and arrange for CPR training sessions(s). Several organizations have volunteered to fund some of the cost.

Closing Prayer by Fr Vincent.
Meeting adjourned at 8:50 pm.
Next Meeting will be on Wednesday, April 18, 2018 in the Convent Building.
Respectfully submitted,
Judith Scholzen, Recording Secretary