The Church of Saint Timothy
Minutes of Parish Council Meeting
February 17, 2010
President Paul Travers called the meeting to order at 7:35A.M. Members in attendance were Tom Policelli, Theresa McGrath, Maureen Brouillard, Bob Shea, Ned Wentworth, Marilyn McGoldrick, Bette Marafino. Ex-officio- Father Cody, Pat Piano, Pat Pruitt, Cici Baker.
Guests: Nancy Pelletier, Merton Champagne.
Pat Piano read Psalm 51:10 as an opening prayer.
Old Business: Nancy Pelletier gave an update on the CT Haiti Walk and distributed flyers on related events.
New Business: Merton Champagne spoke of fundraising ideas for the parish and his offering to help prepare food for some events. There was a discussion of reinstating the Social/Fundraising committee. Ned suggested that a coming program by the Haitian Health Foundation would be a good first fundraising event. This was agreed to. It was moved, seconded and approved to reinstate the Social Committee with Bob Shea as committee chair. The Social Committee was charged with coming up with a social calendar in the near future.
Communications: There was discussion about having a communications director in the parish to get parish happenings publicized in the West Hartford community. This person could be one and the same as the website person. It was moved, seconded and approved to get all parish “happenings” to the rectory first, then to Father Cody and then out to the parish and the community.
The minutes of the January 13,2010, parish council meeting were approved.
C O M M I T T E E R E P O R T S
CCD/Youth Group: The CCD youngsters have been a big help during Hospitality Sunday. CCD students are available to babysit at parish functions.
Liturgy/Environment/Evangelization: Pat Piano reported that the Stewardship/Evangelization committee is making plans for a Pentecost initiative to highlight various parish ministries. Mark Colbert is helping to make banners symbolizing each ministry. The Liturgy committee finalized prayers for the Lenten season as colored banners are placed on the cross at each Mass. Those losing a loved one during the year are invited to place a banner on the cross. Stations of the Cross will be celebrated at St. Tim’s on February 26th at 7:00P.M. An effort will be made to make St. Tims a more welcoming place to visit. The Environment committee made plans for Lent and ordered Holy Week needs.
The next event of the W.H. Adult Enrichment group will be on Tuesday, March 23rd at the Church of St. Helena. Loughlan Sofield will talk about his new book, Collaboration: Uniting Our Gifts in Ministry.
Joan Harovas from St. Francis Integrative Medicine Dept. gave a talk on stress reduction on Jan. 26th. Joan also met with the Pastoral Care Team. The team will be visiting nursing homes and the homebound on Ash Wednesday.
RCIA: Our two catechumens will receive the Sacraments during Easter week and will visit Archbishop Mansell the first Sunday of Lent.
Facilities/Buildings/Grounds: Theresa reported that Mark Colbert is handling the signs.
Community Outreach: Maureen reported that 180 blanket were collected in our last drive and were distributed to homeless shelters. Maureen also explained the Corporal Works of Mercy planned for each Sunday in Lent. The first Sunday’s collection, to clothe the naked, will be donating socks and underwear to needy children in some Hartford schools.
Finance: Tom recapped the 2009 budget and gave an overview of the 2010 budget. The Finance Council approved the accountant’s financial statements for 2009. The year did not see a good recovery in our investment portfolio. Our weekly offertory collection was $56K under our goal of $375K. We did exceed our goal for the Annual Fund. Total was $153K. Our assets are just under $2M, which is in line with the previous year.
For 2010, our weekly offertory needs to increase. The parish responded well to a recent appeal by Father Cody. For the Annual Fund, this year’s target goal is $175K. It is important to ask our parishioners to remember St. Tim’s in their estate plans. The budget calls for the subsidy to the school to drop to $50K. Tom emphasized that it is important to ASK parishioners for their financial help. The Finance Council is looking into plans to have contributions automatically deducted from member’s accounts. This will be especially helpful over the summer months.
Parish Life/Social Committee: Bob Shea thanked everyone for their help with Hospitality Sunday.
Website: Paul mentioned that a Jan. 26th meeting with Jim Smith, Pat Pruitt, Pat Piano, Mark Colbert and himself resulted in a new email distribution system to be implemented and an upgrade of our website. There is a need for a content manager and for someone to help with digital photos.
School Board/Education: Marilyn said that parents are continuing to meet in small groups and discussing ways to recruit new students and reporting back to the School Board.
Comments: Paul suggested that we should look at having a function where St. Tims could show its appreciation to our hard working parishioners. Paul also reminded Theresa and Ned that their three-year term on the Council expires in May and suggested that they can “reup” for another three-year term. Please let Paul know within 60 days.
Father Cody said that his donation of $500.00 from the St. Peter Claver concert went to Father Sergay (sp) . Long-time parishioner Dan DiGalbo will receive the St. Joseph Medal of Appreciation from the diocese. Father also announced that Jayne O’Donnell is retiring from her duties as CCD Director. The job description to replace her will be in the church bulletin.
The meeting adjourned at 8:45 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Bette Marafino