The
Pastoral Council, listed below, provides consultation to
the Pastor, reflecting on spiritual and secular issues of the
parish. The members:
-
Represent the body of the faithful, focusing on the whole community.
-
Work for a unified community vision and help the parish meet the challenge of being a Church in the modern world.
-
Facilitate full participation of the parish in its mission.
Key to the success of the Council is two-way communication. To help achieve this objective, this page contains information on matters the Council believe are of importance to the parish.
Equally important is input from the parishioners that voice their feelings on all aspects of parish life. To help this interaction with the Pastoral Council, you can send e-mail to communicate your suggestions.
Want to
send an email? Click below.
Email the
Pastoral Council
| Carl Conder | Jan Garcia |
| David Ingram | Lollie Lopez |
| Araceli Leal | Lucia Paragas |
| Sharon Reed | Susan Schreiter |
| Charles Samson | Eric Wall |
Matters of Interest to the Community
Pastoral Council Goals
The Pastoral Council has formed goals that will help us serve God by being a community open to all, ministering to all stages of life, growing side by side in service to others, and increasing our involvement in and support of our parish. The goals were discussed with pastoral and finance council members and parish staff to propose action for those matters that directly relate to the seven elements of parish life and conform to the St. Paul Mission Statement. Click here to view our goals.
Pastoral Council Meeting Minutes of April 9, 2008
Present: Father Albert, Sharon Reed,
David Ingram, Lou Paragas, Susan Schreiter, Jan Garcia, Lollie Lopez,
Araceli Leal, Charles Samson and Eric Wall.
Excused Absence: Carl Conder
Opening Prayer - Meeting opened with the singing of the “Servant Song,”
followed by the opening prayer.
Minutes – The minutes of March 12, 2008 meeting were reviewed and
approved.
Dedication of the Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral – Sharon shared her
experience when she attended the dedication of our new co-cathedral in
Houston, presided by Cardinal DiNardo.
Knights of Columbus – Eric reported that the new name is St. Paul the
Apostle Council.
Visioning – David, Susan, Lou, Araceli, Eric, Charles and Sharon were in
attendance for this informal meeting at Sharon’s house on March 30,
2008.
The visioning was based on the seven essential elements of parish life.
The members present put the ideas in categories according to the
essential elements, however, many would fit into more than one category.
The following is Sharon’s report.
Evangelization:
1. Offer a pilgrimage to the “footsteps of St. Paul.” A website will
also be created where anybody can “go along” as the pilgrims travel,
enabling those who cannot make the trip. St. Paul’s zeal for ecumenism
is realized as well. The website would be a means of evangelization to a
much wider community.
2. Hang a banner on the church building proclaiming the jubilee year.
Worship:
1. Our communal prayer is the Mass. To commemorate this special year and
help us to exemplify the charism and zeal of St. Paul, offer monthly
opportunities to foster a deeper personal prayer life. The parish
surveys reflected a deep spiritual hunger and desire to grow, and we
feel this would help meet that need.
2. Suggest a St. Paul prayer card made with a special prayer chosen for
our community for all parishioners.
Word:
1. Choose a piece of scripture for the theme of the year.
2. Invite professional speakers and/or teachers to come out for several
short-term sessions on the life and teachings of St. Paul.
3. Focusing on the Letters of St. Paul, we can organize groups to meet
in homes, similar to Renewal.
Community:
1. An updated pictorial directory.
2. In both the English and Spanish parish surveys, a wish for unity was
expressed. So we suggest that there should be a bilingual Mass at 10:45
followed by a pot-luck lunch. Other cultures should also be included.
Service:
1. St. Paul was all about self-sacrifice and ecumenism. Join people of
other faiths (possibly the Episcopal and/or Baptist) in our area and do
a service project.
Stewardship:
1. To create a wider base of participation (another survey issue)
intentionally present/teach the full meaning of stewardship without
focusing just on money. The bulletin would be an excellent tool for
“stewardship teaching.”
2. Offer stewardship fairs at least twice a year, possibly after an ACTS
retreat.
Leadership: When people “see” things happening, they will witness the
great leadership that we have.
1. Keep events happening on at least a monthly basis all year long,
keeping the momentum up.
2. Invite one or more ministries to lead/co-lead each event. That would
prevent the “same people doing everything” concern that we found in many
survveys. This would also bring people together in new ways.
Perpetual Adoration – This ministry is still struggling with many
members moving and changing jobs. At the moment there are seven open
hours. But by the grace of God, hourly captains always manage to get
substitute adorers. I believe Adoration makes our parish strong and
brings us closer to God.
May 12, 2008, 6 p.m. at Beck Hall. Snack foods will be served before the
Visioning meeting with invited parishioners. Cody to be the facilitator.
May 17, 2008, 9 a.m. at the Jan Garcia residence. Garcia family is
hosting lunch. At this goal setting, the parish staff are invited. The
more people present, the more input are collected.
Father Albert’s Time:
1. Evaluation of our seminarian, Michael Okuto is underway. His pastoral
year with us will end sometime in June.
2. We will have another seminarian this coming pastoral year (sometime
in October).
3. Father will travel to Mexico in May to find the most econominal way
to execute the artwork of the new sanctuary.
4. Philippine marble is a go for the main sanctuary, except the floors
under the pews won’t be made of the same marble.
Closing prayer – Father Albert closed the meeting with a prayer.
Dear
God,
We surrender to you our parish community,
St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church.
We release our community into your loving hands.
We surrender our understanding of how things ought to be and
the decisions that need to be made.
We surrender, to the best of our ability, our will- so that
yours may be done.
Please send us your Holy Spirit.
Only in your power,
guided by your Spirit,
and enriched by the love of your Son, Jesus Christ,
can our community be fruitful.
Give us opportunities to use your gifts to reveal your love
and mercy.
Stretch us Lord.
We will not limit your gifts by our perception of what we can
handle.
Holy Spirit, expand our capacity.
Work in all of us in a powerful way.
We want every purpose God has for our parish.