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LOCAL PLANNING GROUP MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 8, 2007
HELD AT ST. AMBROSE CHURCH, LATHAM, N.Y.
PARISHES REPRESENTED:
St. Ambrose
Our Lady Of The Assumption
St. Pius X
St. Clare's
Our Lady Of Mercy
St. Francis de Sales
SISTER ANNE: Tonight's meeting is to look at
how we can be able to all function and look at the
church as one, how all of us can be able to really
say how we can be able to serve, and be served, and
really take a look at it. So, the process
tonight -- and you're stuck with me for a couple of
weeks I guess whether you like it or not -- my name
is Sister Anne Bryan Smollin. We are going to take
you through this and we're going to make it
happen...
We are going to look at this in a variety of
ways. And as we start tonight to look -- you have
already been together and I've not been with you
during those other meetings -- but you've been
together and some of you had gathered some other
types of materials. We'll start tonight by kind of
bouncing from there and seeing where we go. So,
it's going to be a time to look at how we can make
the church better in many, many ways. And it
belongs to all of us to be able to do that. It
doesn't belong to one person, it doesn't belong to a
person who's called a pastor, it belongs to all of
us because we are all church and we all have to own
this. So, in one sense it's a privilege for all of
us to be able to look at this; in another sense it's
a real responsibility as we all start and really own
this, all right.
Some of you already have all of the dates that
we will be gathering. There is one change in March,
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it goes to March 5th, and that's the only change.
But outside of that you should have the dates till
December. We didn't do all eighteen months.
The other thing is we think that you're an
accelerated group, and maybe we could do this in
different levels or ways. So, we're going to do it
so it meets the needs of all of the people who are
present as we all gather here.
For those of you that have the participant's
guide, maybe you could share that with the people
that you're sitting next to; and for those of you
that don't, don't worry, we'll fill in the spaces
and we'll make all of that happen.
As we look at it though, we're supposed to
begin with the song called "Called To Be Church."
Now, perhaps you know that much better than I; and
if you do, that's wonderful and you can sing louder
than the others. And for those of you that don't
know it as well, I borrowed a tape of it. So, I
thought as we begin tonight, we could begin with the
song that was commissioned for this whole process
called "Called To Be Church."
("Called To Be Church" was played and sung by
the group.)
* * * * *
(The group as a whole now separated into groups
of six, all number ones gathered at one table,
number twos at second table, et cetera, until six
groups were formed, one group of six at each of six
tables.)
A 3-page Parish Profile Composite 12/07 was
distributed to each participant.
SISTER ANNE: Now, my focus here is to have a
mixture of parishes and I don't care what parish
anybody is from. But would you now just introduce
yourself.
(Introduction of members followed.)
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SISTER ANNE: Let us begin with the scripture
reading so that we open up our minds, let's open up
our hearts to the word of the Lord. So, I would ask
this table if they would take the prayer and be able
to kind of center us for a few moments before we
begin.
(Luke, Chapter 9, vs. 18-20, was read by
various participants.)
PARTICIPANT: (Reading) Our response to the
question, "Who do you say that I am," is reflected
in everything we do. It is good to think about how
we see God influencing our daily thoughts, words,
and actions. Our answer to this question is visible
in our presence here at this meeting. It will
continue to be reflected in our efforts and our
goals of this process. But first and foremost the
answer to this fundamental question of faith is a
response to how each of us sees ourselves in
relationship with God, and how we believe God sees
us, both individually and collectively. Our
response to this question as a group will ultimately
influence the church for this Local Planning Group
and our Diocese of Albany, when we arrive at the
conclusion of this planning and the recommendations
phase of our ongoing pastoral planning process in
June of 2008.
SISTER ANNE: Let me ask you to reflect on
these questions for a moment:
What is my response to Jesus' question, "Who do
I say that I am?"
By what names do I refer to Jesus in my prayer
and in my conversations, and why?
How does my perception of Jesus influence my
daily life?
What terms do I think Jesus would use in
speaking with or about me, and why?
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These questions can help us begin to be
centered on the focus of what we would like to do
tonight. So, for the next few minutes I'm going to
ask you within the table that you find yourself
would you share any piece of those reflections --
and I'll just quickly summarize those questions
again. And then any piece that you feel free and
want to share -- and please if each person could
have some type of sharing so that we can kind of
start to look at ourselves...
Would you please just share any type of
response within that table?
(A discussion was held among each table for
approximately ten minutes.)
SISTER ANNE: It's terribly important to us
that we look at what our relationship is with Jesus
as we start our part of the process. That's very
important that we look at who we are in relationship
to Jesus and who Jesus really is for us.
The next part of this calls us to really look
at how those gifts are defined. We need a skill, a
skill all of us have used. There's a skill that
teaches us how to listen to each other and form our
ideas and become very creative. There's a skill all
of us have learned called brainstorming...
I'm now going to ask you for one minute of your
life. I'll put a piece of paper in the middle of
every table. So, would one person at each table
become the reporter for the table? And this is
going to be what we are going to do for the next 60
seconds. We're going to brainstorm something and
I'm going to play one group against the other. And
I want to see which group comes up with the most
ideas. So, at the end of this time I want each
group to count up the number of things on your list.
I want to see which one of these six groups can come
up with the most ideas in 60 seconds. And the rule
of brainstorming again says anything that gets
thrown out must be put on that list. You can't say,
no, that won't work. You have to show everything.
So, everybody knows who the reporter is at the
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table?
Right now for the next 60 seconds I ask you to
brainstorm every possible conceivable thing that a
bathtub can be used for -- a bathtub.
(Brainstorming session followed for 60 seconds,
after which each table reported numbers individually
as: 20, 15, 19, 17, 18, 16.)
SISTER ANNE: Another piece to it is: If we
took the time to really listen to this list, there
would be things on other people's list that are not
on that list. Because one of the three pieces of
being able to throw out things and not say it's not
going to work, or that's dumb, or whatever, is the
ability to be able to create and see and hear.
That's what we want to do right now. We want to now
look at the challenge, the call to the church. And
as all of you have really been called to take this
role, you have to perhaps become aware of the
wonderful gifts that God has given to you and
blessed you with to be able to get you to this
stage. And all of us are gifted. And everyone has
gifts that we need and perhaps even little gifts
that others don't have. And that's what rules on
this whole body that we're talking about.
So, I'm going to ask you to stay with the same
skill. So, what I'm saying to you is please
remember the skill of brainstorming. It's not to
get into a discussion, it's not to say this is true
or this is not true. So, as you now just talk to
each other for the next few minutes, what are the
gifts that you truly believe God has blessed you
with and given to you so that you can be called to
this task...
Now, this can be a difficult task because we're
not used to saying gifts, we're not used to saying
good things about ourselves. And yet God has
blessed us with these gifts. So, as we think about
our own relationship with Jesus, what are some of
these gifts that really and truly we know we have
and, therefore, we can bring to this process? Would
you all just share one or two of those with your
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table, please?
(Short discussion among participants at each
individual table.)
SISTER ANNE: Now I am going to ask you to just
ponder the concept a bit. As we now think about the
whole process, what have you all been called to come
together for, to really create this Called To Be
Church? What do you really think is needed? What
are the talents, what are the skills, what do we
really need?
And I'm going to ask each table to really kind
of talk that out a little, and then in a few minutes
we're going to talk as a group so we can hear it.
What are the gifts and talents that we need to
gather this community to achieve the goals of
creating a Called To Be Church? So, each table,
would you surface that? And then let's hear from
all tables after you've talked to each other for a
few minutes.
(A group discussion among each table followed
for five minutes.)
SISTER ANNE: Let us kind of become one group
for a moment. Now let's listen to each other, let's
talk to each other for a few moments. Because it's
not just going to be within each table. But what
are some of the things that surfaced at your tables?
Let's hear from you. What are the gifts, what are
the talents that you think that are really needed,
what are the things that you said or other people
said at your table? Perhaps there were things that
surprised you or things that opened up some course
of awareness for you.
PARTICIPANT:
- Think outside the box
- Tolerance for other ideas
- Acceptance of change
- Know that we don't have all the answers
- Openness to ideas
- Ability to listen
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- Communication to this group and to the parishes
- Be prayerful
- Don't limit process just to these meetings
- Own the process
- Be prepared
- Do research
- Read the materials
- Study other churches.
SISTER ANNE: Talk to each other. What do you
think; yes, no, anything you want to add to it?
PARTICIPANT:
- The first thing we established is a common
mission among the parishes and not to think of
ourselves as a whole bunch of different churches but
we all are part of the church. If we all work
together to get that concept down, that will really
help us in that process.
- Need for a consensus of evangelization,
ministry, and community among the different
parishes.
- Willingness to accept change.
- Capitalizing on the strength of all our
parishes.
SISTER ANNE: Now, pay attention to yourself as
you're listening to these things. Sometimes you
say, oh, no, or that won't work. That's okay.
Because you can hear yourself inside.
PARTICIPANT: We need to be:
- Realistic
- Patient
- Visionary
- Leaders
- Innovative, as well as practical
- At some point be promotors of what we envision
to be
- Willingness and courage to stand up for our
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positions
- Prayerful
- Be researchers in the sense of looking beyond
the ideas just in our room to get a broader
picture of what might be
- Need to be joyful in our process
- Good organizers.
- Seek other's opinions
- Reach to the young and the elderly, and all
of the other groups and constituencies that
are part of the church such as clergy,
former clergy, single people, divorced
people, all kinds of constituencies.
PARTICIPANT:
- We would like to represent all of the people,
not just the people who are church-going
people but people that are not attending
church right now.
- We need to show patience and ability to
focus and refocus, and stick with it.
- Take a position that nothing is a given.
- Organizational skills.
- Optimism.
- Flexibility
- Questioning
- Ability to change
- Ability to listen
- Ability to prioritize and to try to see
and bring in more lost sheep.
SISTER ANNE: Other groups?
PARTICIPANT: It looks like the majority of our
ideas center around:
- Communication
- Good listener
- Sharing freely
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- No empire building
- Open to ideas
- Relate to people
- Public speaking.
We also have the mechanics of how are we going
to get this job accomplished, and we noted:
- Problem-solving
- Insightful
- Organizing skills
- Experience in the church
- Gift of faith
- Vision
- And more importantly that we keep Christ as our
focus.
SISTER ANNE: Anyone else?
PARTICIPANT: We said that:
- We have to be people who are visionary
- We have to be people who are committed
- We have to love the church
- Be kind
- Be patient
- Be good listeners
- Look for the good in people
- Be at peace with ourselves
- We have to think for others. Because as we
look around, this is an upper-middle-class
white group and we have to think of the whole
church, think beyond our back yard, be
welcoming. We have the door, but we have to be
relatable. Which stems from the fact that
there are so many other churches that are
now pulling people that we aren't. How are
they doing it, how are they selling themselves?
SISTER ANNE: Now, let's talk for a few
seconds. What is it that you're thinking, or what
do you say about, wow, that's a piece that I can't
forget?
PARTICIPANT: Let's hope that somebody takes
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all of these lists so we can separate all this down
so I can read them at my leisure and absorb it all.
Because I was amazed at all of the ideas.
SISTER ANNE: It's very important that we have
this feedback.
PARTICIPANT: I would like to comment on what
the last group was just talking about as far as --
and we talked about it earlier today at our parish
group -- marketing ourselves, outreaching to some of
the people that are not active in the church now.
PARTICIPANT: I like the idea of joyful. I
really appreciated that.
PARTICIPANT: I like the idea that we not be
stressed over it but keeping focused on priorities.
And there's a lot of talk about the closing of
parishes and so on. That's a secondary issue
because that's not the church. The church is the
people. The churches can burn down the building and
the church will still exist because the people
exist. So, the focus and priority should be kept on
the spirituality, God's grace, preaching the gospel,
witnessing the gospel and so on.
PARTICIPANT: I like the idea of unity and not
empire-building. I thought that was very nice.
PARTICIPANT: Our group came up with the idea
of seeing what other churches are doing, the
specifics -- you know, meaning other faiths as well.
PARTICIPANT: I like the idea of building on
one another's strengths. Like for St. Clare's we
have the bereavement group, and that seems to work
well for us. And maybe that will work well with
other churches too.
PARTICIPANT: I like hearing keeping Christ as
the center.
SISTER ANNE: It's very important that once in
awhile we check in with each other. Because we're
going to be all working together, and we have to
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keep growing together and really making room for all
of us to hear what the person who's sitting next to
us is thinking. Because it helps all of us. Which
is right, it's the relationship that we have with
our Jesus that really and truly is going to define
this. And we need to also look at what the parish
is all about.
Geoff Burke made sure that everyone has a copy
of the Parish Profile List. So, for the next three
minutes what I'm going to ask you to do is to take a
few minutes to look this over. So, this next part
is going to be looking at this and looking at it as
a task also.
(A short recess followed.)
SISTER ANNE: The questions are on page two
where it says Parish Profile Study: As you review
each Parish Profile and the Group Summary, you might
look at the following. And those questions are what
we're going to ask you to kind of center on as
you're looking over this whole Parish Profile.
What are the physical characteristics of this
whole planning group?
Who are the people in this part of the Diocese?
What ministries are well done?
What might you improve?
In what ways could we strengthen ministry as a
whole in this Local Planning Group?
What do we see happening among these parishes?
How are we as a whole fulfilling the mission of
Jesus?
Just those questions for a few seconds. Would
you as a table, as you have a few minutes ago, kind
of look over the Parish Profile and center some of
your discussion on these questions. And I'll give
you maybe about fifteen minutes to do this.
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(Sister clarified at this time that the first
number of 9,830 is families, the number attending
weekend liturgy is the individual, 6,584.)
* * * * *
(Individual table group discussions followed
for fifteen minutes.)
SISTER ANNE: We started off this evening
reflecting on the prayer, "Who Do You Say I Am," the
scriptural passage. Maybe we're starting to ask the
question who do we say we are. Maybe that's where
all this is going right now. As we start to look at
the profiles, we start to look at what needs to
happen. And as you think back now at the
discussions you just had and at the profiles that
you just studied, could I ask you to kind of share
as a group now?
What one thing -- as you think about this
tonight, the things you've heard, the profiles of
what you just looked over and what you shared with
each other -- what one thing really stands out for
you? What are the things that are standing out for
you? And what conclusions are you going to draw
from reviewing these profiles? Those are the next
two questions on the participant's guide. What one
thing stands out for you -- what most stands out for
you, and what conclusions do you draw from reviewing
these profiles?
So, instead of now as a table, could we for a
few moments just share with each other, what one
thing stands out for you?
PARTICIPANT: I think the thing that stands out
most is that we don't have a lot of young people in
this group.
PARTICIPANT: The data is not sufficient.
There's no trend data, there are no baselines. It's
hard to make any analysis of the data that we have
been given, particularly in relationship to the
questions.
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PARTICIPANT: We talked about the discrepancy
between the amount of families who attend church
versus individuals that attend church. And we also
were concerned about the low number of RCIA
candidates from each parish.
PARTICIPANT: We noted that there were more
funerals than there were baptisms.
PARTICIPANT: Relatively speaking we are a
homogenous group -- is that the right terminology --
we're middle class, we're all white skinned. You
know, there's some individual differences of course.
We also thought there was a lot of duplication
of services. We're not efficient. Where each
parish is doing their own thing, there may be
experts in one parish. You know, give it to them,
or help them and vice versa.
PARTICIPANT: The parishes are very isolated to
one another, working independently. Whereas one
lady mentioned in her parish there's a great
bereavement group. If they did that and they shared
that with all six parishes, we could maybe attract a
lot of people.
PARTICIPANT: The thing that stood out most for
me was you take the number of extra families and
equate that to individuals, there's a huge disparity
between the number of individuals who are members of
our parishes and the number that actually attend
mass on the weekend.
PARTICIPANT: I notice that out of the six
parishes there are two that have schools. Some of
the students could come over to our schools that are
already established.
PARTICIPANT: There's a statistic that I have
to ask exactly what it was about. The people
trained to lead the Sunday service without a priest,
I think that that may be something that we need to
really take a cognizant look. Because I know in
other parts of the State this is like a precursor to
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closing churches and whatever. Or maybe another
view -- I know that St. Clare's has a Parish Life
Coordinator and that is working very well. And for
the other parishes that aren't experiencing not
having a priest, this may be something we need to be
really talking about because it may be coming to
other parishes at some point.
PARTICIPANT: One of the things we talked about
was we have faith formation up through Confirmation,
but we really do not educate the students and keep
them connected. We need to talk about connecting
the twenty-three year olds that kind of drop off
after that.
PARTICIPANT: One of the things we have are
people who leave the community. And in some ways
instead of trying to expect to retain our
parishioners who reach twenty and move away
somewhere, we need to look into gathering in that
age group that may move into our community somehow.
The other thing I wasn't sure about whether
there's a variation from parish to parish in terms
of the number of registered parishioners, how
current -- you know, exactly what that means,
whether there are eight people who moved away in
that list. And I know St. Clare's said that they
look for return addresses or something. I don't
know whether we do that or not. But I don't know
what exactly that base means I guess. And I don't
really know what the potential in the community is
covered by the parishes, how many Catholics there
are in that area. And I don't know if those
statistics are available.
PARTICIPANT: I was struck by the comment that,
you know, we all do similar things and we all do
them well. This thought kind of ran through my
head. If we look at fire companies in the Town of
Colonie, they all put out fire drills but each one
specializes in something different; for example, the
company village, the rescue squad, West Albany has
something else. So, they all within the town have a
specialty. For fear of losing that thought, I just
thought I would mention that.
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PARTICIPANT: I bought a new calculator for
myself. I'm going back to school. But I thought I
would take a look at the second page where even
though it says number of registered parishioners and
then each one of the parishes are listed
alphabetically, I did a percentage of thinking as a
parishioner how many people are registered versus
how many people show up to church. And it ranges
from a high of, like, 70 percent down to 43.
Now, it's even worse numbers because that is
not parishioners, that's number of families. So,
these numbers are really -- when I look at my own
parish it gave me cause for thought. Because just
making these ratios here I come out to 43 percent.
And this was a topic of I'll say heated conversation
at one meeting. So, this leads well into the
evangelization.
PARTICIPANT: Something else that we mentioned
at the table that the gentleman there was just
talking about, we have a lot of ministries that
we're involved in together. But we do a lot of
ministries well, whether it be the music ministry,
or food pantry, bereavement, there's a lot of things
that we do well together as a parish.
PARTICIPANT: I think what we need to take away
is that there's a real essence of our commonalities
and that we should be comfortable in anybody else's
parish. And I make the assumption that there are
groups out there that don't have that aspect. And I
think we're starting way ahead of the game by being
able to be someone like that. Sometimes that's not
always a good thing but at least we can understand
where this is going. And I know that there are
other planning groups that are not like that. I
have friends and they're already meeting a challenge
before they start.
SISTER ANNE: So, now we have looked at that.
Now, in the center of this table I put a few
pieces of a puzzle. What I'm going to ask you now
is if you will take those and pass them out so every
person at the table -- well to pass out one piece to
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as many people as possible.
There are two sides to this piece of paper that
you have in your hand. One side has some type of
marking on it; the other side is plain. Would you
turn to that plain side?
Now, the thing we are going to do right now --
no one is going to see including the people at your
table -- so, right now I'm going to ask any person
that has that piece of puzzle, on the blank side
would you just write your name -- your first name is
fine. And now I'm going to ask you to write what is
a gift, a talent, that you personally believe that
God has blessed you to be able to bring to this
process? What's a gift that you have, a talent,
what's a value that you hold, a strong piece of you,
something about you? One word is fine, whatever.
And again no one else is going to see this right
now. But as you think about yourself and we think
about being called to church, what is a gift or a
talent that God has blessed you with, what is some
special value perhaps that you hold onto, what is
something positive about you? Would you write that
under your name?
And now I'm going to ask if we can kind of do
this as a group because it's going to be a little
bit hard. Now, as you can see on this easel there's
a green piece of paper. Would the person who has
number 1, would you come up here -- the person who
has number 1 on their little clue, would you now
come up here, please? And when he comes up -- and
all of you are going to do this -- you're going to
take this glue and on the side that has your name
and the gift, I'm going to ask you to put this glue
on there and go over and put it on that piece of
paper in the appropriate place.
(The puzzle was now assembled with each
individual piece.)
SISTER ANNE: Let me invite all of you back up
here for a few moments, please. As you look at this
puzzle, it didn't quite work out. We never have to
admit this to anyone. You have to think outside the
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box, good. You get the idea. And the truth is
though that as we look at it and we see it, I would
like to ask you for a few minutes to just reflect.
What was that like for you? Some of you had feet.
So, you had to come up and find the place, put glue
on, write something on the back. Others didn't.
Some of you gave your pieces away to other people.
What was that like for you? Because what's really
important is to look at what happened for you as you
started to do that. So, just for a couple of
seconds, what was that like for you? What did you
do?
PARTICIPANT: I was very relieved when I walked
up there and saw the number where I was supposed to
be.
SISTER ANNE: Okay. But that gives you a lot
of security.
PARTICIPANT: I had some feet and people with
feet all got together and saw which ones would
match.
SISTER ANNE: But it got creative after awhile
because -- okay, we all belong together and you
stuck together so you kind of made that connection.
PARTICIPANT: I just gave my piece to Father
Farano.
PARTICIPANT: I was stuck with one of the
pieces that weren't called right away and I felt
left out back there.
PARTICIPANT: I didn't have a piece at all.
So, I wanted to play but I couldn't.
SISTER ANNE: So, you just sat there saying I
didn't even have a piece.
PARTICIPANT: We had a strategy to hold back
and wait and then we would know where we would fit.
PARTICIPANT: My piece was number 1, and when
you gave us the instruction to put something that
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you thought was a gift from God that you bring to
here, I was really sitting here thinking trying to
be as clear as I could. And then you said, okay,
you got two seconds. And then I felt extremely
frustrated because I wanted more time and I didn't
have it. And so, I put something down there, but I
really wasn't happy with what I put down.
PARTICIPANT: We all worked together to
accomplish the whole.
SISTER ANNE: Even though it's a little shaky
picture, it's all right. Your point is well taken
and people did work together. But see what happened
as we even did a simple little puzzle, it's the same
kind of process very often that happens as we work
together. Some of you said that you feel like you
have a piece to add or a piece to contribute, and
others feel left out, or I have to sit back and
wait, or I really want to push it forward, or maybe
I could find some similarity and kind of connect
there or make those connections.
And all of the feelings that we have and all of
the kinds of things that happen inside of us -- even
when we do something as simple as this -- it's the
same kind of thing that happens as we all start to
work together. And that's okay. It's so good at
times for some people; and for others it's like, oh,
yeah, let's go do it. And some of you were doers,
and some of you went and got coffee and there was no
getting you involved under any condition at all.
And that happens. So, all of us play different
roles. And what's important for us to recognize is
that we have got to identify the roles that we play
as we go through this time together.
And I realize now that some of you have not --
I was not, as some of you know, part of the earlier
process either and I guess some of you were not
either. So, you don't all know each other. And as
we start to kind of interact, it's my hope that we
really do stop and talk to each other, get to know
each other. We're going to be stuck together for a
couple months. And I don't mean that negatively.
I'm just saying if we are, then let's enjoy our time
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together. Let's get to know each other a little bit
too. So, let's really make a goal to talk to each
other as we start to come together.
PARTICIPANT: I want to speak to the people who
held back, we're the kind of people who want to
understand how we can help and fill in where there
are vacuums.
PARTICIPANT: I was the person who had the
piece that doesn't quite fit. And maybe reflecting
on that maybe we have to realize that through this
process things may not quite go together.
SISTER ANNE: That's a good point. Because
things don't always look like they fit. And
sometimes things are awkward and there are spaces
and so we have to figure out what to do. So, I'm
kind of glad it didn't work out to be honest with
you. Maybe it wasn't supposed to, I don't even
know.
PARTICIPANT: Maybe somebody put their piece in
the wrong spot.
SISTER ANNE: Or maybe it is in the wrong spot.
It doesn't matter. But somehow or another we worked
together to accomplish the task that we had to do.
But it is important that we look at the
awkwardness, or the imperfections at times, or the
spaces, or the lack of clarification. But it's also
important that we look at how we can all be a part
of it. And there is time to sit back and reflect.
And there are times that we do let other people do
it because of the gifts and talents are there for
other people. Some of us are blessed in different
ways, others can't do certain things. That doesn't
mean that anybody is bad. It just means maybe you
can do this one time and I'll do it the next time.
We all work together. And that's what I hope that
the journey we all walk on together will be, just
this kind of thing that we somewhat started tonight.
So, as we look at that, it's important.
There's some questions quickly that I'm
supposed to look at with you in sharing tonight's
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work. What accomplishments or recommendations do we
need to share with the rest of our church? We're
talking now your whole parish, your parish, the
whole parish. What tasks, or accomplishments, or
recommendations do we need to share with the rest of
our church?
What's going to be terribly important is that
there's a communication from this to everyone. It's
not just for us to be together.
PARTICIPANT: I think we need to share
everything and we need to be as personable about it
as we possibly can. They need to feel that even
though there's only a handful of us representatives,
that they are a part of the process.
PARTICIPANT: I felt the same way. I think
people have to be aware that we really are planning
to do something and we're in the process now, that
it's not just out there.
PARTICIPANT: When the first -- the town
meetings happened, I heard feedback that some
parishioners did not go because their perception was
that the decision has already been made and,
therefore, my input isn't worth anything. So, one
of the things that we were speaking about in our
church was to publish the E-mail addresses of the
core team members and also publish in the bulletin
what the next theme would be that we would be
discussing, and asking the parishioners to give us
any of their ideas, whatever the case may be. And
all we would do is put ideas on a big list with no
names, strictly anonymous, and then the next time we
come together each one of us would be able to bring
this list as some means of contribution from our
parish.
PARTICIPANT: So there's a spirit of openness
and cooperation.
SISTER ANNE: The next question is: What tasks
need to be accomplished before we meet in February?
PARTICIPANT: Will we be getting a summary of
this meeting?
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SISTER ANNE: Yes.
PARTICIPANT: I think one of the tasks is for
each parish to take that summary and kind of
summarize that for our parishes either by the
bulletin or something from the pulpit.
PARTICIPANT: Are we going to get another
participant guide before the next meeting?
SISTER ANNE: I would hope so. I would hope
that we will all have participant guides before the
next meeting.
PARTICIPANT: I think we need to identify the
kinds of data that -- further data that we need. I
think that came up in two or three groups, that this
is a great start but maybe not sufficient. Not to
collect it by next time around, but what do we need?
SISTER ANNE: Anybody else?
PARTICIPANT: I think we need to reflect on the
tasks before us this evening. And then maybe go out
and look at other parish sites across the country
and diocese that may be doing something similar to
us and get some ideas of what they're doing also.
PARTICIPANT: Maybe next time people could
report back on what goes on in some of the
ministries of each parish if there's any unique ones
or whatever.
SISTER ANNE: And that may very well fit in
with the whole evangelization. Anybody else?
PARTICIPANT: What are other local planning
groups doing?
SISTER ANNE: The same thing we are.
PARTICIPANT: But what are their responses?
SISTER ANNE: We are one of the first groups to
meet. I think somebody met the other day someplace
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up north.
PARTICIPANT: It would be nice to share ideas
between other parishioners.
PARTICIPANT: We'd also like to know the
different ways that other parishes chose to share
this information and what was the feedback; was it
accepted, or you need to change a few things; and
so, if everybody could learn from other people's
experience how this is and share it with their own
friends, then it would help other people.
PARTICIPANT: One thing that was brought up was
the absence of young people in a group like this.
Maybe some thought could be given to that.
SISTER ANNE: There will be times that other
people will be brought into this group. This is the
core group now, but there will be times because of
certain topics that obviously you will invite other
people to come in. And perhaps that could be
something that people reflect on, some younger
people.
PARTICIPANT: Somewhere it said something about
enlarged members. I don't know if that's what you
were talking about. But it seems to me like that's
something that might be remedied easily.
SISTER ANNE: Absolutely.
PARTICIPANT: How many enlarged members are
here tonight?
SISTER ANNE: Six raised their hand. But
certainly that can be addressed.
The topic in February is evangelization and
sharing good news.
PARTICIPANT: Before we get to there, could we
get the schedule clarified?
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The schedule of future meetings was set forth
as follows by Sister Anne:
January 8th
February 7th
March 5th
April 10th
May 2nd
June 11th
July 11th
August 1st
September 5th
October 3rd
November 6th
December 5th.
PARTICIPANT: Is there a location for November
6th?
SISTER ANNE: We meet until April here. And
then May to August we meet at Assumption. And then
September to December we meet at Pius.
(Some confusion was discussed about locations
of meetings.)
SISTER ANNE: I think April is here. I think
it's here. It was four, four, and four, that's what
we did. I'm pretty sure April is still here at St.
Ambrose. So, the next three are here at St.
Ambrose. And then May to August is at Assumption.
And then September to December is at Pius. We will
tell you each month where we're going to be.
PARTICIPANT: At 7:00 o'clock?
SISTER ANNE: 7:00 to 9:00. But let's start at
7:00 and really kind of pull this together.
As we close tonight though instead of trying to
sing that song, would you bear with me and let us
just all together pray the Lord's Prayer together as
we come together tonight thanking God for the
ability for us to be able to risk sharing with each
other and opening up some doors as we start this
process together, asking God's blessing on each one
of us.
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(The Lord's Prayer was recited.)
SISTER ANNE: Let us all bless each other as we
go. Amen.
(The meeting was concluded at 9:00 p.m.)
* * * * *
25
LIST OF ATTENDEES
ST. AMBROSE:
Fr. Frank DuBois, REDCABOOSE347@GMAIL.COM
Sister James Marie, SJM319@HOTMAIL.COM
Caroline Gomez, JAGOMEZ513@AOL.COM
Dolores Murphy, DMURPHY122@AOL.COM
Richard Ostiguy
Theresa DeAngelis, TSICILIA@EXCELSIOR.EDU
OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION:
Fr. Geoffrey Burke
Jim Morrell
Margaret Griffin
Vic Gilbert
Linda Berkery
Lillian Cunniff, Stenographic Reporter
LILCUNNIFF@MSN.COM
OUR LADY OF MERCY:
Bill Mielke, WMIELKE@NYCAP.RR.COM
Anne Snyder, ANNEVERONICA50@HOTMAIL.COM
John Waldron
John Kennedy
Mark Keegan, MKEEGAN@NYCAP.RR.COM
Robert Gallati, RJGALLATI@NYCAP.RR.COM
ST. FRANCIS DE SALES:
Jack Hauck
Terry Ryan, TERRY_RYAN@GENPT.COM
Joan O'Sullivan
Nancy Streeter, NCBGS@AOL.COM
Carla Hood, CHOOD@NYCAP.RR.COM
Mary Beth Buchner
David Noone
Ed Prince
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ST. CLARE'S:
Fr. Tom Konopka, TKONOPKA@NYCAP.RR.COM
John Szypulski, JOHN@JFSBSI.COM
George Cline, GCLIE@NYCAP.RR.COM
Nadine Cunningham,
CUNNINGHAM@AVERILLPARK.K12.NY.US
Nancy Volks, Parish Life Director
PLDSTCLARE@NYCAP.RR.COM
Dave Eads, DCD924@AOL.COM
Ann Walsh, WALSHOME@MINDSPRING.COM
ST. PIUS X:
Fr. Michael Farano
Nancy Uruskyj
Mary Beth Ryan, WRYAN@NYCAP.RR.COM
Gayle Bouchard, GAYLEB62@AOL.COM
Sandy Zelka, SHERMMBA@HOTMAIL.COM
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