2014 October

MQHR Parish Pastoral Council
Minutes (unapproved) for the October 21, 2014 Meeting

PPC Members in attendance
Fr. Miguel Alvizures, Brian Carlson, Norma Flores, Phil Heink, Walter Leachman, Carol Lee, Erich Maul, John Mitchell, Andrew Moore, Karen Morgison, Cora Mudd, Inocencio Muñoz, Fr. Dan Noll, and John Tibe.
Absent: Mary Grace Allen, Anna Byrd, Kevin Lamping, and Bill Rood.

Opening
Our meeting began at 7:00 in the Media Center of the ELC with the Parish Meeting Prayer led by Carol Lee.

Approval of Minutes
The minutes from our September meeting were approved without changes.

Introduction of New Members
New members of the PPC, Melissa Sloan and Albert Negron were introduced and gave brief summaries of their backgrounds.

Evangelization Survey
Cara John son presented detailed results of the “homework assignment” given to the parish by Fr. Dan (to engage a person who has “fallen away” from the Catholic Church and listen to their comments about this). Briefly, only 96 persons completed the “assignment” and submitted their responses to the Parish Office. There was a follow-up questionnaire to determine why we had such a poor response to the “assignment” and 629 surveys were returned. This information is summarized and inserted into the bulletin at the Masses on the weekend of October 25 - 26 and a copy of this is attached to these minutes as Appendix 1.

The PPC discussed the results of the “assignment” as well as the response of the parish to the “assignment”. Some comments were that this exercise was a positive experience and that the effort in this direction (of evangelization) will “plant seeds” that might take some time to mature. We (as parishioners) need to develop our faith in order to be more confident and comfortable in having these discussions with people. The way in which we approach people is all-important… we need to be loving and very respectful of the people we engage.

The final consensus of the PPC was that we should report the results of this to the parish and make this sort of exercise in evangelization an ongoing thing in our parish.

Unfinished Business and Updates
Fr. Miguel reported on a workshop that was held on September 23^rd in which some Anglo and some Hispanic parishioners were brought together to share personal stories of their journey to Mary Queen. The workshop was well-received by the participants and the more personal sharing during a break (resulting from a tornado warning) was especially good.

The next step in this will be to invite more parishioners to join in diverse (Anglo and Hispanic) small groups and re-create this experience for more parishioners. Fr. Miguel asked to help in recruiting facilitators to help in future such sessions.

Fr. Miguel also asked us to all join in participating in the Day of the Dead on November 2^nd, The novena for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (at 7:00 each evening from December 3^rd until December 12^th), and the Posada in the gymnasium on December 23^rd.

New Business
Finance Cost Explanation: John Tibe gave a special Financial Committee report explaining a possible unforeseen financial liability that we should consider resulting from the renewal of a bond which the diocese has taken out to finance previous construction/renovation of four different schools including ours (MQ), Sts. Peter and Paul, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, and Lexington Catholic. The problem is that MQ’s share of the bond renewal might result in substantial fees (up to $700k) but the specifics are still uncertain. The load is due in January of 2015 and the current status is that we have made a proposal to PCN Bank and are waiting on a response and there are also several questions outstanding. Whatever the outcome, we need to have the diocese to agree to support us. If we *do* have an unbudgeted expense this large, we need to present a very clear explanation to the parish and take steps to resolve the imbalance. Options include (1) borrowing the funds (rolling the fees into the renewed load), (2) creating a new “special” fundraising campaign, and (3) dipping into our “rainy day” fund and cutting the parish staff.

Fr. Dan also mentioned that we have recently received a contribution from a generous donor that has reduced our diocesan assessment (“One in Faith and Mission”) from $430k to $76k.

Social Justice Ministry Project: Cora Mudd a Social Justice Ministry project called “Water with Blessings” that she and Kabby Akers had seen presented. They would like to schedule a time to talk about this project.

Next PPC Meeting
The next PPC meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 25^th, 2014 at 7:00 pm in the Media Center of the Education Life Center.

Closing prayer and adjournment
A closing prayer was offered by Cora Mudd and the meeting was adjourned. Following the meeting, the At-Large PPC members met to determine their roles for the coming year. The results of their caucus are:  

 
Appendix 1.


Appendix 1. (continued)