Minutes of the Parish Pastoral Council Meeting
June 15, 2020
In attendance were Father Mawn, Fatima Andrade, Gabriela Calouro, Pedro Cosme, Patricia Ferguson, Wayne Pickles, Cesar Tellez, and Thomas Witham. Absent were Carl Benanti, Mary Crow, Marilinda Cruz, Patricia Mariano, Josie Paolino, and Frank Sapienza.
Father Mawn opened the meeting with a prayer.
Religious Education Update:
– Mary Crow is retiring at the end of June. Father Mawn needs volunteers to continue the parish’s religious education program.
– Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Year of the Eucharist is extended until June 6, 2021.
– The cement mural of The Last Supper has been restored by two parish volunteers and will be placed in the upper Church as a reminder of the Year of the Eucharist. Damaris Madera is the Coordinator for the Year of the Eucharist Initiative.
– Confirmation is currently scheduled for Wednesday, July 22nd at 6:00 p.m.
– Virtus training still needs to be scheduled.
Parish Projects and Maintenance
– The plexiglass that protects the Rosetta window facing Union Street fell. Ray DiFiore is looking into whether or not replacement is needed.
– Pedro Cosme is looking into repairing the crack in the wall inside the courtyard.
New Business
– Per Federal and State guidelines regarding COVID-19, the upstairs and downstairs churches have been sanitized and benches which can be occupied have been designated. Bulletins are distributed as parishioners exit the church, reading material has been removed, and previously occupied benches are cleaned after each Mass.
– Daily and weekly Masses are back to the original schedule. The 1:30 p.m. Spanish Mass on Sunday that was added to accommodate the COVID-19 capacity guidelines has been eliminated due to poor attendance. The current occupancy rate for each Mass per COVID-19 guidelines is 140 attendees.
– Father Mawn would like to resume the Exposition of the Holy Sacrament on Fridays from 9:00 a. m. until 3:00 p.m. He is asking parishioners to volunteer an hour to sit with the Blessed Sacrament. Interested parishioners should call Ivette in the office to sign up.
– With Mary Crow retiring, Susan Witham will be the new CORI forms coordinator.
– Until our parish informational brochure can be updated for our website, suggestion was made to have informational blurbs added to the weekly bulletin with information about the parish’s societies and ministries.
– Our new Custodian is Irving Cruz.
– Father Mawn is very grateful for all the donations to the Church from the parish’s various organizations.
– As of June 15, the parish has received $14,000 from the Spring Collection. Thank-you to all who have contributed so far.
The meeting adjourned with a prayer. The next meeting of the Parish Council will be on September 21, 2020.
Respectfully submitted by,
Connie Pickles