CHRIST THE KING
PASTORAL COUNCIL MINUTES
February 9, 2004

PRESENT: Bill Coffey, Tere Frost, Chuck Hammer, Muriel Grim, Fr. Marty, Bob Maher, John & Juli Miller, Moira O'Dea, Don Peterson, Mary & Pat Reddan, Mike Rodriguez, Sallie Sauber, Wendy Serbonich, Jon Sparhawk, Carol Wasko, & Adam Wickert

ABSENT: Sally Owusu-Kwarteng & Susie Shanmugham

1. Opening prayer led by Mary Reddan
2. Review of January minutes; minutes were accepted as presented.
3. Spiritual Development: parish Lenten project ALet=s Do Lent Together@
1. Update on Communication Committee which has met twice & will meet Tuesday, the 10th
--plan to have an insert in the bulletin each week of Lent
--letter & brochure going out this week to parishioners
--brochures available to those coming to church, perhaps on Ash Wednesday
--symbols of ashes & baptism on brochure to connect beginning & outcome of Lent
--brochure will focus on topics of prayer, small group, service & on-going project
2. Pins are in; parishioners will be encouraged to wear them during Lent & Easter season
3. "Getting Back on Track" booklets will be available to those wishing individual reflection
4. Faith-sharing groups
--Mary gave Fr. Marty booklets appropriate for various groups; can be ordered if we need more
--people will be encouraged to find topic of interest & form group
5. Family projects
--Vincent de Paul Society will be putting out APAC brochures during Lent & perhaps Easter
--Bob Curtis is contact person for shadowing VDP volunteers with deliveries
--bunk bed building possible family project
--projects for children or teens worked on by Karen Matteson through Religious Education
4. College/Newman students
--one group is currently meeting; having good response from them
--will be considered part of parishioners rather than a separate group
5. Almsgiving project: goal of having 150 people filling coin folders to generate $3,000 for Habitat
--weekly reminders & updates in the bulletin
6. Moira will have small group material in weekly bulletin; prayer based on weekly Gospel
7. 10 copies of a video on the liturgy will be available for group or individual use
8. What do we mean by "together"? Emphasize group projects & interaction, not solitary study
4. Current Issues: discussion on meeting with Bishop & his proposal to cluster parishes in Athens
1. Comments & concerns (see attached)
2. Action
--response to Bishop shouldn't be a platform to air grievances about priest shortage
--decided it=s not necessary to meet with St. Paul's Council
3. Points to include (leave emotion out of our recommendation)
--important to stress university parish; new priest should have desire to work with students
--different sentiments "feel" of parishes; preserve/respect diversity/uniqueness of parishes
--allow adequate transition period for new priest; work with current pastors
--develop policy of term limits for priestly assignments; make policy available to parishes
--in Fr. Marty-short time as pastor he has begun programs & is growing in his ministry;
should have opportunity to continue this
--clustering is temporary solution for priest shortage; include an openness to all alternatives
5. Wendy will draft recommendations & email them to Council members; we will meet Wednesday at 5 p.m. to finalize proposal
6. Next regular Council meeting is Monday, March 8, 7:00 p.m.
COMMENTS/CONCERNS FROM PARISHIONERS

1. Concern about lack of openness to change in Church regarding priest shortage
--suggest women & married priests be considered for the priesthood
--use mission priests to address long-term shortage of priests
--concern that clustering is a stop-gap measure compared to the larger problem
--changes in liturgy seem to give back to priests the role the laity has played for so long
2. Concern about reducing personnel & how it will affect parishioners
--how does Bishop see parishes structured in terms of administrative staff if only two priests are assigned here

--two parishes need two pastors because of the amount of work/ministry going on here
--suggested hiring deacons (not many in our diocese), religious, working Boards
3. Has Bishop looked at our demographics before making his proposal
--would we be serving our students as best as possible
--important to point out the university aspect of our parish
--new priest(s) should have campus ministry experience or desire to work with students
4. Newman response
--some upset
--lack of a campus minister has adversely affected students; concern that students will be hurt even more with this change (losing Fr. Marty)
--some probably won=t notice a change; some are resigned to change
5. Is there a written policy about tenure & is that available for parishioners to see
--no official policy has been published; Bishop is beginning to develop one (pastor to be assigned no more than 20 years, 2-year appointment for parochial vicar & 6 years for associate)
6. Complaints about the changes in liturgy; feel there are enough changes without clustering, etc.
7. Opportunity for faith, life & growth
8. Even as we deal with the possibility of the priests leaving & feeling their loss, we have had many years of being blessed with Fr. Marty & Fr. Pat
--need to be open to the possibility/probability of being blessed with the new priests
--faith is not in the man but in God; is supportive of what is decided
--concern that Frs. Marty & Pat aren't hurt by the situation & possible move
9. Conflicting message from Bishop about retaining uniqueness of each parish while sharing common groups like Religious Education, VDP, St. Francis.
10. Having one pastor could be a problem for retaining our individuality if, for efficiency sake, he does some things uniformly
11. Keep both priests here til they retire, then institute the clustering slowly & gradually
--or when one retires, elevate the other to pastor & bring in a new assistant
12. Two parishes have different needs in a unique setting
--keep one of the priests in place to reduce the confusion & chaos while bringing in a new priest
--don't change both at once; be slow with transition
13. If an individual has an issue with a priest here (doesn't agree with policy, etc.), that individual can always go to the other church. If we cluster, that option won't be available. What recourse would we have?
14. Concern that two priests would be "stretched" too far, overextended (they are now, in fact). How can only two people handle the unique situation we have in Athens with the University, etc.
15. Keep Fr. Pat & Fr. Marty here for another year with one as pastor & the other as parochial vicar
--bring in another priest, either a newly-ordained or other (newer) priest to gain experience with our diverse situation: university setting, international population, towns folk, many of whom have lived here all their lives, professional & blue collar workers, transient community
--retaining Frs. Pat & Marty to aid in "training" would be helpful to the new person
--this would give parishioners time to get used to the idea as well as help staff adjust
16. Fr. Marty should be retained if he wants to stay, in order to see the fruits of his labors (also Fr. Pat)