Minutes from the meeting held on November 15, 2005

The meeting began with a Scripture reading  and the Centennial Prayer.

The Chairperson, Rosemary Kubera, reported that our first parish council meeting began with a dinner on November 27th at the convent and included a discussion regarding our parish mission. It was facilitated by Sister Kathleen Crowley.  Pre-work on the mission statement had been done by Ilene Squires and Norma Murphy. The work is on-going at this time.

A member of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council attended our meeting. Kevin Casey was appointed by Archbishop Sean O’Malley to represent the South Region I Vicariate which is Quincy and Braintree. Kevin’s role is to provide advice and counsel to the Archbishop.  His role is also to hear feedback on important issues and to be available to answer questions.  It was a pleasure to meet Kevin and understand the role he holds within the diocese.  The communication link was well received by the group.  Kevin also shared his email address. The website for the archdiocesan council is www.apcboston.org.

Father O’Brien gave us an update on the activities of Star of the Sea. Since the middle of July there has been one Sunday mass and attendance has gone from around 300 to about 125. He mentioned that the responsibility for the building remains with the Archdiocese.  Presently, there is only the one mass on  Sunday. We do not know of anything that may be different.

An update concerning our initiative on adult formation/education was given. We are hoping to have a listening session sponsored by this parish council sometime in the spring. A sub-committee will be formed to plan the event. The book discussion group seems to be enjoyable for those participating. The book for discussion on January 28th will be My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult. We will continue to offer films and would be appreciative of some suggestions for viewing. We also would like some additional ideas regarding adult formation. 

On October 23rd the process began for the re-accreditation of Sacred Heart School and the initial review seemed very favorable but the formal assessment and reporting back will be in the near future. Once accreditation occurs it is good for ten years.

There is an Archdiocesan initiative called Strategic 2010 which is a strategic plan for all of the archdiocesan high schools. It has been funded by a grant and will be done by a  consulting group. They will review the financials, the academics, public relations, demographics, governance and many other aspects of the facilities. It is meant to strengthen the school system. 

We discussed our CAP Program and the need to review the status of people trained and records kept up to date. Father O’Brien will get some training dates for the trainers already named.

The next Parish Pastoral Council meeting will be January 24, 2006.

Those in attendance this evening were Father O’Brien, Marjory O’Day, Rosemary Kubera, Norma Murphy, John Princiotti, Rick Letham, Rose Mary Feeney, Ilene Squires, Judith O’Toole and Mary Beth O’Sullivan.