Parish Council Meeting Minutes
April 9, 2008

Gary DeMichele called the meeting to order at 7:30PM.  The meeting took place in Milligan Hall.  Members in attendance were Marilyn McGoldrick, Theresa McGrath, Dick Wowak, Mary Ruddat, David Moran, Ned Wentworth and Tom Policelli and ex-officio members Father Cody, Pat Pruitt, Pat Piano and Cici Baker.  Member not in attendance was Paul Travers.  The March minutes were reviewed and approved.

School Board / Education:  No report

Steve is looking to finalize the student numbers for next year.  

Letters were sent out to the parents about the tuition increase to lessen the parish subsidy.

Steve is concerned about the undertone in the response from the Archdiocese about getting an independent audit about financial.

Community Outreach:  Mary Ruddat

April:  Successful book drive for the Bergdoff Clinic and Clark/McDonough Schools

May 3-4:  Diaper Drive for Family life education

June 7 – 8:  Summer camp Supplies for Catholic Worker House

July (all month): Back to school supplies for  Gifts of Love

Have requested a finalized budget from Mary Rose to be presented to Fr. Cody and the finance committee or to myself.  Have not yet received a response.

CCD / Youth Group:  Bobbi Moran and Jayne O’Donnell

Finance Council Report:  Tom Policelli

Pastoral Associate Update:  Pat Piano

Liturgy Committee:  The liturgy committee met on Tuesday, April 1 and did a lengthy evaluation of Holy Week.  We are blessed to have such faithful and insightful people on this committee:  Joanne Moran, Patricia Clifford, Nora Anthony, Nellie Agostino, Ron Rothermel, Gail Hill, Mary Rose Verdile and Pat Piano. We now look forward to the Feast of Pentecost (May 11) and the celebration of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick which will take place in June.

There will be a special 50^th Anniversary Mass, planned for outside with people sitting on   the hill or beach chairs on Saturday, June 14^th at 4:00 P.M.  Tailgate picnic to follow. Pat Piano and Mary Stone will co-ordinate.

We are working on attracting younger members to our committee to get a broader perspective on what we do.

Environment Committee:  Did not formally meet but worked very hard to prepare and execute the environment for Holy Week.  Great big thank you to Joanne Moran, Lisa Gillis, Maureen Brouillard, Nellie Agostino, Tom Hill, members of the Knights of Columbus, Edith Folta and Pat Piano our committee members.

Adult Education Committee:  The West Hartford Catholic Adult Education Committee in conjunction with the Voice of the Faithful hosted a lecture by Paul Lakeland, author and educator from Fairfield University to speak on the role of the laity in the church today. The turnout was impressive…a great combined effort and great to see so many parishes represented.

St. Timothy will host a presentation on Immigration Issues with Deacon Tom Brean from the Office of Urban Affairs on Tuesday night May 20 from 7-9 P.M.

The Committee will be meeting soon to discuss possible choices for 2009.  Ideas are greatly appreciated.

Stewardship / Evangelization Committee:  This combined committee is doing very well.  Our WELCOME CART made its first appearance at the March Hospitality Sunday and we are proud to say several families joined the parish and several made inquiries about how to get more involved.  Our April experience gleaned one new parish sign up. 

The committee is presently reading Carrie Kemp’s book Catholic Can Come Home Again, as a way to gather more ideas to welcome home and encourage more active participation in parish life. 

For the next several weeks, until the Feast of Pentecost we will

• have bulletin notes from people who are actively involved in parish life telling why they do what they do.
• The CCD children are creating “talent” cards that will be distributed on Pentecost Sunday. The Holy Spirit has been sent to renew the face of the earth.  Our committee is asking how we connect that movement with our own talents and individual ability to make a difference here at St. Timothy. 

The committee is in the process of looking at our existing Welcome booklet that is in the back of the church for updating and a 2008 look.  Fr. Cody has given his permission to put an add in the local papers inviting people to come to hear more about the Catholic Church.  Details coming.

Pastoral Care Team:  Continue to make great connections with the sick, homebound and frail.

Parish note -  We had 25 deaths in the parish all of 2007.  As of tonight we have had 21 deaths in 2008 already.  This is a real sign of our changing parish demographic.

RCIA:  Presently we have no one in the RCIA process.  Our team will be meeting to continue its own team formation.  Over the past year an active team of five women and two men met every Monday night for the formation of our RCIA catechumen, David Terne who was received into the church at Easter.  Hopefully we will continue to attract new members to this process.  This process is for those who want to become a Catholic who have not been baptized or baptized in another faith tradition.  It is also for those who have never been catechized.  It is not for alienated Catholics or for Catholics who want to learn more about their faith.

Parish Life / Social Committee:  Paul Travers

Hospitality Sunday occurred on April 6, 2008.  Pat Pruitt and members of the Knights of Columbus assisted in the final Hospitality Sunday for the season. Tickets where being sold for the Tiger Ball for STMS.  The Knights of Columbus where selling tickets for a Spaghetti Dinner fund raiser and registration for Bobbi Moran’s CCD classes where being held.    

Facilities / Building and Grounds:  No report

Evangelization:  No report

Old Business:

CCD:

New Business:

Elections: getting cards into the pews for candidacy for open parish council seats on the weekend of April 19^th and 20^th.  The meeting was adjourned at 9:12PM.

Respectfully submitted,  David Moran