Installation of Advisory Board Members and Ministry Officers and Coordinators
I want to express my gratitude to the men and women who volunteer to serve on the Parish Advisory Board as well as Coordinators or Officers of the various parish ministries. Members of the Advisory Board serve as a cross section of our community and help me in the strategic planning and implementation of various programs to help our parish be effective in her ministry. In our survey of the parish done a couple of years ago, the Advisory Board helped identify 5 areas that we needed to focus:
Spirituality – to help the parish grow spiritually
Leadership – to give parishioners the opportunity to serve in leadership capacity within the parish
Stewardship – to create opportunities for parishioners to use their time, talent and treasure in the service of God and neighbor.
Social Ministry – to serve not only the needs of parishioners, but the community at large
Hospitality – to welcome not only new parishioners, but to help long time parishioners feel welcomed and appreciated as well.
They have helped our Pastoral Staff stay on course. For example, in the area of Spirituality, Sr. Catherine Cappello has developed a Religious Education program for non-parochial students. The Sunday Children’s Liturgy of the Word continues to grow. We’ve used the opportunity of the Year of Faith to welcome speakers, form a faith sharing Book Club and even plan a pilgrimage to help deepen our spiritual lives. And we continue to look into how we can help our teens deepen and practice their faith. In the areas of Leadership and Stewardship, we’ve used the Ministry Fair to help parishioners know of possible areas they can use their time, talent or treasure. From past fairs, we’ve been able to help connect a ministry need with an interested volunteer. Some volunteers who serve in the Advisory Board, or Finance Committee, or as Lectors were “recruited” through their sign-ups.
We continue to look for ways to serve our Community. Sr. Sharon, last year, met with Catholic Charities and St. Vincent de Paul, and recruited many youth of our parish to work on a garden on Treasure Island so the low income residents there would have access to healthy organic vegetables. She also led a group to work with Habitat for Humanity. We serve the teens at Juvenile Hall and Fr. Mike and I have been praying for homicide victims and their families in the City. In different ways, we try to serve beyond the immediate needs of the parish. Through various community events, such as Parish Picnic and Thanksgiving Dinner, we strive to foster within our community a welcoming spirit for the “new” and the “old.” So the Advisory Board Members have been invaluable to me. They are:
Deidre O’Bryan (Chair) - Donna Mohr (Vice-Chair) * - Jose Farran
Amy Feasy - Molly Magnano - Neal McGettigan
Ann Marie Miller - Paul O’Leary - John Powers *
Angie Riordan - Jim Sangiacomo * - Jim Wollak *
The names with an asterisk denote they are new members to the Board. New Officers or Coordinators this year in different parish ministries include: Kevin Morrison, President of Men’s Club, Karen Pierotti,
President of Mother’s Club, Michelle Browning and Megan Golinveaux as Chairs for the Under 5 Group and Paige Olson and Deborah Nysather as Chairs of the Welcome Committee. At this Sunday’s 11:30am Mass, they and the other officers or coordinators of the various parish ministries will be installed and in some cases, reinstalled. I want to thank them for their time, talent and treasure that make our St. Brendan community strong and vibrant.
Gratefully,
Fr. Dan
