Pastoral Council Meeting November 322, 2016 Attending: Andrew Munger, Mary Kay Gillan, and Laurie Killeen. Mary Kay noted that the Advent dinner was coming up, and that soup suppers will begin during Lent. There is already planning underway for Cole Kennett’s ordination. Shane Kennett will visit with Monsignor about reception plan. Midge Dublinski is the new reception chairperson. There is a president elect for the Altar Society, but there is a lack of people stepping in to assume leadership positions. The Altar Society may tweak the essay process for Pius awards. They would like to add a teacher evaluation/recommendation step. Because of poor attendance at this evening’s meeting, there were no reports on Education, Family Ministry, Men’s Fellowship, Liturgy, or Youth Ministry. We will have the Giving Tree this year. There will be five members replaced on the Parish Council this year. The new Youth Minister is Eric Zimmerman. Mary Kay commented on his energy and desire to make some changes in the youth programs. The Building and Grounds committee has identified two separate roof areas that need repair. They are getting bids. The School Advisory report was very positive about the Inclusion Program at our school. Andrew is the new chair of the Pro-Life Committee. He is studying (1) recurring events, (2) bulletin content, and (3) special projects. He would like to publish inspirational short stories or other new content in the weekly bulletin and on the website. He wondered about a blacksmithing project to forge split crosses. He thought that young people could be involved in this project, but Monsignor will need to evaluate the liability of this activity. Perhaps he could forge the crosses himself and sell them to raise funds for Pro-Life activities. The Epiphany Shower will be held after the first of the year. There was much discussion regarding the flagging interest in attending Pastoral Council meetings, and in participation in the ministries in general. It seems as if there is no perceived value to the meetings, and participation by younger parishioners is diminishing. We will seek guidance from Monsignor. The next meeting of the Pastoral Council will be January 24th.