Discipleship in Motion

Parish Pastoral Council Minutes

February 21, 2012

 Charlie McGowan, head of Kay’s Ministry, attended the meeting to ask for support for a drive to collect Backpacks to distribute to the homeless.  The Council was supportive of this effort and suggested that one approach might be to contact Tampa Catholic and Jesuit to solicit used backpacks from high school students at the end of the school year.  Fr. Bill also suggested that, given the number of people who travel for business, an effort could be made to collect travel size toiletries (soaps, shampoos, tooth paste, etc) for distribution.

 Jeff Falanga, Middle School Youth Minister, has accepted a position in Texas.  Therese Jackson, the Principal of St. Stephen Catholic School, had accepted a position at Tampa Catholic.  Search Committees have been formed to identify suitable replacements.

 Fr. Bill has tasked the PPC to become more than a reporting conduit and actively participate in the following projects:

 Develop a better procedure for helping new Heads of Ministries to assume their duties and be more proactive in providing advice and help on how to grow their ministries.

 Develop a plan for implementing the “Year of Faith” that will begin on October 11, 2012 and run through November 24, 2013.  How do we make this a Year of Faith at St. Stephen Church? 

 Update the Strategic Plan for the parish. 

 The Parish is still running a budget deficit against what was planned.  There have been a number of unplanned expenses (e.g. the “Catholics Come Home” advertising, plumbing problems, new carpet in the Sanctuary) that are adversely impacting the planned budget.  Debt Reduction collections are down although we are still making payments of $20K per month to expedite debt reduction. 

 Re-enrollment for next year has started.  So far 280 students have reenrolled (now 290).  The 2012-2013 school budget is based on 317students.  Experience has demonstrated that we usually pick up 20-30 students after the initial enrollment period.  For example, last year 39 students enrolled after the initial enrollment period.

 The Walk-a-Thon at the school raised $9300 for the school.  The next school fund raiser is the “Deals, Wheels, & Meals” (Car Show & Flea Market) on March 24. 

 Students from St. Stephen School participated in a Hillsborough County STEM Science Fair at the Tampa Convention Center and earned three 1^st Place Awards and three 2^nd Place Awards and one student received special recognition from the US Air Force for a project.  These students will now go forward to the state competition.  In addition, members of the 3^rd Grade Class received prizes at the State Fair for their Diversity Heritage Dolls.

 Matthew Irwin, the High School Youth Minister, has asked for support from various ministries to provide food for the Life Teen Group on Sunday evenings.   A majority of the teens are probably unaware of the variety of ministries within the parish and this would be an opportunity for ministries to highlight their activities and improve teen awareness.

 Janice Flanders has stepped down as head of the Sacristans.  Jan Goldonowicz will be taking over as leader of this ministry.

  John Rutherford had 40 people sign up for the Ushers Ministry as a result of his plea.

Parish Pastoral Council Minutes

The council was briefed on a proposed new ministry – “That Man Is You”, a program for Catholic men focusing on helping them to be better husbands, fathers, brothers and members of the community.  If approved, the program will begin in the fall of 2012.

The 2011 APA goal has been met.  The theme of the 2012 APA is “One, Holy, Catholic & Apostolic Church” and the St. Stephen goal is $357,626 up a bit over $200 from 2011.

 Mary Owens and Lisa & Scott Huetteman have stepped down from running “Quarterly Blessings” after many years of excellent service.  We are working to put together a new “QB” team with Debbie Connelly, Jessica Seifert and Heike House as members.

 Re-enrollment for St. Stephen Catholic School for next year has started.  This year the school will be specifically asking if students are or are not planning on returning.   Fr. John McEvoy at St. Anne’s in Ruskin has spoken from the pulpit encouraging his parishioners to consider sending their children to St. Stephen School and made a monetary donation to the school.

  The date for the next Angel’s Among Us is in February, 2013.

 Christmas liturgies were a great success.  The Liturgy Committee is considering the possibility of renting space in the Fish Hawk area for next year’s 4PM Mass because of the overflow crowds and the horrendous traffic problems on Bell Shoals and Boyette.  

 Cursillo is interested in sponsoring the dawn Mass on Easter. 

 Ash Wednesday is February 22 and Masses are scheduled for 8AM, 2PM (at the school), 5:30PM and 7PM.  Wristbands for saying “Disciple of Christ” will be distributed and people will be asked to sign a pledge card for increasing their efforts in discipleship during Lent.

 The Lenten Mission is February 26-29 with a penance service on Tuesday, February 28.  There will also be a retreat for the parish staff which PPC members are welcome to attend.

 Spring Jubilee is scheduled for April 19-22 and the core team has started meeting on a weekly basis.

 We have a problem with parishioners parking in the fire lanes during Mass.  This causes difficulties when rescue vehicles try to respond to emergencies at the church but can’t make their way through the parking lot.  The police cannot issue tickets on church property but our Maintenance people will begin putting “St. Stephen Tickets” on cars that are parked improperly.