St. Isidore Parish Pastoral Council

January 13, 2005

Members Attending: Glenn Bunnell, Rev. Richard Butler, Rose Colosi, Deacon Charles Cornell, Mark Douglas, Susan Peabody, John Sangermano,

Members Absent: Ann DeCristofaro, Nancy Dome, Tim Garvin, Kathleen King, Jeff LaPlante, Kim Tocci

St. Michael Parish representative Fr Steve Poitras had planned on attending but was meeting this hour with the funeral director to plan Fr. Wolkovich’s funeral

Evening Prayer

Minutes: Minutes of December 9^th reviewed, accepted

Update from the pastor

The transition team met January 3^rd.

Generations of Faith will resume after the Christmas season, meeting Jan. 21/23.

First Penance will be held Saturday, January 29^th.

Annual collection will be held February 20^th.

Reconfiguration

The question of a “worship site and Catholic presence” was discussed at some length at the January 3^rd meeting.

A subcommittee is being organized regarding religious education and the process of reconfiguration.

Fr. Butler and Fr. Carreiro met with Bishop Lennon revisiting each stage of the process to date, noting the demands this was making on Fr. Carreiro and St. Michael’s, offering to be open to a variety of options, seeking some clarity on what is to happen and when. The bishop thanked us for our sharing and indicated we would hear from him.

The difficulty of “swimming in ambiguity” was shared by the council members.

Regions of the Archdiocese

Until now we have been part of the Merrimack region; in the realignment of parishes into regions the latest proposal would place us in the West region. The specific impact of this is yet unclear.

Lent

During Lent this year we will accent the theme of two years ago when we introduced the concept of small faith groups in the parish.

Role of the PPC

Concern was raised that the Council seems to be losing its role of setting long range vision etc. and is caught up in housekeeping details of the reconfiguration. It was noted that this is inevitable while we lack clarity of dates etc. of the reconfiguration process.