Saint Michael the Archangel

Fort Gordon, Georgia

The Pastoral Council meeting was held on Tuesday, 1 November 2011. The following were council members and parishioners that attended the meeting. Chaplain Joseph Lea Deacon George Foster Deacon David Kriegel Jeff Lepak - President Herman Gonzalez Vice President Lola Rivera Kim Besel Sherry Wodicka Tom Dean JoAnn Capozzoli Loren Simpson -Secretary The meeting was opened with a prayer by Deacon Dave Kriegel at 1735. 1. Old Business. a. Last months Pastoral Council minutes were accepted as read with the exception of a spelling error on Father Damian and completion of a statement concerning the Chapel Window picture and getting copies to two departed members. b. Lola Rivera reported on the Father Damians Jubilee celebration on 16 October and Priest Sunday Father Joes installation on 30 October. 2. New Business a. Novembers calendar. (1) All Souls Day masses are scheduled for 2 November; there will be three masses, one right after the other, starting at 1130. (2) MCCW Bake-off/Advent Wreath/Christmas Workshop on 19 November but will be re-named a Christmas Workshop. Father Joe asked if some members of Chaplain Seaborns congregation (liturgical) could join us for the workshop. It was agreed to. (3) 20 November the CCD will be an All Saints program where the older students will dress up as saints and go to the religious education classes. (4) Thanksgiving Services 1700 vigil mass on 23 November. Thanksgiving Day mass will be at 1000. 1

(5) 26 November 1100-1500 will be a day of chapel decoration. We will reach out to the Faith Gospel Fellowship to ask them to join in the day. c. Decembers Calendar: (1) 8 December is a Holy Day of Obligation (Feast of the Immaculate Conception). On 7 December there will be a vigil mass at 1730 and on 8 December will be a regular 1130 mass. (2) 11 December is Our Lady of Guadeloupe. There will be a mass in Spanish at 1600 to celebrate. Jeff Lepak recommended that this be publicized in The Signal newspaper and said that he would get in touch with the editor. Articles must be in by Tuesday for the Friday issue. Wanted to look whether or not the publicity could be added to the marquees at the gates. There was discussion as to whether there was a possibility to add a Spanish mass. Should there be a survey given to the parish during mass to ask them (yes or no) about having a Spanish-speaking mass? What would happen if the normal 1700 mass be changed to 1600 and the Spanish-speaking mass at 1700? We also dont want to set up a competitive mass if there is already a Spanish-speaking mass. There was much discussion concerning support for the mass (primarily financial, i.e. purchasing Spanish supplies, missals, etc.) (3) Christmas Schedule 24 December at 1600 will be the childrens mass and pageant. 25 December will begin with Midnight mass. Christmas Day service will be only at 1000 (no 0830 mass). Jeff Lepak suggested a Jesus birthday cake. Sherry Wodicka volunteered to make the cake and the council would use NAF to purchase the cake mixes. Poinsettias will be few and the installation chaplains office will be purchasing them. We will augment them with our own funds. We will need altar servers for the Midnight mass and the Sunday 1000 mass. There was a question concerning calendars for 2012 for the parish. (4) Departure for Father Damian. Although there is no official date, Jeff Lepak requested that a date be set in early December to say farewell. No date was set until Father Joe could speak to Father Damian. d. Januarys Calendar: (1) New Years masses will be normal services because New Years Eve is a Saturday. A question came up about the Feast of Three Kings (8 December) and it was asked whether or not the three deacons would dress up as the Magi. Lucky and Fran have most of the costumes attire for them. (2) The priests will be TDY to a Priests Conference in San Diego. Father Joe is not sure how many Sundays will be affected but definitely 15 January will be a travel day, but not sure if 22 January will also be affected. Father Joe also mentioned that he would be out sometime in February while he attends a class in Seattle. 2

(3) Planning a couples retreat in January. Lola Rivera spoke with a leader as a possible source. The cost would be approximately $3,000. Deacon George brought up the possibility of using the new Savannah bishop. Daycare may have to be set up. Father Joe also wanted to conduct a parish mission into this also. e. Pastoral Coordinator Lola will be working on our parish registration during the month of November. She is also conducting an inventory on what we have. Would like volunteers to come in on Saturday at 0900. Father Joe brought up the problem of some of our property coming up missing. Some of our property may be at some parish members homes. There was a long discussion concerning this. Lola is trying to establish a Welcome Weekend Ministry to include welcoming new parish members and have special refreshments and gifts for them. She is looking for someone to volunteer to coordinate this program. A logistical problem came up with the Faith Gospel service coming in after our mass. The idea of going somewhere else was discussed but the choices are limited and have a tendency to lose families. Lola is also looking for someone to chair the Flower Ministry. f. MCCW Chaplain Wiley is the guest speaker for this months meeting. All, to include men, are invited. There will be n 1800 mass. It will be followed by a pot-luck dinner. Working on our Facebook page and trying to get a Twitter account; also looking into a website or a blog. Kim tried to audio record Father Joes homily but ran into technical difficulties. Jeff Lepak asked about a local Catholic radio station, but Deacon George stated that it didnt happen. g. Youth For the Confirmation Spectacular we had 14 students and four adults. This past meeting was the shirt distribution that the youth designed. JoAnn Capozzoli spoke with the youth about singing. The diocese is planning an activity in January, but JoAnn has little information on it yet. There is a box in the Reception Hall to collect the socks and underwear for the VA. There was some discussion about re-starting the Rocka-thon and conducting a Spaghetti Supper as fund-raisers. h. CCD Sherry Wodicka wants to see about getting Calling Post for the 1st Communion and Confirmation classes and one for CCD as a whole. Sherry is beginning to organize a weekend or one day Confirmation Retreat in February. Sherry went to Virtuos training on 28 October. It was very good and although it is a diocese requirement, it is not pushed. A question was asked if this is also a Military Archdiocese requirement. The answer is yes, but we need to track it here. Father Joe wants to plan this for next summer. i. Ministry Tom Dean reported that the new lector books are in and he will start passing them out. j. Finance - Tina Raby was not available for this meeting so there was no financial report.

i. Music Herman Gonzalez wants to start teaching the parish the music parts of the new missal. Father Joe was in agreement. Herman also asked about getting CAC cards for the contractors as some do not have a military ID card so it is difficult to get on post at times. Jeff Lepak said he would look into it. k. Father Joe wants to see about getting new liturgical supplies and equipment for the chapel. There was some discussion about cleaning and maintenance of the chapel. l. The council would like to get a volunteer to chair an Evangelization committee to help get the word out about our chapel and programs. 3. The Parish Council closed with prayer at 1925.