PARISH
COUNCIL OF ST. PATRICK'S IN ARMONK
MINUTES
OF MEETING ON JULY 25th,
2002
Present at the July 25th, 2002 meeting were Bob Ballengee,
Vincent Greco, Dorothy Mitchell, Bob Morris, Father John Quinn, Ann Silvestri,
Corinne Strianese, Edward Strianese, Barrie Watson, Lynn Watson.
Father Quinn welcomed everyone and presented the agenda for the meeting
which included Vespers, old business, committee reports, new business, video,
adjournment and scheduling of the next meeting.
Ann Silvestri led the Parish Council in Vespers.
Ann Silvestri presented the Teen Life report for Joanne McMahon. On June
2nd the teens participated in Walk F.A.R. for NAAR, a two mile walk
at Manhattanville College, to benefit autism research. NAAR is the National Alliance for Autism Research.
A Socks for Tots drive was held for the Children’s Unit of the
Westchester Medical Center. Father Quinn reported that Joanne McMahon invited all the
seniors to Takayama Japanese Restaurant in Chappaqua.
The dinner was held in honor of four members of Teen Life, who have made
outstanding contributions to both the parish and the C.Y.O.
Reporting for the Social Concerns Committee, Bob Ballengee stated that
donations of clothing and kitchen utensils to the Women’s Clothing Drive
almost filled the truck which the St. Vincent de Paul Society in the Bronx sent
to collect the items. The St.
Vincent de Paul Society was the main recipient of the drive which included over
$9,000 of clothing donated by a company in Portchester.
In addition, 6 large bags of clothes were donated to Samaritan House
Women’s Shelter in White Plains. Bob
Morris noted that this was the most successful clothing drive St. Patrick’s
ever held. On behalf of the Parish
Council, Ann Silvestri thanked Bob Ballengee, Bob Morris, the members of the
Social Concerns Committee, and all who gave so generously to make this drive
such a remarkable success.
Next, Bob reported that the people of St. Patrick’s donated $143 in
cash to the Food Pantry over the last 6 weeks.
From that sum the Social Concerns Committee spent $135 to buy most of the
49 bags of food that the parish gave to the Food Pantry.
The committee also collected 20 bags of food from the Food Emporium and 2
bags from the library. Bob thanked
all who give so generously to the Food Pantry and expressed appreciation to the
eight parishioners who volunteer at the Food Pantry.
Father Quinn reported that the commitment pledge has been signed with the
Hudson Valley Bank for the financing of the Parish Center. Both the Finance Committee and the Building Committee were
involved in the financing process. While
construction on the Parish Center is scheduled to begin the end of August, the
official groundbreaking ceremony will take place on Sunday, September 29th
following the 12:00 P.M. Mass. Bishop
Mestice plans to be with us that day and will turn over the first official
shovel of ground.
Reporting for religious education, Father Quinn told the Parish Council
that between 400 and 500 children are already registered for the fall Religious
Education program. Regarding adult
religious education Father noted that in any parish there are 4 generations.
Within those 4 generations there are 7 different categories of people
that adult faith formation is aimed at reaching.
As part of adult religious education, Father Quinn presented the
beginning of the video, Our Hearts Are
Burning, to the Parish Council
Our Hearts Are Burning, is an
adult catechesis video highlighted by Bishop Donald Wuerl, bishop of Pitttsburg.
In 1999 the Catholic bishops of our country approved a pastoral plan for
adult pastoral formation in the United States.
It was intended to create a passion for renewal in the ministry of adult
faith formation. In the video,
Bishop Wuerl gives a brief introduction to the plan’s purpose, noting that the
bishops are keenly aware of the challenges and opportunities of the moment. The emphasis of the plan is on adult faith formation which
takes place as we strengthen and nurture our faith.
Bishop Wuerl notes that we must respond to the needs of life and to see
God’s plan as it unfolds around us. A
priority of faith formation is to live our experience of Christ in the parish as
an explicit and fruitful example of our faith. This occurs when our faith overflows into our lives,
especially in the areas of compassion and justice.
Father Quinn presented excerpts from this video at the weekend Masses.
He stressed the need for adults to continue to learn and grow in their
faith. Adult catechesis will be
promoted to parish groups, large and small groups, families and individuals.
All are welcome to attend Father Edward Donovan’s small group talk on
prison ministry after tomorrow’s Mass. In
the future, announcements regarding small group talks will be made at the
weekend Masses.
To commemorate the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks upon our
nation we will set aside nine days as a time of prayer.
Each weekday night from September 3rd through September 11th,
Mass and /or Vespers and Communion will be offered at 7:30 P.M. in the Church.
The next meeting of the Parish Council will be on Thursday, September 12th
at 7:30 P.M.