Draft Minutes of the Orleans Cluster of the Eastern Niagara-Orleans Vicariate Meeting of 11/9/09

The meeting was called to order at 7:06 p.m. with the Journey in Faith and Grace Prayer led by Fr. Dick. Jan Thirlby presiding.

Present: Bob Ballard, Fr. Joe Kozlowski, Sr. Mary Anne Rapp, Fr. Dan Fawls, Barb Daluisio, Pat Swindon, Jan Thirlby, Fr. Dick Csizmar, Carol Buondonno, Barb Filipiak, Sr. Presentia Stawicki, Andrew Lucszyn, Gail Christ, Bill Austin.

Vicar’s Report:

Fr. Dick reported that he met with lay representatives from the Eastern Niagara Cluster who indicated that their people continue to adjust to the effects of the restructuring plan. Today he met with clergy from both clusters and it was decided to delay the inaugural joint lay meeting in order to allow the clergy time to get better acquainted and organized. It may not be until next spring before this will happen. On January 11, 2010 the vicariate clergy will meet again along with DREs of parish communities. The noon meeting will be at St. John’s in Lockport and will include lunch. It was felt that the DREs are the key to successful communication both as a cluster and a vicariate. Once the clergy and DRE components become better established, then will be the proper time to introduce the lay vicariate representatives to each other to begin a path forward.

Catholic Education Assessment:

It was suggested that parishes begin a frequent letter writing campaign to the diocese asking for relief from the Catholic School Assessment formula. Fr. Dick recommended that these appeals come from parish finance committees who can better document their hardships with actual figures and projections. These increased financial burdens that parishes are unable to meet will result in the diocese having to look at alternatives that may include closing more schools.

Parish Reports:

Holy Trinity – The recent Cluster Anointing Mass was favorable with good attendance and feedback. The Intergenerational Events are also positive. Sacred Heart Oratory’s Year-long Anniversary Celebration is in progress, which involves monthly events that will conclude with a gala celebration next October. Holy Trinity is also participating in the annual Christmas Shoe Box project.

Holy Family – A re-energize the parish session will be conducted on November 30^th as part of their evangelization pilot program aimed at ways to increase parishioner involvement and bring back those who are lax or who have fallen away. On December 1^st, the parish will host a respect life event with a guest speaker. This is open to everyone and it is hoped that Confirmation students will attend. The parish will host a National Night of Prayer for Life on December 8^th from 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. A Gift-Celebration-Mystery of the Eucharist event is scheduled for this coming Sunday and the youth ministry is sponsoring a spaghetti dinner in November.

St. Mary/St. Mark – The parish community continues to offer monthly LifeLong Faith Formation Sessions on “Celebrating Life”. They recently conducted an All Souls Day Remembering Mass. St. Mark just reached its 25^th Anniversary.

Parish Struggles/Challenges:

Medina – continues to see some parishioners still adjusting to the new parish structure and doing things differently.

Holley/Kendall – as many as 50% have simply quit and walked away.

Albion – continues to chase after occasional churchgoers and those who have fallen away. Only a limited few come together to plan and organize events.

Lyndonville – St. Joseph people are becoming more active in parish life at the new merged parish community. Social events continue to have good turnouts. Old traditional parish groups, such as the St. Joseph rosary Society, may soon fold because of dwindling memberships. Biggest challenge for the newly merged parish is the conflicts with the lifelong faith formation programs, which are not in synch yet.

Year of the Priest Celebration:

Planning for the 2010 Vicariate Year of the Priest Celebration will begin in the spring. However it was suggested that the clergy start thinking about choosing a speaker for the Mass so that if someone outside the vicariate is desired, that he/she can be booked early. Holy Trinity said they would be conducting several “mini-celebrations” prior to the vicariate event to allow those from local worship sites the opportunity to do so. Scheduling conflicts will prevent some from attending the June 6^th 2p.m. event in Albion.

Vicariate Confirmation:

The 2010 site for Confirmation is back in Albion. Lyndonville will still be with us as their program remains on our schedule. DREs provided Fr. Dick with several possible dates to propose to the bishop which is aiming to be sometime late April – early June.

Christmas Eve/Day Mass Schedules:

Holy Trinity

December 24^th: 4:00 p.m. at St. Mary’s site(family)

December 24^th: 6:00 p.m. St. Stephen’s site

December 24^th: Midnight at St. Mary’s site

December 25^th: 10:00 a.m. at Sacred Heart Oratory site

St. Mary/St. Mark

December 24^th: 6:00 p.m. at St. Mark

December 24^th: 10:00 p.m. at St. Mary

December 25^th: 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary

Holy Family: TBA

Our Lady of the Lake: TBA

Next meeting: January 11, 2009 – 7:00 p.m. at Holy Family Albion

Fr. Dick led the closing prayer. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Robert F. Ballard,

recorder

Western Cluster (Eastern Niagara)

Our Lady of the Lake, Barker

St. Patrick’s, Barker
St. Joseph’s, Lyndonville

All Saints, Lockport

St. Patrick’s, Lockport
St. Joseph’s Oratory, Lockport

St. John the Baptist, Lockport

St. Brendan on the Lake, Newfane

St. Brigid, Newfane
Our Lady of the Rosary, Wilson
St. Charles Borromeo Oratory, Olcott

St. Mary’s, Lockport (may merge with All Saints)

Immaculate Conception, Ransomville (desires affiliation with Western Niagara)

Draft Minutes of the Orleans Cluster of the Eastern Niagara-Orleans Vicariate Meeting of 11/9/09

Western Cluster (Eastern Niagara)

Our Lady of the Lake, Barker

All Saints, Lockport

St. John the Baptist, Lockport

St. Brendan on the Lake, Newfane

Eastern Cluster (Orleans)

Holy Family, Albion

St. Mary, Holley/St. Mark, Kendall

Holy Trinity, Medina