Pastoral Regions

Most Recent News from the Regional Pastoral Council

Posted on Wednesday July 7, 2010

Meeting Highlights of the San Gabriel Regional Pastoral Council Meeting of June 26, 2010

Keeping the Synod Alive
San Gabriel Region Pastoral Council
Meeting Highlights
June 26, 2010

The San Gabriel Region Pastoral Council met on June 26, 2010 to celebrate the achievements of our Synod Implementation Three-Year Plan (2008-2010) and to set goals for the upcoming year.

After a celebratory breakfast, we thanked our retiring members – George Rigney, John Gateley and Sherri Saldana for their dedication and service to the Council. We then commissioned our five new members: Jim Allgaier (Our Lady of the Assumption); Elizabeth Bartolini (St. Stephen’s); Jeff Hudson (Holy Angels); Yolanda Mancino (St. John Vianney); and Mary Vizcaino (Our Lady of the Assumption).

New Executive Committee members were elected. They are:

Sister Kathleen Callaway, Moderator (Ramona Convent Secondary School; St. Anthony’s);

Mary Charles, Vice-Moderator (Holy Name of Mary; St. Lucy’s Priory High School)

Espie Barrios, Secretary (St. Louis of France)

Yolanda Brown, Past Moderator (Dolores Mission)

Mark Padilla, at-large (Holy Family)

Chris Caenepeel, at-large (Our Lady of the Assumption)

Anita Ford, Facilitator Assistant (St. John Vianney)

Sr. Mary Genino, Facilitator (Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary)

The main business of the day was to review the Three-Year Synod Implementation Plan with an eye to setting future direction. In reviewing the plan, the following accomplishments of the Council and its Standing Committees were evident:

Priority I: Synod Initiatives II and IV:

• Contacted parishes with no response to survey; 66% of parishes have parish pastoral councils

• Developed “Toolbox” for parishes wishing to start or renew a council; it is approved and awaiting distribution

• Developed “Toolbox” for parish finance councils; it is awaiting approval by Archdiocesan CFO

• Conducted annual parish orientations at the Cardinal’s Deanery meetings to acquaint parish leaders with Synod initiatives

• Sponsored 4 workshops to train/certify new parish pastoral council members; next workshop will be held in both Spanish and English (not just translating)

• Provided mentoring to new parish councils upon request

• Sponsored a Dialogue & Development Session on “Parish Leadership: A Shared Responsibility” inclusive of both ordained and lay ministers

• Invited to provide this workshop plan to other pastoral regions at the Interregional Conference

• Is partnering with the Archdiocesan Office of Parish Life for a Collaborative Leadership workshop focusing on pastoral planning on September 23, 2010

• Presented inventory of ministry schools in and out of archdiocese, including a review of the pre-synod survey pointing to need of a conveniently located school of ministry

• Is supporting St. John Vianney Parish School of Ministry pilot with speaker resources, curriculum input, etc. Observing pilot for application on a regional level. Brochure for School of Ministry is being developed

• Humberto Ramos shared the Spanish language brochure advertising the extensive three-year program for the Spanish Escuela de Ministerios San Gabriel, co-sponsored by St. Marcellinus Parish, the Instituto de Pastoral y Evangelizacion and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles; this Spanish School of Ministry addresses the Synod recommendation

Priority II: Synod Initiatives I and III

• Researched faith formation resources available in region; compiled Pastoral Resource Guide; it is awaiting publication on the Archdiocesan website

• Assisted the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council in a similar project of compiling resources throughout the archdiocese as part of its report on the implementation of Synod Initiative III

• Expanded committee to include more members working directly with youth in order to begin working on the goal of establishing a regional youth advisory board

• Researched various successful evangelization plans

• Presented these plans to the entire council at various meetings

• Evangelization program and implementation plan is still in progress
Priority III: Synod Initiatives V and VI

• Collaborated with Office of Justice and Peace to host Faithful Citizenship event at Blessed Sacrament

• Planning an October symposium on immigration with a target audience of leaders of social justice committees

• Developing a database of social justice activists with an eye to creating a listserve to enhance ongoing communication

• Continuing to develop a working relationship with Office of Justice and Peace, other regional social justice committees and others such as Just Faith training to maximize networking and collaboration

• Establishing a more broadly-based committee for Synod Initiative V; addressing language and cultural differences

• Committing future plans to writing in order to address the priorities of these two initiatives; establishing milestones with definite dates to present to Council

In reviewing the implementation plan, members could clearly see the “next steps” to be taken. This will be the focus of our next meeting.

Synod Initiative III committee members shared information with the council on their progress toward establishing a youth advisory board. The committee invited 22 young people who are leaders in their parishes to come to a youth forum where they could share their insights about a youth board.

The final question of the day was, “If you had the ear of the bishop, what would you like to say?” Chris Caenepeel shared their answers with the Council. Their words were inspiring, centered mostly on the vision they have for the church, the fire they have to effect the mission of the church and their deep desire for acceptance by adults in the church.

The Council was excited by three upcoming events and wishes to highlight them from the list above:

 the Escuela de Ministerios San Gabriel (For information – E-mail EMSanGabriel@marcellinus.org)

 the St. John Vianney School of Ministry beginning in October (Watch for information in August)

 the Immigration Symposium, also in October.

The Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary have made a generous grant to the Council to be used for scholarships for the further formation of Council members in areas that would promote the implementation of the Synod Initiatives. The Council reviewed and approved criteria for the scholarships award. The Council is extremely grateful to the RSHM community for this gift.