December 2012 Core Meeting Minutes

December 3, 2012 at Mary Immaculate Auditorium #1

Attendance

Present
Carmen Pernudi, Ricky Jones, Rosemary Moreno, Andrew Guerrero, Danny Lopez, Laurie Serrano, Rosie Cárdenas, Larry Ruiz, Sal Barrios, Deysi Martinez, Eugene Torres, Deacon Ken Elsey, Susan Castillo

Absent
Sandy Klevinskas, Fr. Porfirio Garcia, OMI

Opening

Opening Prayer
Brief moment of silence followed by a prayer led by Andrew Guerrero. Then we sang along as Rosemary played a song by Laura Story called “Mighty to Save.”

Prayer Exercise
Deacon Ken shared a reflection on the meaning of Advent and asked us to share with the person sitting next to us about how we are preparing ourselves for the coming of Jesus Christ.

Review of Last Month’s Minutes
Sal motioned that we accept last month’s minutes as-is and Larry seconded that motion.

Citizen to Be Heard

The following issues were brought to the attention of the Core:

Azucena Bonillas: She mentioned that she suggested that the directors not pay to on retreat just as the spiritual directors do not pay. She asked that the Core discuss this. She also suggested that the Core look into the possibility of lowering the cost of the retreat.
Bea Rulli: We are having a Christmas Concert at Camp Joseph Scott on Saturday, December 8th located at 28700 Boquet Canyon Rd., Saugus, CA 91390. She asked that participants arrive by 1:15pm and that they bring an ID showing that they are 21 and over. Visitors will have to sign in so don’t bring things like purses unless necessary. There is a list of gift items which Ricky will send out again to the community and these items should be delivered to Mary Immaculate after the Passing of the Candle. Santa hats would be nice and the event wouldn’t take more than an hour.

Old Business

The Core addressed issues brought up at the previous meeting.

Dates for Men’s Retreat Changed: The date will be September 19 – 22, 2013.
Liability Insurance: St. Vincent de Paul Evangelization Center does not require liability insurance, but our upcoming retreat at St. Joseph Salesian Youth Renewal Center is asking that we provide some proof of insurance, although the parishes are covered under the archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Nominees for Core Team: Carmen explained that the Core is seeking nominations for six new members for three year terms and one person for a one year term. The community may make nominations and the names will be prayed over and selected at the next Core meeting to take place January 7th 2013.
Payments to Parishes: Carmen suggested that we decide to make payments back to the parishes. Sal mentioned that we should make payments of $500 minimum to each parish per year to start off. He said that we owe each parish between $3000-4000. Deacon Ken added that the money we owe to the parishes is already theirs since it is a sub-account of the parishes. Sal explained that even though the money is of the parishes, they can’t use it if they don’t have it and that if we aren’t using the excess money in our account we should give it to the parishes so that they can use it. Rosie added that what the parishes invested in ACTS was seed money and they put it towards ACTS for a good cause. She added that if one of the parishes specifically comes to us asking for some money then we can pay what is available, whether it is equal to each of the parish. She also stated that we could even put on fundraisers to help them cover costs if necessary. Larry motioned that we table the idea of paying back the parishes unless the parishes ask for us.

New Business

The Core brought new ideas and issues to the table.

Core Team Vision Strategy: Ricky provided a copy of a document titled “Vision Strategy” that he had received from Joseph Montoya that he had put together as part of the Core team of his home parish in Texas. Ricky explained that it would be a good idea, now that we have more time to focus on post-retreat follow-up, to discern what our vision is for the next year and set goals that can we can work towards in order to assure that we are providing opportunities for our community to live the four pillars of ACTS: adoration, community, theology, and service both on and off retreat. He added that he thought it would be a good thing for the new Core members to have an idea as to what they are working towards. Deacon mentioned that it should probably be something discussed after the new Core members are elected and take their place on the Core in February 2013.
Retreat Dates for 2014 and 2015: Carmen explained that we need to select dates for our upcoming retreats for the next two years so that we don’t have scheduling conflicts with parish fiestas, holidays, holy days, or other events. Andrew will be calling to discuss availability with Hortencia, the secretary at the St. Vincent de Paul Evangelization Center.
Core Meetings Twice per Month: Carmen suggested that perhaps we could meet twice a month if need be to help take care of things when once a month is not enough. She also expressed that it is important for Core team members to not only come to monthly meetings, but to be visible in the parishes and to be open and available to our community. Deacon added that it might be difficult for those of us who are already active members of the parishes to attend additional meetings. Ricky stated that it would be a good idea to schedule separate meetings for director selections and other special meetings as to not take too much time away from our discussions.
Core Team Training: Carmen said that she had spoken with Jay Vela from ACTS Missions about putting on a Core training for our St. Ferdinand community along with those of Rancho Cucamonga and Azusa. She also added that she had heard from Jay that the Catholic Church is looking into the ACTS retreat to evangelize the whole Church. Ricky mentioned that he had read somewhere that Mission Hills was requesting ACTS. Deacon added that it was Bishop Wilkerson’s office that was inquiring about it.

Easter Series

Ricky explained that he had met with Fr. Frank Wagner, OMI and a few other men to discuss plans for a possible Lenten Series of talks/discussions. Fr. Frank has presented the idea to the pastors who are all on board, but the issue is finding locations to host this event. Ideally, there would be two talks at each parish, one per week, for six weeks during Lent. Unfortunately, scheduling a room at the parishes during this time is impossible. So Father has proposed that the series would take place between Easter and the Ascension on Wednesday evenings. Mary Immaculate and St. Ferdinand have already provided locations, but Santa Rosa is still searching for a room to provide us with. Deacon added that we could use the church at Santa Rosa after the 6:30pm Mass. Rosemary explained that the youth at St. Ferdinand have used the church there for group discussions and although the pews are not ideal for this, it has always ended up working just fine.

Additionally, Fr. Frank has asked a few people to give one of the talks including Deacon Ken Elsey and Doug Leal, the director of Adult Education for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The subject matter of these presentations would be focused on the Year of Faith, the New Evangelization, and the five points of the pastoral letter from Archbishop Gomez. Ricky asked if the Core would support Fr. Frank in this effort in order to assure participation from the St. Ferdinand community. These events will be open to all and we are encouraged to invite people who haven’t been on an ACTS retreat since they too would benefit from these presentations. Ricky will be working on the promotion of this series when the time draws near in order to make sure it is listed in the bulletins and perhaps some pulpit announcements would be in order.

Coordinator Reports

Each member of the Core gave an update:

Men’s Retreat: Eugene stated that he has had several men who would like to be on team, but can’t make it to the weekly meetings. Carmen and Andrew explained that the formation is a requirement because it is what helps build the team and foster fraternal love. Eugene added that the team has yet to pay their retreat in full. Joseph Montoya shared that the team is $2700 behind on their retreat payment and that they have been informed that their payments are due at the next meeting. There are a total of 22 retreatants sign up as of today and are hoping for 25 by the end of the week. The last team meeting is Wednesday and the last off-site meeting will be on Sunday. David Dogue and Bea Rulli will be facilitating the music at Candlelight since the music ministry will not be available. Joseph gave Laurie a copy of the retreatants names. Deacon explained that there weren’t enough pulpit talks this time around and that the cost is also an issue. Joseph thinks that if we look at the retreat budget and are more conservative with our spending then maybe we can help bring the cost of the retreat down. He also expressed that the team had difficulty scheduling with the parishes and didn’t want to overwhelm parishioners with the same message every Sunday. The team also didn’t have enough availability to make the continued pulpit talks.
Supplies: Danny said that he didn’t have anything to report.
Communication: Ricky didn’t have anything to report on as far as communication, but suggested the possibility of pursuing the Christmas Book Program by Matthew Kelly’s organization the Dynamic Catholic Institute. He added that 32% of Catholics only go to Mass on Christmas and that we do little to nothing to evangelize these brothers and sisters. This program provides an amazing discount on books to provide to these people as gifts ($2/book for orders over 500). Ricky stated that it wouldn’t be feasible to do this for the whole community, but that perhaps we could give them to those who have been on retreat with the hope that they would read the book and then give it as a gift to a friend or relative. Deacon mentioned that a lot of times people don’t read books that they get for free and suggested that perhaps we charge a $1 or $2 for the book. Eugene reminded the Core that Matthew Kelly will be in Pasadena on March 3rd 2013 at St. Philip the Apostle suggesting that those interested should attend. Deysi Martinez, the women’s director, explained her plan to use the book “Rediscovering Catholicism” as part of her team’s formation process, giving each woman a copy and asking them to read a chapter each week. Then there would be a short discussion at each meeting about that chapter.
Spiritual: Susan said that the Crocheters for Christ was very successful and that she was amazed at how many people showed, even more than come to the Family Rosary Nights. So this week the plan is to pray a rosary beforehand at 6:00pm then to continue crocheting from 7:00-9:00pm. She explained that the Crocheters for Christ is a collaboration of her and Johana Jones to teach people to crochet caps for cancer patients. The group is meeting for the next three Fridays to crochet these caps and will be delivering them in person to the cancer patients before Christmas.
Women’s Retreat: Deysi asked for the prayers of the community as her and her co-directors prepare. She has chosen two co-directors, but is waiting for the final answer from one of them. There will be a mini-retreat on January 5th from 9:00am – 12:00pm for the women to pray, reflect, and discern whether they should be on team. The retreat will help the women to be sure that God is guiding them to be on team and to serve, not getting lost in the details or expecting something in return.
Support: The Passing of the Candle will be on Wednesday at 7:00pm in the parking lot at Mary Immaculate. Laurie shared that the men’s team is so organized and she has already made the luggage tags with the list of retreatants that she was provided. She added that Anthony Reil will be collecting the money at Send-Off. Carmen stated that the Core will be available to support her in Send-Off and the Return Mass.
Music: Rosemary reported that Juan Moreno has received the music for the return Mass at St. Ferdinand.
Social: Rosie said that the Christmas caroling to the convalescent homes will be taking place on the 22nd of December preceded by a get-together in the auditorium at Mary Immaculate at 1:00pm where carolers can practice the songs, collect cookies, and participate in a brief prayer service.
Financial: Sal stated that there is over $17,000 in our checking account including $2,750 of deposits for the next two retreats and $1,914 for scholarships.
Facilitators: Carmen explained that the Community Day of Reflection was very successful and that there were about 50 people that stayed for dinner and a few more that left after the reflections by Cecelia Barragan, Dan Dankin, and Fr. Webert. There were also some extra donations to cover the food. She said that we are looking forward for more events like this for our community.

Closing

Next Meeting
The meeting will be held Monday, January 7th. Ricky will do the opening prayer and Susan will do the closing prayer. Andrew will bring snacks and Sal will be bringing drinks.

Closing Prayer
Larry Ruiz led the closing prayer.