PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES

St. Rose of Lima/St. Patrick Mission Parish Council Meeting Minutes

April 29, 2025

SUMMARY

The Parish Pastoral Council met on April 29, 2025, where several important topics were discussed and updates provided. The meeting was called to order at 7:01. The Fish Fry was successful and Triduum went very well in Father’s eyes. For our next meeting Fr. Leo asked that we review the article provided at the meeting on ways to celebrate the Jubilee and come prepared to discuss what event WE WANT to pursue as part of the celebration.

Sid had to replace the freezer and has an electrician coming to troubleshoot and fix the lights in the CCD building. He is also working on fixing the sprinkler system which has turned out to be a major undertaking.

We approved a motion to initiate a 5^th Sunday second collection to support St. Vincent dePaul and another for John and Mark to review the stored canned/dry goods we have on hand so we can make a decision on how to best disperse to those in need at a future meeting.

John shared information about organizing a food drive for the Contra Costa Food Bank, which offers collection barrels and accepts cash donations. The 211 Bay Area resource was highlighted as a potential tool for supporting food programs or assisting those in need. It was confirmed that the parish will have a booth at the Sugar City Festival in Crockett on July 20th as part of its 2025 calendar of events. During the discussion, Nancy mentioned two potential fundraising opportunities: selling ad space in the bulletin and applying for up to $3,000 annually in CCF grants to offset Hall operations and maintenance expenses, with Donna volunteering to handle the grant paperwork. The meeting adjourned at 8:23 pm with a closing prayer led by Fr. Leo, and the next meeting was scheduled for May 27, 2025.

FORMAL MINUTES

Meeting called to order at 7:01 pm by Chairperson Joseph Surges

In attendance: Fr. Leo, Joe Surges, Sid Jensen, John Giuntoli, Julie Buscaglia, Elena Gomez, Jesse Peralta, Runette Peralta, Donna Hoffman, Nancy Miller and Mark Cabral.

Opening Prayer – Jubilee Prayer of Pope Frances, led by Fr. Leo

A motion to approve the Minutes of the Parish Council meeting of March 25, 2025 was made, seconded and passed unanimously.

Pastor’s Report: Father Leo

• Memorial Mass for Pope Frances was held at the Cathedral of Light in Oakland with Bishop Barber presiding on April 26. Daily prayers requested by all Catholics in diocese for repose of Pope Frances soul, the enlightenment of the conclave in choosing the new Pope and a smooth transition.
• A mass to celebrate the Ordination Anniversaries the diocese Filipino priests to be held May 23, at Holy Spirit Parish in Fremont. Bishop Barber to preside.
• Bankruptcy update: Fr. Leo shared an update letter from Bishop Barber. 
• Fish Fry fundraiser was successful. Fr. Leo extended his appreciation to all who donated and worked so hard to make the event a success
• Everything went very well with the Paschal Triduum. The masses/services went smoothly and were prayerful. Many thanks to those who volunteered to serve in the various ministries who made the Triduum such a success.
• NOTE: Fr. would like us to have a Parochial Event for the Jubilee Year. He shared an article from Detroit Catholic regarding 8 ways to celebrate Jubilee 2025.
• ASK: Read the article and spend time at next meeting discussing an appropriate event for our parish
• Fr. Leo also suggested we read “Hope does not Disappoint” by Pope Frances.

Old Business

Maintenance Report: Sid Jensen

• Sid could not fix the old freezer, so new one was purchased
• Lights in the CCD building stopped working (due to stolen A/C unit?). Sid has electrician coming to troubleshoot and fix.
• Working on the sprinklers! Very old and complicated system. Sid has turned off the system, but it is still running… His focus is on mapping the system and installing valves to provide more control.
• Sid is going to remove the fountain

Webpage Status: Jessee and Joe

• Minutes from Parish Council and Financial Committee are posted and up to date.
• Weekly bulletins and articles are posted on website and Facebook site.
• Calendar has been updated with mass times and scheduled funerals.
• Joe mentioned that the QR code to make donations from the website is going to be removed as it costs $35/mo. The QR code from our bank will remain and can be used for donations and events. Also, donations can be made to our parish through the diocese website.
• Fr. Leo has asked that we post pictures of events, fundraisers, etc. to help promote the Parish
• Finally, reminder that the mass schedule is on the website – scroll down on the Home Page

Faith Formation: Julie and Trudi

• Trudi has 2 children who will be making First Communion on May 4. Seven others in first year of the two year program
• Julie has 8 Confirmation candidates for May 18^th ceremony that Bishop Barber will preside over.

Finance Committee Report: Nancy

• There was not a meeting held since last Parish Council Meeting
• Nancy clarified that the general checking and savings accounts for St. Rose and St. Patrick are with BMO.
• Savings account also for “earmarked” savings which are to be spent for specific purposes only.
• Have savings with diocese as well which we can draw upon as needed.
• Additionally, there is an investment account with the diocese. The diocese has typically paid the investment advisor fees, but because of bankruptcy, fees for 2023 and 2024 have been sent to us.
• Nancy looking into the ROR for the which is managed by the diocese advisors – believe it to be 4%. We may wish to consider pulling and investing ourselves to increase ROR and potentially protect from BK.

Organizations:

• Donna reported that the ICF monthly meeting is May 13^th. 5pm Mass and 6pm dinner.held a successful corn beef and cabbage feed on March 22^nd

Fundraising:

• Runette reported that dates are finalized for Coffee and Canvas (July 19), Dinner and Fashion Show (September 20),and Enchilada Lunch (Pedro and Frances coordinating on October 12)

Purchases:

• AEDs purchased, but issue with cabinets that Sid/Christina working out

CCD Building Rental:

• Although cannot currently sign the contract with Streamline Protection Service (SPS) because of Diocese BK, we are in good standing with SPS and we have requested going month-to-month until BK is settled.  

New Business

Fish Fry: Gross receipts - $15,391 with expenses of $6,473, netting $8918 which includes $720 of left over fish sold. Council engaged in less of/more of (LOMO) post mortem on Fish Fry. It was agreed that the last start was a problem and that next year we must have a detailed list of jobs with time slots and lead volunteers per task. Those at the event did not know who was supposed to be working or whom to call for update.

New Kitchen Equipment: Sid found two fryers we aren’t using in storage. If we get one additional, we will not need to borrow in the future as we now have 5 of our own. He wants to put wheels on them so we can move them around the grounds to best utilize. Also, Sid suggested that we make the BBQ run off natural gas and eliminate need for propane.

• Mark made a motion that we begin taking a 5^th Sunday second collection for St. Vincent dePaul. Sid seconded and motion carried. Reminder that there are 4 each 5^th Sundays per year – essentially one per quarter. Collected monies will go to SVDP.
• John put the issue of our canned goods on the table, suggesting that we review/inventory the items we have collected to make decision at future meeting if we want to keep or perhaps donate to Contra Costa food bank or some combination. Mark motioned that he and John take this action and Runette seconded – motion carried.
  • Other thoughts discussed to more effectively distribute our food to those in need included:
    • A monthly distribution of our canned goods at St. Rose
    • 211 Bay Area has listing of Bay Area food programs and benefits we might choose to support OR provide information to those in need who come to us so we might provide them with additional support
• John also informed that if we have a food drive for Contra Costa Food Bank, they will provide a barrel and pick up. They also take cash donations.
• 2025 Calendar of events – Confirmed that we will have a booth at the Sugar City Festival in Crockett on July 20th

Good of the Order

• Nancy mentioned that we are probably missing a couple of fundraising opportunities:
  • First, the back of the bulletin has a number of open spaces that could be sold. We should press the company who provides to us to fill and/or seek companies/individuals to purchase ad space.
  • Second, we can get $1000 from CCF for the Hall O&M since we make the Hall available to the community. We need to fill out CCF grant paperwork to describe the expense we are looking to offset and show we performed what we requested the money for. Evidently, this is available up to 3x per year! Donna volunteered to do paperwork.

Meeting adjourned at 8:23 pm

Closing Prayer led by Fr. Leo

Next Meeting: May 27