Parish Meeting on Changes
Sunday, January 30th, 2005

About 200 people showed up Sunday afternoon, January 30th to hear Parish Council members, committee members, and staff report back on the concerns raised at earlier meetings regarding changes requested by the Archdiocese.   Margaret Lulic(right) was the convener/facilitator. In summary:

     
  1. Web page - a board of editors will monitor the website to eliminate stray and inappropriate links and submissions to minimize the incendiary bombs that set off certain critics. It is not the intent of this board to censor content but to provide more eyes and ears for decision making and monitoring.  
  2. Liturgy - the scheduling of outside speakers before the formal beginning of the Eucharist is working well.   We are still hearing from the prophetic witnesses of "Truth and Grace" (our opening hymn for this meeting) who come from the community.   Parishioners miss the Welcome Giver, but the press of time required some cuts.   Some Welcome givers were also taking too much time for what is supposed to be a simple message.  
  3. GLBT Ministry - despite some fears expressed that SJA is backing off its commitment, these ministries are stronger and more active and have drawn more participants, probably because of the controversy, not just in spite of it.   The publicity has helped, not hurt.   SJA is active with Inclusive Catholics, a group of 12 - 15 welcoming parishes.   We are not alone.  
  4. Communications - we have picked the targets to receive fuller news of what St. Joan's is all about:   the leadership in St. Paul and in Rome; the general public, and our allies, both Roman Catholic and other Christians.   We will not hire a PR director but will use talents of staff and parishioners.
Next, the meeting addressed selecting the successor to Fr. George.   It was emphasized that George was not pushed or even nudged; he had discussed his retirement in strategic planning several years back, and had made his plans before the recent controversies.

Joan Riebel provided a history of pastors since Harvey Egan and their selection processes.

Steve Boyle outlined the process to be used this time.   We will take a lot of time in the selection to get the right candidate and to permit the parish to make a smooth transition.   Some candidates may be bound by contracts which make them unavailable for some time (pastors sign 6 year contracts seldom broken). The staff member of the archdiocesan pastor selection process, Sister Fran Donnelly, is very open and forthright.   The Board feels we have allies, not enemies in the Chancery.   We are not going to have an incompatible priest forced upon us.   One member asked about what happens after we select a candidate and he accepts. "Are priests trainable?", he asked. Despite the chuckles, we all knew what he meant.   Peter Eichten said that George had sure learned a lot and had grown.  We are a strong parish with a strong staff - we are not going to get blown away and we will survive the transition.

Bob Beutel is a 20+ year "Joanie", a member St. Paul Saints Small Christian Community, the Scripture Study group, and the SJA Bookstore assistant manager. Bob says he is married to a very spiritual spouse whose challenges keep him active at SJA. They have three daughters and two granddaughters. Bob claims to be blessed beyond belief.
Margaret closed by asking us to respond:

  1. do you feel relieved and pleased by what we learned?
  2. did we accept what we heard as the best that could have been accomplished?, or
  3. are you upset and feel we must do something differently?
   Most in attendance answered 1, some 2, and none were seen to answer 3.

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