Sister Parish Committee meetings are held the first and third Wednesdays of each month at 7 pm. in the school. Newcomers are always welcome. If you have questions, please contact any of the members of the committee.
What follows are the minutes of the Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2000 meeting.
Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2000
Present: Louise,Mindy, Carol, and Rick were only ones to brave the snow and slippery roads
Lively discussions were the feature of the night.
Bible Study: Carol reported that from 4 to 6
persons are coming once a month on the 2nd Thursday. She now
has a calendar from Guatemala with all the readings of the
Sundays so that she knows they are on target. They are studying
the reading for the last Sunday so that Carol can send their
reflections in time for the TNII bible group meeting. This time
they sent some questions to the group in hopes of getting some
feedback again. Anyone else is welcome to join the group.
Retreat Planning: We discussed the possibility of Villa Marie on the date of March 17-19, their only opening and even called some people to find some more participants. In the end, we didn't seem to have a big enough group to commit at this time. We talked about several other possibilities in the future. And we discussed various retreat topics. This discussion led us to another alternative.
Lenten discussion group: Louise received the Study Guide called Refusing to Forget by the campaign for Peace and Life in Guatemala. This addresses the many issues in Guatemala Never Again. Our vision was pulling material from this guide for a five session Lenten discussion group for our group and anyone in the parish who would like to join us. We would do it on Wednesdays so we could take advantage of the soup suppers. (Louise got the ok from Jim Mauer today and will write something up for the Arc Angle so it will be listed with all the Lenten activities) Louise envisions also having this information integrated with global economic issues in Guatemala and Debt relief. The EPICA group has some wonderful materials. It's a broad issue and not much time but it will be more time than we would have for the same discussion on a weekend retreat. Hope the rest of the group likes the idea. You never know what will happen when only 4 people show up for a meeting.
Northern Advisory Group Meeting: report by Mindy and Louise: Somewhere in between all these discussions we reported on a very good meeting which discussed ideas on 1) recruiting sister parishes to be paired with churches in areas where we know have staff available in Central America 2) developing guidelines for Sister Parishes in the solidarity and charity tension. For example expecting that the 2 way trips north to south and then south to north be an expected routine for building solidarity and a priority over projects, especially in the beginning. 3) How to pep up the newsletter and other materials. There were lots of good sharing and excitement about recent and anticipated trips. There was also discussion of issues related to global economic justice and non-violence. Very stimulating. The cost of the trip was more than anticipated by Mindy because the numbers going were smaller than expected. Mindy asked for help paying her share of the van rental and gas at $100. The group approved the expense for payment from our travel budget line item.
Delegation Planning: First step, get the date set. Louise emailed Jackie to ask her help in setting the date in Jackie and Walter's calendar.
Next Meeting: Wednesday, Feb. 2, @7 pm School
Classroom