Attending: Fr. Patrick Ebner, Judy Comeaux, Cecil Duke, Marian Hendrick, Mark Riley (Chairperson), Sabrina Saladino (Vice Chairperson), and Martin Zimmermann (Recorder).

Cecil opened the meeting with a prayer at 6:36p.m.

Mike Miller gave the Council and update of the St. Joseph Catholic school system. He stated that system president Sister Mary Brian Bole came to St. Joseph last summer. Her goal is for St. Joseph to become accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The school board is currently being restructured to have representation not only from parents but also from the various parishes to have more equal representation and making it less of a parental organization. The board is tasked to come up with 5 year master plan that addresses the school system’s needs and to find the money for it. Master plan subcommittees have been formed to help in this process. The main goals are to grow the school, i.e., to get more Catholics to send their kids to St. Joseph schools, and to upgrade school facilities, for example a new science lab for the Coulter campus, update wiring for many buildings and updating computer systems.

Academically, things are going very well with a high percentage of graduates getting into major colleges. This year, the graduating class is approximately 24; next year it will be about 40. Financially, variation in class sizes is an issue with regard to tuition which is almost the only source of income for the school system. The school is trying to fill up the classrooms at every grade level as there are many empty spaces currently. The goal is to keep tuition affordable and provide quality education. Raising tuition is being considered but is a difficult decision as it may cause parents to send their kids to other schools. Compared to other areas and other private schools in Bryan/College Station, tuition rates at St. Joseph are very reasonable. Area parishioners qualify for a parishioner rate. Currently 10 families from St. Anthony’s have kids at St. Joseph schools. The majority of kids come from St. Joseph and St. Thomas.

Fr. Patrick distributed a letter from Bishop Gregory dated December 11, 2008 in regards to the opposition to the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), a bill that would create a right to abortion. The Diocese is participating in a national postcard campaign where postcards will be sent to U.S. Senators and Representatives in the weekend of January 24/25. Fr. Patrick advised that he will address the campaign during his homily and that there will be an insert in the bulletin that weekend.

Judy advised that she had been approached by a parishioner about St. Anthony’s participating in the Family Promise Ministry that assists homeless families with children. Currently 12 area churches are involved in this ministry. The goal is to get 20 churches. It is an outreach ministry where a homeless family would live on St. Anthony church grounds for a week at a time. The Council was interested in more information about this ministry and learning more about what would be involved in getting such a ministry set up at St. Anthony’s.

Fr. Patrick suggested and the Council supported having a parish pot luck after Mass on February 22 in the gym. Like last November, the church would provide fried chicken and drinks. Fr. Patrick will coordinate with Becky.

Sabrina voiced concerns about the state of the chapel, especially the carpet. The Council discussed the state of the chapel and Fr. Patrick said that he is working on getting the chapel carpet replaced as well as the carpet in front of the church.

Judy appealed for help with the upcoming spaghetti dinner.

Sabrina advised that an email address for the Pastoral Council (pastoralcouncil@saintanthonys.org) has been set up and is posted on the website.

Cecil suggested that we start planning a process where we can gather and think about how we can invite people back and/or recruit new members for our church.