Attending: Fr. Patrick Ebner, Marylin Bowen, Cecil Duke, Marian Hendrick, Dennis Mecha, Mark Riley (Chairperson), Sabrina Saladino (Vice Chairperson), and Martin Zimmermann (Recorder).

Marilyn opened the meeting with a prayer at 6:12p.m.

The Council heard from Family Promise representatives Amy Meyers (Director), Roxanne Collins (First Baptist Church), Debbie Eller (First United Methodist Church) and Rachel Schulz. Family Promise is a network of independent affiliates in 39 states whose mission is to help homeless families to achieve long-lasting independence (www.familypromise.org). At the heart of the program is an interfaith hospitality network that marshals existing local resources to provide for homeless families as they work to get back on their feet.

Definition of homeless: anyone who does not have a home of their own. This includes families who permanently live in motels or are doubled up with other family members (not out of convenience) and, for example, stay in garages or sheds (“hidden homeless”). Homelessness with children is on the rise in Texas. This school year, 490 children enrolled in B/CS schools have been identified as homeless (does not include children that are below school age). Local resources for homeless families with children are scarce. Twin City Mission has a room but its facilities are not designed for families, but single individuals; residents are often separated by gender and age.

Family Promise of Bryan/College Station currently has 9 churches in their network (need 13 for a good rotation) that has been established here for the last 2-3 years. Congregations provide overnight shelters and three meals a day for up to 14 persons (5 families) for a week from Sunday afternoon through Sunday morning. The network owns a 15-person van and beds. Currently three families are in the program. Overnight hosts spend the night at the congregation with the families. During the day, the families go to the day center at 1806 Wild Oak Drive in Bryan. The day center has a renovated office suite, a reception area, shower facilities, washers and dryers, a guest phone, computers for job search and two family rooms with doors. During the day, the adults are looking for work and the kids are in school. Family promise provides case management for families to develop goals as they typically do not have a support system. Reasons for homelessness may be bad financial decisions, family conflicts, or separations. They cannot have a violent background, mental disorders or substance abuse background and have to be families with children. In order to stay in the program, families have to work on the developed goals, need to be actively seeking work (three employment contacts every day) and do chores at the day center.

About 50 people from each participating congregation are needed to make it a successful program. The church would commit to providing shelter during assigned weeks during the year. The Council watched a video on the local family promise program and decided to discuss the program and St. Anthony’s possible participation during the Council’s next meeting.

The Council reviewed the Pastoral Plan and generally liked the five goals it identified. It is anticipated that the Diocese will ask for help in the implementation of the plan in the next couple of months. The Council decided to revisit the plan during the next meeting and perhaps select one or two individuals’ names by May 1 as facilitators to the Diocese to help organize the implementation effort.

Martin presented his research on the issue and suggested the creation of a task force. Growing the church will involve more than just a few individuals; it will involve the whole parish. Parishes that grow and flourish are the ones that actively evangelize. The parish needs to be prepared and educated about the need to recruit new members.

It is important to have a positive first impression to make visitor feel welcome and interact with them after Mass perhaps during a “coffee hour”. Perhaps a “visitor packet” that includes a professionally designed parish brochure, a brief history of the parish and an invitation to join could be prepared. A guestbook could be placed at the church entrance where guests can leave names and addresses. Their contact information could be used to send out, for example, invitations to the pot luck dinners or other upcoming events and the holiday mass schedule.

Attracting new members could also be achieved through advertising, church signs, a slogan (e.g., “Feel like family here.”), having a current mailing list and an ad in the Yellow Pages. The parish brochure could list mass times, directions to the parish, activities, and confession times. Parishioners that stopped coming to Mass could be identified through the envelopes and reached out to. New members could be incorporated through small group studies, e.g., bible study, prayer, and personal sharing. Outreach to young people will probably be more successful through the use of technology (email, facebook).

The Council discussed the need to come up with a strategy for growth, i.e., how to win souls for Christ and reconnect with people that have been alienated by the church. A task force could come up with a plan for action and prepare each ministry. The Council will discuss the task force idea more during the next meeting.

Martin presented drawings he had obtained from the City of Bryan concerning the city’s proposed closing of Parker Street between 28^th and 29^th Streets. Fr. Patrick will get with Bill Scarmardo to schedule a meeting with city representatives. Martin advised that the project was currently scheduled to go out for bid in May.

· Family promise

· 5-year plan

· Parker Street closing

· New member task force

Fr. Patrick closed the meeting with a prayer at 8:28p.m.