PASTOR’S REPORT FOR JANUARY MEETING
1/26/23
Funerals- 8 (includes Masses and services at parlor; does not include all cemetery burials)
Baptisms – 3
Weddings – 0
I have anointed various people in the past few months, at church, at their homes, and nursing homes.
Confessions are available before Sunday Mass at Osceola Mills from 7:30-8:15 am. They are available at St. Agnes in Morrisdale after 10:30 mass. The Advent penance service at St. Agnes was attended by around 35 people.
I was pleased with Christmas and all of the holy day celebrations over the past two months, and I hope that you were as well. I especially thank those who beautifully decorated the churches and our musicians.
There are 6 stops on my First Friday communion call list to the homebound.
We have 2 annulment case pending at the Marriage Tribunal in Erie.
Currently, we have 4 candidates for baptism into the Catholic Church at this year’s Easter Vigil. I am working with them on Wednesday nights at St. Agnes Social Hall from 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Finances are in the red for this fiscal year thus far. This will be covered in the Financial report.
A 7-week series of talks explaining the Mass, which I gave during Lent 2022, will be available on the parish website soon.
St. Agnes Bingo continues to do very well as a fundraiser for our three churches. Many thanks the bingo workers, who volunteer all this time on Tuesdays twice a month.
Cemetery business has been active, both sale of lots and burials. We have care over the following cemeteries:
Immaculate Conception
St. Agnes
St. Cyril and Methodius, Windburn
St. Joseph, Osceola Mills
Ss. Peter and Paul, Hawk Run
The physical plant includes 3 churches, 2 Social Halls (one free standing) and 5 cemeteries.
CSA commitments for 2023 will be taken up February 19.
Both parish’s offertory collections continue to be very healthy at this time. Expenses are being carefully watched. Much of our expense budget is fixed from year to year. Inflation is primarily affecting utilities and costs for fundraising.
The St. Agnes Rectory was in need of refurbishing. Particularly, a sofa needed purchased, along with a table and chairs for the sunroom. New drapery was purchased for the whole house, and blinds were removed. Carpeting was removed from the pastor’s suite, the two front offices, the sunroom, and the living room/dining room. They were replaced with a mix of carpeting and laminate flooring. Cleaning services were called to shampoo carpets and to clean all windows.
Numerous old pieces of furniture were discarded, too many to itemize. Much reorganization and discarding of rubbish took place in the house.
The rectory had not been consistently cleaned since the COVID lockdowns. Furniture and drapes had not been updated probably in a few decades (with exception of the kitchen).
The two front offices particularly were so disorganized as to not be functional. Some new chairs, tables, and office desk were purchased to make the offices suitable for work and meetings. Cabinets were cleaned out, rubbish was discarded, and they were reorganized.
Terry Wilkinson was hired as our Business Manager of the Central Moshannon Cluster in early September, 2022. Terry’s job is to manage the properties, the finances, and the parish staff. Some of Terry’s tasks included (but are not limited to) submitting payroll information to ABCS payroll company, hiring/disciplining staff, keeping parish budgets, preparing financial reports, obtaining bids for major projects, and arranging contractors for maintenance and construction. Terry opens the mail and reviews all bills. The secretary makes out payments. The pastor reviews bills and signs checks.
Support staff for St. Agnes Rectory and Fr. Bill were hired in October 2022. Tina Bowser was hired as the rectory cleaner. Shelly Mann was hired as Rectory Cook.
We thank Carol Anne Socash for returning as the parish secretary for St. Agnes/Ss. Peter and Paul for approximately 1 year from late 2021 to November 2022. Carol Anne retired again from the position at Thanksgiving time. Carol Anne was an invaluable help to me during my first months in this new assignment. Most importantly, she was able to finish two years’ worth of Diocesan Financial reports and 3 years’ worth of bank reconciliations for all our accounts that had been left undone since the COVID shutdown. Carol Anne has helped to get our sacramental records up to date as well.
Rosemary Clawges, secretary at Immaculate Conception, also began as the secretary of St. Agnes/Ss. Peter and Paul after Thanksgiving. She is fitting into her new job responsibilities very nicely.
Colin Sedlak and Clem Warner continue to be maintenance men for their respective churches. Bernie Carr continues to be the custodian for Ss. Peter and Paul, Hawk Run.
As you know, the Finance Council and Parish Council have been reconstituted in recent months. Also, a full schedule of collection counters for St. Agnes/Ss. Peter and Paul was made by Fr. Bill. We thank Bernie Carr for counting the collection each week for the past 3 years.
A cleaning crew schedule for St. Agnes was put together by Fr. Bill in October. We will have a meeting soon with this crew. We could use 5-10 more volunteers to perform this task with greater ease.
Fr. Bill Barron