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Standing Council Committees (1999-2000) Social Action Committee -- Susan Shipley This year the SAC committee has been instrumental in disseminating some Welfare-to-Work information to the community and current social issues affecting the poor and homeless in the area. Members also contributed time and talent to Christmas giving projects that included The Giving Tree and Christmas Wrap-a-thon and distribution of gifts to area agencies. Members have been involved with creating an Altar Cloth, Christmas Nativity backdrop, pendant, and other craft projects for the church. Grant writing, appeals for pledges, letter writing campaigns, and some legislative advocacy activities have taken place. Hopefully, these activities will increase in the future as membership increases. The recruitment and empowerment of new members continues to be a goal of the committee. To accomplish this and accommodate the Community, the time and location of monthly meetings take place after Mass in the hall or in the rectory. Meeting announcements are provided through the Community Newsletter, e-mails, telephone calls, and/or announced at that Sunday's Mass. SAC meetings are conducted by a facilitator who encourages the members to share and expand their social concerns and engage the rest of the group to focused action. Action agendas become realities through monitorship and direction of the founding members. The founders possess experiences in ways to advocate and develop funding. They are knowledgeable about linkages to area social service agencies, how to lobby, and how to develop talents in others. Note: See Social Action History in Reaching Out Reaching Out section, p. 37. Christian Formation -- Karen Duffy The Christian Formation Program provides religious education opportunities for children 3 years old through High School. Ages 3 through 6th grade meet on Sunday mornings from 9:30 - 10:45 in Malachi Center and Urban Community School. A Parent Enrichment program is offered for adults in the school library during this time. Junior and Senior High classes take place on Sunday evenings in homes from 6:30 - 8:00. Grades one through six use the Seasons of Faith lectionary - based program. The Junior High and Senior High programs follow a Youth Ministry format using Teen topics as the Junior High focus and Peace and Justice issues as the Senior High focus. In addition to regularly scheduled classes, Christian Formation sponsors a Family Advent Activity Day, End of the Year Family Potluck, Junior High overnight retreat, Senior High weekend retreat, and sacramental preparation for Baptism, First Reconciliation, First Eucharist, and Confirmation. This year's Christian Formation Program is under the direction of Christian Formation Chairperson Mary Carol Lucic and Director of Religious Education Karen Duffy.
Early Years in Christian Formation -- Paul Kunkel This article is based on an interview with Gloria Freire who served as Religious Formation Chairperson from 1977-1979 There were about 60 children involved along with parent volunteers in the late 1970s. Children congregated on the altar steps during Liturgy and left for 20 to 30 minutes for sessions throughout the school. Fr. Paul encouraged the kids to gather at the altar. There were programs for kindergarten, elementary, junior and senior high school students. Ursuline nun, Sister Barbara from Urban Community School, assisted with the program. Initially there were no texts used. Creativity was encouraged to assist the children in having a joyous experience similar to the experience their parents had at the Community. An effort was made to build a program different from the traditional church programs of the time. The parent advisory group consisted of mostly mothers of the children. They worked closely with the Steering Committee. At least once a year, there was a home Mass and potluck picnic. There were campouts with the older kids in the warm months. Nancy Mercer, Grace Caliguire, Mary Joyce and Elli van Lier worked closely with Gloria to coordinate the program and enlist volunteers. Nancy served as chairperson from 1979-1981. There were no DRE’s (Directors of Religious Education.) In the early years, volunteers were used exclusively to implement the religious education of the children. Communications Committee -- Dan Alaimo & Peter Toomey www.stmalachi.org There have been so many people who have worked in Communications for the Community of St. Malachi through the years that, for the purposes of this report, I will name nobody. If I start, I will leave people out and I don’t want to do that. Also if I name everyone, I will have no space left to describe the work of the committee. Thank you to all who have volunteered to put out the Newsletter in the past and a special thanks to all who are involved in our many projects today. And my apologies to all of you who richly deserve to be credited here. In recent years, the scope of this committee’s activity has become truly impressive thanks to our many volunteers. Our current major efforts include the Archives, the Newsletter, Communio, the Calendar of Opportunities and the web site, www.stmalachi.org. Our philosophy is to find good people to shepherd these projects, delegate as much responsibility as we can to them, and involve as many in supporting positions as we can define roles for. The Archives contain the ongoing records of Community life. These include newsletters, press releases, minutes of Council meetings, photographs, artwork, memberships lists, finance reports, contracts and other memorabilia. The Newsletter, which is the Community’s version of a church bulletin, is published about every other week and is frequently four pages in length. It is the principal way that we communicate with each other. Communio began in early 1993 as "Page Two" of the Newsletter, a place to publish longer articles, including commentary. It started as two pages, front and back. With our recent move to monthly publication, following a comprehensive survey; it has been running about 20 pages. A one-person effort in the beginning, Communio now requires the services of four people in editorial roles, in addition to the many contributing writers.
The Calendar of Opportunities was once a handwritten sheet distributed on a monthly basis. It has become a sophisticated, computer-generated listing that frequently runs two pages. It is the centerpiece of our web site. Our most exciting venture is our web site that, after a long gestation, became operational last year. We encourage Community members to visit it often, as it is constantly being changed. The Calendar is updated at a minimum of once a week, and the Newsletter and Communio are posted as they are published. All of the Community’s ministries, activities and committees are to be represented on the web site, and there also is a link to the upcoming Parish web site. Many pages are devoted to the 25th Anniversary of the Community. The richness of the web site’s content is something we all should appreciate. We are learning as we go about the web site. One of our first and hardest lessons was to not try to make it perfect. It will always evolve and we will learn to use this resource better as time goes on. More in the Community will come to value it, as the Internet becomes a central communications vehicle in the new century. The potential is immense: imagine being able to check the web site for the week’s events at Malachi’s, read the Newsletter and Communio online, and then be able to listen to a few songs performed by our choir. Most of this is available now on the web site and we will work on audio and perhaps even video in the future. We in Communications never lose sight of the fact that we play a supporting role in the Community. The ministries and the liturgies will always come first. But we will continue to strive to serve the Community as best we can, given our part-time, volunteer status. Hospitality -- Terry Hayes Isn't it wonderful!! On Sunday mornings following the 11:00 Liturgy, Community members gather for coffee hour as we call it. This ritual of socializing has been taking place for more than 25 years. Can you believe it? Yes, every Sunday you can hear animated conversations as people of all ages gather. It is a hallmark of the Community of St. Malachi that members invest time and effort in forming community. This time and this place after Mass mean so much. We can meet; we can see friends; we can make new friends. The coffee hour is an ongoing institution, and it is not happening without planning and much effort. Community member Vicki Sefcik has been coordinating the efforts of many volunteer servers for many years. Remember that coffee, juice and donuts do not appear magically. Mary Piar, another longtime Community member handled the many chores before that. Thanks also to those volunteers who pick up and deliver the donuts and bagels. Coffee hour and ushering at Liturgy are under the umbrella of the hospitality committee. Rosemary Conway coordinated efforts for the coffee hour many years ago. There are also many others whose efforts and giving of themselves have made a difference.
Membership -- Jocelyn Heaney Our purpose is to bring new members into the Community and to bring the Community to new members! We explain what the Community is, membership requirements, how to join, and how to get involved. We also keep track of membership and provide to the committees and ministries lists of members who have an interest in working with them. We do this with the following weekly, monthly and semi-annual and annual programs. Sunday Information Table: We host a membership table at coffee hour every Sunday after the 11:00 Liturgy, where we provide commitment forms and are available to answer questions. Monthly Prospective Member Meetings: On the first Sunday of the month, we have a meeting for prospective members at Malachi Center after 11:00 Liturgy. This 45-minute meeting provides an overview of the Community, the committees and ministries, and how to get involved. We urge everyone to attend the next Welcome Series. Welcome Series: New and prospective members and other interested Community members are invited to a Welcome Series twice a year, spring and fall. The Series involves three two-hour meetings at the home of a Community member and a Sunday meeting after Liturgy at the Malachi Center. Representatives of CSM Council and various committees and ministries discuss their roles and opportunities for involvement. Participants share what brought them to CSM. Small group discussions are provided. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the Community and to form new friendships. After the series, a New Member Sunday is held to recognize and welcome new members at Liturgy and Coffee Hour. Annual Recommitment: This takes place annually during Lent. New commitment forms are distributed to all current members for several Sundays during Lent at Coffee Hour. New members and all those who recommit comprise the current membership of the Community. A new roster is published in July. New lists are also published of members and their interests in serving on committees and ministries. Committee chairs will contact those who are interested. Members are also encouraged to take the initiative and call the committee chairs or representative from the ministries they are interested in serving. Volunteer Opportunities for Membership Committee: Please contact the following coordinators if you are interested in serving. Sunday Information Table: Mary Piar Prospective Member Meetings: Rose Horning Annual Recommitment: Bill McLaughlin Committee Chair/Welcome Series: Jocelyn Heaney Spiritual Development -- Frank Schiros Our ministry is not as clearly defined as some of the other ministries at St. Malachi’s. The reason for this may be that although our activities are essentially directed toward community members, most of the activities are broadly organized around the good works of the Church. The result is that the ministry often finds itself involved with the other projects initiated by other community groups or requiring the help of other committees.
An example of this is the assistance given by the hospitality committee and the Monday Night Meal group when presenting our Sunday brunch to the Community. Spiritual Development often sets itself up with ambitious goals that require the assistance of many hands. The call is always out for new leadership that will carry out our objectives or devise new ones. This year our possible agenda submitted by interested members included 20 activities intended for the well being of the Community. What in fact was accomplished this year was a soul food book fair, a Sunday Brunch, an Advent Program, a six week Vatican II program series intended to remind the diocese of the vitality of the Church. In the past, Spiritual Development has organized among other activities, regular Sunday meetings of members (at the Hornings’ home), monthly meetings of members gathered together as guests to have wholesome fun, eat good food and determine spiritually worthwhile projects, play volley ball on Friday, organize laity designed retreats, and Masses celebrated at members’ homes. However, crucial to our ministry, is the ever present need for new leadership. We can never overemphasize this point. With tongue in cheek, I offer some basis of reference for this idea. Old men like me don’t have to worry, because: our supply of brain cells is finally down to a manageable size; secrets are safe with our friends because they can’t remember them either; no one expects us to run into a burning building; in a hostage situation we’re likely to be released first; there is nothing left to learn the hard way. 25 Years of Celebrating the Liturgy -- Ron McComas & Peg Connell Ask just about anyone what attracted them initially to the Community of St. Malachi and, inevitably, they'll say something about the music or the friendliness of the people or how they felt that they were in the presence of the Lord during the Mass. Almost everyone acknowledges that compared to other Masses they've experienced, the Community Mass is truly a celebration. It is through the efforts of dozens of Community members that our Masses are truly joyful experiences. It starts with the group of dedicated musicians and singers. It continues through to the sacristans, Eucharistic ministers, the servers, ushers and greeters, the lectors and of course the presider. During the holy days, all their efforts are highlighted by the beautiful decorations placed by dozens of volunteers. And it all comes together in true celebration thanks to the spirit of welcome extended by Community members to each other during the Liturgy. St. Malachi is known throughout Greater Cleveland for its community outreach programs and for its support of the poor and indigent. But it is the celebration of the Liturgy that is the focal point of the Community. Our service to the needy may represent the body of the Community, but the Liturgy is its soul.
Finance Committee -- JoAnn Kramer The Community of St. Malachi is very grateful for all contributions of time, talent and treasure received. In order to be able to carry out its mission, the Community must have a certain level of "treasure" from its supporters in the form of financial contributions. Time and talent are essential but they cannot be effectively used without money to support those efforts.Contributions to the Community allow us to pay expenses for salaries of the staff who serve us, contribute to the support of the parish and the diocese including staff salaries, capital improvements, and support our committee activities which meet the needs of the Community such as the spiritual education of our children and adults. The financial contributions of our members have allowed the Community to carry on the Monday Night Meal for about 30 years, support the development and operation of the St. Malachi Center, Malachi House, FutureChurch, West Side Catholic Center, Urban Community School, and to support outreach to refugees and support many other efforts that witness our mission to the church in Cleveland. Community members pledge a contribution for the year. There is however, no record kept of the weekly contributions.
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