SSJC-WR GENERAL MEETING
Minutes May 21, 2016
St. Rafael Catholic Church
Upstairs in the Pastoral Center
17252 Bernardo Center Drive, San Diego, CA 92128
Present: Fr. George Morelli, Msgr. Dennis Mikulanis, Fr. James Babcock, Fr. James Bankston, Fr. Ramon Merlos, Fr. Cavana Wallace, Fr. Costas Constantinou, Fr. Eugene Grushetsky, Pastor Paul Bieber, Bob Greenwell, Diane Alves, Jim Trageser, Victor Vallejo, Mark and Kimberly Hartmann and others
Excused: Anne Petach
The meeting opened at approximately 11:35. Opening prayer was given by Fr. James Bankston.
Agenda Approval: Motion: Fr. Ramon Merlos. Second: Fr. James Babcock. Agenda Approved.
President’s Report: Fr. George thanked the host parish. Then he mentioned that time constraints and a speaker having a schedule change caused us not to do a Light of the East Conference this year. Then he mentioned the Orientale Lumen Conference which will take place June 21st to June 24th at the Washington Retreat House at Catholic University of America. The topic will be “Stewardship of the Environment,” and among the distinguished speakers will be Metropolitan Kallistos Ware and Cardinal Wuerl. Our own, Bob Greenwell, will attend and report back to us.
Vice President’s Report: No Report.
Secretary’s Report: The minutes had been emailed, but Diane Alves, passed out a few copies of the Minutes of the last meeting (January 2016) to those who wanted them. Motion to accept Minutes: Bob Greenwell. Second: Msgr. Dennis Mikulanis. Motion carried. Diane then added that Anne Petach has done a wonderful job as secretary over several years. She will be a tough act to follow.
Treasurer’s Report: Bob Greenwell
| Cash balance as of Jan 1, 2016: | $462.86 | |
| Paid to Deacon David Estrada | -75 | |
| Deposit on 1/26/2016 | 300 | |
| Deposit from SD RC Diocese 2/22 | 500 | |
| Fullerton Printing Inc. | -439.8 | |
| Dues Deposit 5/16 | 100 | |
| Collected today | 175 | |
| Paid today for postage reimbursement | -252.29 | |
| Cash balance as of May 21, 2016: | $770.77 |
No Motion to accept the treasurer’s report was made. (by mistake – is motion here required?)
Sgt. at Arms / Parliamentarian: No report was given
Historian’s Report: Anne is continuing as Historian, but wasn’t present.
Light of the East Newsletter: Jim Trageser, newsletter editor mentioned that there will only be three issues this year. The one just published was Winter 2016. The issue was delayed while we decided whether or not there would be a conference. Jim mentioned that he might have been shorted by the publisher (there weren’t enough copies to mail the correct number of copies to the entire list). A possibility might be that the publisher sent copies to some recipients and Jim also sent to the same recipients). Anne Petach remains a consultant about the newsletter distribution. She can probably help resolve this situation.
The Fall issue will be published before the September meeting. Jim mentioned that he tried to find a printing company which has the equipment necessary to do folding for mailing. He determined that those companies are twice as expensive as the printer we are using, so for now the job is labor intensive. Diane’s suggestion that our treasurer provide a cash advance to our newsletter editor to cover mailing wasn’t discussed enough to become a motion at this time, but the suggestion (that initial payment for big expenses shouldn’t have to come from anyone’s pocket) should be revisited.
OLD BUSINESS:
Topics for Next Year: We will need four topics.
Previous suggestions from the January meeting are: “Faith Formation of the Young,” The state of the Church in the Middle East, the Orthodox Synaxis meeting in June, Orthodox Unity/Disunity, The transition from Pope Benedict to Pope Francis, East/West Monasticism.
Suggestions added: Church Calendar (the old (Julian) and new (Gregorian) calendars), Lent – East and West, Feasts – East and West, the topic of small new religious colleges was re-added to our list now that St. Katherine’s College has received accreditation. Its president, Frank Papatheofanis is willing to be a speaker.
Fr. George asked about progress on a Facebook page. Mark Hartmann responded that he is still exploring the subject. He said he had been looking at the website. It was pointed out that Diane Alves currently posts the website, so our real need right now is a Facebook page.
Executive Board Meeting: No date decided, but will need to be early enough to plan the September meeting, probably in July.
Next Meeting: September 2016 (exact date? topic? location? speakers?) will be discussed at the Executive Board Meeting.
NEW BUSINESS:
Nominating Committee: Mark Hartmann is heading the committee. We will be holding an election for President and for Treasurer. He asked for volunteers for the committee. Fr. James Babcock and Jim Trageser volunteered.
Motion to Adjourn: Msgr. Dennis Mikulanis Second: Fr. James Bankston
The meeting ended around 12:15 p.m., with a closing prayer led by Fr. Cavana Wallace.
Respectfully submitted by Secretary, Diane Alves