Minutes
SSJC-WR General Meeting
Saturday, September 27, 2014
St. John the Baptizer Ukrainian Catholic Church
4400 Palm Ave. La Mesa, CA 91941
The meeting followed a presentation by Fr. James Bankston on “The Situation of the Christian Churches in Ukraine.”
Present: Officers: Fr. George Morelli, Fr. James Bankston; , Frank Scialdone, Diane Alves, Bob Greenwell; Members: Victor Vallejo, Kimberly Hartman, Mark Hartman, Gloria Brissette, Fr. Mathew Alejo; Visitors: George Abdelsayed, Mona Hauslik, Steven Hole, Deacon Tony Kabbane, Stephanie Georgieff, Michael Ulicky. Excused: Msgr. Dennis Mikulanis, Fr. James Babcock, Fr. Ramon Merlos, Fr. Cávana Wallace, Anne Petach, Mary Greenwood.
Opening Prayer: Fr. James Bankston; “Akathist Hymn to Jesus Christ” before his presentation on Ukraine. The meeting followed without a break.
The Agenda was approved unanimously.
President’s Report:
Fr. George Morelli thanked Fr. James and St. John the Baptizer’s Ukrainian Catholic Church for hosting our meeting. He mentioned the Executive Board decision that we will not sponsor a Light of the East Conference this year. Then he mentioned our new newsletter assistant editor, Jim Trageser, formerly religion editor of the North County Times. Unfortunately, Jim was not able to attend due to family responsibilities.
No reports from:
Vice-President (Fr. Ramon Merlos) ; Administrative Secretary, Anne Petach; Light of the East Editor, Fr. James Babcock; Historian, Anne Petach; due to excused absences of these Officers.
Recording Secretary’s Report: Diane Alves;
In the absence of a copy (inadvertently forgotten) of the previous meeting (May 2014) motion to approve could not be made, nor those Minutes posted to the website. Mark Hartman made a motion that the Minutes be posted after each meeting with the disclaimer that they haven’t yet been approved and might be subject to change. Frank Scialdone, SSJC-WR Parliamentarian, was present and didn’t object; neither did Fr. George. Diane seconded the motion. Unanimously approved.
Treasurer’s Report: Bob Greenwell
Expenditures for current newsletter: (1100 copies) printing: $455.92 plus postage: $183.77 for a total of $639.69, leaving $882.36 balance in our treasury. $925.00 has been collected in dues since July 1. $200.00 more was received today (not included in the balance reported). Motion to accept: Frank. Second: Mark H. Report approved unanimously.
Sgt. at Arms/Parliamentarian Report: Frank Scialdone. See “Nominations.”
Old Business:
Nominations: Parliamentarian Frank Scialdone called for Nominations for President and Treasurer, to be voted on at the November meeting. The only nominations so far are the incumbents, Fr. George Morelli for President and Bob Greenwell for Treasurer. Nominations can be made by contacting Frank before the meeting and/or at the November meeting before voting takes place. Frank reminded us that self-nominations are also appropriate if someone really wants one of these jobs and feels they can handle it.
New Business:
Visitor Mona Hauslik extended an invitation to SSJC-WR to co-sponsor a program November 29 (Thanksgiving weekend) on the subject of Vestments and Sacred Vessels (similar to the SSJC-WR program at St. Margaret’s, Oceanside) at Immaculate Heart of Mary Roman Catholic parish in Ramona. Our part of the program would start around 11 AM and would have both an Eastern and a Western speaker, each speaking for 45 minutes. Fr. Bankston volunteered to make the Eastern presentation. It was decided that Fr. George to ask Msgr. Dennis Mikulanis for suggestions for a Roman Catholic speaker. This program will be part of a liturgy workshop retreat and both adults and children will be present. Children are likely to appreciate a more visual approach. There were no objections to SSJC-WR participation/co-sponsoring this.
SSJC-WR Programs 2014-2015:
2014 November 15: “Influence of the Eastern Church on Vatican II: Melkite and Orthodox perspectives.” Fr. James Babcock. Possible Location: St. Paul’s Irvine – Fr. George mentioned that he has not been able to reach Fr. Steve Tsichlis, pastor of St. Paul’s.
– 2015 January 17(tentative date): “Canon Law: East and West.” Eastern speaker: Fr. Antony Bahou who is Orthodox (confirmation of his date availability needed). Location: San Diego area. Fr. Matthew Alejo tentatively volunteered his church (Holy Angels Byzantine Church in San Diego), dependent on the status of a construction project there. We still need a Western speaker. Fr. George will contact Msgr. Dennis about a Roman Catholic speaker. Gloria Brissette pointed out the need for an Eastern Catholic speaker on Eastern Catholic Canon Law. Discussion ensued about finding an Eastern Catholic expert in Canon law. None are known of locally, but there is one in Phoenix and one in Las Vegas. Fr. George mentioned this would be an added expense for transportation/lodging.
– 2015 March: “Orthodox and Catholic approaches to Evangelization.” Fr. George mentioned finding an Eastern speaker by contacting one of the Orthodox missionary organizations such as OCF, IOCC, OCMC, etc. Location is still TBD, but Prince of Peace Monastery in Oceanside was suggested with Brother Daniel, OSB as speaker, who, as Fr. George noted, is a great retreat master and talks to many groups on this subject. However, it was pointed out that Br. Daniel’s contacts with the unchurched are necessarily limited since, under obedience, he is rarely allowed outside among those who would include the unchurched.
– 2015 May: Topic Suggestions – George Abdelsayed suggested ISIS. Fr. George said we already had two presentations on Islam. Discussion followed about our topic being the Christian response to extreme savagery/brutality/inhumanity, i.e., genocide, ‘so called “just war” theories. Discussion moved to the opinion that since many Roman Catholics are unaware that there are Christians in Syria and Iraq, they need to be made aware that the Iraqi Christians (Chaldeans) are Catholic. Mark made a motion to refer the May topic to the executive board, Bob seconded. Motion carried.
Request for shared Events calendar:
Gloria brought up the possibility of someone from each group: Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Orthodox to find out and report to the Executive Board about upcoming events, so they can be emailed to people, written up in the newsletter and posted on the website.
The next meeting will be: November 15, location to be announced.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 1:30 PM : Fr. Matthew Alejo, having been invited to, offered the closing prayer.
Respectfully submitted:
Diane Alves, Recording Secretary and Anne C. Petach, Administrative Secretary.
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Action items:
Fr. George: to contact: Msgr. Dennis Re: speaker on Roman Catholic Canon Law.
Fr. Cávana re: speaker for Roman Catholic program in Ramona.
Fr. Steve Tsichlis re: November 2014 meeting
General: search for possible local speakers on Eastern Catholic Canon Law.