Report On The Plenary Pastoral Council Meeting

Invitees: Associate Priests, the Pastoral Council, the Financial Council, Leaders/Representatives of all Committees/Sub-Committees and some Parishioners.
I. Pastor’s Opening Remarks, Prayers and Blessing of the Food
II. Lunch
III. Pastor’s Presentation on Past Accomplishments and Future Activities:
1. Expansion of the Education Center: Due to the overcrowded classrooms of students attending the CCD program in the past few years, and the improperness of priests’ living quarter being in the same building, the priests had moved out of the Education Center and are currently residing at a nearby home, owned by the Dominican Order. The Pastor also talked about investment for future of the youth.
2. Closure of the Vietnamese Program Offered on Friday Nights: Caused by the low number of student registration. However, most parents signed up their children to attend the Vietnamese program offered on Saturday afternoons, probably because it is more convenient since it is on the same day of the CCD program.
3. Our Lady of Lavang Community Becoming a Mission: Bishop Michael Burbidge announced the Our Lady of Lavang Community as a Mission of Holy Martyrs of Vietnam Church in Arlington, Virginia. Father Liem also read the letters from the Bishop to the audience.
IV. Presentation by Members of the Pastoral Council and Business Manager:
1. Renovation of the second level of the Education Center: Due to space limitation, many students were put tightly in the same classroom, which was uncomfortable and not as effective for the children to learn. Therefore, the renovation of the second level, which was the living quarter for the priests, was completed to convert into four classrooms and two restrooms.
2. Installation of Projectors and Improvement of Internet Connection in the Classrooms: Every class room now has access to a projector, which is connected to the internet and the church’s computer servers so that the lessons can be livelier. This also allows a more interactive approach between teachers and students. The improvement also allows the teachers to access lesson plans and class activities online, instead of bringing their own laptops to church.
3. Research to Establish the Rectory: Temporarily, the priests are living at the Dominican home. However, in the long term, a rectory should be established to house the priests who serve the Holy Martyrs of Vietnam Parish. Three options were researched and discussed as followed:
A. Renovate the vacant guest house to a livable condition: Although it costs the least and takes approximately three months to complete, as presented on the Cost Analysis Matrix, it is not big enough to accommodate four priests because it has only two bedrooms and two baths while there are four priests who are currently serving the Holy Martyrs of Vietnam Parish and the Mission Church of Our Lady of Lavang.
B. Demolition of the current guest house and build the rectory: This option will provide four bedrooms to the priests and two bedrooms to the guest priests. However, the estimated cost with above average grade building materials will range from $1.1 to $1.3 million, and it takes about six to nine months to complete.
C. Purchase a new property to designate as the rectory: Purchasing a new home, across the street from the church. This property is a brand-new construction, that has five bedrooms, a recreation room and a den that can be used for multiple purposes. The cost is $1.36 million, with better than above average grade building materials. The price of the purchase is about the same with option B above. However, it is move-in ready and is a good investment. Moreover, the Diocese will gain one more piece of real property.
V. Feedback and Comments:
A few parishioners came up to the podium to voice their support for the purchasing of the rectory, saying it was not appropriate for priests to live in the education building. One parishioner suggested that the money would be used to purchase the property should be clarified to the parishioners, such as where it came from and how much. After everyone had an opportunity to voice, the majority of the attendees raised their hands in support of option C above.
VI. Pastor’s Announcement on Forming the Election Board for the new Pastoral Council Board:
At the Pastor Installation Mass in October, 2016, Father Liem announced the retention of the then current Pastoral Council for one year. Since a year has gone by and October is approaching, the plan to form the Election Board to elect the new Pastoral Council was one of the items on the agenda. However, Father Liem decided to retain the current Pastoral Council for one more year, stating that there are on-going projects that still need to be finished, and the need for more time to effectively plan the election process.
VII. Conclusion: Father Liem offered prayers and concluded the meeting.