The first meeting of the St. James Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) was called to order at 1:20 pm on Mar 1, in the Pastoral Center by Fr. Kopp.

Fr. Thomas Kopp (Chair), May Chan, Mee Chan, Chris Chen, Shuting Chen, Vincent Chun, Sr. Madeline Gallagher, Carol Ip, Johnny Ip, Judy Lew, Shirley So, Rose Sun, Francis Sung, Steve Tam, Br. Mike Vricella, Douglas Wong, Mary Young, Theresa Yuen

1. PPC members - a roll call of PPC members showed that they reside throughout the Greater Boston area. While this represents a good coverage, it also presents logistical constraints on scheduling meetings at times.

2. Pastoral Center - The first step is to determine the legal ownership of the Center. The second immediate step is to control and reduce the operating and maintenance costs, including electricity, heating, water, insurance, and maintenance. The third step is to sell the Center if it is under the ownership of St. James or BCCC. In the negative, we will make decision to return the Center to the owner to avoid incurring further expenses.

3. Rectory - It needs a new heating/cooling system because the existing unit is not working properly and is out of date, making it very expensive to maintain. Other issues, such as the leaky roof and the aging elevator system, are potentially expensive repair items which need to be dealt with in the near future.

1. Fr. Kopp is the Chair of the PPC and is the person who runs the PPC meetings. The role of other members of PPC is to be on a Consultative basis. Final decisions on all matters rest with the Chair of PPC.

2. In the absence of Fr. Kopp , the Vice-Chair of the PPC will run the meeting to discuss on-going issues and propose recommendations for the decision of Fr. Kopp.

3. The PPC needs a Vice-Chair and a secretary. A Finance Council will also need to be formed, that is external to the PPC. The role of the Finance Council is to provide counsel to the pastor concerning the administration of the parish finances, budget and reporting.

4. The PPC meeting will usually be held at 1:00 pm on the1st Sunday of every other month. It is also resolved that the meeting duration of each meeting should be confined to be within one hour, if possible.

5. Sr. Madeline and Brother Mike are ex-officio members of the PPC. Five more PPC members will be appointed by Fr. Kopp.

1. Election of Vice-Chair - Johnny, Vincent, and Francis were nominated by Steve, Judy and Vincent, respectively. Steve moved to close the nomination and Shirley seconded. The results of a secret ballot by all members presented were: 9 votes for Johnny, 7 for Vincent and 1 for Francis. Accordingly, Johnny Ip is elected as the new Vice-Chair of PPC.

3. Appointment of Additional PPC members - Fr. Kopp will appoint five additional members to the PPC. He already appointed David Lam and asked the members of PPC to submit nominations for the remaining four members. Fr. Kopp would like the Youth group to be represented in the PPC and asked Francis to consult with the Youth Group coordinator for recommendation of names of young people that are willing to serve. Johnny will help to create a list of nominees for the discussion at the next meeting.

4. Installation Mass - Fr. Kopp will work with PPC to schedule one of the upcoming Sunday Masses for the formal installation of PPC members.

5. Finance Committee - PPC members are asked to nominate candidates for this committee for the discussion at the next PPC meeting. (Check with Fr. Kopp about the Finance Council too).

6. Formation and Representatives of the various Parish Commissions - this topic will be discussed and proposed in the next PPC meeting for the endorsement by Fr. Kopp.

7. Posting of PPC Meeting minutes - it is resolved that all future minutes of PPC will be posted on the website of St. James/BCCC, once the minutes are approved.

8. Terms of Serving in PPC - 5 members will have a 1-year initial term, 5 members will have a 2-year initial term, and 5 members will have a 3-year initial term. All members are eligible to run for a second 3-year term. Based on random drawing, members' terms were set as follows:

9. Next PPC meeting will be held at 1:00 pm on Sunday, May 3, 2009. The Vice-Chair and the Secretary will work with Fr. Kopp to prepare and compile an agenda, which will be sent out 30 days before the meeting.