MINISTRY SCHEDULER PRO (MSP)

MSP is a software package used by St. Patrick's to schedule over 200 ministers in various ministries of service to the Parish. It does not encompass all ministries but does schedule Eucharist Ministers, Lectors, Altar Servers, Greeters, Collection Counters, Sacristans, teachers for Children's Liturgy, Church cleaners, Hospitality Ministers and occasionaly special ministries.

Each minister is assigned a unique username and password. When a minister click's on the MSP graphic below, they are taken directly to the sign-in page. After entering his/her unique information, the minister can access his/her personal profile which includes dates the minister will not be available to serve and liturgies the minister might want to volunteer for.

MSP also allows ministers to request a substitute for a particular liturgy when a conflict occurs.  The system notifies other individuals who are qualified for that specific ministry through e-mail and reports the request for a substitute. Another minister can then volunteer, again through e-mail, to accept the assignment and the system updates the schedule.

 Ministry Scheduler Pro has provided a video tutorial to help you understand how to use the Web Terminal.

We hope you find this video tutorial useful and look forward to continuing to help you to use the Web Terminal to schedule your stewardship participation while still providing the ministers needed for our liturgies.

Click here to view the tutorial.

The current schedule extends through March 3 2012.

It is time to update your availability for the SPRING schedule. The next schedule will go through July 1.

Please complete updates to your profile by February 13th.

Click on the picture to the left to open Ministry Scheduling Web Terminal to make changes to your profile or to view the current schedule.

Committees To Assist the Pastor with Parish Governance

Each parish in the Diocese of Ogdensburg is incorporated. The legal title of our parish is The Society of St. Patrick's Church. The current Diocesan Bishop is the President of the Corporation. The other officers are the Chancellor of the Diocese, the Pastor and the two Trustees.

The Bishop delegates to the Pastor the care of the people in the parish, stewardship over the parish assets, administration of the Sacraments and pastoral governance.  The Pastor is obliged by Canon Law to appoint a Finance Council and establish a Pastoral Council. These are dealt with in more detail below.

Parish Finance Council

"In each parish there is to be a finance council which is governed, in addition to universal law, by norms issued by the diocesan bishop and in which the Christian faitful, selected according to these same norms, are to assist the pastor in the administration of the goods of the parish" (Canon 537, Code of Canon Law) St. Patrick's finance council is currently composed of the Pastor, Deacon Pastoral Associate, the two trustees and two at large members of the parish. Meetings are at the call of the Pastor.

Parish Pastoral Council

Bishop Stanislaus Brzana directed that each parish in the Diocese of Ogdensburg was to establish a Parish Pastoral Council in a letter dated January 25, 1991. The Code of Canon Law (Canon 536) conveys to the local Bishop the decision on whether to require the establishing of Pastoral Councils.

In his letter, Bishop Brzana clearly sets forth the purpose of our Council:

"- provides leadership and direction in formulating and carrying out the goals and objectives of the pastoral activity of the parish.

- assists (sic. the Pastor) in developing a spiritual unity in the local parish through enhancing participation in the life of the parish on the part of all the faithful.

- participates in identifying and organizing the apostolic activities by which the particular parish meets the specific needs of the people.

In short, the Council helps the Pastor set policies, establish goals and priorities, plan the means of achieving the goals, and produces a plan of action."

Our Pastor meets regularly with the Parish Council. A summary of the Pastoral Council meetings can be found in the Parish Bulletin. The Bulletin is distributed in Church and is available on this website. Click on the News and Events tab. A drop down will take you to the current and recent published bulletins for our parish. See the Parish Calendar for the next scheduled Pastoral Council meeting. If no meeting is listed for this month, a meeting date has not yet been established.

Buildings and Grounds

Several years ago the parish established a Buildings and Grounds Committee to work with the Pastor to identify and propose improvements to the grounds of the Church and Glenwood Cemetery.  The Committee meets four times a year and/or at other times when needed. If you are interested in participating in the Committee's work contact Fr. Don or Deacon Kevin.

MINISTRIES FOR LITURGY AND WORSHIP

Special Ministers of Holy Communion (Eucharist Minister)

Eucharist Ministers are scheduled to assist at weekend Masses. They also serve at daily Mass and some take communion to residents of Samaritan Keep Home, Mercy Center and Angel's Inn nursing homes. Several ministers assist with the distribution of Communion in Samaritan Medical Center and some also take Communion to shut-ins.

Reader (Lector)

Readers are also scheduled for weekend Masses and some volunteer as reader at weekday Masses.

Sacristans

Sacristans serve the Church by preparing for the celebration of Mass.  They prepare the offertory table and see that the Sanctuary is ready for Mass. Some Sacristans work exclusively on weekends, others at weekday Mass.

Altar Servers

St. Patrick's has both adult and youth Altar Servers.  The adult servers assist from time-to-time at daily Mass and at funerals.

Youth servers (beginning with boys and girls in the second half of third grade and older) are scheduled for weekend Masses and some special Liturgies.

The four ministries referenced above require training and preparation.  If you are interested, contact Fr. Don or Deacon Kevin or leave your name and contact information with Sarah Schantz, the Parish Secretary. 

Music Ministry

Our parish choir is under the direction of Ms. Ticia Marra. The Choir generally assists our community singing at the 9:30 am Sunday Mass from September to June. Please consider adding your voice to the group.  Rehearsal is usually before Mass on Sunday.  Occasionally additional rehearsals are scheduled for special Liturgies. Instrumentalists are also welcome.  Please contact Ticia through the Pastoral Center office or stop to chat with her after either weekend Mass.

Members of the choir, when able, also sing at funerals at St. Patrick's.

Greeter

At Sunday Mass and at special services throughout the year, Greeters serve to welcome parishioners and newcomers to our beautiful Church for time with God in our community of faith.  Greeters are scheduled for weekend Masses. Leave your name with the Parish Secretary if you are interested in serving in this capacity.

Ushers

Our ushers assist the Greeters before and after Mass, take-up the Offertory collection, distribute ballots or forms on rare occasions and assist with seating at major liturgical events, i.e. Christmas, Good Friday, Easter.

Collection Counters

Generally teams of two count our weekend offerings after the 9:30 am Mass on Sunday. The teams rotate. The frequency of an assignment depends on the number of teams.  Our Business Manager, Carol Brown, will provide training to new team members. Please contact Sarah Schantz in the Pastoral Center if you are interested.

Hospitality

We foster fellowship at all times. After the 9:30 am Mass on Sunday, we open the small kitchenette in the gathering area at the front of Church for coffee, tea, hot chocolate, juice and donuts.  Our Hospitality ministers are responsible for setting-up before Mass and cleaning-up after.

THE REGULAR SCHEDULING OF MOST OF THESE MINISTRIES IS DONE THROUGH A COMPUTERIZED SYSTEM CALLED MINISTRY SCHEDULER PRO (MSP).  CLICK ON THE MSP ITEM IN THE PULL DOWN LIST FOR PARISH MINISTRIES FOR DIRECT ACCESS TO THE SCHEDULER.

VOCATIONS

God calls us to ministry through the intercession of the Holy Spirit. We may be called to a single or married life. We may be called to serve Him in the host of ministry opportunities in our parish and in our community. Others are called to learn more about their faith and channel that interest into specific lay ministry. Our Diocese offers a two year program of formation for these men and women which leads to Commissioning as a Lay Minister for the Diocese.

For some the call is to a clerical life as a priest or deacon.

Others may be called to consecrated life as a religious brother or sister.  

If you think you are being called, feel free to speak with Fr. Don or Deacon Kevin. For further information about the lay ministry program, click on this link:  Formation for Ministry.  If your call is to a clerical or religious life, click on this link:  Diocesan Vocation Office.

Our prayers are with you as you discern service to the Lord.