The 11/22 Prayer Vigil Committee

October 8th, 2004

Planning needs to begin for Thanksgiving and Christmas prayer services, if you can help please let us know by the means noted below.   Come to the parish hall Tuesday evening, October 12th for the continuing discussion.  Thanks !

 

 

September 24th, 2004

A signup sheet for volunteers interested in helping with the prayer vigil, is now available in the parish hall, and online here. 

We will try to meet Tuesday evening 9/28 in the parish hall (still confirming availability) to do some preliminary planning.

I will notify from the 1122@sacredheartappeal.org mailbox as soon as we have confirmation.

 

When the time is closer the schedule to sign up for blocks of time will be posted in the parish hall.

Thanks,

September 23rd 2004,

Updated signup form (word and rtf format) with additional information.  If you have already signed up you don’t need to send in another.

Draft of schedule form – any suggestions about what is missing and should be added ? 

 

Please, send any suggestions to 1122@sacredheartappeal.org and I will try to include it if possible.  I will print some up Friday 9/24 and drop them off then or Saturday morning so they can be available for people coming out of Mass on Saturday.

 

When the time gets closer I can post these in the parish hall and people can actually sign up for time slots; right now I have it as one sheet per day, with two-hour time slots.  I’ll call or send an email to those who I can contact, to call a planning meeting. 

 

September 17th,

We have some people signing up, and a message strongly opposed to this activity because it is not dignified and not representative of our church.   This is received as objecting to undignified behavior—and rightly so, undignified behavior doesn’t have a place in church.   References to activity and events surrounding the prayer vigil, that are not respectful and prayerful, have been taken out of this setting and will not be planned.

 

Let’s plan to:

9) Not make a circus of this prayer vigil – kids can play games in the parish hall if needed.  Let’s keep the extraneous noise level appropriate to a worship setting.

10) Let’s not sleep in the church, do that in the parish hall if you can’t stay awake.  Split up the vigil among volunteers.

11) Let’s bring some appropriate music ( recordings?  live?), or have volunteers read from their favorite passages from the Bible

12) The message of this prayer vigil should be love, honesty, truth, which are what should be inside the church.  Leave anger and negative feelings and words outside.

13) Let the prayer vigil be a source of peacefulness and healing.

 

14) Hold scheduled events as before (weekend services, but something simple every day for people who can only come briefly) (any suggestions?) 

 

September 13th,

The day after our last mass on November 21st, 2004, the 11/22 Committee should hold an ongoing prayer vigil in our church building at least, and perhaps also the parish hall.

 

With the encouraging success so far of the Weymouth (St Albert the Great) and Sudbury (St Anslem), (see the Globe article today) and the lack of news about our formal appeal,  let’s see how many people would be interested in and would participate in our own prayer vigil.   Some preliminary thoughts:

 

1)      Get  a list of interested and willing volunteers, and how to contact them.     
This is a preliminary list so a planning meeting can be arranged, if there is enough interest.
A draft signup form is available here (Word.doc and RTF format)  
Coverage schedules (2 hour blocks – of course you can do multiple blocks) will be available closer to the actual closing date.


When the form is finalized printed blanks will be available at the parish hall --- meanwhile if you see something should be added to the form, send suggestions to:

a.       Send an email to 1122@sacredheartappeal.org

b.      Send a fax to 978-477-0074

c.       Call and leave a voicemail at 978-477-0074 (same number as fax, no one will answer, it only accepts voicemail)

2)      We should attend the last Mass on November 21st, just stay on to pray, and not leave.   Question: do we need people in place before 11/21 ?

3)      Planning and organization items with which a lot of help will be needed:

a.       Need list of 24-hour emergency telephone numbers, fire, police, medical,

b.      Need list of 24-hour emergency response team on call, if something significant happens (e.g., forcible eviction or loss of heat / electricity / utilities )

c.       Need to establish guidelines

                                                               i.      How many hours should a shift go ?  2 hour blocks, people can sign up for multiple blocks ?

                                                             ii.      Do volunteers need transportation to/from ?

                                                            iii.      How many people should be in the church at all times (minimum number)?

                                                           iv.      Do we need to hold vigil in both the church and the parish hall (need more people) (St Albert has one building, the parish hall is downstairs) ?

d.      Sign Up sheets once the guidelines are established, spaces for names on the scheduled spaces

4)      Supplies – water, snacks, toilet paper, paper towels, garbage bags, extra supply of sleeping bags if needed ?

5)      Need to decide logistics, do we transfer and continue billing for dumpster ?  electricity, gas, and water ?  
To what billing party ?

6)      Need a sign (big one) – maybe with something prayerful and respectful.

7)      We have some time to plan this, but let’s get started now.

8)      _____ (your suggestion)

 

 

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