Parish Advisory Council
Consists of several active parishioner volunteers working in concert with Clergy and Staff to provide inputs on Parish decision making
The members of the PAC are as follows
Father Scott Whitfield
Pastor
Fr. Scott Whitfield, B.Journ., M.P.Th., Th.M, was born and raised in what is today the city of Mississauga, in that city’s district of Port Credit. Not baptized until the age of seven, his religious upbringing was in the Anglican Church of Canada. After graduating from Port Credit Secondary School, he attended and then graduated from Carleton University School of Journalism in Ottawa in 1989. He laboured at a brief career in journalism and public relations, working as a freelance writer, editor and media analyst for various NGOs and government departments before taking a position as an assistant to an elected councillor in the Ottawa-Carleton Regional government from the mid to late 90s.
Cindy De Nobriga
Parish Secretary
I am a life-time resident of Dundas, and have been a member of St. Augustine’s Church for 42 years. I married my husband Michael in August, 1978 at St. Augustine’s Church. We raised three wonderful children Brian, Amy and Catherine and now my greatest joy is being a Grandma to two adorable grandsons Blake and Austin. For many years I was the Coordinator of the Children’s Liturgy Program. I am the treasurer of the St. Augustine’s Catholic Women’s League and I have the pleasure of being the Parish Secretary for the last 16 years.
Martin Strybosch
Finance Committee Rep.
Martin has been a resident of Dundas and a member of St. Augustine since 1982. In addition to being a member of the parish’s advisory council, he is also involved with St. Augustine as an usher, cash counter and member of the finance committee. Martin, a Knights of Columbus member for over 31 years, is presently the Financial Secretary for the Knights, Dundas council.
Martin is a retired banker having held various positions over his 42 years of service. His last position being a Private Banker with the Wealth Management group in the Hamilton office. Martin has been involved in various charities over the years, March of Dimes, Kidney Foundation and the chair/board member with the MS Society, Hamilton chapter to name a few.
Married to Debbie for over 40 years, father to 3 grown children, proud opa to 3 grandchildren.
Yvette Beach
HR and Parish School Advisory
Born in Trinidad. Educated in England and Canada.
Retired Principal of the Hamilton Wentworth Catholic District School Board. Proud mother of two adult daughters.
Served on the Board of Directors for Catholic Family Services; Past President of KIds for Kaga; Member of the Board of Directors for Immigrant Workers (Hamilton).
Presently serves on the Board of Directors for The African Caribbean Student Scholarship Awards.
I have been a member of St Augustine Parish for over forty years and have had the privilege of serving both as Eucharist Minister and Lector.
Deborah Altmann
One Heart One Soul Projects
Deborah is a former Psychometrist who worked at The Hospital For Sick Children in Toronto prior to starting a family. She has lived in Dundas for the past 28 years with her husband Steve. They have two children, Joshua and Victoria. Deborah has been actively involved in the community including; service to the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate (Hamilton and Toronto), participating in the out-of-the-cold program, helping Syrian families, active supporter for the Joseph Brant Hospital’s Labour and Delivery Unit, and was very involved with the Parents Association at Hillfield Strathallan College where her children attended school. She has been an active member of St. Augustine’s Parish since 1992. Most recently she has been involved in the One Heart One Soul Campaign and is on the Parish Advisory Committee as well as the Parish Centre Renovation Committee. Deborah enjoys the outdoors and loves to garden, walk, hike and ski.
Dave Weber
Parish Communications Advisory
Dave is a long-time resident of Dundas and has been a member of St. Augustine’s since 1997. Over the years, he has been involved with the parish in a number of capacities, most recently as chair of the One Heart One Soul campaign.
Dave is senior partner at Sims Advertising in Burlington and very active in the community. He has recently joined the St. Joseph’s Health System board and is a new member of The Knights of Columbus here in Dundas.
Father to Alexandra and Mitchell, both grown. He became a grandfather to Charlee Grace in 2019 – and is spoiling her every chance he gets.
Our Vision
Christ above all else.
Our Mission
To create a welcoming Christ-centered community that strives to address the spiritual needs of all His people; so as to connect them to Christ.
Our Values
Compassion Clarity Kindness Gentleness Patience Communication Love Generosity Reconciliation Humility JusticeParishioner Outreach
PAC strives to contact and include all current and future parishioners through a communications platform that will enable St Augustine’s parish to provide Catholic foundational service to all that seek Christ in the Dundas community. Plans may include training select volunteers through Father Scott for frequent parishioner / new recruits outreach visits / calls and select administration of regular Holy Communion to Catholic shut-ins.
Governance
Catholic parish governance arises from the requirements of canon law (Church law) as interpreted by the bishop of the diocese. To each parish the bishop assigns a priest to serve as pastor (latin for shepherd) who is directly responsible to the bishop for the administration of the sacraments, teaching, and parish property and finances.
Every parish is required to have a finance council comprised of laity of the parish to aid the pastor in the administration of parish finances and property (canon 537). There are six members (we currently have two vacancies). The pastor is the chairman, but may appoint a vice-chair who coordinates this council’s meetings (establishes schedule, organizes the agenda, sees that minutes are prepared, etc.)
A pastoral council (sometimes referred to as a “parish council”) is made up of lay members of the parish as an advisory group to the pastor to aid in the development and promotion of pastoral activity. These exist at the discretion of the bishop, who may or may not require them (canon 536). In the Diocese of Hamilton the bishop has given pastors the discretion to create such councils. At St. Augustine’s we have a “Parish Advisory Council” that fulfils that function. There are six members. The pastor is the chairman, but may appoint a vice-chair who coordinates this council’s meetings (establishes schedule, organizes the agenda, sees that minutes are prepared, etc.) The current vice-chairman is Doug Herman. He also has responsibility for communicating the content of discussions and the decisions of both councils to the parish community.
The relationship of the two committees to each other is one of cooperation in offering counsel to the pastor. It is not unusual for one or two persons to be a member of both councils to facilitate cooperation and coordination of each councils’ activities.
Other committees and advisory groups may be formed as needed, either to exist permanently (e.g. property committee; worship committee) or for a special project or initiative (e.g. One Heart, One Soul project committee; parish anniversary committee). At the time the committee is struck its line of accountability is established. For example, the One Heart, One Soul project committee reports to the Parish Advisory Council, but refers financial questions to the Finance Committee. Some committees may report directly to the pastor who then reports on their behalf (e.g. worship committee) to the council most appropriate for a given issue.
The term of service for committees is not fixed, but for the governing councils (finance and parish advisory) two-year terms are usual with a limit of two renewals. Special committees exist for the life of the project/initiative they oversee. Other permanent committees would generally follow the example of the governing councils with exceptions where justifiable.
Governing council terms run from January to December with new appointments made in October and November. Other committees and advisory groups set their terms from the start of their activity, or by agreement choose their term start date.