Parish
Pastoral Council
Holy Family's Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) consists of 12 parishioners,
selected by a discernment process, who serve as representatives
of parish members. The Pastor and Parish Pastoral Assistant
serve as ex-officio Council members. Council members serve a
3-year term. Terms are staggered so that each year 4 members
complete their term and 4 new members are selected to replace
them.
The PPC is a visioning body whose purpose is to assist the pastor
in discerning how the parish can best carry out its mission.
It is the "singular representative body which collaborates
with the pastor in making all major pastoral policy decisions
affecting the parish."
Parish Pastoral Council Members:
To contact member by email, click on names below
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Our Story
On July 19, 1989, Bishop James D. Niedergeses, Bishop of Nashville,
officially decreed and published the boundaries and limits for
a new Brentwood parish and named Father Edward T. Alberts as the
pastor. On August 6, 1989, the first community-wide Mass was celebrated
at 10:30AM in the Brentwood High School’s Auditorium. The
parish was known as Brentwood Catholic Community until it became
officially known as Holy Family Catholic Church. With close to
300 registered families and over 400 students in the Religious
Education program, the parish was up and running.
In October of ’89 a Planning Commission was established to
set priorities and plan for the future. Over the course of the
next two years, the Commission developed a Parish Mission Statement,
a parish Covenant (By-laws), and looked for a suitable tract of
land on which to build the church. The Finance Board was formed
during the same time.
In August of 1990, a Building Committee was formed and developed
a survey to determine what the parish wanted in terms of facilities.
In the meantime, a Capital Campaign Committee was formed and a
firm was chosen to conduct the fund drive. Through the generosity
of the parishioners of St. Philip Parish in Franklin, who donated
$200,000.00 to the campaign, and the Diocese who contributed $125,000.00,
the Capital Campaign raised close to 2 million dollars in pledges
over a three-year period. This enabled the Finance Board to go
to the Diocese to determine the maximum amount that the Diocese
would be willing to loan the parish for a church structure. The
architectural firm of Thomas, Miller & Partners was chosen
to be the architects. After much looking, a 25 acre tract of land
on Crockett Road was purchased. American Constructors, Inc. were
hired to be the contractors for the project.
In January of 1992, the newly elected Parish Pastoral Council
held its first meeting and began to implement the Council’s
structure.
On September 20, 1992, ground-breaking ceremonies were held on
the property on Crockett Road, and Phase I of the project—which
included the Worship Area, Gathering Area, Devotional Chapel,
Education Wing and Administrative Offices—was begun. On Saturday,
July 10, 1993, at 5:00PM, the Church was officially dedicated
by Bishop Edward U. Kmiec. A dinner for all followed.
On October 9, 1994, the Life Teen Program was initiated at Holy
Family, and the first Life Teen Mass in the state of Tennessee
was celebrated. By this time the parish had grown to nearly 800
families. In November of ’94 the parish initiated a Stewardship
process as a way of developing a spiritual basis for the sharing
of one’s time, talent, and treasure in building up God’s
kingdom.
In
May of 1999, in order to accommodate the ever-increasing number
of parishioners and their needs, Phase II of our building plan
was constructed and dedicated. The Parish Activity Center includes
a Gym with a stage and retractable bleachers, commercial Kitchen,
Nursery, Life Teen Youth Room, Youth Minister’s Office, and
several rooms for Religious Ed classes and various meetings.
A smaller
Chapel adjacent to the original Worship Area was added for weekday
Mass, smaller weddings and funerals, and various other liturgies.
The Picnic Pavilion was erected with the proceeds from the Men’s
Club fundraisers. Behind the Picnic Pavilion is a baseball diamond
and soccer field. Also, the parking area was enlarged to accommodate
the expansion.
In fall of 2001, the Holy Family Learning Center was established.
Susan Oubre was named as Director of the preschool 
program
for children two through five years of age. The Learning Center
arises from a common desire to excellence in meeting the needs
of children and their families, for nurturing, growth and development,
relationships, and understanding in a Christian environment. The
program is licensed by the State of Tennessee.
In 2001, a Nursery was offered to parents during the 8:00 AM &
10:30 AM Masses for children ages one through three. The Nursery
is also available to accommodate baby-sitting for various meeting
and special events.
In November
of 2001, the Room in the Inn program was established at HFCC.
Run by volunteers, Room in the Inn feeds and houses homeless men
every Saturday night from November through March.
In February of 2002, Holy Family established their first medical
mission to St. Joseph Parish in Bahon, Haiti. St. Joseph is HFCC’s
“sister parish” within the Haiti Twinning Program. Fifteen
doctors, dentists, nurses, and workers traveled to Haiti. In a
four-day period, 1,525 individuals’ medical needs were attended
to during the mission. We continue to provide medical assistance
to our sisters and brothers in Bahon through the dedication of
many doctors, nurses, and volunteers.
Over the
last couple of years, there has been a renewed emphasis on adult
faith formation 
opportunities to aid adults in growing spiritually
and in the knowledge of the Catholic faith. Men’s and women's
faith sharing groups are very active, along with the Sunday Adult
Education session between the morning Masses. There are several
scripture study groups including a more intensive scripture study
known as the Denver Bible Study. Several prayer groups meet regularly.
An exciting innovation the parish is embarking on is known as
the Generations of Faith Project that envisions a parish-wide,
all generations, life-long faith formation.
The CONNECT project was initiated in the fall of 2003 with the
purpose of trying to bring together the people in the various
neighborhoods of the parish and help them to get to know each
other. The parish continues to grow (1836 families as of November
2004), and it is vital that we maintain a sense of a community
that is welcoming, hospitable, and faith-filled.
The parish-wide survey we conducted at the end of 2003 and the
beginning of 2004, sought input from parishioners on all aspects
of parish life. It has been a tremendous help to the Staff and
Pastoral Council in planning for the future and helping us to
serve the spiritual needs of all.
Over the past four years (2004-2007), the Phase III Committee was formed to investigate the future development of our physical plant, in an attempt to keep up with our continuing growth. The committee hired the architectural firm of Hart Freelander Roberts, Inc. to approach the City of Brentwood with the concept of building an elementary school on the property. The City of Brentwood, due to our acreage limitations and existing traffic congestion, determined that the school would not be feasible.
At this point, the Phase III Committee determined that the greatest needs of the parish included the following: Larger Administrative Offices, additional Religious Education classrooms, a large parish hall, and an independent Life Teen building with restrooms for the existing Pavilion. Presently, development plans are ongoing to meet the needs of our ever-growing parish community.
Under the guidance of the Spirit, we should all be proud of what
has been accomplished and the number of lives that have been touched
by God’s love through the care and concern of so many dedicated
and life-giving people.
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