Parish Council Seeking New Members

The St. Sebastian Parish Pastoral Council united lay people, clergy, and pastoral staff, in a community of prayer, leadership, service and pastoral planning.

The purpose of Parish Council

The purpose of the St Sebastian Parish Council is to serve the parish and to assist the pastor in providing leadership to the parish so that the community may effectively carry out the mission of the parish. 

Parish Council serves as an advisory committee for Fr. Valencheck, providing him with feedback about the state of the parish. Each member is assigned specific ministries to contact on a monthly basis to get feedback about what their ministry is doing and what they might need. Council also represents parishioners, bringing their concerns or questions to Fr. Valencheck and the rest of Council.

Council would love to hear from you!

Please contact Parish Council if you wish to explore ministry opportunities at St. Sebastian or have any thoughts or concerns that you would like for them to communicate at the meetings.   For example, we are seeking ideas about how we can welcome non-Catholics onto our campus to make them feel more comfortable in a Catholic setting?  Also, how can we promote vocations within our parish?  

Click here to submit your comments to the council: CouncilP@stsebastian.org

You may also connect with individual council member.  Click this link for a listing of Parish Council members, their contact information and the types of ministries they represent: Current Parish Council Members

Serving on Parish Council

Each spring, four parishioners are elected to Parish Council for a three year term. Nominations are sought from parishioners, and, after Parish Council interviews the candidates, Council chooses four members to replace the four members who are rolling off. The council functions best when the twelve members of Parish Council reflect the membership of the parish. For example, we try to have council members who attend the 4:30 PM (Saturday), and the 9:00 AM (Sunday), and the 11:00 AM (Sunday) Masses to ensure that all the Masses are represented. We also try to ensure that those from various stages of life are represented on Council and that we have a mix of men and women.  

Council can only select four members even though there are many qualified candidates.  Please know that we appreciate all who wish to join Parish Council. If you are not selected for membership this year, please know that many factors go into selecting new members, including ensuring that Council's membership reflects parish membership. If you are not selected this year, we encourage you to apply next year and to get involved in other parish ministries.

Parish Council By-Laws

Meeting Minutes

Pulse of the Parish


Sue Clark, Chair
440-390-8794
susan-clark@sbcglobal.net

Hannah Paulin, Chair Elect
330-256-4269
hannahpaulin@hotmail.com

Dave Gasper, Secretary
330-375-2851
mrdave1225@gmail.com

Sue Sassano, At-Large Member
330-606-2528
sjsassano@yahoo.com

Anna Borges, At-Large Member
330-752-3089
apbsaab@gmail.com

Jim Lundy, At-Large Member
330-983-1477
lundyj333@gmail.com

David Newyear, At-Large Member
405-902-2445
david.newyear@gmail.com

Barb Panzner, At-Large Member
330-612-3932
Bizbizzee2@netscape.net

Will Gibson, At-Large Member
937-829-6519
gibsonwr@gmail.com

Terry Tolson, At-Large Member
330-485-6364
TCTolson@gmail.com

Chris Slattery, At-Large Member
330-606-5992
CRSlattery@gmail.com

Linda Saliga, At-Large Member
330-289-3407
saliga@uakron.edu