ST. EDMUND CAMPION CHURCH MAIDENHEAD

Transcription

1 ST. EDMUND CAMPION CHURCH MAIDENHEAD MINUTES of meeting of Parish Pastoral Council on Wednesday 17th September 2014 at 7.30pm in the Parish Centre Present: Liam Mifsud (Chair) Fr José Clavería (Fr Pepe) Kathryn Abate (Music & Liturgy) Zoe Brennan (Parents) Pam Cullinane (6.15 Mass Rep) Patryk Debicki (Friday Adoration) Angela DeSouza (Sacristans) Siobhan Edlington (Toddler Group) Shirley Forde (9.30 Mass Rep) Carolyn Foster (Flowers & Cashiers) Richard Foster (Refurbishment Committee) Henry Holley (Chair of Finance) Margarita Kasinski John Lynn (SPUC/Life) Greg O Brien (9.30 Music) Tricia Opalko (Children s Liturgy/School) Andy Shearer (Refurbishment Committee) Sandra Williams (Sick & Housebound) Janet Węcka (Friday Worship) Gillian Hollingbery (Minutes) 1. Opening Prayer The meeting began at 7.35pm. Fr Pepe introduced the evening proposing to pray Our Father. He pointed out the words Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, because, in our gathering, it is not so much about our deeds as about His coming and His will. Fr Pepe said that the function of the meeting is to try to discern His will about the life of our community. 2. Apologies for Absence Vicki Alexander, Kieran O'Hanlon Richard and Carolyn Foster sent apologies that they would be late. Fr Pepe welcomed new people to the PPC. 3. Declaration of Any Other Business The following items of other business were declared: Second Collections (dealt with under item 7) Ministers for Sick and Housebound Church cleaning (dealt with under item 7) Parish magazine Opening and closing church building in winter Time of collection during Mass 4. Minutes of Last Meeting The minutes of the meeting held on 10th June 2014 were accepted as a true record and were signed. Page 1 of 6

2 Parish - future 5. Future direction of the Parish Fr Pepe said that he had now been in the Parish for a year, during which time he had observed and not made any changes. He had spoken to many people and had discovered the history and background, but now he would like to talk about the future. He had included several questions on the agenda, which he read out: Where do we want to be in 1, 5, 10 years time? What is essential for our future? What are the priorities in the pastoral work? What is our plan for the new evangelisation? He then invited responses. John asked how long Fr Pepe would be Parish Priest. Fr Pepe read out a letter from the Bishop which explained that Fr Pepe was Parish Priest for the foreseeable future. John expressed concern that Fr Pepe was very involved in Diocesan matters and may be taken away from Parish duties. Fr Pepe said that this would not be the case. He would be giving about ten percent of his energy to the programme Called and Gifted. This would indirectly benefit the parish as it would enable Fr Pepe to get to know the Diocese and would give him good contacts with the leadership in Portsmouth. Margarita mentioned the World Youth Day in Poland in 2016, and said that it would be a good opportunity for the youth of St Edmund Campion to build up their faith. She said it would be necessary to organise it and fundraise in good time. Patryk mentioned the idea of having a Youth Mass on Sunday evenings. There was an extensive discussion about youth work in the Parish and the Pastoral Area, which included a suggestion of having a paid youth worker, holding sports events, visiting, linking with the Scout group, etc. It was felt that we needed to find out what was happening in the Diocese, whether we could take advantage of it, and whether there was money available. Fr Pepe said he had tried raising interest among young people (early secondary school age), but it needed parental support which was lacking. John proposed setting up a youth sub-committee and offered to take part. Liam, Margarita and Patryk also expressed an interest. It was agreed to do this. (Richard and Carolyn had arrived during this item.) 6. Report on the questionnaire about parish centre refurbishment Fr Pepe introduced this item by saying that it was not about luxury, but about beauty. He quoted Material ugliness is the outward sign of a certain spiritual unattractiveness (Dawson, The Spirit of the Oxford Movement, London 1945, p. 31). He said that the Parish had about 400,000. He said that, before making a decision, it was important to listen to the PPC and the community about the real pastoral needs, to the Bishop and the Diocese about opportunity and how to do things, and to the Finance Committee about how to finance the works. Andy Shearer gave out copies of the results of the questionnaire (see attachment), and gave a presentation on the suggestions subsequently made by the refurbishment sub-committee. There was then a discussion on the different options. Richard took notes of the discussion (see attachment). It was agreed to look further into refurbishing the Parish Centre, building a conservatory on the back, and extending the front to include a second office. The Finance Committee were asked to get advice and find ways of funding the work. A final decision will then be made. Thanks were expressed to Andy and the members of the sub-committee. Andy and Richard left. Page 2 of 6

3 Updates 7. Action Points from Last Meeting Action points from the last meeting were checked. Actions from previous meeting Responsible Status person 1 Look at review of Pastoral Areas All Complete 2 Check on cleaning Angela See below 3 Supervise production of Welcome Pack Liam Ongoing 4 Contact James McWalter Fr Pepe See below 5 Form committee for refurbishment of Parish Centre Fr Pepe Complete 6 Invite more people to PPC Fr Pepe Complete 7 Ask for outside furniture Fr Pepe See below 8 Find people to prepare for baptisms, plus note in bulletin Fr Pepe / Carolyn Ongoing 9 Look into replacing vacuum cleaner Gillian See below 10 Make list of special collections Gillian See Item Send donation to Christian Aid Gillian Complete 12 Check situation with insurance Gillian See below 13 Talk to Mike about Pope s tweets Gillian Ongoing 14 Display dates on website Gillian / Mike Ongoing 15 Repaint window in church Henry Ongoing 16 Get Burco boiler Henry See below 17 Sheds and outside areas Henry / Fr Pepe See below 18 Picture of Pope, also for school Liam Ongoing 19 Order hymn boards and sets of numbers Liam / Gillian See below 20 Revert to previous layout of bulletin Mike / Carolyn Complete Comments were made as follows: 2. Several attempts had been made to meet with the cleaner with no success. Due process would be followed to dismiss her and engage a commercial cleaner. 4. Fr Pepe had spoken to James, but he was not available to help with a youth event. 7. A notice had been placed in the bulletin, but there had been no response. 9. On hold until the situation with the cleaner had been resolved. 12. Gillian had ed the Diocese, but had not had a response. She would try again. 16.&17. On hold until after refurbishment of Parish centre. 19. Mike Quinn had offered to make some. Page 3 of 6

4 8. Parish Life Update Fr Pepe a. Confirmation Fr Pepe said that there were very few candidates from St Edmund Campion. The course was being run jointly with other Parishes in the Pastoral Area, and had already started. The theme was Transformed in Christ, and there was a work book. Helpers included Jillian Hayes and Eddie Robinson. 9. Finance and Property a. Finance Henry said that progress was being made on Gift Aid claims, and reported that the 200 Club was closing. b. Property i) Security Lights The external lights had been checked and five had been replaced. ii) Disabled toilet The toilet and cistern had been replaced and was now a proper disabled toilet. The changing shelf would be adjusted so that it could be folded out of the way of any wheelchair users. iii) Window winders Two needed fixing. Phil Manley was dealing with this. iv) Gas boilers The boiler in the church and the one in the Parish Centre had both been serviced in the last week. 10. Liturgy Committee Preparations would need to start soon for All Souls. 11. Mass Rep Reports 6.15 Mass Nothing to report Mass o Shirley said that a lady had asked for more opportunity to offer prayers at the weekday Masses. Fr Pepe would speak to those who attend those Masses. o Someone had asked if the church would be consecrated. This would be considered at a later date Mass Nothing to report. 12. Great Park Pastoral Area a. Next Meeting The next meeting would be in October in Windsor. Items on the agenda included: o Confirmation o Retreats for Ministers of Communion o Advent services o Lenten Project, whether this would be organised by individual Parishes or collectively. 13. Alpha Course Patryk said that this would be starting the next day, and 37 people had registered, including organisers. They would be cooking for 50 people, and setting up four tables. The format of each evening would be dinner, then a video in the church followed by discussion in the Parish Centre. Page 4 of 6

5 Closing items 14. Any Other Business a. Second Collections Fr Pepe said that he had spoken to the Bishop about Christian Aid collections. He read out the Bishop s reply which said that Christian Aid was not a Catholic charity, but he would be looking into it. Fr Pepe listed the Second Collections that the Parish would be supporting. See attached. b. Ministers to the Sick and Housebound Sandra said that they were short of volunteers and would need to advertise. Fr Pepe suggested speaking to those who attend the weekday Masses. c. Parish Magazine Kathryn said that she and Pietro were leaving the Parish. They had been involved since the 1960s, and she used to be the editor of the Parish magazine. While sorting out the house, she had found some old copies which she offered for the Parish archive. John took them. John asked about the Bethlehem Light which Kathryn had organised last year. Kathryn would give John the details. The meeting expressed their appreciation and best wishes to Kathryn and Pietro. d. Time of collection during Mass Janet said that she had visited another church and she described how they handled the collection. There is a plate as you enter in which you place your offering, and this is taken up during the service. This would be put on the agenda for the next meeting. e. Church opening times John suggested closing the church at 6pm during the winter months. This was agreed and would start on 1st October. Fr Pepe urged that the church be open on Saturdays. 15. Date of Next Meeting Wednesday 19th November Proposed dates for future meetings in 2015: 21st January, 18th March, 20th May, 15th July. 16. Closing Prayer Fr Pepe closed the meeting with prayer at 9.50pm. Signed: Date: Page 5 of 6

6 Action required ACTION from meeting of Parish Pastoral Council on 17th September Appeal in bulletin for more Ministers for Sick & Housebound Carolyn 2 Deal with cleaner Fr Pepe 3 Talk to weekday Mass attenders about incorporating prayers Fr Pepe Person responsible 4 Find people to prepare for baptisms, plus note in bulletin Fr Pepe / Carolyn 5 Check situation with insurance follow up Gillian 6 Talk to Mike about Pope s tweets Gillian / Liam 7 Display dates on website Gillian / Mike 8 Repaint window in church Henry 9 Fix window winders Henry 10 Details about Bethlehem Light Kathryn / John 12 Supervise production of Welcome Pack Liam 13 Picture of Pope, also for school Liam 14 Set up youth sub-committee Liam 15 Taking collection during Mass on agenda for next time Liam 16 All Souls Liturgy committee 17 Make hymn boards and sets of numbers Mike Quinn On hold Action required Person responsible 1 Look into replacing vacuum cleaner Gillian 2 Get Burco boiler Henry 3 Sheds and outside areas Henry / Fr Pepe Page 6 of 6