CATHOLIC THEOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OF GREAT BRITAIN

Transcription

1 CATHOLIC THEOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OF GREAT BRITAIN Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Thursday 9 th September 2010 at St Mary s University College at 11.00am Present: Ashley Beck, Stephen Bullivant, James Cassidy, Brian Croughan, Michael Cullinan, Anthony Currer, John Deehan, Pauline Dimech, Eamon Duffy, Henri Gagey, Mary Grey, Victoria Harrison, Peter Harvey, Michael Hayes, Johannes Hoff, Paul Hypher, Joe Inguanez, Anne Inman, Susanne Jennings, Deborah Jones, Patricia Kelly, Karen Kilby, Nicholas King, Janet Lash, Nicholas Lash, Ian Logan, Duncan MacPherson, Vincent Manning, John McDade, David McLoughlin, Gregory Murphy, Paul Murray, Thomas O Loughlin, Marcus Pound, Dominic Robinson, Patricia Rumsey, John A. Sullivan, James Sweeney, Anthony Towey, Geoffrey Turner, Peter Tyler, Joseph Vnuk. Apologies Kevin Alban, Margaret Atkins, Jeff Bagnall, Tina Beattie, Sarah Boss, Ian Boxall, Thomas Cullinan, Ed Echlin, Philip Endean, Owen Hardwicke, Margaret Hebblethwaite, Richard Johnson, Kevin Kelly, Michael Kirwan, Francesca Knox, Gerard Loughlin, Stephen McKinney, Lawrence Moonan, Patrick Morgan, Anne Muldoon, Anne Murphy, Vincent Nichols, Karen North, Oonagh O Brien, Susan O Brien, Rebekah O Keeffe, Paula Peirce, Michael Phelan, Timothy Radcliffe, Paul Rowan, Anna Rowlands, David Sanders, Hector Scerri, Patrick Sherry, Bridie Stringer, Mari Shullaw, Gemma Simmonds, Roderick Strange, Kate Stogdon, John W. Sullivan, Agneta Sutton, Bridget Tighe, Brendan Walsh, Brian Wicker, Clare Watkins, Michael Winter, Judith Wolfe. Visitors: Theresa Barber, Louis Caruana. The Minutes of the AGM on 8 th September 2009 were approved as a correct record. Matters Arising Information was requested about the resolution passed at the 2009 AGM requesting the Bishops to give moral guidance on the Afghan war. The secretary said it had been sent to the general secretaries of the Bishops Conferences of England & Wales and of Scotland. Acknowledgement had been received only from the former, stating that the resolution would be passed to the relevant department, but there was no further notification of what had then transpired. In the discussion, it was considered whether a further approach should be made to the bishops on this matter, but eventually this was not considered to be useful. On the general issue of relations with the bishops the suggestion was made to send notification of the annual conference to all the bishops with an invitation to participate. This was agreed. It was also suggested that the Association should hold its conference in Scotland at some point in view of the fact that it is the CTA of Great Britain. This was referred to the committee.

2 Nicholas King, the President of the Catholic Biblical Association, reported that the Scripture Bulletin was now online. He agreed that notification of the CTA annual conference should be sent to CBA members. John McDade reported that there had been contact with the Irish Theological Association, and there was now an agreement that their members would be welcome to attend the CTAGB annual conference, but without the necessity of joint membership. President s Report John McDade raised two issues for discussion in his report: Succession planning or encouraging younger theologians Among the points raised were: The post-graduate research days being organised by Nottingham, Durham, St Mary s and Roehampton, with CTA support. The difficulty that seminaries are hardly represented at the CTA, probably because the Conference is held in the week they start back. It is difficult to find dates to suit everyone. Was this conference s topic too specialised to appeal to younger theologians? Should the Open Day be repeated? It was noted that full information on the programme of the conference had not been available on the website, only the Open Day programme. Is the process of admission overly complex, and could it be simplified? Could membership of the CTA be linked with the Pastoral Review Trust bursaries? The website Among the points raised were: The website could be used more as a portal into Catholic theology: linking to other bodies, videos of conference talks, podcasts, publishing some conference papers rather than in New Blackfriars, more photographs, linking with speakers publications. It was noted that speakers might not want their contributions, or some part of them, to be aired more widely than in the confines of the Conference. They would have to agree beforehand; and only the talks not the discussion should be videoed. The proposal was made to have a slot at the Conference for a forum discussion of pressing issues and topics of the day. A need was noted to address issues of gender balance and the absence among us of non-white theologies. Younger members spoke of their happiness at having been well received, and that among them there seems to be a rough 50/50 male-female balance. The above matters were referred to the Committee for further discussion and action. The President concluded by thanking the secretary and treasurer for the administrative work they had carried out.

3 Secretary s Report Jim Sweeney reported that the Association continues to grow: there are currently 235 members; there have been 12 admissions in the past year; two applications are pending; there have been three resignations. The principal development of the past year has been the launch of the new website. Thanks were recorded to Marcus Pound who assisted and recommended the website developer James Jirtle. The reactions to the new website had been very favourable. Janet Lash encouraged members who change their addresses to ensure that they change their details on the members page on the website. Treasurer s Report and adoption of accounts Janet Lash introduced the annual accounts and report (see Appendix). The Conference finances are in a very healthy state. The matter of public benefit was raised with the suggestion that Helen Costigane would be a good person to consult. Adoption of he accounts was proposed by David McLoughlin and seconded by Duncan MacPherson, and carried unanimously. The treasurer proposed that the annual subscription, which has not been changed for several years, be raised from 15 to 20. This would mean that members who receive a free copy of the issue of New Blackfriars carrying the conference papers would not be in receipt of benefits greater that 25% of the membership fee and therefore gift aid could be claimed. It was suggested that a lower subscription be asked of students, but it was pointed out that the administrative difficulties of this were considerable, and that the fee was anyway rather small. The proposal to raise the annual subscription from 15 to 20, effective from 2011, as proposed by the Treasurer was seconded by Anthony Towey and carried unanimously. Reports from Committee Members: Geoff Turner reported on the European Society for Catholic Theology. The next conference will be in Vienna from 25 th to 28 th August, preceded by an emerging students day on 24 th, on the theme of Exploring the Boundaries of Bodiliness. In response to a question, Geoff confirmed that the ESCT committee keep in touch with authorities in Rome, and that they will make a formal visit in the near future. Geoff encouraged members to take up ESCT membership. He has administrative access to the newly launched ESCT website. Members who wish to publicise publications and conferences can do so by sending text to him.

4 Election of officers and committee members Paul Murray Vice-president - returned unopposed ( ) Janet Lash Treasurer returned unopposed ( ) Stephen Bullivant Committee member returned unopposed ( ) Tom O Loughlin Committee member returned unopposed ( ) Anna Rowlands Committee member returned unopposed ( ) James Sweeney indicated that if he were re-elected secretary he would not want to serve the full term of two years, but was prepared to serve one year. He suggested it would be better for president and secretary not to leave office at the same time. A proposal was put to pre-elect a new secretary at this AGM, to allow for a gradual handover of secretarial responsibilities, with the new person taking over officially in one year s time for the normal two years. The constitutional legitimacy of this was questioned. After discussion it was proposed that a new secretary be elected for a two year term, but that James Sweeney be asked to continue with the regular secretarial duties and make a gradual transfer over the coming year. This proposal was carried by a show of hands. There were two nominations for secretary, and a secret ballot was held, with the following result: Anthony Towey 25 votes, Oonagh O Brien 17 votes. Anthony Towey Secretary - elected ( ) Future Conferences The dates of the 2011 conference were confirmed as 5-8 Sept 2011 at Ushaw College. It was noted that while the 2011 theme had been provisionally decided as Catholic Social Teaching and some work had gone into the planning, the decision could be reviewed. It was noted that while this theme is being explored by other associations, there are aspects that only the CTA will explore in depth. The theme was confirmed. The 2012 conference will be 3 rd to 6 th September venue to be determined. Suggested themes were Christian Apologetics in relation to the culture today Sacrament of Reconciliation The New Evangelisation. The year of. (whatever the next will be of!) On the participation of younger theologians, it was suggested that doctoral supervisors might be consulted for suggestions of themes on which their students could be invited to give papers. The next AGM will take place in Ushaw College during the 2011 Conference The AGM closed with the President, John McDade, welcoming the new President, Karen Kilby, to the post.

5 Karen thanked John for his work as President over the last two years, including his very significant papers and other interventions at this and the last conference. This was warmly applauded.

6 APPENDIX ANNUAL REPORT 2009 Report of the Trustees The trustees present their report and the financial statements for the year 1 January 2009 to 31 December Charity Name: Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain Charity Commission registered number: Governing document: Constitution Adopted 12 September 1985 Amended 3 September 1992 Charitable objective: To promote the study of theology and in particular the doctrines and tenets of the Roman Catholic faith for the benefit of the public. To facilitate communication between Catholics engaged in theological work through regular conferences. Activities and achievements: Our annual conference, entitled The Legacy of Paul was held at Ushaw College, Durham. Fifty-nine people attended, somewhat fewer than the record number the previous year which perhaps reflected the fact that there had been several other conferences on St Paul that year. The proceedings of the conference were published in a special issue of New Blackfriars in March One significant additional expenditure was the buying in of professional assistance in up-daating the website. The new site went live early in Funds remain in a healthy state with adequate resources in reserve to meet necessary expenditure. In pursuit of agreed policy, we increased bursury expenditure significantly, resulting in a net loss at the end of the year. Membership numbers 229, with 12 people admitted in 2009.

7 CATHOLIC THEOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (INCORPORATING AN INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT) FOR THE YEAR 1 JANUARY 2009 TO 31 DECEMBER INCOMING RESOURCES Total Total funds funds Subscriptions 3,010 3,121 ESCT subscriptions Conference fees 10,578 12,664 Donations Tax recoverable Interest received TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES 14,862 17, RESOURCES EXPENDED Bursaries 1, Committee & ESCT travel ESCT subscriptions 1, Stationery and postage and refreshments Publishing & website development 1, Conference expenses 10,921 11,353 Miscellaneous refunds Bank charges Accountancy TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED 15,737 15, NET INCOMING RESOURCES FOR THE YEAR ,997 ACCUMULATED FUNDS AT 31 DECEMBER ,534 10, ACCUMULATED FUNDS AT 31 DECEMBER ,659 12,534 ===== ===== The balance of the accumulated funds is equal to the balance in the Association s bank accounts at 31 December Approved by the Trustees on 22 nd July 2010 and signed on their behalf. Janet Lash Treasurer