St Wilfrid s Parish Council Meeting 21 st March 2017 Held in the Parish Library Present: Patrick Rooney Chair Fr Stephen Patterson SJ Parish Priest Fr Matthew Power SJ Superior of the Jesuit Community Fr Michael Ashworth SJ Rev Bill Adams Parish Deacon Parish Administrator Kizito Birabwa Co-Opted Brenda Chesworth SVP Christine Cox - Co-Opted Joan Cragg Sanctuary Book Shop and Church Flowers Monica Holdsworth Children s Liturgy Music and Liturgy Vacancy Chris Murray - Faith and Justice Readers and Eucharistic Ministers Vacancy Shirley Russo Young Children and Families/Minutes Apologies: Fr Peter Randall SJ Luigi Possamai Musician The meeting was opened and closed with a prayer. Apologies see above. Minutes of Previous Meeting SWPCMN-2016-12-13 were approved at the last meeting in January 2017. Action Matters Arising: There were no matters arising. Individual Group Reports Little Church numbers vary each week and it is difficult to plan due to this. If there is an event such as Christingle, then families do try to come so the volunteers hope to eventually create an Events calendar. Monica has planned a craft session for Mothering/Laetare Sunday and primroses for mothers will be available for children to take and give to their mothers 1 per family depending on the number of children/families. Little Church is trying to introduce a more formal way of teaching the doctrine of the Church in various ways but not in a heavy manner. Prayers are taught such as the Hail Mary and how to welcome the Gospel. As part of the Stations of the Cross weekly Friday events, Little Church will lead the Stations and prayers on Friday 7 th April Shirley Page 1 SWPCM20170327
has volunteered to attend and represent the Group. Monica has been working with Fr Peter on preparing four boys for baptised at the Easter Vigil and their mother/step mother is having preliminary sessions with a view to being received into the Church next year 2018. There are 2 children possibly 4 due to receive First Communion a date in May has yet to be agreed. Fr Stephen asked if Little Church needed any resources and if so to let him know. SVP Brenda and Joseph will lead the CAFOD Stations of the Cross session on Friday 24 th March at 7pm. Prayers were asked for Barbara Clark. Music nothing to report. Sanctuary Bookshop Joan informed the Council that a cheque for 3000.00 had been sent off to the Jesuit Refugee Society and one for 2000.00 to the Medaille Trust. The money is the profit made from sales in the Bookshop. Fr Kifle has been in contact with Joan and he is very grateful for the donations his Parish in Zambia receives from the table of donated goods in the Parish Centre. Gifts for First Communion are available in the Bookshop. Eucharistic Ministers and Readers Kizito was officially voted in by the Council Members as the representative for this Group. Kizito has arranged an open meeting on Thursday 23 rd March at 7.30pm in the Parish Library to invite possibly new readers and ministers and to discuss how they start having regular meetings to support each other and prepare for the reading of the Word. Fundraising nothing to report. F&J The Soup Kitchen continues as normal. Christine asked what the Council thought about the Fair Trade Stand having a regular presence in the Narthex perhaps on a bi-monthly or quarterly basis the general consensus was that this is a good idea. Christine asked if she could nominate a local charity located at St Cuthbert s Church in Fulwood for any future donations raised via the Bookshop. St Cuthbert s offer support and English classes to Syrian asylum seekers. Christine will provide details to Fr Stephen. Jen Rankin from the Hello Project in Preston currently located in Ashton s Methodist Church is looking for a more central location for this charity and contacted the Parish Administrator and Fr Stephen Page 2 SWPCM20170327
about renting the Parish Centre on a Monday evening. The purpose is to continue the work which Hello Preston currently provides which is supporting asylum seekers and their families and teaching them English. A crèche would be required for the children. Jen was hoping to start from Monday 3 rd April or earlier if possible. Fr Stephen agreed in principle but needs to check out Health and Safety regulations for insurance regarding using the Parish Centre for this type of activity. Hello Preston run a 6 week English programme: Talk English. A social event to Welcome the Asylum Seekers which include Sudanese families, was suggested with music provided by the both groups of asylum seekers; Sudanese and Syrians. 100.00 was raised at the Ash Wednesday Soup Lunch event and donated to a local charity, Euxton Contact Centre, nr Chorley, which provides support for families, children and young people. The F&J Group are going to carry out a survey on what other F&J Groups do in other neighbouring parishes. One parish has a good CAFOD Group for example. St Wilfrid s Group currently has between 8-12 members who attend on a regular basis. Fr Peter s Report: Citizens UK Bishop John Arnold has agreed to send a cheque for 2,500, to be held by Citizens UK central Office. It is anticipated that some of this money will be used to transport up to 50 people from Preston to Manchester on 1 st May. See below. Invitations should be sent out soon for the Manchester Citizens UK Assembly to take place on Mon 1 st May at the Lowry Theatre, Salford, 2-4pm. Manchester Citizens has agreed to send 50 tickets, so while this seems like an ambitious number to bring to the event, it should be an excellent way of demonstrating to interested parties what Citizens UK and community organising is about. To members of the Parish Council: Please let me know if you want a ticket. Students. Piotr has initiated a monthly pub gathering for students, after the 4.30pm Sunday Mass (with music). The first event was a success, with Fr Matthew introducing themes on spirituality, in conversations with a real fire and some drinks to warm everyone up. Taize evenings for Lent have started in the Metanoia area of the Parish Centre on Friday evenings. The timing of the event means Students can go to Mass beforehand, or go to Stations of the Cross in the church after the Taize prayer. Piotr is managing the Taize prayer evenings. Page 3 SWPCM20170327
Students have been invited to join a pilgrimage in Spain with Fr Peter, and a week-long conservation project in Scotland. Nobody has been recruited, but PR will be going on the pilgrimage with other young adults (London based) and the conservation week (13 th May), to give feedback to the students that come to St Wilfrid s, and the Students Union Volunteering Office. The latter has been contacted with a view to making some connections re what is happening at St Wilfrid s and UCLan students. 3 films about Jesuit missions through history: The Mission, Black Robe, and Silence. The first of these has been seen already, and a follow-up discussion followed on another night. On 20 March, Black Robe is scheduled. Silence will not be available till May. Students on our whatsapp group have been invited to participate in the Passion Play, on Good Friday. RCIA. Graham Richards is due to be received into the Church at the Easter Vigil, having been baptised long ago as an Anglican. Four children from the Graham family are due to be baptised on the same night. Their mother/step mother is having preliminary sessions with a view to being received a year from now. English Classes for Refugees in the Parish Centre. Hello Preston is a project presently based in the Methodist Church facilities in Ashton. Jen Rankin, the organiser, came to see Frs Stephen and Peter on 4 th March to view the areas which could be used in the Parish Centre. She would like the refugees and their teachers to have a more central location. Fr Stephen was agreeable to the request, but said classes could not start for a month, to ensure areas are cleared and any other preparations are made. That would mean starting on Monday, 3 rd April, but Jen would be very happy if the transition could happen before then. Parish Priest nothing to report see next item, Parish Centre. Parish Centre The Centre is looking much cleaner and fresher due to Contract Cleaners coming in twice a week and concentrating on key areas for cleaning. Enquiries for the hire of the Centre have increased slightly but a list of charges and rates is required to give a professional response to enquiries. 50.00 per was suggested a possible fee for a day but the Parish Administrator is going to try and get a list of prices for hire of local Parish Centres to try and gauge an idea of what St Wilfrid s Page 4 SWPCM20170327
should be charging. Patrick suggested that a sliding scale fee structure should be used to cater for those that cannot afford to pay high fees such as local charities. The hand dryer in the disabled/men s toilet still needs repairing. An automatic watering system has been installed outside for the handing baskets by Tony Robinson. Review of the Parish Forum The Forum took place on Saturday 18 th February 2017 and the Council members were asked to complete a quick questions and reflections exercise on how they thought the event went. The comments made from the individual groups on the actual day were circulated prior to the meeting along with Fr Peter s reflections. Some of the comments made by Council Members were: Disappointed the number of attendees was not representative of the Parish roughly 30 people. The planning and presentations went well with each group having an opportunity to introduce themselves and operate a rotating table system. More time had to rush to finish. There could have been more people. The presentation and photos of parishioners/familiar faces was great we need to get more photos and use them. Welcoming volunteers from the Council needed to encourage more parishioners to give their views more engagement. Suggestion that on Sunday morning 10.15am Mass two volunteers, Christine Murray and Shirley to start the exercise of welcoming people and introducing themselves as Council Members and asking what is good, what is bad etc about the St Wilfrid s. Nothing too invasive but gently engage to extract information. Elections we need to look at Parish Council Models and discuss how to move forward and welcome more people. Only 15 questionnaires handed in on the day and only 8 with comments. An international food day to welcome people. AOB St Patrick s Quiz Night: Great evening raised 255.00 for the Orphanage in Zambia. Radiators - some are leaking so once the warmer weather starts, they will be turned off to be assessed. Thank You to Geoff Thompson for preparing the food for the Quiz Night and for his and Margaret s help with the weekly newsletter. Thanks to the Parish Page 5 SWPCM20170327
Administrator and all their hard work in preparing the next Parish Magazine. Disable Access waiting for feedback from the architects. Now looking at replacing the current protection with meshing on the stained-glass windows on the Chapel St side. Frank Roberts from Historic Churches is looking at this no feedback yet. The next meeting will take place on Tuesday 23 rd May 2017 at 7.30pm in the Parish Library. Page 6 SWPCM20170327