Holy Ghost Crowthorne and Immaculate Conception Sandhurst
- Parish Pastoral Council -
Minutes of the meeting of the PARISH PASTORAL
COUNCIL
held at 7.30pm on Tuesday 27th September 2005 in the Holy Ghost Parish Rooms
RC PARISH OF CROWTHORNE AND SANDHURST
Minutes of the meeting of the PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL
held on Tuesday 27 September 2005 at 7.30pm in the Holy Ghost Parish Rooms
Opening prayer led by Martin
Present: Fr. Kevin Jones, Brenda Baigrie, Margaret Derlacki, Angela
Greenwood,
John Kavanagh, Gerry Picozzi, Martin Stubbs, Mike Withers (Chairperson) (and
Sue Niblett)
1. Apologies for absence
Apologies received from Ann FitzPatrick, Shirley Hayden, Aoife McLean, Paul
Page Tickell and Margaret Pearce.
2. Election of Chairperson and Vice Chairperson
Mike was appointed as the Chairperson for the next 12 months. Father Kevin
thanked John for his leadership over the past year and for all the work he
continues to do for the Parish.
The appointment of a Vice Chairperson was deferred until the next meeting because so many PPC members were absent from the meeting. Please contact the office if you are interested in the role.
3. Minutes of previous meeting
The Minutes of the meeting of 28 June 2005 were approved and signed by the
Chairman.
4. Matters arising from previous Minutes
3.8 CaFE - Corpus Christi Church in Wokingham have run several of the initial sessions and some of session 2, which we have yet to do. They will be running another session 2 programme starting on Wednesday 5 October, for six weeks, and there are some spare places which they have offered to us. Mike and Gilly will be attending and if anybody would like to join them please let Mike know. He will email those PPC members absent from tonight's meeting. Mike plans to start the session 2 programme in the parish soon.
3.11 (AOB) Churches Together in Crowthorne - the monthly services at Pinehurst Nursing Home are ongoing and Mike helps David with the short prayer service at 6.45pm followed by hymns for the residents. Father said that a similar service is held at Hartsleap with communion being taken to the residents every Monday. Mike helps once every four months at Suffolk Lodge at 5.50pm if anybody would like to join him on the rota.
7. Parish Charities - Mike advised that the Jesuit Missions' director had just retired but that there should be no problems, in principle, to making a twinning arrangement.
5. First Holy Communion
All the Crowthorne and Sandhurst children will follow the programme together
and receive their First Holy Communion on Saturday June 10 2006. The venue
will be decided depending on which church has the majority of children, with
the Go Forth Mass being held at the alternate church. Maureen Boss has agreed
to run the courses for the next 2 years but a deputy needs to be found who
could shadow her next year with a view to taking over when she retires from
the role.
6. Confirmation
The Confirmation course will run for children and young adults aged 12 and
over and, to date, there have been 3 applicants. The Confirmation leaders
will be Mike, Paul and Gareth Heard with Gilly Withers helping. Youngsters
who were Confirmed two years ago will also be asked to help. The programme
may be shared with the parishes of Wokingham and Ascot and Father. Father
will clarify with Chris Rutledge and ask if the Vicar General could conduct
the service. There are 12 candidates at Wellington College and they will run
their own course.
7. Parish Mission and Spiritual Direction of the Parish
It was unanimously agreed that the initial session with Lesley King had been
excellent and everybody was looking forward to the next session on Tuesday
15 November at 7.30pm in the Holy Ghost parish rooms. A discussion followed
as to how the Pastoral Plan is likely to affect the parish and everybody was
encouraged to express any concerns they have to the Bishop when he launches
the plan in Maidenhead on 13 October. All were reminded that the 'Go
Out and Bear Fruit' notes are not set in stone but are a starting
point for discussion.
Prompted by a request from Father Kevin, Martin recounted a recent conversation he had had with an Australian Bishop he had met at Farnborough Abbey. They were talking about the problems currently being experienced within our parishes and the Bishop said that his aim in his diocese in Australia was to have a priest for every parish. He explained that it was difficult, with some parishes having to be combined, but it had been done and it was working well. The Bishop said that the idea of closing things down is so negative, once a parish is closed it proves very difficult to reopen it. In the Diocese they pray for vocations at every Mass and they do have priests. Their Seminaries now have more students than for than for some time in the past.
8. Parish Charities
Father is in contact with the parish of Katete in Zambia and has been sending
money each year via COPA which helps fund children's education. The parish
has indicated that it would be very happy to be twinned with our parish. Father
will get more information and circulate to PPC.
The recent auction in both churches for original paintings in aid of CAFOD received two bids.
Father Frank Thompson spoke at all Masses on 3 and 4 September about the work of the APF (Association for the Propagation of the Faith) and appealed for more helpers.
9. Go Out and Bear Fruit
43 parishioners have so far signed up for coach transportation to Maidenhead
on Thursday evening 13 October, to hear the Bishop launch the Diocesan Pastoral
Plan. The coach will depart from the Immaculate Conception Church at 7.00pm
and the Holy Ghost at 7.15pm. The Weight Watchers' evening session in Sandhurst
will be cancelled to ensure that the car park is clear for parishioners' cars.
10. Parish Pilgrimage 2006
The Pilgrimage proposed for this Autumn has been postponed to late 2006 and
the Social Committee will be taking over the coordination of this trip from
Rupert Page. The Committee will give regular updates of their progress.
11. Churches Together in Sandhurst (CTS)
Margaret reported back from the recent meeting of the sub-committee :
Coffee Spot - this was taken over by CTS and opened and run by the Baptists
within a week of the proposal being presented at the PPC meeting in June.
There is now a Committee, Treasurer and Auditor. They are now asking for more
volunteers from the other churches but Father said that he had made announcements
during Mass and there was no interest. Margaret has already worked there.
The venue is open 7 days a week from 10.00am to 5.00pm.and ideally they would
like 20 people per week to work there. If not enough volunteers come forward
it was suggested they might need to employ some teenagers to work for minimum
wage.
Website - CTS would like to set up a website to help publicise events. They will also advertise in the SRA quarterly magazine. It was mentioned that Churches Together in Crowthorne do not have a website but used to have a magazine.
Youth Group - the Baptists and C.E. are very keen to start a joint Youth Group, meeting in the Coffee Spot. Mike suggested that the Youth Co-ordinator at Edgbarrow School might be able to offer some advice as would Bracknell Forest BC.
Joint Services - CTS would like to know if the service of Nine Carols and Lessons will be held at the Immaculate Conception Church this Christmas, as used to be something of a tradition. Father responded with a maybe.
Songs of Praise - this community event on 17 July was very successful. Our parish paid £37 towards the cost of administration, publicity and the fee to the Silver Band.
It was mentioned that Churches Together in Crowthorne (CTC) may wish to invite a representative from CTS to their meetings. Margaret will report back as to who should receive that invitation.
12. Catechetical Coordinator (CC)
Some discussion took place as to how the Bishop's pastoral plan is likely
to affect the life of the parish and the demands made upon it and our ability
to meet those challenges. Following on from those discussions, it was agreed
that things should still be set in place in readiness for the employment of
a CC.
All PPC members were asked to read the final draft job description and job advertisement and send comments to the office by Friday 7 October. Due to the significant cost to the Parish (circa £10.000 per annum) it was felt to be important that parishioners be given the opportunity to express their views. Therefore, when all comments from the PPC have been received and the necessary amendments made, an announcement will be put in the Newsletter and parishioners will be invited to submit their comments to the office by 31 October. The draft job description and advertisement will be posted on the PPC noticeboard for all to see. Comments received will be circulated to all PPC members. If no serious objections are made, then the decision will be taken as to whether to proceed to advertise the post in the Portsmouth People, Catholic schools and on the website, with a proposed ideal start date of January 2006.
At that stage Father will contact Angela Wills for guidance and a selection team will be appointed. It is recognised that the successful candidate is likely to need training and the time needed for that and what salary will be paid during training is open to further discussion.
13. Diocesan Fair Trade Initiative
An information pack has bee received in the office from the Diocese. Gerry
offered to handle the matter and all documentation was passed to him. He will
report back his recommendations in due course.
14. Cover during Father Kevin's holiday
Father Kevin will be on holiday from Monday 17 October to Thursday 10 November.
Father Kevin Delaney will be covering the weekend Masses, also 'All Saints'
Vigil Mass on 31 October and Mass of the Day on 1 November. The proposed evening
Mass at Holy Ghost Church for 'Feast of All Souls' on 2 November was cancelled.
Father Kevin will be back in time to conduct the ecumenical Service of Remembrance on Friday 11 November at 7.30pm in the Immaculate Conception Church. Light refreshments will be served in the parish centre afterwards. The next of kin of those in the parish who have died within the past two years will be sent letters inviting them to the service.
15. Photos of PPC members
Photos were taken after the meeting of all those present. Those PPC members
absent from the meeting are asked to send a good head and shoulders colour
photo to Mike as soon as possible.
16. Any other business
16.1 Parish Mission - Angela reminded everbody that our prayer life underpins everything we do and all choices we make. She advised that time is put aside for meditation before Mass at the Holy Ghost Church on Tuesdays and Thursdays.17. Date and time of next meeting
16.2 Health and Safety - it has been pointed out by a parishioner that buggies left in the Immaculate Conception porch would still cause an obstruction in an emergency. Father Kevin will ask people to park their buggies in the bell tower in future.
16.3 Disabled toilet facilities - Father Kevin advised that both churches need a properly sized and equipped disabled toilet. The proposal is for the Holy Ghost Church toilet to be located in the old Bapistry and for the two toilets at the Immaculate Conception Church to be knocked into one. The door would also need to be relocated away from the corridor to give easier wheelchair access. Quotations will be presented to the Finance Committee.
16.4 Go and Bear Fruit - Father said that a Liturgy Group would need to be set up for this programme.
16.5 Liturgical Calendar - Martin was thanked for agreeing to compile this for 2006.