Holy Ghost Crowthorne and Immaculate Conception Sandhurst
- Parish Pastoral Council -

DRAFT Minutes of the meeting of the PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL
held at 7.30pm on Tuesday 4th April 2006 in the Holy Ghost Parish Rooms

Opening prayers and reflection led by Angela

Present: Fr. Kevin Jones, Margaret Derlacki, Lawrence Gaffney, Ann FitzPatrick, Angela Greenwood, Shirley Hayden, John Kavanagh, Aoife McLean, Martin Stubbs, Mike Withers (Chairperson) (and Sue Niblett)

1. Apologies for absence
Apologies received from Brenda, Paul and Gerry.

2. Minutes of previous meeting
The Minutes of the meeting of 21 February were approved and signed by the Chairman.

4. Parish Forum
The Forum on 19 March had run successfully with a very large number of parishioners staying after the Mass to join the discussion. Father said that everybody seemed to have enjoyed themselves. Several parishioners had mentioned that they had no idea what went on in the Parish and that they had not realised how much they needed to learn about the church and its teachings. PCC members summarised the main concerns they had heard through the day :

* parishioners who had initially been worried by what was being proposed with the LPAs, were happy by the end of the day because things were being discussed openly and they were not being 'fobbed off'.

* "What if 'my' Mass was moved to another church and I can't get there?"
The PCC is responsible for ensuring that all parishioners have access to Mass and transport would be organised.

* "What is the point of us making any suggestions ? The Diocese will do what they want anyway". Mgr. John Nelson had already visited Father Kevin to allay these fears. Mgr. Nelson assured Father that nothing is going to change quickly - it will be a very gradual progression. All the parishes will stay as parishes but will have to share a Priest eventually. These 'shared' parishes will evolve into an LPA that will then have a Priest Co-ordinator. Each parish can then buy into whatever services are on offer. They will keep their own Finance Committees and Pastoral Councils, and there will be a Deanery Pastoral Council. Father Kevin is already in regular contact with Father Jim Joyce at Wokingham. When one of them goes, the other will take over the other's parish. Wokingham, Crowthorne, Sandhurst and Yateley parishes could all pool their resources eventually.

Martin made the point that any suggestion from the Diocese for one central Mass in the pastoral area, in order to free up a Priest to go to another Parish, would be almost impossible to achieve. There is not a local church big enough to hold one large congregation. Father invited other members of the PPC to send him their personal views, but it was decided to wait until the next phase of the Bishop's plans are known.

Father thanked Lawrence and the rest of the steering group for organising the Forum and also the PPC for their time and support. Apologies had been received from Brenda who was unable to attend because her husband had to go into hospital.

Martin was asked to put the summary of the day's discussions on the Parish website so that other Parishes could read it, especially those comments that had been received from the children.

Ann will put something into the next edition of the Parish Magazine. It was suggested that some sort of social event be organised during the summer as a follow-up to the Forum - perhaps a picnic following Sunday Mass. The dates suggested are 2 or 9 July.

5. Mass (holiday) cover for Larger Pastoral Area
Father Kevin and Father Jim Joyce will be supplying holiday cover for one another, for weekend Masses, and the following are the suggested Mass times :

After some discussion, it was agreed that there should be one Vigil and three Sunday Masses as per Father Kevin's preference. This timetable will be tested on Sunday 23 July when Father Kevin is next away. (Cover for weekend Masses during Father Kevin's sabbatical from October 2006 onwards, has already been arranged with another Priest and they will continue at the usual times).
The re-arranged Masses will be Low Masses and the Music Group will be told that no music will be required. The changes to the normal Mass times will be publicised early and a large sign being posted outside each church the previous week will remind parishioners.

Father Kevin will speak with Father Jim to tie-up details. It is noted that Father Jim has already arranged holiday cover this year but next year Father Kevin will need to cover for him.

6. Parish Mission and Move Forward
Father would like at least one co-ordinator at PCC level to be appointed to each of the seven distinct main areas. This would give parishioners wanting to become involved in any area a person to go to for advice and guidance. It would also make it easier for progress (or problems) in any area to be reported back to the full PPC on a regular basis. This initiative prompted a very lively and lengthy debate. After much discussion the following members agreed to co-ordinate as follows :

Liturgy – Father Kevin (and Paul ??)
Justice and Peace – vacant (possibly Brenda ??)
Youth – vacant
Social and Communication – Father Kevin, John, Margaret and Angela
Outreach – Shirley
Catechesis – Mike
Mission – Mike

The PCC was asked to continue their considerations for discussion at the next meeting.

It was decided that the Parish Mission Statement should remain unchanged, as it is short, concise and to the point. The newly drafted expanded statement would be kept just for the PPC to work from and would also be useful for the Retreat.

A leaflet from the Department for Pastoral Formation, entitled "Making Everybody Welcome" were distributed.

7. Liturgy Group
Diocesan papers entitled "Guidelines for Worshipping Community and Pastoral Area Liturgy Groups" were distributed. Father will have an initial meeting with the new Liturgy Group after Easter and aim to have the Group in total charge of Liturgy ready for when he goes away in October.

8. Churches Together in Sandhurst - Songs of Praise 15 July
Father Kevin is unable to attend this community event because of Baptism commitments. Margaret kindly agreed to attend on his behalf and this will be fed back to the organisers.

9. Any Other Business

9.1 Rite of Reception - Father advised that, during the Easter Saturday Vigil Mass, two people are being welcomed into the church on Full Communion and there will be a short reception afterwards in the parish centre.

9.2 Prayer books for Good Friday and Holy Saturday - Martin felt that the minor edits needed to the prayer books did not justify the work involved in retyping them and so they would be used as last year.

9.3 Readers at Holy Ghost Church - a request was made that more training be given to the 11.00am readers.

9.4 Draft PPC Minutes - it was agreed that the Minutes in draft form should be posted on the Parish website as soon as possible, then be replaced with the final, approved Minutes after the next meeting.

9.5 Saturday Masses - several parishioners have mentioned that they would like a quiet Mass on Saturdays and this request will be put to the Liturgy Group. Father Kevin was asked if he could remind Readers and Eucharistic Ministers that they should follow the rotas and arrive in church well on time to carry out their allotted duties.

10. Date and time of next meeting
The next meeting will be on Tuesday 16 May at 7.30pm in the Holy Ghost parish rooms.

11. Reference for Paul Page Tickell re Diaconate

The PCC discussed the matter fully and Mike, as Chairman, will summarise their views in a written reference to Steve Melhuish. Plans for the Ordination Day, 18 June, will be discussed at the next meeting.

Meeting closed at 10.30pm

Closing prayers

Distribution:
Father Kevin Jones, Brenda Baigrie, Margaret Derlacki,
Ann FitzPatrick, Lawrence Gaffney, Angela Greenwood,
Shirley Hayden, John Kavanagh, Aoife McLean,
Paul Page Tickell, Gerry Picozzi, Martin Stubbs,
Mike Withers