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

Minutes of the meeting of the members of the PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL
held on Tuesday 22 May at 7.30pm in the Sandhurst Parish Centre

Present: Father Kevin, Margaret Derlacki, Ann FitzPatrick, Lawrence Gaffney, Angela Greenwood, John Kavanagh, Gerry Picozzi, Mike Withers (and Sue Niblett)

1. Apologies for absence
Apologies received from Sheila, Jim, Paul and Martin.

2. Election of Chairperson
Lawrence was elected as Chairman for the coming year, with Ann as Vice-Chairman.

3. Minutes of previous meeting
The Minutes of the meeting of 17 April were approved and signed by Father Kevin.

4. Matters arising from previous Minutes

3.13.1 Developing Skills for Leadership - Mike has completed his 1000 word essay and Father Kevin has a copy. Further copies are available from Mike.

Wokingham parish is running an adult CaFE programme entitled "Exploring the Catholic Church", comprising 8 talks to be given by an American Catholic Theologian. The course starts on Wednesday 20 June and runs for 8 weeks, with a break for the summer holidays. Parishioners from Crowthorne and Sandhurst are very welcome. It will be publicised in Newsletter and via church noticeboards.

Mike is the LPA representative on the Diocesan Pastoral Council. The Diocese run lots of different courses, all of which are open to the parish.

6. Wellington College - Rev. Andrew and Father Kevin meet regularly and Father has joined a working group that will be putting something more positive together for 2009. Father feels that the catechesis given by Mike Halpin and Paul Boscher is satisfactory. Mass is held on the first Tuesday of the month at the college and the staff and students are welcome to attend Mass at the Holy Ghost Church, although it was agreed that this might be difficult as the students study on Saturday mornings and many of them see their families on a Sunday.

7. Parish Helpline - some PPC members felt that it might be helpful to have a Helpline, as first point of call, for parishioners who need to talk through a problem. Angela knows a professional psychotherapist who would be prepared to help the parish set up a Helpline. The object would be to talk to people, not to counsel them. Anybody needing counselling would be directed to a professional, of which there are several within the Diocese. It is normal practice for somebody to be counselled outside of their own parish. Father felt that most people would only want to talk privately with a Priest but he will give it some thought and discuss it with Father Jim.

8.2 1. 25th Anniversary of the Diocese - Mike and Gilly had attended the anniversary Mass on 21 May at St. John's Cathedral, Portsmouth, along with a few parishioners from Bracknell and Wokingham. Mike delivered the picture/icon and in return was given a candle, which Father will take to Winchester Cathedral on 15 June.

8.4 Burma Orphanage Appeal - Father had attended the recent meeting of the appeal committee and was pleased to report that it was receiving lots of donations. He will contact George Eaden of the Friends of Burma for help in forwarding the money to Burma - around £3000. Sister Ann is coming to visit in July** and will give an appeal over the weekend of 7 and 8 July. She will be staying in Crowthorne or Sandhurst. She thanks us for all the money and support received so far and would like the parish to sponsor the building of another orphanage.

    ** Sister Ann is not now coming in July. She is coming on 13 August with Sister Marie and will be staying for about a week.

8.5 Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks - we need a new parish representative. Father Kevin will discuss the matter with Father Jim with a view to possibly sharing a single LPA representative.

8.6 Coffee Spot - the Ecumenical Service on Sunday 10 June, which the parish was due to lead, has been cancelled. Churches Together in Sandhurst will be holding 'Songs of Praise' on Sunday 15 July.

5. Make-up of PPC
The following members will be retiring from the PPC - Sheila, Paul, Mike, Angela, Gerry and possibly John. Mike is the LPA representative on the Diocesan PPC and although he is retiring from the Parish PPC, he wishes to remain active within the parish. Father reiterated that the role of the PPC is about the Mission of the Parish - "where are we going as a parish spiritually?" The fabric of the parish belongs to the Finance Committee. It is hoped that each PPC member will be responsible for one area, build a team of helpers around them, and report back. Father Kevin will approach individuals and invite them to the join the PPC, ready to start in September.

6. Larger Pastoral Area
The next meeting of the LPA will be on 27 June at 8.00pm, and Lawrence will attend as the new Chairman of the PPC.

7. 'Thank you'
Mike has already written to Shirley's husband, Ted. Father will write a letter of thanks to Father Adrian for all his support.

8. Gift of plant for Ted (Shirley Hayden)
Father Kevin will buy a small tree or plant for Ted. There will be a Memorial Mass for Shirley on Tuesday 5 June at Our Lady's School.

9. Social Committee
There will be a Parish Barbeque on Saturday 15 September at Sandhurst. A date has not yet been fixed for the Skittles evening in November. There will be a Children's Christmas Party and also one for the Senior Parishioners. There will be no Night of Light celebration this year. Events planned for 2008 include a Games Evening and an evening celebration of St. Patrick's Day.

To date, there are only around 13 people signed up to go on the Wintershall trip on 30 June. The event will be advertised more widely after the Donkey Derby and possibly opened up to the LPA*

    * The trip was subsequently cancelled due to lack of numhers.

10. Ecumenical Matters
Father was given an update of the Crowthorne Churches Together (CTC) programme that had run during his absence. David Greenwood, who has been Chairman for the past three years, will be stepping down in September. Rosemary Smith has offered to be our new representative. A new Baptist Minister, Rev. Martin Ceaser, will be inducted at Edgbarrow School on Saturday 21 July and Father has been invited to attend.

11. Mission - Outreach - Liturgy - Adoration - Prayers
Father would like to instate "Adoration for the Day" as practiced by lots of other parishes. His initial thoughts are to start the day with a Mass, opening the church from around 9.30am to 7.00pm for Perpetual Adoration, with prayers said for Vocations and for the Ministry, ending with Benediction.

12. Any Other Business

12.1 Eucharistic Ministers - Father would like to meet with all the Eucharistic Ministers, before the summer break, to remind them that the Ministry involves not just giving the Chalice and Host on Sundays, but also going out into the community, taking Communion to the housebound and the sick. He also mentioned that he would like the Eucharistic Ministers at the Immaculate Conception Church to approach the Sanctuary in procession, similar to what happens at the Holy Ghost Church.

12.2 Children's Liturgy at Immaculate Conception - Margaret reported that six more helpers have been recruited and they will be meeting at her house soon.

12.3 Repository at the Immaculate Conception - an appeal will be repeated in the Newsletter to find someone to run the shop. Possibly two people could share this job.

12.4 Chidamoyo - Mike reported that the remainder of the money raised this year, around £6,000, is due to be sent out. The Medical Centre foundations are down and building work is progressing.

13. Date and time of next meeting
The next meeting will be on Tuesday 10 July at 7.30pm in the Sandhurst parish centre.

Meeting closed at 10.00pm

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Distribution:
Father Kevin Jones, Margaret Derlacki, Ann FitzPatrick, Lawrence Gaffney, Angela Greenwood, Sheila Isted, John Kavanagh, Jim Nairn, Paul Page-Tickell, Gerry Picozzi, Martin Stubbs, Mike Withers