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 10 July at 7.30pm in the Sandhurst Parish Centre
Present: Father Kevin, Ann FitzPatrick, Lawrence Gaffney, Angela Greenwood, John Kavanagh, Jim Nairn, Mike Withers, Martin Stubbs (and Sue Niblett)
1. Apologies for absence
Apologies were received from Margaret and Gerry. Gerry will be stepping down
from the PPC and Father read out his letter of resignation.
2. Minutes of previous meeting
The Minutes of the meeting of 22 May were approved and signed by the Chairman
subject to the following corrections :
11.1 Eucharistic Ministers - last sentence should read "He also mentioned that he would like the Eucharistic Ministers at the Holy Ghost Church to approach the Sanctuary in procession, similar to what happens at the Immaculate Conception Church".
6. Wellington College - Father Kevin has not yet joined the working group.
3. Matters arising from previous Minutes
4. - 3.13.1 Developing Skills for Leadership - Mike reported that the Wokingham parish CaFE programme is now underway, with eight Holy Ghost parishioners attending. He also mentioned that the Diocesan Pastoral Council has not yet met and will probably not do so until September.4. -7. Parish Helpline - Father discussed this matter with Fr. Jim Joyce and Fr. Chris Rutledge at his recent LPA clergy meeting. Their general feelings are that inviting people to ring a Helpline might create more problems than it is trying to solve. Father thought that Bereavement Counselling should be reintroduced within the parish before moving onto anything more complex and that the whole issue needs to be discussed by the new PPC in September before going any further. Angela said that Ann Cygler, the professional psychotherapist, could come and talk to the PPC about other solutions - not just a Helpline. Item deferred to later date.
4. - 8.4 Burma Orphanage Appeal - during their visit in August (arriving 13th), Sister Ann and Sister Marie will make an appeal. We are still awaiting contact with the registered charity 'Friends of Burma', who will help us move monies to Burma. Father confirmed that the parish 'Burma Orphanage Appeal' is not a registered charity.
4. - 8.5 Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks - following Father's discussions with Fr. Jim, it is apparent that we cannot share a single LPA representative. We must appoint someone within the parish. The appointed person does not have to be a member of the PPC, but must report back. Mike will investigate how Wokingham parish operate on this issue and advise.
5. Make-up of PPC - John Kavanagh will definitely be retiring from the PPC and Father has invited Rita Paxton, George Fanning and Steve Whitbread to join. The photoboard will need to be updated. Father will arrange a Blessing in church for the new PPC.
8. Gift of plant for Ted (Shirley) - Father Kevin is still to buy the plant for Ted.
9. Social Committee - following Lawrence's appointment as the new Chairman of the PPC, he has resigned as Chairman of the Social Committee. Margaret Derlacki will take over, with Katharine FitzPatrick as Secretary and Ann Fitzpatrick as Treasurer. Planned events are : 'Tea at 3' for over 50's on Sunday 12 August; Parish BBQ on Saturday 15 September. Father suggested that this could be combined with a small Fete, as some small concession for the cancellation of the Donkey Derby. This will be discussed at the next meeting of the Social Committee on 24 July; Skittles Evening on Saturday 24 November; an evening of cultural music and mulled wine in December or January; St. Patrick's Night celebration on 17 March 2008; a parish pilgrimage to Lourdes in 2008 is also under discussion. Unfortunately the Wintershall Trip had to be cancelled due to tickets being sold out.
10. Ecumenical Matters - Father will be meeting with the Churches Together in Sandhurst clergy on 11 July for the first time in a year. He met up with the Churches Together in Crowthorne clergy last week. He will also attend the induction of the new Baptist Minister in Crowthorne, Rev. Martin Ceaser, on Saturday 21 July at Edgbarrow School.
11. Mission - Outreach - Liturgy - Adoration - Prayers - Father said that Exposition and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament will be held every Wednesday, starting on
5 September, at the Immaculate Conception Church, immediately after the 9.30am Mass. The church will be open for prayer from 9.30am - 7.00pm. This will be publicised in the Newsletter together with an appeal for volunteers to act as 'church guardians' on a rota basis throughout each day.Father said that someone is needed on 'Outreach' to keep a closer eye on those people who may stop coming to Mass, due to age or infirmity, to ensure that the parish does not lose touch with them.
12. - 11.2 Children's Liturgy at Immaculate Conception - Margaret said that all the new helpers had met each other and they were a very friendly group. More helpers are also needed at the Holy Ghost Church.
12. - 11.3 Repository at the Immaculate Conception - Ann FitzPatrick has taken over the responsibility for the Repository at Immaculate Conception and Maria D'Allenger has re-opened the Holy Ghost shop.
12. - 11.4 Chidamoyo - the £6,000 has been sent out, plus another £3,000 from the Zimbala Rural Schools Development Programme will be sent out this week. Major Morrecki, Administrator of Chidamoyo, will be visiting the Crowthorne area between
30 October and 6 November. Mike asked if parishioners and other supporters of Chidamoyo could be invited to meet Major Morrecki, perhaps with a BBQ or indoor refreshments at the Immaculate Conception, on Saturday 3 November - with Chidamoyo paying for the food. The Social Committee will be asked for their help in organising this.
4. Review of PPC roles and responsibilities
This is deferred until next meeting for discussion with new members of PPC.
5. Larger Pastoral Area
Lawrence attended the meeting of the LPA on 27 June, with Digby and Fr. Jim.
There is no representative for Bracknell. Our LPA is called 'South Berkshire'.
Digby is preparing a contingency plan should a parish in the LPA suddenly be
without a priest. Wokingham is planning a Pilgrimage for 2008. The LPA has details
about our Pilgrimage in October. Martin asked Lawrence to keep him updated with
anything from the meetings that could be put onto the LPA website.
6. Eucharistic Ministers
Father thinks it would be beneficial for all Eucharistic Ministers to have a
Holy Hour together once a month. In the meantime, a refresher course will be
held on Tuesday 18 September at the Holy Ghost Church from 8 - 9.00pm. Eucharistic
Ministers will be reminded that not only can they minister in church but they
can also take Communion out to the sick and housebound, although this is dependent
upon each individual being CRB checked.
7. Obligatory collections
There are currently 11 Obligatory Collections and 6 Voluntary Collections on
the recommended Diocesan listing. After some discussion, it was agreed that
the parish will in future take just 4 Obligatory Collections (Catholic Children's
Society, Clergy Training Fund, Peters Pence, Mission Sunday), plus Holy Places
and 2 Family Fast Days. A parish donation of £100 will be sent to each
of the other appeals. This decision will be presented to the Finance Committee
for authorisation at its next meeting in September.
8. Music at Saturday Vigil Mass
Following several requests from parishioners, Father has decided that the Saturday
Vigil Mass will be without music - just the Alleluiah will be sung. Hymns will
only be sung on a Saturday evening if it is a special Feast Day.
9. Any Other Business
9.1 Catenian Association - has a Bursary Fund to help sponsor young Catholics between the ages of 16-24 to take part in community based projects that are beneficial to others as well as themselves. Parishioners will be reminded via the Newsletter.9.2 First Holy Communion - after five years as Catechist, Maureen Boss will step down after next year. Two new people are needed to help her in 2008 and then take over completely in 2009.
9.3 Day for Catechists - on Saturday 15 September at St. Peter's School, Winchester. Mike hopes to attend and wanted to encourage others to join him.
9.4 Confirmation - Wokingham are not holding Confirmation this year. Consideration is being given to Crowthorne, Sandhurst and Bracknell holding a joint Confirmation in 2008, with a shared team, and weekly sessions being held at alternate venues, but with the celebration at Immaculate Conception. Thoughts are that it should take place on Pentecost, as happens with all other parishes in UK. It was agreed that the youth of the parish should be asked for their views as to whether or not the Bishop should attend.
9.5 Parish Pilgrimage 9-14 October - there are still six places left and the deadline for booking them is 8 August.
9.6 Baptism Course - the next one will be this coming Saturday 14 July, from 9.00am to12.30pm at Sandhurst.
9.7 Hymn books - Jim asked if he could have some more hymn books for use at Hart's Leap Hospital.
9.8 Servers - although the First Holy Communion children are encouraged to become Servers and it is always mentioned to the parents during the course, more Servers are still needed. An appeal is currently in the Newsletter.
10. Date and time of next meeting
The next meeting will be on Wednesday 26 September at 7.30pm in the Holy
Ghost Parish rooms.
Meeting closed at 9.35pm
Distribution:
Continuing PPC members :
Father Kevin Jones, Margaret Derlacki, Ann FitzPatrick, Lawrence Gaffney, Jim
Nairn.
New PPC members :
George Fanning, Rita Paxton, Steve Whitbread
Retiring PPC members (present at last meeting) :
Angela Greenwood, John Kavanagh, Martin Stubbs,
Mike Withers