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

Draft Minutes of the meeting of the members of the PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL
held on Wednesday 26 September at 7.30pm in the Holy Ghost Parish Rooms

Present: Father Kevin, Margaret Derlacki, George Fanning, Ann FitzPatrick, Lawrence Gaffney (Chairman), Jim Nairn, Rita Paxton and Steve Whitbread (and Sue Niblett)

Opening Prayers

Prior to the start of the meeting introductions were made between all PCC members

1. Apologies for absence
Apologies were received from Martin Stubbs.

2. Minutes of previous meeting
The Minutes of the meeting of 10 July were approved and signed by the Chairman subject to the following correction :

3.4. - 7. Parish Helpline - spelling error - Ann Cygler (not Ziegler).

3. Actions arising from previous Minutes

4. -7. Parish Helpline - following a discussion it was agreed that the parish would not launch its own Helpline but that callers should be directed to outside agencies. Sue to compile a list of such agencies for display on church noticeboards and to pass details to Martin for inclusion on the website and in the Liturgical Calendar/Parish Directory.
(Action Sue/Fr Kevin)

5. Make-up of PPC - it was confirmed that Martin will offer his resignation from the PPC at the next meeting. The Blessing of the new PPC will be during 9.00am Mass on Sunday 18 November, immediately after the Gospel reading.

8. Gift of plant for Ted (Shirley) - Father will present a plant to Ted at the time of Shirley's first anniversary (6 March). A mass will be arranged for Shirley, to which Ted will be invited. (Action Fr Kevin)

11. Mission - Outreach - Liturgy - Adoration - Prayers - Exposition and Adoration - see agenda item 10. Outreach item deferred until PPC Roles and Responsibilities defined. (Carried forward).

12. - 11.2 Children's Liturgy at Immaculate Conception - now has adequate cover but this has highlighted the lack of help at Holy Ghost Church where there are currently only four people. Others are being asked (Action Fr Kevin) but, in the meantime, George offered to arrange extra help when needed.

7. - Obligatory collections - following discussions with the Finance Committee, Father reported that all the (11) Obligatory Collections would continue to be taken and that the parish would not routinely be sending any of them a £100 donation. However, he will only announce the following collections during Mass : Catholic Children's Society, Clergy Training Fund, Peters Pence, Mission Sunday, Holy Places and the two Family Fast Days.

8. - Music at Saturday Vigil Mass - further discussion requested so deferred to future meeting agenda. (Carried forward).

4. Review of PPC roles and responsibilities
There was a lengthy discussion as to what the role of the PPC is and how members could most effectively meet the needs of the parish. Father will seek guidance from Angela Wills, the Diocesan advisor for Collaborative Ministry, in time for the next meeting. The PPC was asked to read the 'Handbook for Parish Pastoral Councils' to help understand their role. There are seven main areas to be covered by the PPC : Liturgy; Justice and Peace; Youth; Social and Communication; Outreach; Catechesis; and Mission. In addition Child/Vulnerable Adult Protection (CRB) will be a separate category. The aim is that each area will be co-ordinated by a PPC member who can report back on what is happening within that area. Ideally, that person can then start to build a team of 'helpers' around them. Sue to circulate list of areas and back-up papers. PPC members asked to consider which areas they would like to represent, for discussion at next meeting. The PPC roles should be agreed by consensus (as should all PPC decisions).

5. First Holy Communion
After five years, Maureen Boss wishes to retire as Catechist next year and has asked that we look for someone to replace her. Ideally that person would shadow her throughout this year's course and take over completely in 2008. An appeal will be made in the Newsletter (Action Sue/Fr Kevin). It was mentioned that CaFE offer a First Holy Communion programme that provides a basic framework supported by dvds which prompt the co-ordinator to stop at various discussion points. It was felt to be very important that parents are heavily involved with the course and that the catechist must not take over from the parents. Ideally, the children should be in one session, with the parents in another.

6. Confirmation
It was reported that Katharine FitzPatrick, as co-ordinator of the parish Confirmation course, was very disappointed that she had not been kept informed of the plans being made for next year's Confirmation. Father explained that Father Jim Joyce, on behalf of the LPA, has arranged for the Bishop to celebrate Confirmation in Bracknell parish on Friday 6 June 2008, and that our parish has been invited to join them. Father is currently receiving letters from potential candidates and, at their first meeting, they will be asked if they would like to join in with Bracknell or stay within this parish. Lawrence agreed to write to Katharine explaining the situation (Action Lawrence). Mike Withers and Anthonia Chigbo are available as catechists and also possibly Sean Grimes. There will be a Diocesan Day for Confirmation Catechists on Saturday 3 November.

7. Child Protection
Father confirmed that Shelagh Stirling has been appointed as the new parish representative, subject to the Diocese securing satisfactory references and CRB disclosure. She will be meeting with Angela McGrory the Diocesan Child Protection Co-ordinator on Thursday.

8. Liturgy and Ecumenical
The parish ecumenical Service of Remembrance will be on Friday 9 November at 8.00pm at the Immaculate Conception Church. The Sandhurst Civic Service of Remembrance will be on Sunday 11 November at 11.00am and Lawrence will represent the parish.

9. Social Committee
The Social Committee is helping to organise the Curry Supper that will be held after the Vigil Mass on Saturday 3 November in the Sandhurst parish centre. A Beer and Skittles evening will be held at the Old Ford public house, near Aldershot North Camp railway- station, on Saturday 24 November. This event can accommodate around 25 adults at a cost of £6 each, to include supper. The senior parishioners' Christmas party will be on Saturday 8 December at Our Lady's School.

10. Exposition
It was accepted that the current arrangements for the Immaculate Conception Church to be open every Wednesday until 7.00pm are not working because there are not enough volunteers to act as stewards. After some discussion, it was agreed that, when the new Liturgy Group has been formed, they will take responsibility for organising this. Meanwhile, the church will remain open for Exposition every Wednesday until 12.00noon.

11. Burma Orphanage Appeal
Due to the current troubles in Burma, it is impossible to send over any more money at the moment. There will be a big article about our appeal in the next issue of Portsmouth People.

12. Any other business
There were no items under this heading.

13. Date and time of next meeting
The next meeting will be on Tuesday 30 October at 7.30pm in the Holy Ghost Parish Rooms. This meeting will take the form of a 'retreat' for us to pray together and reflect upon the purpose of the PPC.

Closing Prayers

Meeting closed at 9.55pm

Distribution:
Father Kevin Margaret Derlacki George Fanning
Ann FitzPatrick Lawrence Gaffney Jim Nairn
Rita Paxton Martin Stubbs Steve Whitbread