PARISH OF THE SACRED HEART – PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL
Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 23rd September 2014
PRESENT: Father James Walsh, Deacon Ron O’Toole, Terry McIlwee, Teresa Butler, Michael Haughton, John Bolger, Hilary Bolger, Adrian Rudman, Jayne Randall, Michael Hawley, Mary Edmonds, Agnieszka Gabriel
- APOLOGIES: Carol Shippey
Fr. James began the meeting with a Prayer
2. It was agreed to finish the meeting by 8.30 p.m.
3. THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING on 26th June were agreed with the amendment to add ‘asked’ in line 5 Para 5.
4. MATTERS ARISING
HMP Bure – Fr. James had met with the Prison Chaplain and will be able to visit to offer Holy Mass. He is in the process of being vetted by the Home Office.
Welcome Pack for New Parishioners – The Parish Directory just needs a few alterations that Fr. James would like made. Fr. James, Clare and John Bolger will meet to finalise these details. A decision will then need to be made about the printing and numbers required.
Parish Picnic – This took place on Sunday 17th August but due to the inclement weather it was held in the Parish Hall and was not very well attended despite the good food provided. Teresa had had some feedback from some younger families who would prefer the picnic to be held in term time as many families are on holiday in August.
5. PPC ELECTIONS
Michael Haughton from St. Helens and Michael Hawley from St. John of the Cross have both completed their three year term but both are eligible and willing to stand for re-election. The Sacred Heart representatives have a further 1 or 2 years to serve. Nomination forms will be placed at the back of St. Helens and St. John of the Cross and Antonia will be asked to place a request for nominations in the Bulletin. The forms need to be returned to Fr. James by the end of October in case there is a need for a ballot. Agnieska represents the Polish Community and it was felt that a representative should be requested from the Pilipino Community too. Adrian will sound out some of the members of the Pilipino Community and see if that is what they would like. The possibility of a youth representative was also discussed and how large that would then make the PPC. A suitable venue for meetings might become a problem as the Parish Meeting Room was a squash with the present 14 members and the Parish Hall is not often free in the evenings.
6. HOPES AND ASPIRATIONS TREE
Terry thanked the sub-committee of John Bolger, Jayne Randall, Adrian Bolger and Teresa Butler for compiling the report. (Attached) Fr. James had not had time to read and absorb the report so we would discuss it briefly today and it would be discussed more fully at the next PPC meeting. John said that thoughts on the leaves had been categorised into 4 topics, Parish Community, Liturgy, Teaching & Learning and Youth. There was an evident desire to keep the identity of the 3 churches in 1 Parish. There were requests for more social events in the Parish although ones that were organised were not always well attended. All thought that ‘welcomers’ were in place in all 3 Churches and newcomers were greeted on arrival and always had an opportunity to speak to the Priest and Deacon after Mass. Deacon Ron mentioned the need for latecomers at Sacred Heart to be assisted in finding a seat rather than having to stand at the back of the Church. There were requests for all the Parish children to be involved in the Nativity Play rather than just children from Sacred Heart and that a display board could be put in the Parish Hall to show the work from the Children’s Liturgy Groups. Libraries are in place at St Helens and St. John of the Cross but space at the Sacred Heart makes it difficult to set up a library at the back of the Church. Fr. James explained that the extensive catalogue at the Duckett Library in the Cathedral was now on line and parishioners should be encouraged to access it and borrow books from the library. John will put a link to the library on the Parish website. There are Liturgy Group meetings already in place at St John of the Cross and at Sacred Heart so the possibility of a folk/youth Mass could be discussed. A period of silence before Mass was requested; this does happen at St. John of the Cross and at Sacred Heart so St. Helen’s will try and follow suit. More local learning sessions were requested. It was felt that Fr. David, Deacon Ron and John Bolger and the Faith Food and Fun days had provided many such sessions. Fr. James said that as we are in a three year period of evangelisation and deepening of one’s own personal faith he was planning to offer several sessions on these subjects during Advent and Lent and some more after Easter.
Fr. James will put a note in the bulletin to say that the PPC had had an initial look at the ‘Hopes and Aspirations’ that were written on the tree leaves and that there would be a fuller discussion at the next PPC meeting with a report back to the Parish.
7. PARISH PASTORAL ASSISTANT REPORT
John explained that he and Fr. James would be meeting in the near future to discuss his role.
8. PARISH PASTORAL COUNCILLORS REPORTS
St. John of the Cross – Michael Hawley thanked Teresa for organising a ‘Swishing Party’ for the ‘Roof Fund’ Fr. James said it was good to see the other Parish Communities doing some fund raising towards the costs of the St. John of the Cross roof repairs. Hilary said she hoped to organise a Bring and Buy shortly. She explained that both Sacred Heart and St. Helens had the benefit of legacies to draw on for their repairs and maintenance whereas St. John of the Cross were having to raise the money themselves. Fr. James said that the repairs to the roof would commence shortly. Authorisation from the Diocese had been applied for, this was necessary for any project projected to cost over £5000.
Michael had been requested to ask Fr. James to try and get the children to explain what they had been learning in Children’s Liturgy to the congregation when they returned at the Offertory as they enjoyed hearing from the children.
Sacred Heart – As Fr. James is not going to have a formal induction the Parish would like to have a ‘welcome party’ for him. Lunchtime on Sunday 5th October was agreed for either a catered or a ‘bring a plate’ finger buffet. Hilary wondered if photographs of various members of the Parish would be useful to Fr. James but he felt given a few more weeks he would have met most of the Parishioners. The Sacred Heart congregation also enjoyed hearing from the children following Children’s Liturgy.
St. Helen’s – Harvest supper due to be held on 6th October and numbers are limited to 64. Michael said they had looked over their Census forms and there were a few forms of people not known to any of the parishioners. He suggested as the new PP, Fr. James might like to try and contact the unknown people and see if they still lived in the parish.
Polish Community – Agnieska said that 4 children from the Polish Community would be undertaking preparation for their Confirmation this year.
9. A.O.B.
Deacon Ron said that no one at Sacred Heart seemed to know how the heating system worked. Fr. James said he would be meeting with Fr. David shortly as there were still a quite a few things he still needed to be shown; the heating system would be included.
10. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Tuesday 25th November 2014 7.15 for 7.30 in the Parish Room
Deacon Ron then concluded the meeting with a prayer.
