PARISH OF THE SACRED HEART – PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL
Minutes of the meeting held on MONDAY 3rd APRIL 2017
PRESENT: Father James Walsh, Adrian Rudman, Robert Hardie, Carol Shippey, Becky Walker, Michael Haughton, Elaine Haughton, Frances Dickerson, Secretary Clare Hardie and 1 Parishioner – Antonia Martinez
- APOLOGIES: Deacon Ron O’Toole, Chris Falla, John Bolger,
Absent – Frances Green, Agnieska Gabriel
Fr. James began the meeting with Prayer.
- It was agreed to try and finish the meeting by 8.45 p.m.
3. MINUTES OF THE MEETING of the 7th February 2017 were approved. Fr. James requested that ‘Action’
points to be highlighted on the minutes
4. MATTERS ARISING
‘Cool Catholic Kids’ – Ginny Keane was unable to attend but sent the following report:
“The last four family Masses have been popular and the feedback quite positive, from across the generations. I have been so impressed with the children’s writing of bidding prayers and the confidence of those now reading no matter how small! I would like to give these children and their achievements more recognition and am working on this.
Two other things in the pipe line which I would like to put in expenses for are – Prayer Cards make with our emoji on one side and different prayers on the back that the children will write which we can give out to all parishioners. The idea being to build awareness of CCK and remind all to pray for our children and their growing faith. I would also like to produce posters for all 3 Churches about the club and the family Masses.
We are also in the process of designing a card game using recognizable faith symbols and hope to print off a few possibly to sell within the church – the game will be called ‘Cobble’
The timing of the club meetings at 10.30 seems to be working and there is a demand for it to start even earlier to incorporate breakfast which initially we will do randomly when all available to do that ~ I don’t end up eating ten cooked breakfasts! I hope we can continue to run the club and the Masses and continue to build, if there any issues we need to address please let me know a.s.a.p. Thank you for your support and prayers”.
All approved the idea of the prayer cards and posters and again wanted to thank and congratulate Ginny on all her hard work. The possibility of only having one Sunday morning Mass on Sundays when there is a Family Mass was declined by Fr. James as he explained it was not possible to cancel Masses that were published in the Year Book and on Notice Boards.
Safety of Clergy and Parishioners in our Churches – Fr. James had discussed our concerns with our Deanery clergy, who did not think it was a major concern at this present time. Michael Haughton and Carol Shippey disagreed and thought that the Diocese should be taking the lead and issuing some guidelines and strategies for parishioners to follow as had happened in France following the killing of Fr. Jacques Hamel in Rouen last year. Michael felt that St Helen’s community was particularly vulnerable with the Mass being celebrated on a Saturday evening and the proximity of the Church to the road. Fr. James will seek further advice from the Diocese
Action – Fr. James
Parish Finances – Both St John of the Cross and St Helen’s communities have had a presentation by a member of the Finance Committee on the state of the Parish Finances and the need for parishioners to review their donations and consider doing so by standing order and using Gift Aid is possible. Sacred Heart community’s presentation is due this weekend. There has been a very good response so far and many parishioners have completed standing order mandates. Michael Haughton said he is often asked for more detail of how the collection money is used, as many never see the Income and Expenditure spread sheets, which are circulated and discussed at the Parish Meeting. Fr. James said he would endeavour to produce a more simplified explanation of the finances to put into the bulletin.
Action – Fr. James
Alive in Faith – Fr. James said he now knew the process of accessing funding from our funds. He had received two requests so far one from the North Norfolk SVP, and the other from St John of the Cross towards the cost of a new organ. He will need to forward the request from the SVP President with an accompanying letter from himself as Parish Priest and have the letter signed by the North Norfolk SVP Treasurer. Clare will give him the necessary address details. The request for funds for the organ needs to be submitted with 3 estimates. Katie Maidment and Michael Hawley are in the process of obtaining these estimates. Fr. James has given them details of one supplier who is offering a ‘new for old organ’ deal. The St John of the Cross community are busily trying to fund raise themselves and to that end Michael Hawley and friends are putting on a concert on the 22nd April and would welcome more support from the other two communities. St John of the Cross community does not have the benefit of legacy funds which are available to the other two communities. The organ at St. Helens is also in need of refurbishment and Michael Haughton submitted an estimate for this work to be done. Francis Harmer has suggested that the remaining £1000 of his mother’s legacy to St Helens should be used for this refurbishment. The remainder of the money needed to be submitted as a bid to the Alive in Faith Fund. Fr. James thought 3 estimates might be needed but Michael explained that the refurbishment estimate was from the firm who had actually built the organ and therefore would be the best people to undertake the refurbishment.
Action – Clare, Fr. James, Katie Maidment & Michael Hawley
Refugees in Norfolk – Adrian and Clare have been trying to gather information about the situation in Norfolk with regards to the Syrian families who are supposed to be either already in Norfolk or arriving shortly. Adrian has made contact with Rural Refugee Network via the ‘Church’s Response to Refugees’. They have produced a very comprehensive guide about offering help to a family in a rural situation, which Adrian will look at in more detail. Clare has tried unsuccessfully to contact Gervais Kouloungou for information as he works for the Red Cross and is supposed to be our Deanery Representative for Refugees. There is no information on our Diocesan website about what help if any we are offering and very little up to date information on the Anglican Diocesan website either. The Anglican Diocese has raised a great deal of money to support the refugees and has organisations like City Saints and English + and the Mothers Union available to help. Rob will circulate the details of an organisation called Seeking Sanctuary, which the Secular Franciscans made him aware of. Seeking Sanctuary is helping the refugees who are still in Calais and on the streets in Paris since the ‘Jungle Camp’ was dismantled. Carol questioned how the local authorities could find housing for refugees when there were so many homeless people on the streets of Norwich. Rob explained that he had recently been discussing the situation in Norwich at a Salvation Army lunch for the hungry and they explained that St Martin’s Hostel is able to offer beds for many of the homeless overnight and that others had tents in which to sleep. Most days there is a hot meal provided by different charities in the city.
Action – Adrian, Rob and Clare
New Evangelisation – Rob said that there would be Marriage Tribunal Road shows held in various locations around the Diocese. These sessions are designed to make everyone aware of what the Church is doing following the publication of Amoris Laetitia by Pope Francis, this is to help those who have experienced broken marriages to heal the wounds they have suffered. The session or our Deanery will be at the Cathedral on Tuesday 2nd May from 7.30-9 p.m. Antonia will put the details in the bulletin.
Action – Antonia
Fr. James’ Jubilee – Fr. James has still to contact Oxburgh Hall. He will circulate information about the menus for the Jubilee Lunch nearer the time
Action – Fr. James
Appeal for Victoria – Adrian has made contact with a local orthopaedic surgeon, Michael Saleh, whom Carol thought might be able to help Victoria but he explained the surgeon in Florida would be her best option due to his extensive experience with cases like Victoria’s. Sacred Heart community has been raising funds to help and more fund raising activities are planned. Fr. James thanked Adrian for his efforts and about £300 has been raised so far. The appeal has a ‘Just Giving’ page for people to donate if they wish. With regard to the East Africa Crisis Appeal, Rob said Fr. James had agreed that we should make a collection for this appeal on Maundy Thursday.
Mission Statement – Fr. James felt that we already had a mission statement in Living Simply, Living Sustainably with Creation and Living in Solidarity with the poor. Rob and Michael were keen to try and produce one, which they will bring to the next meeting and if the wording is agreed at the PPC the Parish will be asked for their vote.
Action – Rob and Michael
Annual Parish Meeting – Clare has booked the Hall with Annabel and notified Nick Sutherland, Chair of the Finance Committee. St. Helen’s community are primed to produce the main course and Sacred Heart to produce the puddings. As the main course is likely to be a hot meal we will need to eat first before Rob’s report and Fr. James’ talk
Action – Rob and Fr. James
LIVE SIMPLY AWARD UPDATE
The results of the recent Live Simply Monitoring questionnaire were circulated with the comments that people had written. Whilst the majority of the comments were very encouraging there were some, which showed that not everyone was on board with the ideas. The steering group will discuss what still needs to be done to explain the ideas behind Laudato Sii to those who were still unconvinced. Rob felt that the results demonstrated that the most difficult area was working to be in Solidarity with the Poor. There were also a lot of suggestions added to the questionnaire and these will be appearing in the bulletin throughout the year. The point of the questionnaire was not to ‘check up’ on parishioners but to be able to demonstrate to CAFOD the percentage of the parish that are trying to Live Simply. Members of the steering group are planning to visit the Broadland recycling centre and The Green Britain Centre in Swaffham. The Diocese of Norwich are hosting a day at the Green British Centre entitled ‘Good News for God’s Earth’ on the 6th May and Clare will let Antonia know the details to advertise the day in the bulletin
Action – Clare & Antonia
7. PARISH PASTORAL COUNCILLORS REPORTS
St. Helens – A Forum had been held last weekend which was not very well attended but they had discussed the forthcoming Annual Parish meeting and put together their bid for funding of the refurbishment of the organ from the Alive in Faith fund.
St. John of the Cross – The main discussions were about fundraising for a new organ and the fact that members of the community felt they were pretty much doing the fund raising on their own without much help from the other two communities. Katie and Michael agreed to investigate the costs and to prepare a bid for funding from the Alive in Faith fund. Following the Station Mass on 17th March there had been a soup supper and this helped to raise £80 for the East African Crisis Appeal. Next forum is on the 23rd April.
Sacred Heart – Becky had investigated the costs of purchasing defibrillators for the churches and the costs were quite prohibitive at £2000 each. As any Hall renters are responsible for their own health and safety it was decided to investigate the provision of some first aid training for parishioners who would then be named first aiders. As the community does not have a Forum it was suggested that on certain Sundays, at coffee after Mass, the PPC representatives would make themselves available in the Parish Hall if people wanted to raise any issues. Despite Fr. James having submitted all the plans for the redecoration of the Sacred Heart to the Historic Churches Committee as yet no reply had been forthcoming. It had been hoped that the redecoration could have been completed in time for his Golden Jubilee.
Action – Becky, Adrian and Frances
- A.O.B.
There was a discussion about how notices of events in the Parish were relayed to the parishioners. At St John of the Cross, Fr. James usually mentions items that are in the bulletin and then a parishioner will announce any other matters. At both Sacred Heart and St Helens a list of announcements is given to Fr. James for him to read out at the end of Mass. This was thought to work well and Fr. James said he was always willing to read out any notices given to him. 9
9. DATE OF NEXT MEETINGS
Annual Parish Meeting – Monday 22nd May at 19.00 in the Parish Hall, North Walsham.
Tuesday 11th July 2017 at 19.30 in the Parish Room, North Walsham
Fr. James then concluded the meeting with a prayer.