Parish A.G.M
29th November 2015
Present: Gerard Lynch, Terry Sullivan, Norma O’Connor, Cath Daignault, Phillip Williams, Judy Potts, Pam Hopper, Abbey Hopper, Peter Zajnowski, Candice Singh, Ricardo Adams, Pat Rhodes, Brenda Novak, Kathy Orsborn, Bernie & Patricia Sheridan, Irene Back, Judy O’Hara, Rhonda Svendsen, Betty Wilson, Hamish & Alice Gilberd, Barbara Smith, Maureen O’Sullivan, Madeline McCrea, Marion Laurie, Tony Griffiths, Margaret Walsh, Bev Sandlant, Clive & Jean Sullivan, Vincent & Sue McBride, Juliet Kojis, Helen Codlin, Fr. Des Levins, Margaret & Russell Haddock, Bernadette Thompson, Tony Hore, Tony & Veronica Carr, Marie McDonald, Pam Kennedy, Paddy Condon, Maree Adams, Shirley Bierman, Pat Howell, Chris Cantillon, Anne Murray, Michael & Jessie Coleman, Joan Egan, Marianne Hay, Kataraina Millin, Josh Chandulal-Mackay, Anne Smith, Joan O’Neill-Fong, Val Southcombe, Andree Watson, Raymonde Kearse, Barbara Vine, Ellen Woods, Luitgard Reifenberger-S, Malcolm Craig, Peter Irving, John & Jp Broad, Myra & Kevin Downie, Hamish Peters, Maurie & Margaret O’Connell, Paula Carter, Dielie Reitsma-Reid, Kate Hays, betty Eriksen, Elva Williams, Liz Thomas, Marianne Vine, Peter Dunlop, Joan Whelan, Valmai Nugent, Shirley Cvitanovich, Angela Capes, Fr. John Roberts, Christine Williams, Jane O’Connell, Terry Fleming, Michael O’Sullivan
Prayer: Kevin Foley
Apologies: Murray Stevens, Fr. Brian, Mike Buchanan, Paul Watkins, Phil Wilkinson, Pat Seconi, David Scoullar, Anne Connors. Moved - Hamish Peters, 2nd Paula Carter.
Minutes from last AGM. Moved by Barbara Vine, 2nd Gerard Lynch.
Matters Arising from Minutes: nil
Fr. Brian’s report – Norma read out. Moved Michael O’Sullivan, 2nd Adelie Reid-Reitsma.
Chairperson of Leadership Report – Terry Sullivan read out. Corrected a comment about new ‘Parish Priest’ – will be an assistant. Moved Bernadette Thompson, 2nd Christine Williams.
Chairperson of Finance report – Gerard spoke to his report.
· Questions from this: Fan for heating system – can it be used in summer for cooling the building.
Moved by Gerard, 2nd by Father John
Chairperson of Liturgy Committee - Kevin Foley. Thanked those that were on the team this year. It is a great group. Have meetings when required. Organise the seasons/liturgies throughout the year. Have a bereavement team. Have in input from the music group. Anyone who wants to partake in this team are most welcome. Moved Moya Ericsson, Ellen Woods.
General Business:
- Priest appointments – Fr. Brian confirmed as Parish Priest, Pa Hancy confirmed as Assistant Priest, Fr. John confirmed as …. Priest, Fr. Don Don confirmed as a new priest to the parish as another assistant priest.
- St. Anne’s Church - Norma spoke on this: It is pretty much fixed. We haven’t had any celebrations there yet. If you recall prior to amalgamation a group put forward the thought that Mass times change with St. Anne’s has Sunday pm Mass. There is a small number of people who attend the 6pm Mass and St. Anne’s Church would provide a more intimate environment. There have been a number of parishioners who have also requested St. Anne’s Church having Saturday morning mass re-instated. We have a weekday Mass on Tuesday in the school hall. This would be taken back to the church. We don’t believe that re-instating a Sunday morning mass will be beneficial or healthy for our Parish.
§ Brian Vaughan (St. Anne’s Church attendee) - when the church was built it was understood the school and church relationship was important.
§ Adele asked where our priests go. Norma explained which places they say Masses. Fr. John stated it will be 5 Masses for 4 priests on Sunday next year.
§ Christine Williams – 3 churches were made to come as one. When St. Anne’s flooded we had to come as one – it has been a ground swell. We are starting to work as one. St. Mary’s is the mother hub and we have a satellite churches.
§ Michael Coleman – to moved Sunday pm Mass to St. Anne’s just seems to be a logical choice. He does not see St. Mary’s as a mother church, just one of the 3.
§ Alice Gilberd – agrees with Michael. It is a beautiful church that would provide a great environment for the evening Mass. The church is about the people, they are just one of our resources. Feels very strongly about the concerns of Brian V about the school. If we are wanting to retain meaning of baptism, we need to focus on quality. We need to engage them in what it means for Mass and moving Masses around will help achieve this.
§ Paula Carter – St. Anne’s Masses during week and Saturday. It is really important to retain these weekday and Saturday morning Masses. There is a wonderful community who deserve to have those Mass times back.
§ Terry Sullivan – having 1 Sunday morning Mass works. It has been a positive thing.
§ Fr. Des – we have to do it for the best of the 3 communities.
§ Fr. John – Mass obligation. Ask the 6pm people what they think.
§ Paddy Condon – I would like to see a 5.00pm Mass.
§ Cath Daignault – think about more than the Mass. Does 5pm help families, staying behind after for parish meals etc.
§ Heather Lowry- 6pm is good for people who work.
§ Next weekend we ask the Parishioners who attend 6pm mass. Terry to do this next Sunday.
- GENERAL BUSINESS
§ Brian V is very concerned about St. Marcellin school and their future. Brian would like the leadership team to look at this.
§ Tony Hoare – Divine Mercy: We can do great things for Souls in Purgatory. He implores people who are responsible for this to give them thought to put this ‘Divine Mercy’ picture in prominent place in the church. Fr. John replied that this is ‘up to the Bishop’ to give permission.
Nominations:
Leadership team – current members are happy to stay on.
- Vince McBride asked do the members have specific areas that they are representing. Chirstine Williams spoke that hers is a passion she shares with the team. Jane backed this up. They implored people to be on this team.
- Helen Codlin has asked for photos to be displayed in the church.
- Fr. John – brought up lack of communication. Cath addressed.
Invite out for people to put their names forward.
Cath farewelled and presented with gift of thanks from Parish
Fr. John finished with prayer.
Priest’s report for AGM 2015
God’s blessings to all. My apologies for my absence today due to prior commitments. Needless to say the Parish AGM is not about the Parish Priest or his attendance; it’s about you (the Parish) reporting the past year and planning for the future.
In my view, the great successes this past year in our Parish is prayer. We gathered together with Bishop Charles at our inauguration Mass to establish our Catholic Parish of Whanganui in March. We gathered and prayed for some in our Parish who were sick. We gathered for retreats. Some of us gather regularly to explore our faith. We gather to participate in the sacraments. Many smaller communities and groups within our larger Parish community gather to pray. Our schools, Marae Time, Friendship Meals, faith sharing groups to give a few examples all seek the same: to acknowledge and embrace God intimately in prayer, sacrament and by living our lives in His likeness.
The big disappointment for me this year was my inability to spend as much quality time with you as I wished due to my illness. Thank you to all those who have “stepped up” and assisted the parish community in my absence. With me “out of play” my tasks have fallen on the office team, Priests and leadership, and to others in the community. Thank you, and thank you for your continued prayers and personal assistance to me.
To the future. My dream, and I think God’s dream, is to work together towards a community that works for God. It is a community that works for others to help us all see and experience more of God; those within our own Parish community and those who are outside. So it is not about “me”, or our own “spiritual journey”, it is not about after death: it is about what we give before we die in action, it is about others and how we help others see and experience more of God and His love for us. This is what “church” is all about.
And like any good team, whether it be the All Blacks, the Silver Ferns, an accomplished choir (American Boychoir) or orchestra, we all play our individual roles using our individual talents and skills to best advantage the team and our common goal. We continue to strive together for excellence if not perfection. We support our team mates. We all have a place and all have a job to share what we believe.
2016 will have its challenges but if we play as a team, and sing together in harmony, and use the entirely God given talents around us, God’s voice, God’s desire will flourish; and that is the purest gift.
God Bless Fr Brian.
FINANCE REPORT
2014/15 Review
This review is based on pro-forma accounts prepared from management accounts dated 25 November 2015 and final accounts for the legacy Parishes. They depict the income and expenses for the “new” Parish including the comparison for 2013/14. Whilst the first six month figures are audited, the second six month figures do not include accruals.
Excluding a Needy Parish Grant to Holy Family Parish from the PN Diocese, on a cash basis revenues this year are very similar to last financial year ($421,948 vs $421,016).
Outgoings (excluding depreciation) were lower at $390,156 vs $413,783. Most of this apparent saving was from reduced R&M expenditure on property. However final accounts for rehabilitation of St Anne’s Church have yet to be presented and some of these costs are unlikely to be met from insurance.
Overall this financial year is one of consolidation. The Finance Committee and Parish management now have a basis from which to budget and manage the Parish finances in future.
Highlights 2014/15
Formal amalgamation of the all Whanganui Parishes was effected on 1 April 2015 although the Parishes were effectively operating as one prior. This meant two six monthly accounting periods occurred this financial year. The task of amalgamating the finances of the two entities required a lot of work and is essentially complete now. Administration of the “new” Catholic Parish of Whanganui is now centralized at St Mary’s Church.
In July St Anne’s Church was flooded during the heavy rainfall experienced in the region. This meant the church was closed. Repairs are nearly complete and the Church is due to re-open shortly. Costs of rehabilitation will largely be met by insurance. Our thanks to Mike Buchanan who has overseen the repairs and rehabilitation for our Parish.
This year under the leadership of Cath Daignault the Parish has rebuilt its website under the domain name www.catholicparishwhanganui.org.nz. This is a fantastic achievement and is a very good site describing the activities of the Parish and advertising our presence. I recommend you all visit the site to see for yourself the work that has gone into creating it and the information available.
A major cost to the Parish this year was replacing the obsolete heating system in St Mary’s Church. The first stage replacing the boiler and ducting and fans cost $24,000. Stage 2 involves installing a central fan to force warm air down from the ceiling onto the congregation and will be undertaken in conjunction with up-grading the church sound system. Costs for Stage 1 were met by a tagged donation from a Parishioner.
Up-grade of sound system. This cost will be met from Grant monies received and is due to commence shortly.
The future 2015/16
Cath Daignault has tendered her resignation from the position of Parish Administration Officer. I wish to record our sincere thanks to Cath for her outstanding work since stepping in to this role at short notice. The position has been advertised and an appointment is expected by the New Year.
Significant funding for the Parish in recent years has been provided by the CDF Loan Interest Offset Account. CDF are no longer accepting deposits from parishioners and this funding stream will cease as soon as funds are returned to depositors. Our sincere thanks to those parishioners who generously deposited funds in this account in the past. We have yet to establish a strategy to replace this funding stream.
Thank you
Thank you to our staff and many volunteers who keep the Parish running and “shipshape”.
We wish Cath well in her new position and look forward to her continuing contribution to the Parish in an alternate role. Special mention must be made of Pat Rhodes who has not only administered and led Holy Family Parish and Church for many years, but has fulfilled a very special role in our Parish beyond normal job description.
Thank you to the many volunteers who contribute many, many hours of service to the Parish. These “gnomes” (and I use the term affectionately) keep the Parish functioning despite the challenges faced. They are always here and willing to get the job done. Thank you.
Thank you also to our clergy, Fr’s Brian and John, Pa Steve; and to Norma for your leadership and service to our Parish’s needs.
CATHOLIC PARISH OF WHANGANUIPRO-FORMA ACCOUNTS
6months / 6months
2014/15 / 2015 / 2014/15 / 2013/14
INCOME
Parish Collection (Gross) / 134,316 / 129,955 / 264,271 / 263,449
Special Collections / 4,441 / 6,515 / 10,956 / 10,471
Donations / 9,314 / 11,929 / 21,243 / 14,320
Fundraising / 24,357 / 9,821 / 34,178 / 49,380
Legacies/bequests / 500 / 500
Needy Parishes Grant / 20,775 / 20,775
Sales Papers, Books etc / 3,275 / 703 / 3,978 / 3,669
CCD/Catechics / 435 / 435
Rent Income / 678 / 678 / 1,356 / 1,461
Interest Income / 3,986 / 1 / 3,987 / 3,820
Grants Received / 2,000 / 68,534 / 70,534 / 65,703
Other Te Rau Oriwa Contribution / 3,082 / 4,902 / 7,984 / 8,743
Insurance Claim / 1,328 / 1,198 / 2,526
TOTAL INCOME / $208,052 / $234,671 / $442,723 / $421,016
EXPENSES
Contribution for support of Priests 27% / 40,567 / 35,885 / 76,452 / 70,942
Special Collections / 4,441 / 6,705 / 11,146 / 10,471
Administration / 40,417 / 39,208 / 79,625 / 73,542
Car running & Travel / 14,441 / 13,273 / 27,714 / 34,073
Property Costs / 48,972 / 31,674 / 80,646 / 107,626
Parish Apostolates / 29,365 / 21,755 / 51,120 / 53,103
Diocesan & National Apostolates / 14,139 / 13,830 / 27,969 / 28,928
Donations / 3,192 / 3,050 / 6,242 / 5,605
Interest Paid / 11,545 / 11,545 / 23,090 / 22,905
Depreciation / 46,242 / 46,242 / 92,484 / 92,034
Purchase Papers & Books / 2,588 / 2,554 / 5,142 / 6,588
Other / 1,010 / 1,010
TOTAL EXPENSES / $255,909 / $226,731 / $482,640 / $505,817
NET SURPLUS/DEFICIT / -$47,857 / $7,940 / -$39,917 / -$84,801
CASH SURPLUS/DEFICIT / -$1,615 / $54,182 / $52,567 / $7,233
Leadership Chairman’s Report to Annual General Meeting