Minutes of the 6thAnnual General Meeting of St Albans Cursillo
held on 16th April 2016in The Crypt at St Albans Abbey.
1.Present: The meeting was attended by 18 Cursillistas from the Diocese of St Albans. Laurie Little, Roby-AnnOram, Gary Ferguson, Carol Pellowe, Geoff Nicholson, Eileen Daly, Mike Ashwood, Val Ashwood, Karen Crowhurst, Vincent Oram, Carole Dedman, Claire Conquest, Joanna Sutherland-Young, John Brown, Doreen Collins, Genevieve Awere, John Emmett and James Beauchamp
Laurie Littlewelcomed everyone to the meeting, and Revd Vincent Oram opened with prayers.
2.Apologies: Laurie reported that apologies had been received from 22 Cursillistas: Myrtle & Michael Cooke, Patricia Barnard, Ven Paul Hughes, Sue Ford, Val Jones, Di Cox, Peggy Sear,Carole Lewis, John Booth, Vivienne Emmett, Camilla Brown, Marion Archibald, Ann Finney, Elaine Nicholson, Mandy Hathaway, Jackie Peacock, Daniel McCarthy, Alison McCarthy, Zoe Railton, Deborah Rogers and Sybil Graham.
3.Minutes of the Previous Meeting: The minutes of the 2015 AGM had been circulated prior to the meeting and were signed as a correct record (proposed by Mike Ashwood, seconded by Carol Dedman and carried unanimously).
4.Annual Report: The Secretariat’s Annual Report which had circulated prior to the meeting. There were no questions or matters arising and it was received on a proposal from by Mike Ashwood, seconded by Carol Dedman and carried unanimously).
5.Treasurer’s Report and Financial Statement: Thetreasurer’s Annual Report and Financial Statement had been circulated. Laurie emphasised the part of the report referring to regular giving having dropped and urged people to consider giving something however small on a regular basis. These were adopted on a proposal by Eileen Daly and seconded by John Brown. The meeting also received and adopted the 2015 Accounts on a proposal by Val Ashwood, seconded by Geoff Nicholson.
6.Adoption of Independent Examiner: The meeting formally agreed to re-appointAlan Matthews as Independent Examiner for the year 1 January to 31 December 2016.
7.Elections to the Secretariat:Laurie reminded the meeting that the Bishop of St Albans had been pleased to appoint Mike Ashwood as the new Diocesan Lay Director and that Mike would take over as of today but that Laurie would formally be de-commissioned from office at the end of St Albans #7. He also reported that Vincent Oram had agreed to extend his term of office for a further two years and this had been approved by the Bishop.
The following members of the secretariat were standing down from Office:
Secretary – Christine Braynis
Treasurer – Claire Conquest
Weekend Representative – Elaine Nicholson
4th Day Rep – Emma Janes
Laurie reported that he had written to Christine Braynis expressing our gratitude for her service both onthe steering group and the secretariat over a number of years and had sent her a small token of our appreciation. He then went on to thanks Claire for her sterling work as our treasurer both during the steering group days and the secretariat. He acknowledged her expertise in gaining charity status and arranging our gift aid scheme. Laure also commented on how amazing it was that were able to be in such a good financial positon and this was largely due to Claire’s effort. He presented her with a small token of our gratitude.
Elaine Nicholson had completed 3 years as weekend representative and Laurie thanked her for her diligent care of all our weekend equipment and also for providing storage for it. He said that he would write to her sending her a token of our appreciation.
Emma Janes had due to ill health had to relinquish her post as 4th Day Representative. Laurie thanked her for offering herself for this post and said that he would write to her with a small token of our love.
Vincent Oram also thanked Karen Crowhurst who is leaving to live in the Isle of Wight for her support in providing music for our Ultreya and serving as music gofer on weekends. A round of applause was given.
8.Ultreya: Laurie then handed the meeting to Mike Ashwood whodelivered a highly inspirational Lay Witness Talk reflecting on his Christian journey so far. In place of the usual floating group reunions Mie introduced three questions for discussion –
- How can we raise the profile of Cursillo in the Diocese of St Alban’s. We are a relatively young diocesan Cursillo and our Cursillistas are mainly concentrated in four “hotspots” within the diocese. How do we reach out to the (many) parishes that haven’t come across Cursillo.
- We are called to be a Servant Community - that is what Apostolic Action is about. Not just as individuals but as a group within our churches. Is there a particular act of service that our 4th Day Groups could take on? Where is there a need in our church and/or community?
- Are we still thought of as a “Secret Society”? If so, how can we change this, how can we show that Cursillo is there to encourage and support all in their Christian Journey?
The discussions raised the following points in answer to the questions
1. The Secretariat could give a talk at a Deanery Synod and possibly update the Powerpoint presentation into a DVD. This had been done by Lincoln Cursillo. In Bishop’s Stortford and
Barnet a couple of Cursillo social events had taken place to invite people interested in exploring Cursillo to come and talk with Cursillistas with a view to attending a Weekend. They had been relatively successful and will be tried again. We could hold local Ultreyas or man a stall at a synod.
2.The whole church is called to be a servant community. We need to raise our profile at both local and deanery level, we need to be seen as a group of people that can be used within the Diocese. Events can be organised by local 4th day groups as joint apostolic action. They could be focussed on an annual project to raise money or a particular activity such as a night shelter. We have a life changing opportunity - a spiritual spring clean – by helping people to deepen and share their faith and build a Christian community.
3.We should avoid the “secrecy” tag – dispel the myth. Make sure Cursillistas can share what the weekend is about but don’t spoil the surprises! We need to share God’s love with everyone, to support individuals and in groups to help people to prayer. We need to challenge people to help others.
9.Closing Notices: Laurie gave the closing notices. Wall palanca for forthcoming Weekends was available for members to sign. Laurie mentioned Catch the Vision 2016 and the Canterbury Pilgrimage.The next Diocesan Ultreya will be the Welcome Back for pilgrims from St Albans #7, and this will take place on Sunday 12thJune at Holy Trinity Church in Stevenage. Members were also encouraged to attend the Wake Up and/or Commissioning Eucharist for #7 at Felden Lodge on 15th May.
There being no further business, Revd Vincent Oram closed the meeting with prayer.