Note of the Meeting of the Pastoral Council

of Our Lady Help of Christians, Rickmansworth

11th December 2017

Present:

Fr Shaun Church – President

Fr Damian Ryan

Anke Vos

Paul Forrest

Adrian Ramsden

Angela Steele - Chair

Jane Riddleston

Steph MacGillivray

Teresa Dinsey - Secretary

Paul Burke

1.  Welcome and Opening Prayer

The Chair opened the meeting. Fr Shaun led the PPC in prayer.

2.  APOLOGIES

There were no apologies as all members were present.

3.  Minutes of the Last Meetings

The minutes of the last PPC meeting, held on 25th September 2017, were approved by all those present.

4.  Matters Arising from the Last Meetings

·  Refurbishment work

Town planning and Listed Building consent has now been granted for the extension to the small hall storage room. We are still awaiting a judgement on our appeal against the Grade II listing for St Augustine’s Hall

The work on the lighting in the church is underway. The lights by the tabernacle and the side altar have been replaced. The work is ongoing but it is hoped we will have full LED lighting by Christmas although this will not be adjustable until the work is finished.The stonework of the altar, Fr Chedal’s memorial and the holy oils receptacle has been cleaned. The stonework behind the tabernacle has had the paintwork removed to reveal the original stonework.

·  Memorial Stones

Fr Shaun reported that the list of names including some recent additions has been completed by Michael Curtin in date order stating the year of death and has gone to the stonemasons for them to draw up a plan for how the names will be laid out on the stones.

·  Other items

The website has been updated. Kerry has started to update the memorial book. Fr Shaun hadn’t yet looked into the installation of a bike rack in the parish grounds.

5.  Parish Priest’s Report

·  Fr Mark’s farewell Mass and celebration took place and was well attended.

·  Fr Tim’s Jubilee Mass was a great event and Fr Tim was really delighted that we made so much effort to celebrate the occasion.

·  Planned Giving campaign had received a good response with increased donations, more people opting to donate by standing order and some new volunteers.

·  The Advent Fair raised over £1,000 for the HCPT. The quiz night was a big success and raised £377 for the Peace Hospice. Fr Shaun expressed his thanks to the social committee for all their hard work.

6.  Chair’s Report

The Chair reported that Fr Mark’s leaving ceremony was a lovely celebration and there was an amazing quantity of great food provided by parishioners in the hall afterwards. Fr Mark really enjoyed it. It was a good idea to hold a celebration in each of the three parishes so that parishioners had a chance to speak to Fr Mark.

There were wonderful stalls at the Advent Fair and lots of people attended.

The First Communion Programme held reconciliation services on 2nd and 9th December. The events were well attended and some parents also took the opportunity to receive the sacrament of reconciliation. There is now a much appreciated break during December and January and the course starts again in February. AS hopes that the parents are feeling more involved. Parents reported that having had a refresher it helped them when speaking to their children.

7.  Youth Ministry Report

Anke reported that over 40 people attended the ‘After Party’ on 3rd December. Highlights were a big chocolate cake and table tennis. The Youth Mass took place at Somers Town parish last Friday 8th December. Four of our young people attended and engaged well with the Westminster Youth Team.

8.  CAFOD Connect2 project Ethiopia

A speaker from CAFOD spoke about Connect2 at all Masses recently. Fr Shaun thanked Steph MacGillivray for agreeing to be our link parish representative. Fr Shaun reported that half the proceeds from the Christmas Fair at Mill End will be donated to Sebeya. The flip coin event during the quiz night at Our Lady’s also raised £110 for the project. Fr Shaun reported that there were no set plans for fundraising in the future but he hopes we will be able fund specific projects in the future. Fr Damian suggested that in return we could ask them to pray for us. The Chair said we need to understand each other’s way of life. Fr Shaun said that Sebeya is a small community (with about 800 Catholics). Catholics are a small percentage of the population, which is largely Orthodox.

9.  Making Missionary Disciples

Fr Shaun asked if those present had read Divine Renovation by Fr James Mallon. Most of those present had read the book and the remainder have started to read it. All comments around the table were very positive. There are high expectations and a real passion for what lies ahead.

Fr Shaun and Fr Damian said that they have had a good response to their ‘Vision’ homilies.

Fr Shaun explained this is a long-term vision to form a culture of missionary discipleship in our parishes. Fr Damian said that St Benedict’s, Halifax, Canada was an inspiring example of how this cultural shift can transform a parish for the good. Many parishes all over the western world were looking to the example of St Benedict’s, Halifax, Nova Scotia as a model of what is possible.

Fr Shaun and Fr Damian recently attended the Maintenance to Mission Conference at St Mary’s Twickenham with Fr James Mallon. Fr Shaun mentioned that Hanna Vaughan –Spruce has been appointed to work part-time for the Divine Renovation Network in a new UK office from the New Year. As well as us, a number of other parishes in the Diocese are considering how they can take forward this vision for parish renewal.

Fr Shaun said that on the 3rd Sunday of Advent we would be introducing Prayer Partners during Mass.

In January there will be a prayer event lead by Fr Damian. There will be a Lenten book club focusing on the book Divine Renovation. On Saturday 9th June there will be a Day of Recollection for anyone with any ministry in the parish. This event will be able to accommodate up to 100 parishioners with the focus on Divine Renovation.

Fr Shaun said that during the Lent & Easter seasons he would be inviting some parishioners to take part in a pilot Alpha, with the hope that these parishioners would then be the first leaders of the first open Alpha to launch in the autumn.

In February/March 2018 two new members will be elected to each of the 3 pastoral councils. During 2018 the three pastoral councils will work with Fr Shaun on the transition to one joint pastoral council for the three parishes in early 2019.

10.  ANNUAL PARISH MEETING (APM)

The APM will be held on Sunday 25th February at 3pm. We will be saying farewell to Paul Forrest, Adrian Ramsden and Angela Steele. Two new members will be elected for a three year term of office: one year on the existing pastoral council and a further two years on the new joint pastoral council. Nominations will be invited from mid-January. Fr Shaun said that he will be encouraging nominations from parishioners with a passion for the mission of building communities of missionary disciples.

11.  AOB

A generous benefactor has donated thousands of copies Rediscover Jesus by Matthew Kelly for distribution in Catholic parishes. We have been given 1000 copies. Fr Shaun would like these to be given out at all Christmas Masses and asked for volunteers to help with this.

The Chair mentioned that a Mill End pastoral council member holding a Burns Night supper jointly between the three parishes. The Chair asked Paul Burke if the social events committee at Our Lady’s might be interested in helping to arranging one. Paul said that he will speak to the social committee about the possibility of holding one in January 2019.

12.  date arranged for next meeting – To be arranged after the Annual Parish Meeting.