PASTORAL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
------
SUNDAY 6TH. NOVEMBER 2011
Open to all parishioners. 35 people attended. 12 noon: coffee and biscuits served. Display of parish photographs from the past were laid out on tables.
A video film was shown of events in the parish from the past.
Father Higgins said opening prayer thanking everyone for the work done in the last year.
Mary Rooney
------
Gave opening talk. Thanked committee and thanked Sandi Ochwyhe for work done in the past year. He has now moved to Scotland.
She thanked the parishioners for their involvement in the church. She asked people to keep being involved and to come along to coffee mornings
etc. and to introduce themselves to each other.
Esther King
------
Talked about the social group.
They have had a very successful year. Among other things £150 was given to the Haiti fund. They had a Eucharistic day of prayer.
The Christmas lunch for the parish seniors was postponed because of bad weather but went ahead in April very successfully.
The cup cakes for the 150 years celebration was very successful.
On the 26th November there will be a Race Evening on behalf of Flame.
On 15th January 2012 7.30p.m. 'till 11.30 p.m. in the Pavilion Gardens we will celebrate Fr. Denis' 80th birthday.
Sue Hardman
------
Talked about the music group. Everyone is very enthusiastic. They sing at the 11 a.m. Eucharistic celebration, at Easter and at Christmas.
They will sing at the November Day Remembrance service at St. T homas Moore School and at the Senior Citizen Market but they are not doing the Dickensian market this year.
She thanked everyone, particulary Mike Watson who was the main drive behing the 150 years' celebrations
Rehearsals for the Christmas concert will be on 11th December and new singers are always welcome.
Mike Monaghan
------
talked about Justice and Peace and the Environment. He talked about various ways we can follow Jesus. We do a lot. Among other things we have
2 C A F O D collections a year and we collect for Kaomi and support Chernobyl coffee morning. We have a number of appeals throughout the year. We have
a visiting rota in the parish.. We deal in fair trade goods. The Guides are a Fair Trade pack. We have the Haiti appeal. Everybody can do their bit.
Some campaigns could be better and we could have more involvment. We could sponsor a table for the homeless people at Christmas. The cost would be £125
Mike will step down this year due to other committments.
Anne Cleary
------
Talked about Outreach. She contacts the various groups to see if they need any help. The Welcome group is led by Cath Cassidy. They need more help.
The visiting group is led by Marie Lewis. The Eucharistic Ministers are led by Margaret Robinson who visit the sick and take communion to the housebound
Churches Together are led by Jackie and John Pocock who arrange the Rosary group and go to meetings.
The Polish community is led by Kazia Skrobot who arranges the Rosary before Mass.
Lesley Crowther
------
leads the Guides. They started with 6 girls 3 years ago and now have 30 girls and 17 Rangers. They are a thriving and enthusiastic group. They do various badges. They have 3 groups doing The Duke of Edinburgh Award. They help with charities. They go camping and took part in Peak 2010. They took girls to Paris and had a wonderful time and were praised for their good behaviour and politeness.
Mary Rooney
------
leads the Garden group. It is mostly summer work mainly meeting on a Wednesday morning between 10 and 12 . New volunteers are always welcome
She spoke about the website. She thanked Rob Aldous for his work on the website, expressing what a fantastic site it is. Full of news, photographs and information with many useful links.
New committee members are: Fr. Denis, Mary Rooney, Anne Cleary, Sue Hardman, Rob Aldous, Mike Reynolds, Andy Etchells, Trish Bothamley, Cora Plant, Aileen O'Connell, Aileen Warneford, Eve Muir-Cochrane and Zoe Salmon.
Mike Watson said congratulations for everything being done in the parish.
Mike Reynolds spoke about FLAME. Father Denis highlighted Flame. Last Easter was the 1st. time for 30 years that children had not gone to Lourdes.
It is important they can do it this year. We must do something each year so that children can go.
Mary Rooney spoke about the parish council. In the coming year the council will be looking at the original contingency plan and ensuring it is up to date. We need to have an open church. What can we do to improve as a parish. We should join groups and help in any way we can. We should bear in mind that in the future we may not be able to have a priest.
Welcoming people are needed at the Eucharistic services. It is important to be made welcome and loved the moment you step into church.
Father Denis gave closing speech. He thanked Mary, Ken and Joe for all their work.
We have so many groups. Among others, 3 AA groups, a narcotics group, guides, brownies and rangers.
He closed with a prayer of hope for the future.
Next meeting 5th. January