Present:
- Fr Kevin Thornton
- Greg Ryan (chair)
- Stephen Spooner
- Eva Kaltenthaler
- Anne Shepherd
- Dave Stanley
- Julie Hughes (minutes)
- Claire Byrne
- Louise Garnett
Apologies:
- David Hughes
- Lyndsay Reynolds
- Stephen Parker
1. Opening Prayer
Fr. Kevin Thornton led the opening prayer.
2. Approval of last minutes and matters arising
The minutes from the November meeting were approved.
Matters arising
Council members felt that a security check for the church would be useful. This can be arranged, and conducted by South Yorkshire Police. David Hughes to contact South Yorkshire Police to arrange this
3. Any other Business
- The curtains in the hall have now been fireproofed (December 2016).
- The Dance Group have requested the use of the church sound system. Stephen Spooner expressed concern that this equipment is not working correctly. Greg Ryan to review the sound system and check the equipment. This system could then be used by the Dance Group.
- The ladies toilets. Eva Kattenthaler and Anne Shepherd to ensure that baby changing equipment, soap dispensers and hand drying facilities are
fit for purpose. - A request has been made by the children of St. Maries School, they are raising funds to purchase a cross for the School Prayer Garden. The Parish Council agree
to donate some money towards this purchase. - The De-fibrillator is now available for use and situated in the hall. There is free training available for one person in the use of this equipment. The training is given by St. John’s ambulance staff. Any member of the parish who is interested in completing the training should speak to Father Kevin.
- Missio: The St. Peter & Paul Apostle organisation provide training for Priests in different parts of the world. A decision was made that Father Kevin will send a donation from the parish to sponsor the training of a Priest in Malawi.
- Night stop is a National Project to support young homeless people. A request has been made to the Parish to support the project. The Justice and Peace group will take this forward.
- Facebook. Dave Stanley is willing to take the lead in creating a facebook page for the Parish. This would be a public page. The editorial would be controlled. A pilot group would be set up initially to monitor and assess this.
- Storage under the stairs. The space under the stairs needs to be de-cluttered. Claire Byrne and Louise Garnett request that some plastic boxes and moveable trollies could be purchased to store equipment for the Children’s Liturgy. There was a discussion about whether the upper room could be used for the Children’s Liturgy in the future.
4. Report from the Sections
Justice and Peace: This Lent there will be emphasis placed on supporting refugees. A speaker from the City of Sanctuary will give a talk following one of the Sunday Masses at 11am. Soup and bread will be served after this event. Minutes from the Justice and Peace group will be available on the Parish website.
Pastoral: There was a discussion regarding the welcoming of new parishioners to our Parish.
The music group: Sadly Greg Ryan will be leaving the Parish from June 2017. A meeting is to be held to invite interested parties to contribute to the music group in the future.
Next Parish council meeting to be held on 21.3.2017.
5. Closing Prayer
Fr. Kevin led the closing prayer.