St Francis of Assisi Parish Council Minutes
12 May 2023, 7:30pm
Present: Mike Campbell (chair and minutes), Maria Levesley, Sian Price, Father Kevin, and Richard McQuinn.
Apologies: Deacon Stephen Parker, Eva Kaltenthaler Stephen Spooner, Richard Bushell, Lindsay Reynolds
Opening prayer was said by Father Kevin
Matters Arising
The minutes of the meeting held on 14 March 2023 were approved. The reading of the notices by the Readers has improved the audibility of them, and no reader has demurred.
Parish website
Mike has sent some updates to Paul Middlemas. Father Kevin has a list of items that need removing. He will send this to Mike
Finances
The annual financial report was presented at the AGM. The Parish is in good financial health. Some members of the Finance Committee would like to stand down. Replacement members are being sought.
Spirituality
- A Lenten day retreat run by Deacon Stephen Parker was held on 22 April 2023.
- The Big Picture course started on 21 March and is running successfully.
- A Taize evening was held on 29 March.
Justice and Peace
Maria Levesley explained the ‘Live Simply’ campaign and requested permission for a notice board in the Narthex to advertise it, with a few minutes after the notices at Mass on Sunday to point it out.
There is currently no CAFOD representative for St Francis so Angela Powell will send Mike a monthly update and he will highlight any important items for the Franciscan.
Youth Ministry
The Council considered requests from Jonathan Yewdall to fund students from St Francis to World Youth Day and on the Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes. It was unclear what the costs were from the template letter from Sue McDonald and Mike said he would clarify. (Note after the meeting : Sue replied and the cost per student is £1200 for WYD and we have 1 student going. The Diocese has already paid for 12 students). Mike to ask Jonathan about numbers of students and amounts requested. (done)
Any Other Business
Notice board
Mike reported that Jenny King would facilitate a Church notice board on the church border with Sandygate Rd. St Wilfred’s can make one. The Council thought this was a good idea but suggested that it was designed so that it was flexible in what it displayed. Fr Kevin suggested an invitation to come in and pray, since the Church is open for prayer during the day but is rarely used. Mike to encourage Jenny.
Garden
Fr Kevin reported that there had been a few young people who appeared to think the church car park garden was a public space and had sat on the garden benches. The Council looked at the benches, which most of the Parish would be unaware of, and thought they should be removed, either to a dump, or somewhere on Sharrow Vale to recycle. The gardeners have a van and may be willing to do this for a fee.
Also the exterior paint work of the Church needs redoing, but unclear whether this was the Diocese’s responsibility.
Hall Chairs
Lindsay mentioned (by email) the poor state of the Hall chairs. Maria said she would be happy to help clean them, as was Sian. Perhaps a small working group could be set up to do this?
Father Kevin read the Closing prayer.
Date of next meeting: 11 July 2023 (Thursday) at 7:30pm.