Parish Council Minutes – March 2026

10 March 2026, 7:30pm

Present: Father Kevin, Mike Campbell (chair), Deacon Stephen Parker, David Bellamy, Jen Benzies, Richard Bushell, Sam Caldwell, Eva Kaltenthaler, Maria Levesley, Sarah Lynch (minutes), Richard McQuinn, Sian Price (SP2), Ben Ryan, Stephen Spooner

Apologies: None.

Opening meditation: two minutes’ silence, led by MC

Minutes of the last meeting: passed without debate

Matters arising:

  • Practical matters: tiles moved successfully. The cupboards have also been tackled, the equipment one and the toy cupboard, which have been sorted and tidied. It might be helpful if someone from the youth group went through the toy cupboard to consider if anything is surplus to requirements and could be rehomed if not needed or quiet items used in the chapel to keep children occupied.
  • April visit by Franciscans: all organised successfully, although only about ten people have booked tickets so far.
  • Directory: MC has drawn this up. It includes some definitions of the more major parish roles. It has now been updated on the website.
  • Email addresses: DB has had a response back confirming all the addresses we seek are possible. DB will set up the office one as soon as possible.
  • Photos of PC members: some members still need to provide electronic photos, to be provided to DB to the office email.

Action: all PCC members who haven’t yet sent a photo to David should do so.

  • Codes for computer : DB is working on this, but a deputy will be required who would be given access to the system.

Spirituality & Liturgy:

There is a service of healing on Saturday. Stations of the Cross are being planned for Good Friday morning and SP, EK and SS are to meet. 23 May is a proposed day in relation to the Eucharist. There may be a café course later in the year, likewise a blessing for pets. In relation to the Stations of the Cross, there may be issues with audio-visual technology; EK mentioned there is an existing recording which may be of assistance. It could be advertised in other local churches if it goes ahead. Fr K noted our stations are not the traditional one, which lessens the number of books available. They do mirror those in Clifton Cathedral who produce a guide to them.

ML mentioned there is also a plan for a Taizé service in Lent, probably 25 March 7.30pm.

There are four baptisms scheduled in the near future.

J & P Report:

The Live Simply campaign is still the focus for the group, although we still have no date for assessment. Presentations at the back of church continue. Wildflower seeds will be planted again in the summer. Our contributions to the S2 foodbank were 100kg in the week where we had a particular push in this regard, and a local funding group, Sheffield500, has made a donation of £500 to the food bank. DB suggested SL do an article for the Chronicle. The idea of a system for sharing items has not been pursued due to legal queries.

Action: SL to write an article and put a reminder on the WhatsApp group.

Youth Ministry:

Invitations have gone out for First Holy Communion. The youth group has restarted, now on Thursdays, with seven people present at the first meeting. Children’s Liturgy continues, a few new faces but still quite small numbers. Some children of that age group are not coming out of mass, which could be for a variety of reasons. It was felt it would be good to make clear what the group does and that all are welcome. It is not on every week though, as there are only three leaders now across two families, but they will put up a sign in the weeks it is happening to make it clear to any non-regulars. An announcement to reintroduce will also be done by SC.

Action: JB/SC will ensure a sign is made about Children’s Liturgy and then make an announcement to reintroduce it.

Finance Committee:

There has been a recent meeting of the committee. Parish finances are still sound, despite a number of recent expenses. There have been fire and lightening inspections, as a result of which we may need a costly electrical surge protection system. Work is being done on our annual return to the Diocese, hopefully ready to go within a week. Accounts will be presented to the AGM. We have paid all sums due to the Diocese, including our Allocation and our contribution to the Sick & Retired Clergy Fund.

Maintenance:

We do not have a committee as David Hughes is less available than he was. We need to identify someone to take this on, two or three people who take responsibility for it and can report back to this committee and also to the Finance Committee if funds are needed. An advert could be put in The Franciscan and we could consider if there are people we could approach. We need someone who can problem solve and do some of the more basic practical fixes. SL said her husband may be able to assist on an ad hoc basis. Outstanding is the surge protection system, but DB needs to check if this is actually required including by our insurers. DB and SC will have a look at the report regarding this to assess the need for action. The lines in the car park are still not addressed. The tree surgeon has done a preliminary assessment and has suggested he come back when the buds are out to remove any dead sections of the trees.

Parish AGM:

The parish AGM is due next month. There was a discussion about what would be the best time, a weekday evening or after mass. Last year it was on a mid-week night and people did come but fewer. After mass might get a better attendance but leaves less time to discuss matters. After discussion, it was agreed it would be held on 26 April straight after mass, with a bring and share meal with the parish doing teas and coffees, with a focus on feeding back from the parish survey.

Parish Survey:

BR had produced a document earlier on the day of this meeting, separating out matters we could deal with quickly, those which we cannot change but need to acknowledge, and then areas which are going to require more work and more involvement from the parish, including planning for the future. The document also addresses how we might draw more people in.

Looking at the section that covers what we have already done or can do:

  • Children: JB will look at packs for children
  • The curtain between the chapel and music group is seen as a barrier and many at the meeting would be keen for it to be taken down. Fr Kevin said originally it was for people in the chapel who did not want to be overly visible due to the angles of the church. It was felt the views of those who use the chapel should be sought. It was not designed specifically for those with children but some families do choose to be in there. SP made the point that we are one community and should not need to be ‘private’ during the liturgy.
  • Explicit welcoming feels important: those doing the notices often incorporate this and the packs for children will hopefully help with that.
  • Bookshelf to be repositioned away from the doors of the Assisi Hall: it can stay where it is before mass but afterwards could maybe be pushed against the wall, the books being received in on the other side only or taken to elsewhere in the narthex. The welcomers would need to reposition it. Fire evacuation needs to be considered.

Action: MC (or Alan Wenham) will communicate with the welcomers about this.

  • Streamlined notices: there is a strong view that these could be done more concisely at the end of mass. Fr Kevin marks it up as to what is to be read out. Fr Kevin would be happy with the reader choosing what is to be read out but it was felt it was an important role for the parish priest. Paraphrasing of the items though could be encouraged. It would be good routinely to offer a welcome and an invitation to refreshments. DB suggested there could be an evening for readers to include discussion about paraphrasing.
  • Accessibility commitment: we do not produce a lot of printed documents, but there was an observation about font size, etc, in relation to the printed survey. We could consider large print copies of Laudate.

Action: BR will produce a short guide about what people producing documents should adhere to.

Agreement was recorded with the first two sections of BR’s document, areas where action has been taken or could be taken quickly and areas which needed to be acknowledged but where the parish could not effect change.

The main section of BR’s document, where more work is needed, would be for discussion in future, in smaller working groups. The small group are working on a written feedback document to address similar areas to those in this PCC document.

The idea would be that we have sign-up sheets for the various areas at the AGM, that the feedback document will also go out with the Franciscan the week after, and then by the next PCC meeting we should have an idea of who is interested in which area and a first meeting can be organised.

It could be that one or more of the small groups might choose to take a synodal approach, depending on their desire to and familiarity with the approach.

Thanks were given to BR for producing the document to focus discussion.

Matters raised by Fr Kevin

Fr Kevin mentioned a woman came today to say something was being organised by St John’s, a training event for any parishioner who is involved in dementia pastoral care or supporting someone on the dementia pathway. They are keen to get other churches involved, although the course is limited to 20 places. This led to discussion about finding out if there is still a Churches Together group in the area; it was thought not.

Action: DB will produce something for the Franciscan as to the dementia event.

Closing prayer: led by Fr Kevin

Next meeting: 12th May at 7:30 pm in the parish room