Author: Alan

12 September 2023, 7:30pm

Present: Mike Campbell (chair), Eva Kaltenthaler (minutes) Stephen Spooner, Father Kevin, Richard Bushell, Lindsay Reynolds, Maria Levesley, Sian Price, David Bellamy

Apologies: Deacon Stephen Parker, Richard McQuinn,

The meeting opened with two minutes of contemplative silence.

Matters Arising

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 July 2023 were approved with the following comments:

• The new notice board is now up. Thanks to Jenny King for organising this.
• An agreement has been made with Arborist Care to deal with the trees adjoining 100 Dransfield Rd . The cost of taking down the trees will come to less than £1,000.
• First issue of the Chronicle has been published and has been well received. There is a lot of content for the Chronicle which will be published bi-monthly.
• Maria will look into the feasibility of cleaning the Hall chairs and report back.
• Cycle rack can be funded by the 200 club. There will be place for 6 bikes. David Bellamy has looked at possible options for about £300. The cycle rack will be ordered and David Huges approached about getting it fitted.

Spirituality

A report on the Big Picture has been published in the Chronicle and the feedback comments will be synthesised and shared.  The group is looking at next steps regarding future courses/events.

Justice and Peace

The group gave an update on the CAFOD Live Simply campaign. The action plan is being developed and will include actions around the three categories:

• Live Simply
• Live Sustainably
• Live in Solidarity with the poor

An update will be presented at the next Parish Council meeting. The aim is to launch the campaign during Advent.

Youth Ministry

Confirmation preparation will start this week. Seven people have come forward for confirmation. This will be a 8-10 week programme. A date for confirmation has yet to be set.

The youth group will start again soon and has about 6 members.

Other activities

Alan and Clare Wenham would like to hold a used book sale with proceeds to go to CAFOD. This will run between mid November and mid December.  This was agreed.

A Parish walk will be held on 24 September at 2pm starting in Rivelin Valley. Mike Campbell is organising this.

There was some discussion on how we can welcome new parishioners to the Parish as well as ensure we have their details for the Parish register. It was agreed that cards will be available with the hymnals to be distributed by the Welcomers to new parishioners. Mike Campbell will produce the cards.

The Parish Day will be held on 1 October. Mike will put a note in the Franciscan about this. Parishioners will be encouraged to bring cake and a donation for the Foodbank.

Father Kevin has received an e-mail from someone visiting the church saying that pushing a wheelchair from the car park was very difficult. There was discussion about how to make access to the church easier for wheelchair users. A range of options were discussed.

Father Kevin read the Closing prayer. Date of next meeting  Tuesday 14^th November 2023 at 7:30pm.

Present: Mike Campbell (chair), Eva Kaltenthaler (minutes) Stephen Spooner, Father Kevin, Richard Bushell, and Richard McQuinn, Anne Shepherd, Lindsay Reynolds

Apologies: Deacon Stephen Parker, Maria Levesley, Sian Price,

Opening prayer was said by Father Kevin

Matters Arising

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 January 2023 were approved with the following comments:

• David Hughes is replacing light bulbs as they go.
• The Baptism Team consists of Geraldine Houlton, Vicky Igoe, Richard McQuinn and Louise Garnett.

Parish website

Many of the items on the website are out of date. For example, the Dance Club no longer meets at St Francis and Little Fishes no longer takes place. Father Kevin has a list of items that need removing. He will send this to Mike who will discuss suggested revisions to the website with Alan.

Finances

The music group has now purchased the required items and they are in use. There was also a request for new vestments for altar servers for £308 from Jonathan Yewdall. This was approved by the Parish Council.

A financial report will be presented at the AGM. Some members of the Finance Committee would like to stand down. Replacement members are being sought.

Spirituality

A number of Spirituality activities have been planned:

• A Lenten day retreat run by Deacon Stephen Parker will be held on 22 April 2023.
• The Big Picture course starts on 21 March. Thirty one people have signed up to attend including some from other parishes. The 200 Club will pay for the books. The Parish Council thanked the 200 Club for paying for materials and the organisers of this course for all the hard work they have put into making this possible: Lindsay Reynolds, Clare Byrnes, Geraldine Houlton and Diane Rossiter.
• A Taize evening will be held on 29 March.

Sacramental preparation

The confirmation programme will start in September. There are currently six candidates and this may go up to eight. Richard Bussell is leading this.

Pastoral Care and Community

Ann Shepherd mentioned that there have been no events scheduled over the past few months. She is in contact with the other churches. There is currently some interest in the Antioch Church and the ecumenical publication Arise. There focus is on praying for every street in Sheffield.

Justice and Peace

Stephen Spooner reported that the group have started work on the CAFOD Live Simply campaign. The group has several new members. There is currently no CAFOD representative for St Francis.

Youth Ministry

The youth group has regular meetings every month. They are planning another Youth Mass sometime over the next few months.

Other activities

The soup lunch on Ash Wednesday did not take place due to road works outside the church. It was agreed that a cake afternoon will be held after Easter. There will be a Parish Walk after Easter.

The hut in the garden has blown over in the recent bad weather. There are a lot of gardening supplies which now need to be given away. A new hut is not needed.

It was noted that some people have said they are unable to hear the notices read after Mass. It was suggested that the readers could read the notices highlighted by Father Kevin. Mike will e-mail Alan Wenham to let the readers know about this. This will begin after Easter.

We may need more Eucharistic Ministers. Mike will e-mail Kevin Exell to see if he might find enough Eucharistic Ministers from those who served in this role pre-covid.

A replacement for running the 200 Club is needed. Hopefully someone can be found soon. Ann Shepherd indicated she had someone in mind.

Note after meeting: Mike emailed Kevin Exell with suggestions for Eucharistic Ministers and thanked him for his work with the 200 club.

AGM

The next AGM will be held on 27^th April at 7:30pm. All group leads to send a brief summary of activities over the past year to Eva for inclusion in the Annual Report. Mike will contact Derek Hemmingfield about presenting a financial report at the meeting. All Parish Council members were asked to bring cake. Tea and coffee will be provided.

Father Kevin read the Closing prayer.

Date of next meeting 11 May 2023 (Thursday) at 7:30pm.

Present: Mike Campbell (chair), Eva Kaltenthaler (minutes) Stephen Spooner, Father Kevin, Sian Price, Maria Levesley, Richard Bushell, Deacon Stephen Parker, and Richard McQuinn..

Apologies: Anne Shepherd, Lindsay Reynolds

Opening prayer was said by Father Kevin

Matters Arising

Minutes of the meeting held on 8 Nov 2022 were approved.

Parish Council starting time.

It was agreed to start the meetings at 7.30pm in future.

Church maintenance

David Hughes has replaced all light bulbs with LED bulbs.  

Parish Walk

The next Parish walk will be held around Easter time.

Spirituality

A number of Spirituality activities have been planned:

• A Lenten day retreat run by Deacon Stephen Parker will be held on 4 March 2023. This will be on Centering Prayer
• There will be another Parish retreat held in autumn on St Paul. Deacon Stephen Parker will lead this.
• The Big Picture course will be held in the Spring.
• A Taize evening will be held in Lent. The Parish Council thanked the musicians who ran the very welcome Taize event held in Advent. It was suggested that the Taize evenings could be more widely advertised in the future.

Sacramental preparation

We now have a Baptism preparation team to prepare families for baptism.

A note will go into the Franciscan to find out how many people are ready for confirmation. A date for confirmation will be agreed with Bishop Ralph. Stephen Parker and Richard Bushell are leading this and hope to get at least one female volunteer to help. Once it is clear how many people are interested, the course will be designed. Still to be discussed is the level of parental involvement. Depending on numbers, we may join up with St Williams for confirmation.

Pastoral Care and Community

Ann Shepherd attended the Carol Service on 11 December at Tapton Hill Congregational Church.

Justice and Peace

Plans for starting with the CAFOD Live Simply campaign were discussed. The group are meeting with the St Vincent’s group tomorrow. The Justice and Peace Group agreed to keep the Parish Council informed of their progress.

Two CAFOD World gift water supplies will be purchased from the funds raised during the Advent fund raiser. The Panto raised £2400 for CAFOD. The Parish Council thanked all those involved in the panto, which was excellent.

Stephen Spooner announced that he will be resigning as the Parish CAFOD representative after serving in this role for many years. He will put a note in the Franciscan to see if anyone is interested in taking on this role. If no one comes forward, he will inform the Parish Council at the next meeting.

Youth Ministry

The youth group has regular meetings and were involved in the Advent Taize service. They are still planning to hold a Parish evening event in the next couple of months.

Stephen P and Richard will discuss Confirmation. Other Parishes have started Confirmations again. We may have joint Confirmation classes with St Williams.

Other activities

It was agreed that the standard procedure will be for welcomers to leave the door to the church open during Mass. The door to the outside should remained closed, at least during the colder months.

Action: Mike to e-mail Alan to inform the welcomers of this decision.

As the system for opening the screens at the back of the church is quite fragile and not many people seem to be using the Hall during Mass it was agreed that the screens will remain closed after this Sunday.

Action: Mike to put a note in Franciscan about this.

The Nativity children’s service was very well attended this year and very well organised by Nathaniel Dingle. Mike will send a letter of thanks on behalf of the Parish Council.

The Parish website is very out of date. All Parish Council members to look at the webpages to identify what needs changing.

Action: Mike to compile a list of changes needed.

There has been a request for a soup lunch to be held on Ash Wednesday.

Action: Mike to find someone to organise the soup lunch.

Father Kevin read the Closing prayer.

Date of next meeting 14 March 2023 at 7:30pm.

Present: Mike Campbell (chair), Eva Kaltenthaler (minutes) Stephen Spooner, Father Kevin, Sian Price, Maria Levesley, Richard Bushell, Deacon Stephen Parker, Anne Shepherd, Lindsay Reynolds and Paul Middlemas.

Apologies: Richard McQuinn

Opening prayer was said by Father Kevin

Parish Council E-mail address

Paul explained that the Parish Council has an e-mail address that is currently being managed by Anthony Rossiter, who is no longer on the Parish Council. A discussion was held as to whether or not it was necessary to keep this e-mail address as it was not used much at all. It was agreed that the Parish e-mail address would be used instead and all relevant e-mails received would be directed to the Parish Council. Paul will make the necessary change to the website to reflect this.

Matters Arising

Minutes of the meeting held on 13 Sept 2022 were approved.

Church hall hire:

The checklist is under development. At present only the History Society is renting the Hall and as this is run by a Parish member a checklist is not required.

Church maintenance

David Hughes is replacing some lamps with LED ones. However, the purchased lamps do not work with the current fittings. The fittings may need to be replaced.

The flooring in the church is worn and stained in places. Replacement of the carpet will be considered in the future.

Lifts to Mass

Clare Morgan has kindly agreed to coordinate lifts to Mass. One person came for two weeks and Clare transported them. Currently there is no one offering or needing lifts to Mass. Information on lifts to Mass will go on the website. Paul will organise this.

Parish Walk

The Parish Walk took place on 6 November and was attended by 23 people. It was agreed that walks for the Parish would be held about three times each year. The next one will take place after Christmas and then around Easter organised by Mike and Nikki Kearsley

Spirituality

A number of Spirituality activities have been planned:

• A Lenten day retreat run by Deacon Stephen Parker will be held on 4 March 2023.
• A Taize evening in Advent to be led by Maria Levesley, date to be announced shortly.
• The Big Picture course will be held in the new year. This is a 12-week course and may be split into two parts.

There was some discussion about holding an evening session on the Synod. The evening would be focussed on listening to each other and how we would continue with the Synodial process. In the first instance the Parish Council might meet to do this.

Pastoral Care and Community

Events are starting to happen again across the Christian community in the area. There will be a Carol singing and coffee event on 28 November at Stephen Hill Methodist Church.

On 11 December Tapton Hill Congregational Church will have a Carol Service at 2:45pm with the Loxley Silver Band.

St Luke’s has a new vicar. Anne Shepherd will keep us up to date on planned events in the area and how St Francis Church might contribute to these.

Justice and Peace

Maria talked about the Eco church movement. The Justice and Peace Group had recently agreed to sign up to this scheme. However, as a Catholic church we will need to follow Live Simply instead. This will be taken up by the Justice and Peace Group at their next meeting in January.

Stephen S spoke about raising funds for a CAFOD World Gift this Advent. He suggested a water supply costing £750. He will make a poster of a Christmas tree and sell stickers after Mass for this. A JustGiving page will be set up for this. Information will go into the Franciscan soon.

Youth Ministry

The youth group now has seven members and they meet once a month. They will be running a Youth Mass for Christ the King on the 21^st November. The group will be working on a Board Games event for the Parish in the New Year.

Stephen P and Richard will discuss Confirmation. Other Parishes have started Confirmations again. We may have joint Confirmation classes with St Williams.

Other activities

The Screen will remain open at the back of the church for the time being as it is still being used by Parishioners who feel vulnerable. It was agreed that there should be a standard procedure each Sunday as follows:  the door to the Narthex should stay open and the screen remains open. The main door to the church and windows will remain closed. Welcomers should be informed about the standard procedure.

Action: Mike to e-mail Alan to ask him to inform the welcomers of this decision.

At the beginning of Advent the Offertory procession and collection will resume.

There has been a price increase for the gardeners who look after the grounds around the church. The cost will now be £24.50/hour. This was agreed to be acceptable.

There may be another cake and Foodbank drive after Mass between Epiphany and Lent.

Father Kevin read the Closing prayer.

Date of next meeting 10 January 2023 at 7pm.

Present: Mike Campbell (chair), Eva Kaltenthaler (minutes) Richard McQuinn, Stephen Spooner, Father Kevin, Sian Price, Maria Levesley, Richard Bushell, Deacon Stephen Parker

Apologies: Anne Shepherd, Lindsay Reynolds

Opening prayer was said by Father Kevin

Sian was welcomed to the Parish Council

Church hall hire:

It isn’t clear whether anyone has asked about booking the Hall. Mike C agreed to ask Anne Marie Appleton about enquiries and whether the checklist is being developed.

Action after meeting. Mike contacted Anne-Marie and she is developing a checklist based on the Diocesan one for people outside the Parish who wish to rent the hall. It is her understanding that groups within the Parish as part of Parish Activities do not need to complete it.

Church maintenance

David Hughes has kindly agreed to continue with church maintenance. Mike C agreed to send him a note of thanks.

The flooring in the church needs attention. There was some caution about going forward with expensive refurbishments at this time as we are not sure what the heating costs for St Francis will be. Some parishes will have trouble meeting their energy costs. We may be called upon to support other parishes.

Parish Directory

The Parish Directory has been updated on the website. A hard paper copy still needs to be developed.

Action: Mike Campbell to develop paper copy of the Parish Directory.

Lifts to Mass

Diane is no longer to coordinate lifts to Mass. The Parish Council was not clear if this service was still required but the consensus was that the service should be offered to see if there is any demand.

Action: Mike C to find a replacement co-ordinator and to ask Kevin E if anyone on the communion list may want a lift to Mass.

Safe area during Mass

This seems to be working well and is well used. It was agreed to continue.

St Francis Feast Day

St Francis Feast Day is the 4^th of October but is celebrated on the nearest Sunday, 2 October. It was agreed to have a get together after Mass in the Church Hall.

Action: Mike C to put a note in the bulleting urging people to bring cake and something for the S2 Foodbank.

AGM

The next financial accounts will be presented in April 2023 and it was agreed to hold the AGM about this time. Depending on time of day, cake and tea and coffee could be provided or wine and cheese.

Spirituality

A number of potential activities were discussed including;

• A day retreat on St Paul run by Deacon Stephen Parker
• Taize evenings every quarter to be led by Maria Levesley
• The Big Picture course to be organised by Lindsay, Stephen P, Geraldine and Diane and run after half term.
• A Parish walk

Youth

There is currently no team for Confirmation. A first step is to find out how many people are interested in Confirmation. Richard Bushell agreed to be part of a team to lead this. There may need to be two groups depending on numbers and age of young people.

The youth group currently has three members and they meet once a month. Minimum age is year 10 or 14 years. They are thinking about a relaunch to encourage new members. They are also thinking about restarting a Youth Mass. The group has a number of social event ideas to include the Parish such as:

• Board games night
• Quiz night
• Disco for youth and children
• Film night

The Youth Group needs a small budget and will be given £30/month to cover expenses. There was discussion about the Youth Group being involved with Justice and Peace issues.

Action: Richard Bushell and Stephen Spooner to discuss coordinating a youth-Justice and Pease fund raiser or social activity.

Other activities

A number of other activities were discussed and it was suggested that we could look at these more closely in the New Year, such as a shared supper or Ceilidh.

The Synodial report was discussed. It was agreed there would be an evening held in October to discuss some aspects of the report around building community.

Action: Deacon Stephen to organise Synod evening.

AOB

Engaging the Parish

Ways of engaging the Parish and listening to what their concerns are were discussed. The following were agreed:

• Photos on board in the Narthex of Parish council members and their roles.
• Invite to the Parish in the bulletin before Parish council meeting with the agenda.
• A note in the bulletin when the parish council minutes are available.
• Interaction with the Parish and Parish Council members at social activities such as 2 October and after the AGM to be held in April 2023.

Green activities in our Parish and Live Simply.

Several options for incorporating Green activities in the parish were discussed. It was agreed that the Justice and Peace Group would be involved with taking this forward. The Echo church initiative would be explored for ideas.

Action: Maria to attend next Justice and Peace Meeting to discuss.

The Closing Prayer remembering Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth was read by Father Kevin.

Date of next meeting 8^th November 2022 at 7pm

Present: Mike Campbell (chair), Eva Kaltenthaler (minutes), Richard McQuinn, Stephen Spooner, Father Kevin, Anne Shepherd, Lindsay Reynolds, Anne Marie Appleton (for church hall hire discussion).

Apologies: Stephen Parker, Richard Bushell, Maria Levesley

Opening prayer was said by Father Kevin

Introductions were made as the Parish Council has been newly formed.

Church hall hire:

Anne Marie spoke about how much we charge for hire of the Assisi Hall. Historically there has been no standard rate. Those with some connection to the church have paid less and others more. Those using the Hall have included:

Lodge Moor Choir (£10/hr)

Dance Club (£10/hr)

Military History (£10)

Embroiders Guild (£20)

Museum Society (£20). 

It was agreed that there should be a price increase taking into account the cost of energy. It was also agreed that we need to know who is using the Hall. There is a checklist that will need to be filled out in order to hire the Hall and a Diocesan hire form. The new rates agreed were £15/hour for those related to the Parish and for those out of Parish £20. These rates are in agreement with those of similar church halls in the area. The hire fee will go up annually. It was noted that all groups should finish using the Hall by 9:30pm.

Anne Marie will look at the documentation required by the Diocese and work on modifying them for our processes. This is a work in progress and final procedures to be agreed with Father Kevin.

Action: Anne Marie to develop a suitable hire form and checklist based on the Diocesan templates for church hall hire.

Roles in the Parish Council

The following roles were agreed.

Chair: Mike Campbell

Liturgy and Spirituality and Mission and Evangelisation will now be combined to form “Spirituality”: Lindsay Reynolds and Stephen Parker

Pastoral Care and the Community: Anne Shepherd

Justice and Peace: Stephen Spooner

Youth Ministry: Richard Bushell

Maintenance: David Hughes has been filling this role although not a member of the Parish Council. There was a query as to whether or not he is willing to continue this role and whether members of the Parish Council need to contribute to this. Father Kevin to make a list of maintenance issues.

Action: Mike Campbell to ask David Hughes about continuing with maintenance

(Action after meeting. Mike spoke to David Hughes and he is willing to carry on)

Action: Father Kevin to give the Parish Council a list of maintenance issues.

Communications: There was some discussion as to whether or not this was still required.

Secretary: Eva Kaltenthaler

Parish Directory

The Parish Directory is very out of date The Parish Council went through each item and Mike Campbell made notes of changes and ensured there was a name against each item. An updated Parish Directory will be put on the Parish website.

Action: Mike Campbell to put updated Parish Directory on the Parish website.

AOB

Eva asked if in future the Parish Council minutes could be put on the website and the agenda and meeting date/times could be put in the Franciscan. She also asked if the Parish Council could look at ways to interact more closely with the Parish. This was agreed.

Stephen Spooner asked if there were any plans to look at the Parish responses to the recent Synodal process. He asked if there would be a group set up to look at the parish responses and address concerns that were within the remit of the Parish Council. Due to time constraints this discussion was deferred to the next meeting.

Date of next meeting 13 September 2022, 7pm and following one 8^th November (Second Tuesday of the month, every other month).

The Closing Prayer was read by Father Kevin.