Category: Parish council minutes

Present:

• Fr Kevin Thornton
• Deacon Stephen Parker
• Clare Byrne
• Eva Kaltenthaler
• Lyndsey Reynolds
• Anne Shepherd
• Anthony Rossiter
• Stephen Spooner
• Dave Stanley

Apologies:

• David Hughes
• Julie Hughes
• Nick Neale

1. Opening Prayer

Fr. Kevin opened the meeting with a prayer.

2. Approval of the last minutes and matters arising

The AGM was held on Tuesday 16 May after the evening Mass. Each group had given a report.

• Justice & Peace – Eva Kaltenthaler/Sian Porter
• Maintenance/Diocesan Toolbox – David Hughes
• Dave Stanley – Communication
• Anne Shepherd – Hallam Churches Together/Pastoral Care
• Julie Hughes – Parish Council secretary/ Pastoral Care
• Lindsay Reynolds – Mission/Evangelisation/Faith Formation and Pastoral Care

Faith Formation events would be Diocesan led. Faith sharing would be parish based.

Taize events would continue during Advent and Lent.

Hallam Church events would be advertised earlier.

3. News from the Hallam Diocese

Fr Stan PP in Deepcar & Penistone will retire August 2017. Masses will be covered by St Mary’s, High Green, Sacred Heart and the Cathedral.

Consultation meetings about the future of the Diocese will re-commence September and will try to work out where Masses will be celebrated and how
North/South can work together. There is limited manpower and cuts are inevitable. Opportunities for people to help more will hopefully be made.

Fr Lee Marshall will be looking after the two University Chaplaincies.

A Vincentian priest working in the Diocese has returned to Africa.

Fr Shaun Smith (PP Sacred Heart Church) will retire in March 2018.

4. Parish News

Stephen Parker and Stephen Spooner will lead the Parish Retreat Day on Saturday 30 September at St Francis Church – more details nearer the time but
this event will be advertised soon to remind everyone to keep the day free if possible.

The Bereavement Support group had ceased some time ago.

Catechists are needed for Baptism Preparation.

50% of parishioners had completed the recent questionnaire and Lindsay will circulate the results.

2018 Synod on Youth – item closed on Facebook.

Children’s Liturgy group – the new venue upstairs was going well, safety issues with the stairs well looked after. Storage boxes from IKEA would be purchased. Dave Hughes had suggested safety protectors for the electric sockets and these had been fitted by Bruce Byrne. The childrens books under the stairs to be sorted out.

5. Any other business

There will be a retreat Day in Lent given by a priest from Ampleforth. More news at the next meeting. Dave Stanley offered to design a poster.

A discussion was held to appoint a new Chairperson for the Parish Council. It was decided to appoint Anthony Rossiter who willingly accepted.

It was decided to re-look at the Parish Directory as it had been a while since any were given out.

Contact details of the council will be circulated.

A document will be prepared describing details of work in the parish and who to contact. Council members are asked to pass details to Anthony.

6. Dates of the next meetings

• September 19
• November 21
• January 16

7. Closing Prayer

Deacon Stephen Parker closed the meeting with a prayer at 9:30pm

Present:

• Fr Kevin Thornton
• Deacon Stephen Parker
• Greg Ryan (Chair)
• Dave Stanley
• Anne Shepherd
• David Hughes
• Julie Hughes (Minutes)
• Lyndsey Reynolds
• Derek Hemmingfield
• Belinda Barber
• Anthony Rossiter
• Diane Rossiter
• Clare Byrne
• Bernie Shepherd
• Phil Rostant
• Julie Hull
• Sian Price
• John Green
• Anne Green
• Ron Jarman
• Norma Smith
• Stephen Davies
• Alex Krzyz
• Sarah Baker

1. Opening prayer

Fr. Kevin led the opening prayer.

2. Annual Report

Greg Ryan opened the meeting and welcomed the parishioners in attendance. The purpose of the AGM was outlined which was to hear annual reports from the different groups, invite questions/feedback from parishioners after each presentation and to elect new members of the Parish Council. Greg also informed parish members that he was standing down as ‘chair’ as he and his family are leaving the parish.

Stephen Parker presented a report from the Liturgy and Spirituality group. He discussed activities which had been held over the past year. Future events are to include a Parish retreat and a day of recollection is to take place on 30.09.2017. Stephen emphasised the vibrant liturgical community of our Parish.

Sian Price presented a report from the Justice and Peace group. John Green is to retire as ‘minute taker’ for the group and was thanked for his valuable contribution. Fund raising events throughout the year have included the Pantomime, Dance Club, Water Project. The meeting was informed that the Food Bank requires donations of money as well as food. There has been support for refugees, asylum seekers and money has been raised for the SVP. Aims for next year are for the group to be aligned more closely with the Diocesan Justice and Peace group. Tim Baron is arranging for Standing Orders to be set up for the food bank. There is to be support for some Muslim charities.

David Hughes presented a report on Building and Maintenance. Two main projects have been undertaken over the year. These were Fire Safety and Emergency lighting. The Health and Safety toolbox which is a computer programme which assists with the process of assessing risk has now been significantly established for our parish.

Lyndsey Reynolds presented a report on Mission, Evangelisation and Faith formation. Over the past year there have been 2 main events:

1. ‘Joy of the Gospel’ course
2. Taize evening and Jazz evening

National and Deanery events had included: Catholic Peoples Weeks(CPW), Laudato Si, Diocesan Emmaus course. For the future it is hoped that a parish group can be established to contribute ideas on the Mission and Evangelism of the church.

Julie Hughes presented information from the Pastoral Care group and emphasised that the group have aimed to support some of the well-established activities which take place throughout the year in our parish.

Dave Stanley presented a report on Communication. The Parish notice boards have been re-organised this year. A facebook page for the parish has now been piloted.

Anne Shepherd presented a report on ‘Hallam Churches Together’. This includes 6 churches in our local community. Anne spoke of some of the pastoral work and groups which take place facilitated by the church communities.

Please see the full Parish Council Annual Report 2016-17.

3. Finance Report

Derek Hemmingfield presented a report on the finances of the Parish.

4. Views and suggestions from the Parish

John Green advised regarding maintenance work required to the church door.

It was suggested that a notice be displayed in the Narthex highlighting that we now have a defribulator positioned in the hall.

Sheffield Parishes Together

Greg spoke about the fact that the number of priests are reducing in our Diocese. Lyndsey Reynolds and Chris Dingle are representing St. Francis Parish in meetings and discussions with respect to ‘Planning the Way forward for Sheffield Parishes’. The next meeting will take place at the Hallam Pastoral Centre 7pm-9pm on 20.07.2017. See a report of the current situation and main themes of the meeting which was held earlier this year.

5. Election of new Parish Councillors

Three new Parish Councillors were elected. These were Anthony Rossiter, Clare Byrne and Nick Neale.

The next meeting of the Parish Council is to be confirmed in the near future.

6. Any other Business

There was no other business.

7. Closing Prayer

Deacon Stephen Parker led the closing prayer.

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.

Present:

• Greg Ryan (chair)
• Stephen Spooner
• Eva Kaltenthaler
• Lyndsey Reynolds
• Anne Shepherd
• Julie Hughes (minutes)
• David Hughes
• Ed Whittaker
• Liz Shiel (Foundation Governor of St. Marie’s school)

1. Opening Prayer

Greg led the opening prayer, Eva delivered the reading.

2. Approval of last minutes and matters arising

The minutes from the July meeting were approved.

Matters arising

• Health and Safety Toolkit handed over by Stephen Spooner to David Hughes.
• Remaining photographs of Parish Council members to be sent to Dave Stanley for inclusion on notice board.

3. Guest Speaker Frank McDermott (Our Lady of the Assumption, Stainforth)

Frank McDermott provided the meeting with an excellent talk regarding his role as parish co-ordinator responsible for liturgical, spiritual and pastoral care of the people of the parish along with other members of the Parish Community.

The Doncaster parish has 40 Parishioners who are active in the Ministeries of the Parish. Frank emphasised in his presentation that ‘each of us is unique and gifted and that not one of us is more important than any other’.

4. Church Security

David Hughes updated council members on the latest advice regarding Church Security provided by the Hallam Diocese.

5. School Admissions

Liz Shiel, a member of St, Marie’s school governing body clarified the current situation regarding over-subscription for places at the school. It was suggested that the situation could be addressed by:

1. Drafting a response to the question of Parish and School Boundaries
2. Clarification of Policy and Procedure
3. Member of School Governing Body to be invited to update Parish Council on future developments

6. Parish Day

• The Parish Day is scheduled for 02.10.2016.
• The Justice and Peace Group to present a talk regarding the Refugee crisis.

7. Year of Mercy

There is to be a service to mark the Year of Mercy.

8. Any other Business

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 15.11.2016 at 8pm.

9. Closing Prayer

Greg Ryan led the closing prayer.

Present:

• Fr Kevin Thornton
• Deacon Stephen Parker
• Greg Ryan (chair)
• Eva Kaltenthaler
• Stephen Spooner
• Anne Shepherd
• Lyndsey Reynolds
• David Hughes
• Julie Hughes (minutes)

Apologies:

• David Stanley

1. Opening Prayer

Fr Kevin Thornton led the opening prayer.

2. Approval of last minutes and matters arising

The minutes from the September meeting were approved.

Matters arising

• Photographs of all Parish Council members have now been sent to Dave Stanley for display on the notice board.

3. Feedback from Guest Speaker, Frank McDermott’s visit (20.09.2016)

Parish Council members recognised that the situation in Stainforth was significantly different from that of Sheffield Parishes. Father Kevin highlighted the fact that Sheffield ‘still has priests in parishes’. Stainforth is an isolated community and the parish had become a self sustaining community by necessity. However it was recognised by all council members that the people of Stainforth were experiencing “spiritual growth” as a result of their contributions to increased parish activities and ministries. In Sheffield, parishes would merge if there was no Priest available for each parish.

The future is at present unknown but it was acknowledged that laity already had roles. eg. Active Prayer group, the ability to make representations to their Parish
priest.

4. Church Security

Security lighting has now been installed outside Fr Kevin’s front door. It was suggested that South Yorkshire Police would complete a Safety Assessment of the Church Premises if this was requested.

5. School Admissions

Questionnaires have been submitted to the Diocesan School Department. A reply remains outstanding at present.

6. The Franciscan

A request will be made for the Franciscan to be uploaded onto the Parish Website each Friday if this is possible.

7. Reports from Sections

Liturgy and Spirituality: Day of Spirituality 19.11.2016. Taize evening 29.11.2016 at 7.30pm

Justice and Peace: Information was presented relating to the corporal acts of Mercy on the display board. A request will be made for specialist Christmas
items to be contributed to the Food Bank. The Pantomime will be held in November 2016 and funds raised will go to CAFOD. Eva Kaltenthaler to contact Fr. Shaun, Sacred Heart Parish to discuss working more closely in facilitating the provision of items for refugees in Greece.

Maintenance: The Safety tool kit is ongoing. Fire Risk Assessment completed. Emergency Church lighting repaired and upgraded. Security lighting installed.
Paving stones outside main entrance to the church have been cleaned and cemented. In the interest of Health and Safety a de-fibrillator is to be ordered for the church premises.

Community and Pastoral: Tables and chairs to be put out by tea and coffee facilitators after 11am Mass if possible. This will provide a more welcome
atmosphere and hopefully provide parishioners with the opportunity to socialise in comfort.

Evangelism: Welcome cards may be provided on specific occasions eg. Baptisms, Weddings, Funerals. at Christmas and Easter. This will help inform visitors about our Church Community and Parish Activities. (This initiative was discussed when Frank McDermott visited our Parish.)

8. Any other Business

‘Matched Giving’ to be funded by the parish with regard to:

• The Sick and Retired Clergy collection.
• Needy parishes collection
• Emergency Response collections

A request from Hallam Council of Churches was put forward to do a “Pulpit swap”. Unfortunately Father Kevin and Stephen Parker are not available to facilitate this.

A suggestion for an “open day” at St Francis church is to be considered. Parish members felt that this would be a positive step towards Evangelisation.

Newspapers are to continue being provided for sale in the Narthex. It has been noted that the sale of newspapers has been falling.

A request for new curtains in the church hall is to be reviewed in twelve months time.

The next Parish council meeting will take place on 17.01.2017

9. Closing Prayer

Stephen Parker led the closing prayer.

Present:

• Belinda Barber
• Eva Kaltenthaler (minutes)
• Lindsay Reynolds
• Anne Shepherd
• Stephen Spooner (chair)
• Dave Stanley
• Father Kevin

Apologies:

• Stephen Parker
• Greg Ryan
• Suzanne Staub

1. Opening prayer: Father Kevin led the opening prayer.

2. Approval of last minutes and matters arising.

The minutes from the 21 July meeting were approved.

Matters arising:

Stephen Spooner has written to the council expressing our concerns over the speed of cars on Sandygate Road and enquiring as to whether or not speed restrictions could be put in place. It is currently dangerous to drive out of the church car park.

Eva Kaltenthaler has sent e-mail addresses for all parish council members to all members.

The Health and Safety Toolbox will now be maintained by Anne Shepherd and Stephen Spooner. Stephen will contact Tom Garrad, our Diocesan contact for Health and Safety, to request passwords and an update on how we are to maintain the toolbox. They will then meet with Father Kevin to discuss this. The Parish Council wished to thank John Green, Alex Krys and Jim Conway who have previously worked on this.

Stephen Spooner will contact Anne-Marie Appleton to see what support she needs to start the new Tea Group.

3. Reports from each Section

Each of the six sections presented an update. Changes to the parish webpages reflecting the sections’ revised remits were discussed as well as resulting changes to the constitution.

Justice and Peace (Eva Kaltenthaler): The group is exploring ways the parish can provide support for the current refugee crisis. An A5 sheet of suggestions will be put in the bulletin in the coming weeks. The revised webpage for the group was discussed and the new version was agreed and will be put on the website in the next few weeks.

Maintenance (Anne Shepherd and Stephen Spooner): The roof has now been repaired and the floor refinished. The walls in the Assisi Hall will be painted soon. The pointing on the porch still needs to be repaired as well as an outside wall although there was some discussion as to whether or not this is really necessary. The webpage for this group will remain unchanged.

Communication (Dave Stanley): Dave will rewrite the communications webpage and send the revised version back to the committee.

Pastoral Care and Community (Belinda Barber): The remit for this group will be revised to include Hallam Churches Together, social events for the parish and the newly formed Tea Group. Anne Shepherd will help Belinda with Hallam Churches Together work. Belinda is going to their meeting on 24 September to
discuss the forthcoming programme. The webpage will be updated to reflect the changes.

Mission, Evangelisation and Faith Formation (Lindsay Reynolds, Greg Ryan and Suzanne Staub):
Lindsay presented feedback from the meeting to discuss Proclaim ’15 with Rose and Father Kevin. Several options for the parish were presented and the group will meet again to decide which to take forward. Rose will continue to act as the link between Proclaim ’15 and the parish. The remit for this group is developing and will take some time.

Liturgy, Spirituality and Sacramental Preparation (Stephen Parker and Stephen Spooner): The group is developing a programme of spirituality events for the coming year. They will meet with the Mission, Evangelisation and Faith Formation Group to determine the remits of both group. Webpages for both groups will be developed to reflect the new remits of the groups and will be added to the website later.

The Constitution will be revised to reflect the new names for the sections.

4. Parish Day

The Parish day will be held on 4 October with one Mass at 10am. After Mass there will be tea and cake in the Assisi Hall. Stephen Spooner urged all Parish Council members to attend in order to chat with parishioners. All members were also urged to bring cakes. Stephen Spooner and Eva Kaltenthaler will provide tea, coffee, milk, sugar and squash.

5. Election of Deputy Chair

Greg Ryan was elected as deputy chair.

6. Date of next meeting

17 November 2015, 8pm, Upper room.

Stephen Spooner and Eva Kaltenthaler send their apologies for this meeting which will be chaired by Greg Ryan.

7. Closing Prayer: Father Kevin led the closing prayer.

Present:

• David Hughes
• Julie Hughes
• Eva Kaltenthaler (minutes)
• Stephen Parker
• Lyndsey Reynolds
• Greg Ryan
• Anne Shepherd
• Stephen Spooner (chair)
• Dave Stanley

Apologies:

• Father Kevin Thornton

1. Opening prayer:

Stephen Parker led the opening prayer.

2. Approval of last minutes and matters arising

The minutes of the AGM were approved.

Matters arising:

Stephen Spooner welcomed new Parish Council members, Julie and David Hughes.

3. Doncaster Parish Administrator

Frank McDermot, a lay person who administers a parish in Doncaster has been contacted by Stephen Spooner. Stephen has suggested inviting him to the September Parish Council meeting to tell us more about how he runs the Parish. The Parish Council agreed that Frank should be invited to the September meeting.

4. Election of new chair

Greg Ryan was elected the new Parish Council chair and Lyndsay Reynolds as the deputy chair.

5. Parish Council membership

It was suggested that we may need more new members. It was agreed that all Parish Council members would consider inviting friends who are members of the Parish to join the Parish Council. Greg suggested that it may be helpful to give potential members some information on the types of activities the Council is planning over the next year.

It was suggested that in the future e-mail could be used to keep parishioners informed of Parish Council activities and to seek their opinions on specific issues.

6. Assignment of members to sections

Julie has agreed to do the minutes from the September meeting.

Justice and Peace: Eva

Building and maintenance: David

Action: Stephen Spooner to send details of the Health and Safety Toolkit to David.

Evangelisation and Faith Formation: Greg and Lindsay

Pastoral Care and Community: Anne, Dave and Julie

The Pastoral care and social aspects of this group will remain unchanged but the Ecumenical component will now be part of the Evangelisation and Faith Formation section. Anne will continue her work with Hallam churches.

Liturgy and Spirituality: Stephen Parker and Stephen Spooner

Communication: Dave and David

The Council agreed that moveable display boards could be purchased and that these would be very useful. It was agreed that there would be a rethink of the noticeboards.

The Parish Council organogram needs updating to include all current members.

Action: All Parish Council members to send Dave a photo of themselves.

The Council considered whether it would be useful to have a financial report more often. This may be considered in the future.

7. Brief reports from each section

Mission, Evangelisation and Faith Formation: The recent Joy of the Gospel course was considered a success. It was very encouraging to see such high numbers of parishioners and people from outside the parish. Proclaim 15 continues and Lindsay and Greg represent the Parish. A recent Taize evening was held with nearby churches attending as well as a Jazz event in the church.

Communication: An update of notice boards is planned. Dave is exploring the possibility of using social media and may start a parish Facebook group as a way of sharing information with parishioners and others. He will look at ways to update the Parish webpages as some information is out of date.

Liturgy and Spirituality: A day on prayer will be held later in the year with three speakers covering prayer using art, music and liturgy. Also planned is a one day Parish retreat in Spring 2017, led by Stephen Parker. A pilgrimage to St Maries is to be arranged by Stephen Parker, probably in September.

Justice and Peace: The group is considering presenting information for the corporal acts of Mercy on the display boards, a different one each week. The group is also exploring working with City of Sanctuary to support refugees in Sheffield.

8. Any other business

Several children from St Francis have not been allocated places at St Marie’s school. This has been very upsetting for families and will be considered as an agenda item at the next meeting.

The next meeting will be held on 20 September at 8pm.

9. Closing Prayer:

Stephen Parker led the closing prayer.

Present:

• Fr Kevin Thornton
• Julie Hughes
• Anne-Marie Appleton
• Roberta Kelly
• Belinda Barber
• James Kelly
• Clare Byrne
• Jenny King
• Jacinta Campbell
• Alex Krzyz
• Mike Campbell
• Richard McQuinn
• Jim Conway
• Greg Ryan
• Ann Green
• Anne Shepherd
• John Green
• Stephen Spooner (chair)
• Derek Hemmingfield
• Dave Stanley
• David Hughes
• Suzanne Staub
• Eva Kaltenthaler (minutes)
• Silvia Valenzuela

1. Opening prayer:

Fr. Kevin led the opening prayer.

2. Annual Report

The parishioners were welcomed to the AGM by Stephen Spooner who opened the meeting and explained that the purpose of the AGM was to hear annual reports from the different groups. To elect new members of the parish council and to hear views from any parishioner who wished to give them. Eva Kaltenthaler and Sarah Baker presented a report from the Justice and Peace group with information on the S2 Foodbank, St Wilfrid’s centre, CAFOD and planned refugee work. Belinda Barber presented the report from the Pastoral Care and Community group focussing on Hallam Churches together. Stephen Spooner presented a report from the Spirituality and Liturgy group. He mentioned activities over the past year include Taize evenings and a day on Music and spirituality. Future events include a day on Art in Spirituality and a parish retreat to be held later this year. Stephen Spooner also presented a report from the Building and Maintenance group and reported on the main repairs that have been undertaken over the past year including substantial work on the roof and work on the Health and Safety Toolbox which is ongoing. Dave Stanley gave a report on the Communications group and mentioned recent updates to the Parish website as well as ways possible future changes to improve engagement with the Parish including the use of social media. Greg Ryan presented a report on the Evangelisation and Faith Formation Group. Work in this group is focussed on various faith formation and outreach activities.

Please see the full report of Parish Council Annual Report May 2015-16

3. Finance Report

Derek Hemmingfield presented a report on the finances of the Parish.

4. Views and suggestions from the Parish

Stephen invited questions from the audience. Clare Byrne asked whether people gave by Gift Aid and whether there should be a drive to increase standing order amounts. Stephen agreed that the Parish Council would discuss this at their meeting in July. Jenny King suggested that Edmund could come to Parish Council to talk about Gift Aid.

5. Election of new Parish Councillors

Two new Parish Councillors were elected Julie Hughes and David Hughes, who will do a job share. Stephen thanked Belinda Barber and Susanne Staub, who are both finishing, for their hard work on the Parish Council.

6. Any other Business

John Green stressed the need for more Parishoners to volunteer for Parish Council as more members are urgently needed. The Parish Council will look at ways to encourage new members to come forward at their next meeting in July.

Several people expressed the opinion that we are very lucky to have an active Parish Council which may need to be even more active in the future if we don’t have a priest. We are very lucky to have the Parish priest we have.

Clare Byrne mentioned that a new Children’s liturgy book is needed. She will organise this with Father Kevin.

7. Closing Prayer:

Father Kevin led the closing prayer.

8. Refreshments were served

Present:

• Lindsay Reynolds
• Anne Shepherd
• Dave Stanley
• Belinda Barber
• Greg Ryan
• Father Kevin Thornton
• Eva Kaltenthaler (minutes)
• Stephen Spooner (chair)
• Stephen Parker

Apologies:

• Suzanne Staub

1. Opening prayer:

Stephen Parker led the opening prayer.

2. Approval of last minutes and matters arising.

The minutes from the 19 January meeting were approved.

Matters arising:

The revised constitution was approved. Eva will forward the final version to Jayne so that it can be put on the Parish website.

Dalton Roofing have completed their work and were due to come back to check a leak. Two disabled parking spaces are now in the car park. Anne and Stephen have started work on the Health and Safety tool box. This is an ongoing action. Some certificates have expired and external eople will need to come in to complete the recertification.

Action: Anne and Stephen will present a report to Parish Council on progress at the next meeting.

The penitential Taize Lenten Service evening was well attended.

3. Remits and webpages for each Section

Four remits had already been agreed by the sections:

• Pastoral Care and Community
• Liturgy and Spirituality
• Maintenance and Finance
• Justice and Peace

The remits for the remaining sections were discussed. There was some discussion as to whether all groups in the Parish should be listed under one of the sections. It was thought preferable that the remit for each group should present the focus and aims of the group rather than just list all parish groups which might fall into their area.

Communication (Dave)

The Parish Council discussed the importance of Parishioners and others looking for information being able to find out about relevant resources and groups in the parish and that the website could be a valuable resource for this. The Parish Council e-mail would be the point of contact for Parish groups and would be managed by Dave.

The Parish Directory needs to be updated and restructured. It was agreed that other methods for sharing information could be considered such as a Facebook page and possible Twitter.

Action: Dave and Eva to look at the website so important information is signposted, and to restructure and update the Parish Directory and to explore options for using new media.

The remit for the communication section was agreed.

Mission, Evangelisation and Faith Formation (Lindsay, Greg and Susanne)

The remit for this group is quite detailed as it was felt as a new group there should be enough detail for the Parish to understand what it is about. This will be presented in more detail at the AGM. Various future actions for this group were discussed including a course on the Joy of the Gospel (4-6 weeks) after Easter.

Action: Greg to organise Joy of the Gospel course.

The remit for the Mission, Evangelisation and Faith Formation section was agreed.

Action: Dave to put all six remits on the Parish webpages and update the names of the sections on the webpages as required.

4. Brief reports from each Section

The brief reports were deferred to the next meeting.

5. Annual general meeting (17 May 2016)

This will have the same format as last year. Each section will give a 5 minute presentation and produce a written summary for the section. These will be printed out and on display during the meeting as well as attached to the minutes of the AGM.

Action: Eva to remind all sections to send their summaries by 3 May.

It was felt important to encourage Parishioners to attend the AGM.

Action: Stephen to speak after Masses to encourage attendance at the AGM. Dave to produce some posters. Eva to put a note in the bulletin.

Stephen and Eva will bring wine, juice, cheese biscuits, tea, coffee and milk.

Action: All Parish Council members to bring cakes to serve.

6. New members

Belinda’s term of office will be finishing so we will need to replace her with a new member. It was agreed that a few additional new members would also be good. A new chair will be elected at the July meeting (19 July).

Action: Stephen to put a note in the bulletin for new members for the Parish Council

7. Any other business

1. A parish pilgrimage to the Cathedral for the year of mercy was suggested. Action: Stephen Parker to organise Parish pilgrimage.
2. A Parishioner had raised the issue of purchasing new curtains for the Assisi Hall. The Parish Council considered this request and did not consider this to be a priority at the moment.
3. We have received a request for donations to support the training of priests in developing countries. This was agreed and the training will be supported.
4. New Eucharistic ministers are currently being trained and are now called Extraordinary Ministers of Communion.
5. Belinda informed the group of an event to be held at St Marks Church on Friday 18 March “Come one Come All” This event will include prominent speakers from different faith traditions.
6. The Liturgy and Spirituality section and the Mission, Evangelisation and Faith Formation section will work together to plan a service for the Year of Mercy.
7. Preparations are underway for the Bishop’s visit on 8 May to the Parish.

8. Closing Prayer:

Father Kevin led the closing prayer.

Present:

• Lindsay Reynolds
• Anne Shepherd
• Dave Stanley
• Suzanne Staub
• Belinda Barber
• Father Kevin Thornton
• Eva Kaltenthaler (minutes)
• Stephen Spooner (chair)
• Stephen Parker

Apologies:

• Greg Ryan

1. Opening prayer:

Father Kevin led the opening prayer.

2. Approval of last minutes and matters arising.

The minutes from the 17 November meeting were approved.

Matters arising:

The revised constitution will be discussed at the next meeting. Eva will forward the final version to Jayne so that it can be put on the Parish website.

£82 was raised for the Stars for Hallam Bethlehem Fund and the Parish has received a thank you letter.

3. Reports from each Section

Maintenance & Finance (Stephen and Anne)

A quotation has been received from Dalton Roofing to make the roof secure. The extreme weather has taken its toll on the roof. The quote is for £4000 to take the tiles off, replace broken ones, and put holes in the tiles and screw them down. It was agreed that this should go ahead.

Action: Stephen Spooner will contact Dalton Roofing to organise this.

Anne and Stephen will meet with Tom Garrud on 25 Jan at the Pastoral Centre to discuss the Health and Safety Toolkit. All relevant certificates will be located and uploaded on to the site as required.

Action: It is hoped by May all certificates will be up to date and loaded onto the site.

Other repairs: the organ repair has been completed. Repairs to the Lady of Compassion chapel, garage, and pointing will be completed by the end of January.

The three parking bays will be made into two disabled parking bays. We now have a quote for this work.

Action: Stephen Spooner to contact T. Elliot to get details and organise this.

Evangelisation and Faith Formation (Lindsay, Suzanne and Greg)

The group is still working through the Evangelii Gaudium document. The remit of this group is still a work in progress. The group will develop some ideas
and present to the parish council. One option would be to use the Proclaim 15 talks which can be downloaded from the website. A series of these talks may
be presented to the Parish.

Action: The group will meet together with Stephen Parker to present an action plan to the Parish Council at the next meeting.

Pastoral Care and Community (Belinda)

Belinda and Anne went to a churches together meeting and reported on a range of events. They will put information about some of these events into the Franciscan as they may be of interest to the Parish. The next meeting of Hallam Churches Together will be at St Francis on 25 April 2016. Father Kevin and
Stephen Parker will attend.

Justice and Peace (Eva)

Stephen Spooner gave a report of the various CAFOD campaigns at the moment. The Justice and Peace Group will meet on January 25th to decide which campaigns to focus on.

Family Fast Day is coming up and there will be a big push for this. The Panto again raised a considerable amount of money. A cake sale is planned in the
spring for CAFOD. The next dance club production will raise money for the CAFOD Refugee Appeal. They always do extremely well and raise a lot of money.

Liturgy and Spirituality (Stephen Spooner and Stephen Parker)

A penitential Lenten Service was suggested based on the theme of Mercy. This would include readings and Taize chants. Confession would be offered.

Action: Stephen Parker, Greg, Stephen Spooner and Father Kevin to meet to plan the service.

Communication (Dave)

Dave will meet with Jayne to discuss the website and the Franciscan. Dave is also to look at the Parish council e-mail account and ensure all e-mails are answered. He will look into adding Father Kevin’s e-mail to the website. He will explore ways of communicating and building community within the parish. He may ask for volunteers from the parish to help.

Action: Dave to report at the next meeting on communication progress.

4. Any other business

1. A copy of the Parish Directory has been obtained and it will be discussed at the next meeting whether or not all groups listed need to fit under one of the Parish Council sections.
2. Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificates can now be updated on line. The new processes will be discussed with Bobbo.
3. We have received a request for donations to support the training of priests in developing countries. This will be discussed at the next meeting.

5. Date of next meeting

15 March 2016.

6. Closing Prayer:

Father Kevin led the closing prayer.