Category: Parish council minutes

Present:

• Fr Kevin Thornton
• Deacon Stephen Parker
• Greg Ryan
• Eva Kaltenthaler
• Stephen Spooner
• Anne Shepherd
• Lyndsey Reynolds
• David Hughes
• Julie Hughes
• Grazyna Swales
• Penny Watt
• Claire Byrne

Apologies:

There were no apologies.

1. Opening Prayer

Fr. Kevin led the opening prayer.

2. Approval of the last minutes and matters arising

The minutes from the January 2017 meeting were approved.

Matters arising

Greg Ryan has reviewed the sound system and this is currently fit for purpose.

Eva and Ann have reviewed the facilities provided in the toilets. Hand towels have now been provided to complement the hand drying equipment. The changing facilities for babies/toddlers are adequate.

Sheffield Parishes meeting 30.3.2017. Chris Dingle and Lindsey Reynolds have agreed to represent our Parish. Greg Ryan and Stephen Parker will also be
attending. The meeting will provide an opportunity for discussion about planning for the future in the Deaneries.

3. Any other Business

• Grazyna and Penny discussed concerns that future “matched funding” for charities may be ceased by the Government. There was agreement by council members that the parish would hold an appeal for the South Sudan crisis on 2.4.2017. Stephen Spooner agreed to talk after both Masses on 26.3.2017 to raise the profile of this devastating crisis. The Parish has agreed to “match” the money raised at this collection.
• The Children’s liturgy. Claire has emailed the parents of children currently attending the Childrens liturgy. It has been agreed that a pilot study will be
  conducted regarding the Children’s liturgy being facilitated in the upper room of the church after Easter. David Hughes stated that a risk assessment of the room
  and stairs would have to be carried out. It was agreed that children making their First Holy Communion should remain in church and participate in the Mass. Greg Ryan will discuss this with Rose.
• Laudato Si’, the second encyclical of Pope Francis. Lindsey attended this discussion along with Jenny King. A plan on how we can respond to Laudato Si’,
  “On Care for our Common Home” is to be discussed.
• Organ tuning and wooden stools. The organ is to be tuned in September 2017. Greg will dispose of some of the wooden stools as they are unsafe.
• Father Kevin informed the council that he had received a letter of thanks from St Marie’s school. This was with regard to a donation made for a Cross
  in the Prayer garden.
• Bishop’s conference. Pope Francis wishes to focus on the views of Catholic youth. A youth poll is to be conducted which will look at young people’s views on Faith and the Church.
• The next Justice and Peace meeting will take place during the third week in April 2017.
• There will be a Taize evening on 4.4.2017 at 7:30pm. There will be no mass on that evening
• The maintenance tool box is almost currently up to date for our Parish.
• The Annual General meeting will be held on Tuesday the 16th of May 2017 at 8pm. Refreshments will be provided. Council members will be giving a small
  presentation on achievements/experiences over the past year. There will be a request for new members for the Parish Council and a new Chair for the meetings.

4. Closing Prayer

Stephen Parker led the closing prayer.

Present:

Fr Kevin Thornton

• Alex Krzyz
• Belinda Barber
• John Green
• Jayne Middlemas
• Rose Krzyz (Chair)
• Jim Conway
• Gill Foster
• Jacinta Campbell
• Stephen Parker
• Philip Rostant

Absent:

• Stephen Spooner
• Eva Kaltenthaler

Fr. Kevin led the prayer.

1. The Minutes of the Last Meeting were approved . Jayne suggested a few grammatical and spelling corrections to the amended constitution which were approved by all. Rose asked Jayne if she could amend these errors and pass on a copy to her. Jayne kindly agreed to do this.

2. Matters arising:

Philip Rostant explain the legal position regarding the parish council, and his fears as to what will happen if in the future parishes might amalgamate and the parish of St Francis would have a parish priest that did not approve of parish councils. He explained that Canon Law mandates a financial committee but not a parish council, and so in that situation the parish council could still meet up but the parish priest could choose to ignore all its recommendations. John pointed out that that was the reason why the change was made to Item 1. Under Meetings in the constitution to now read “The council shall meet at the discretion of the chairperson and/or the request of the parish priest.”

Philip felt reassured that the other changes that were made were for the constitution to better reflect current practice. Rose added that the best way to ensure the survival of the parish council is to make sure that it reflects the opinions of all parishioners and that it is open and transparent in all its work.

3. Annual reports from various sections:

Pastoral care & Community: Gill and Belinda presented their annual report which reflected the good work done in enhancing the involvement of the parish with ‘Churches Together in Hallam’. On behalf of the parish council and the parish of St Francis, Rose thanked them both for the sterling work they did in promoting this area of parish life.

Maintenance: Alex reviewed the work done in putting in the handrails in the church and in providing safe access into the church on icy and snowy conditions. The spreader is now in place. Chairs in the Parish Hall have been cleaned. Access to the Tool Box has been established, but a new meeting needs to be put in place, since Alex, John nor Jim could attend the proposed dates in March.
The women’s toilets need to be given a face lift. Notices look scrappy and give a poor impression to visitors. The hand drier might need replacing. This was evident at the Margaret Silf meeting.

Spirituality: Jacinta presented the Spirituality report. There has been a development in the liturgical events taking place for Advent and Lent. The last event with Margaret Silf, was attended by around 40 people, with only around 25% belonging to the parish of St Francis. Jacinta asked the question if the parish council thought it was right to put on these programs to our expense to benefit, in the main, others outside the parish. There was unanimous agreement that these liturgical events are to continue and to be encouraged and advertised in the parish and beyond. On behalf of the parish council and the parish of St Francis, Rose thanked Jacinta and Stephen (in his absence) for the sterling work they did in promoting the liturgical life of the parish.

Justice & Peace: John referred back to the Justice and Peace report presented at the last meeting. Rose thanked him for keeping the parish council updated on the work of the Justice and Peace group.

Communication: Jayne presented an updated report on the visits to the parish website. This continues to be a very useful communication tool when parishioners are away, or when visitors come to our area. On behalf of the parish council and the parish of St Francis, Rose thanked Jayne for the sterling work she did in communicating the events taking place in the parish council to all parishioners.

Youth & Nurture: The Holy Communion programme is half way through completion. The confirmation date has been set for the 22nd September at 7.00pm. Rose asked Stephen Parker if he would put together a programme which others could deliver. The division of topics to different members of the community meant that the task was not too onerous. Rose offered to help with one or two of the talks.

4. Arrangements for AGM

Fr Kevin could not be there at the proposed date of the 20th May, so the date was changed to the 3rd June. The draft items to run as follows:

• 7.30pm Start. Rose reads out the annual report, announces new members and dates of next meetings (15th July and 16th September)
• Followed by the financial report read out by a member of the financial committee.
• Any questions? Distribution of evaluation leaflets (What have we done well? What can we do better?)
• Cheese and wine / soft drinks.

Important Dates:

3rd June 7.30pm

AGM

5th October

Parish Day (Joint Mass and Parish Fair)

15th July
16th September

Next PC meetings

Action Points

• Fr Kevin to inform finance committee of new AGM date and time
• All to send electronic copies of their annual report to Rose
• Alex and Rose to look to refresh toilets
• Gill to finalise Good Friday arrangements
• Rose to book hall for the 3rd June
• Rose & Alex to provide cheese, biscuits and wine for around 40 people
• All parish councillors that can, to meet at the parish hall at around 6.45pm to arrange seats and eats and to help with washing up

Present:

Fr Kevin Thornton

• Alex Krzyz
• Belinda Barber
• John Green
• Jayne Middlemas
• Rose Krzyz (Chair)
• Jim Conway
• Gill Foster
• Stephen Spooner
• Jacinta Campbell
• Eva Kaltenthaler

Absent:

Stephen Parker

Fr. Kevin led the prayer.

1. The Minutes of the Last Meeting were approved . Rose asked if anyone could keep paper copies of final drafts to pass on to next council for archiving. Jayne kindly agreed to do this.

2. Matters arising:

1. J&P group discussed food banks with Sarah Baker and she will finalise things with Fr Kevin regarding any collection boxes. There was slight confusion whether the boxes should be for food collection items or money donations; there are advantages in both.
2. Tom Elliot has yet to approach Fr Kevin to arrange a date to give the HCPT talk after Sunday masses.
3. The Christmas cards for St Wilfrid’s were sold.
4. Jim, John and Alex now have access to the Health and safety Tool Box. Alex will not be able to make the suggested dates for the Diocesan meeting and has informed Tom Garrud John might be able to make the meeting, and if he does attend, he will cascade down information.
5. There was a decision taken to publish the minutes on the website, leaving out any sensitive information that might jeopardize the privacy and safety of the parishioners of St Francis. This will further increase the transparency of the work of the parish council.

3. Parish Council constitution:

There was some discussion regarding the PC constitution, this may be important as parishes may have to amalgamate in the future and it may be the case that a particular parish priest may not want to have a working parish council. In this case the situation may have to be taken to a higher level, since the parish priest presides over parish matters. The opportunity was taken to update information on the constitution, which had not been done since the 13th April 1986. This will make it more relevant to the parish as it works in the present. Rose took notes as what members thought were suggested amendments and will circulate the updated constitution to other members of the parish council.

4. Good Friday event for Hallam Churches together.

A Good Friday event has been arranged with churches together. Stephen Parker will do a simple reflection on Good Friday starting at 7.30pm. Gill has drafted a leaflet to advertise the event, which she will show to Stephen for approval.

5. Report from various sections:

Pastoral care & Community: see above

Maintenance: Spreader in place ready for the first snow/ice. Alex and Fr Kevin have the key for the store room where it is kept. At the moment Alex will deal with contingency plans and delegate when he is away. A more definite plan of action might need to be developed as needs arise in the future. The women’s toilets need to be given a face lift. Notices look scrappy and give a poor impression to visitors. The hand drier might need replacing. Alex to look into the matter.

Chairs in the Parish Hall have been cleaned

Spirituality: The Spirituality programme is up and running. Members of the parish council approved a donation of £150 from parish funds to Margaret Silf. Places will need to be booked, but no charge will be made. Note change of date to 15th March. The event will take place in the parish hall.

Fr Kieran will be running his parish retreat from Friday 4th July to Saturday 5th July. He will celebrate mass on the Saturday in Fr Kevin’s absence. Stephen Parker to set out the altar.

Justice & Peace: Refer to attached minutes of last meeting. The J & P group would like a notice to go up, similar to the Spirituality one and asked Fr.Kevin for space on the notice board to advertise their events. They would also like a community event to showcase the parish and possible fund raise as a secondary objective. The prime objective of such an event would be to gel the parish together, in the absence of the shared meal following the parish day in October.

Communication: The number of visits to the parish website has steadied at 71/week. The homepage was the most frequently visited, followed by the newsletter. It is evident that parishioners are looking to the website as an important way to access information. Also see attached report.

Youth and Nurture: The Holy Communion programme starts on the 12th February with an introductory talk. Fr Kevin gave Rose a list of children to be enrolled. There are 12 children to be enrolled. The mass of enrolment will take place on Sunday 16th February. Rose is to email all parents with the proposed programme. A few young people have expressed a desire to be confirmed. A notice will go out in the Franciscan asking for those interested to inform Fr Kevin He will then see if there is enough interest to ask Bishop John to confirm in our parish at the end of the year.

AOB

Rose read out a card from Rosie Rostant on behalf of the serving team, thanking the council for the gift of books on the Parish Day.
Important dates for your diary:

Next meeting

1st April , Bring section report to be published. *NB not third Tuesday as usual

AGM

20th May to decide on details at the next meeting

Parish Day

5th October. Joint mass and Parish Fair

Action Points

• Rose to amend constitution and circulate
• Alex to look to refresh Toilets
• Gill to finalise Good Friday arrangements
• Rose to email parents re Holy Communion programme.
• John to cascade information on Tool Box from meeting on the 20th or 22nd March.
• Jayne to print copies of minutes to pass on.

Communications Sector report – January 2014

Parish website

We have continued to update the church website regularly, adding the newsletter each week and also changing the box on the home page to show forthcoming events.

During advent and Christmas we replaced the photo of the church on the home page with the Advent/Christmas banner to give the website a new feel.
The number of visits to the church website remained at an average of 71 per week in 2013.

 

The busiest day of the year was Christmas Eve when 61 people visited the site. Between Sunday 22 December and Christmas Day, there were 114 unique visitors to the website.

The most visited pages throughout the year were as follows:

Page	Number of page views
Home page	3,790
Newsletter	1,718
Contact us	805
Activities and Groups	682
Times of Services	567
Calendar	302
Parish Council 2012-2013	297
The Diocese & the Parish of St Francis	283
The Liturgy and Prayer	272
St Francis Parish Day consultation	263

Parish e-mail

I have continued to respond to e-mails received. The numbers received seem to have fallen recently. Normally in the run up to Christmas, we receive several asking for Christmas Day Mass times. We displayed these on the website homepage this year from early December which seems to have been useful as we had no e-mails this year asking about them.

Franciscan

I have continued to produce the Franciscan each week. The volume of material fluctuates but is usually manageable.
We try to make it available on the website from Sunday each week (though occasionally it doesn’t get up there until later). In a typical week, around 20 people download it from the website, though in some weeks as many as 40 or 50 people download it.