PPC Minutes - June 2018

Minutes of the Parish Pastoral Council Meeting
Thursday 21st June 2018

​1. Opening prayer led by Terry.
2. Present: Terry Breed, Veronica Brown, Marlene Corrall, Pam Looi, Bron Coleman, Amy Jarkulisz, Emma Bowley, Cath Jackson, Rebecca Jinks, Kathryn Timmons, Peter Fryer. Apologies: Paul Carroll
3. Matter Arising from last meeting

• Parish retreat: attended by twelve parishioners at the Rosmini Centre. This may become an annual or bi-annual event, possibly to alternate with Walsingham. Positive feedback received from all those who attended. The format made it impossible to accommodate children this time, which might have prevented some from attending.
• Walsingham: this was a joint pilgrimage with Syston, led by Fr. Anthony. We were allocated six places, which were taken up. There was a feeling that more might have attended if more places had been available. There is a link on the parish website to the Mass celebrated on the day of the pilgrimage. Consideration needs to be taken regarding dates for 2019 to avoid possible clashes between a retreat, a pilgrimage and the Eucharistic Ministers reunion.
• Register of Deaths: details have now been entered onto a computer. Some information is missing, especially dates of death – it appears that the dates of the funerals have been recorded. Peter has entered the dates of the death that are in the register, otherwise the date of the funeral. The register is signed by the Bishop when he visits the parish. Peter to contact Monica Walling for advice regarding the change in format of recent entries. Recent deaths need to be added: Jim O’Dwyer, Peter Newby, David Heald and Ron Sleath. Peter to check if Jim has been recorded in the Syston register since the funeral took place there. Kathryn offered to proof read the computerised version to ensure accuracy of the transferred data.
• Mass preparation routine checklist: this is an ongoing project. Peter has taken photos of how the church/altar looks at the start of Mass and this can be linked to a preparation checklist. Cath also has some photos. 
• Hymn numbers: rather than producing DIY numbers as was proposed at the last meeting, it was suggested that these be purchased from Hayes and Finch for less than £13. There are other inexpensive options available on eBay. The Friends of St. Gregory are to be approached to see if they would meet the cost.A small whiteboard has been installed in the School Room on which hymn numbers can be written for the convenience of those not in the main body of the church.

4. Mass attendance: numbers attending Sunday Mass have been steadily declining and have been less than fifty recently, based on the weekly figures that Terry unfailingly records. While this is acknowledged as being part of a general trend, it was agreed that doing nothing was not an acceptable line of approach. Accordingly, the PPC intends to deliver cards to parishioners (including those who show their support for the parish by purchasing raffle tickets, but who are infrequent Mass attendees) asking if they would like deceased members of their family to be remembered at a special Mass in November, close to All Souls, but not on Remembrance Sunday. It is hoped that this might encourage irregular churchgoers to attend the special Mass and then re-establish the habit of Sunday Mass attendance. These cards need to go out in early October to avoid proximity to the distribution of raffle tickets. Rebecca reminded us of a similar Mass when parishioners were invited to bring a photo of their departed loved ones to place before the altar. There would be a reminder in the Newsletter. Parishioners could return their cards to a box at the back of church. Less regular attendees would be able to “post” their card through a designated address (Kathryn lives in central Barrow and would be a very suitable location for Barrow residents). Peter offered to draw up an initial version of the card and circulate to the PPC for suggestions and amendments. The organisation of this initiative will take place before the next PPC meeting, so members will need to be punctilious in completing their homework and handing it in!
5. Children’s Liturgy: Rebecca introduced this topic. Hugh is the youngest and is now seven. He will become an altar server next year. Numbers attending Children’s Liturgy have dwindled significantly. One suggestion that has been made is that there be a rota for altar servers. However, our young people have tended to express a preference for serving rather than attending a separate children’s liturgy. How do we encourage our young families to attend? We need a strategy to promote this. Rebecca’s children love belonging to the community of this parish. An example from another parish: parents are sent a card on the anniversary of their child’s baptism. Schools could be asked to include a reminder of local parishes and Mass times in their newsletters in September, not now. We could invite children and young people to a special Mass, for example at the beginning of the school year and at exam time. A special Mass could be scheduled for the second Sunday in September and schools could be asked to include this information in their newsletters (paper and email). Attendance on Pentecost Sunday was very good – had this got something to do with the fact that it was advertised on Facebook? However, Trinity Sunday was also similarly advertised without comparable success. It was agreed that this should be discussed with Fr. Peter as Dean of Loughborough and also because there is a thriving Children’s Liturgy group at the Sacred Heart. Information regarding Christmas Masses is always published in “Barrow Voice”. 
6. Social Centre report: Bron reported that bookings were encouraging. Pilates now has an extra session. Some groups do not run over the summer (Toddler group and Rainbows). We are now a venue on Charnwood’s approved list for Adult Education classes.
7. Finance Committee report: (information was provided by Paul.) The current Parish account balance is around £16,000. Of this, £11,000 came from the Social Centre account when this was merged with the main parish account. Some members of the Finance Committee are of the view that this should be ring-fenced to pay for necessary upkeep and maintenance of the Social Centre. The house needs routinely decorating, the Hall is about to be decorated. The garage has asbestos in the roof which needs removing. The committee has to decide whether to remove the asbestos and replace the roof or demolish the garage. The potential loss of storage was seen as being a retrograde step. The PPC would be interested to know if the recent appeal at Mass has resulted in increased weekly donations. It seems that some people have opted for Standing Orders rather than envelope donations. It is Paul’s opinion that the general management of the accounts over the past year is satisfactory. The drawing up of the final accounts for the past year is being completed by a contact of Fr. Clement, not from the parish. These should be available soon. There are very few areas of parish expenditure where economies can be made. Two have been identified: the cover sheets for the newsletter cost about £180 per year - using plain paper would save about £150 per year; the Bishop Beveridge Club costs about £800 per year – this traditional venue for Wednesday worship is hugely valued by the Barrow Catholic community. We may have to revisit these prickly issues in the future if the financial health of the parish were to deteriorate. A parishioner had asked whether the timing of the meetings of the Friends might be changed to allow those who work full-time to attend. Could the social life of the parish be increased? – this would benefit both numbers and fundraising. However, there are Hall bookings most days and we are heavily dependent on this revenue source. Has Paul’s recent appeal at Mass had any impact on parish income? He might be able to give an assessment in a month or two. Perhaps a reminder might be included in the newsletter regarding Gift Aid – some people might still be wary about any dealings with the taxman when in reality the whole process is totally painless. 
8. AOB

• Notice board: there should be a time limit on some of the information posted to avoid it becoming too cluttered. It is a little difficult to read the notices since the light that used to be there was not replaced after the major refurbishment. Peter to enquire from the Finance Committee whether this could be re-installed.
• Eucharistic Ministers: we no longer have Terry Cantle as a Eucharistic minister and Emma will soon be leaving for University. We shall raise this as a concern when our parish priest returns/is in place
• Lock on the big safe: this was raised as a matter of concern by Fr. Peter and needs to be remedied for insurance purposes. It seems that despite the apparent solidity of the safe, the door has moved as a result of years of wear and tear. Terry will contact the locksmith for a final assessment.
• Christmas Fair: we are planning to go ahead as usual. Fr. Peter has agreed that his name as the promoter will go on the raffle tickets which need to be ordered shortly. There was some discussion regarding the best time and it was felt that keeping roughly to the 2017 date was best. Should the accompanying letter come from the Friends or the PPC if our parish priest is still not in place?

9. Date of next meeting: 11thOctober. 

• On behalf of the PPC, Peter thanked Emma for her exemplary contribution to parish life and to the Council as she engages on her university adventure at the start of the next academic year. It was agreed that her place on the PPC should be taken by another young parishioner. Emma and Amy were asked if they would approach Stephen G to see if he would agree to join us in October.
• Fr. Clement’s 15thanniversary is on 16thAugust. Several members of the parish have expressed the wish to celebrate this with him. Rebecca is to make enquiries about the possibility of having a picnic at Launde Abbey, Ratcliffe or the Rosmini Centre, liaise with Fr. Clement and inform people accordingly.

10. Closing prayer: the meeting closed at 9.15 with a prayer.
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