St Peter’s Church Parish Council
Minutes of the meeting held
on 19th September 2007
Present:
Alan Beard, Sabrina Fernandes, Annette Louzado, Mary McAlindon, Suzanne Bullimore, Clare-Marie Burchall, Margaret Hryb, Arthur
Hughes, Jeannette Dale.
Fr. Michael
Saunders, Philip Dorning and Derek Lowson(Finance Cttee) was also in attendance.
1. APOLOGIES – received from
Keith Burke and Graham Hutchings
2. MINUTES
OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The minutes
were accepted and there were no other matters arising.
3. SEEKING
THE FACE OF CHRIST
It was
confirmed that no further action regarding the parish’s response to the document was required.
Fr. Michael
informed the Council that the Bishop was inviting Parish Council members to a follow-up meeting to be held at St. Bede’s
College, Lawrence Weston on 20th October. Alan, Arthur and Philip hope to attend.
4. BISHOP’S
PARISH VISITATION
Fr. Michael
informed the Council that Bishop Declan will be making his parish pastoral visitation on the weekend of 15/16th
December.
For this
event it was decided that after the evening Mass on Saturday( 15th Dec.) there would be tea and cakes in the hall
and an opportunity to meet the Bishop. On Sunday(16th Dec.) the Mass would be an International Mass followed by
a social event in the hall with the Bishop again present.
5. AUTUMN
PROGRAMME OF PARISH ACTIVITIES
* Faith sharing group, “Come and See”. An invitation has been put
in the parish newsletter and “Come and See” leaflets have been available at the back of the church. It is hoped
the programme will run on Wednesday evenings from the 3rd October till Advent and then restarting in Lent. The
programme itself will be quite flexible, responding to the needs of the group. To date, a few people have shown an interest.
* The Bishops’ initiative, “Come Home for Christmas”, invites
people back into the Church. This is to take place in the period leading up to Christmas. Clare-Marie suggested that the parish
have a stall in the Asda Centre, with leaflets/literature and people to answer questions. It could also involve some of the
younger parishioners. Suzanne pointed out that there could be problems because it is a religious activity. Jeannette also
said that renting space could be difficult at this time of year. Others suggested using the Link or Oasis.
It was
accepted that planning needed to be done before the next Parish Council meeting and so the Council accepted Clare-Marie’s
offer to research the feasibility of this idea and if a space can be arranged she would also go ahead with organising the
event.
* Curry Evening. Mary said this would take place on 5th October at
7.30 pm. It will be a Curry and Karaoke Evening. A notice will be put in the parish newsletter.
6. PARISH
FINANCES
Alan asked
when the envelopes for 2008/9 would commence. Derek said this would be at the beginning of February 08.
Alan informed
the Council that the Finance Committee had decided to give the Parish Priest an increase in housekeeping allowance.
Another
discussion about encouraging increased giving by parishioners took place. Derek reiterated his belief that money would be
forthcoming if a definite need was highlighted. Suzanne stressed the importance of educating parishioners about their responsibility
to give appropriately and the increased information in the newsletter was helping with this. Alan continued to stress the
need to urge parishioners to give consistently via envelopes or standing order. Fr. Michael suggested highlighting the loss
of income due to changes in Income Tax and Margaret advised clarifying the difference between giving with and without Gift
Aid. It was also suggested that the different ways of giving should be displayed on the noticeboard with leaflets available
and friendly faces to talk to.
Fr. Michael
suggested that this issue should be handed over to the Finance Committee and the Council agreed with this.
7. WORK
TO PREMISES
* Church Cleaning. The work has been mostly satisfactory. There has been a couple
of complaints about the ladies’ toilet and it was decided that this should be monitored by Council members.
* New Window. Work on the new coloured window inside the church is progressing
and hopefully it will be installed by the end of September.
* White lines in Car Park. The estimate for a professional job is £300-£350 +
VAT. Keith had offered to do the job and so Fr. Michael said he would ask him. If this was not possible he will go ahead with
the professional option.
* Alarm System. The system is not working and a Crime Prevention Officer is coming
to give advice on an appropriate new system.
* Lacquering of Hall Floor. Alan expressed gratitude to Keith for completing
this work. Jeannette was asked to write a letter of thanks on behalf of the Parish Council
8. A.O.B
* Alan announced Jeannette’s resignation from the Parish Council
and thanked her for her contribution. He also added that Philip Dorning would be joining the Council.
* Alan asked for volunteers to fill the
post of Secretary. Margaret offered to do this task with Sabrina agreeing to be her deputy. Alan thanked them both.
* Arthur thanked Fr. Michael for his
financial contribution to the recent SVP outing.
* Suzanne informed the Council of the
induction of the new Anglican Vicar at Lydiard Millicent and asked that a card of welcome be sent.
* Suzanne also reminded the Council that
the Women’s World Day of Prayer on 7th March, 2008 is to be held at St Peter’s. Use of the hall after
the service was agreed.
* Date for First Holy Communion –
date to be fixed at the next meeting.
* Confirmation – So far there have
been no enquiries for next year. Fr. Michael will discuss this with Clare-Marie. Suzanne related that at the Deanery Pastoral
Council meeting the Confirmation Service at St Peter’s this year was warmly complimented. The only comment was that
a few people felt there should have been more prayer time at the rehearsal.
* Annette said that a parishioner had
asked about offering a class in Polish Dancing. The Council was unsure that there would enough interest here at St Peter’s.
It was suggested that Polish Dancing could be a part of the International Mass celebration.
Annette
also suggested a specific social event focusing on national dances.
* Annette also said she had been asked
about having a Goan Mass at St. Peter’s. It was not considered feasible and it was pointed out that there is a monthly
Goan Mass at Holy Rood church.
* Discussion took place about Christmas
events and preparation of the church. It was decided that the church would be decorated after Sunday Mass on 23rd
December, to be completed before the Carol Service.
It was
decided that we should have a Carol Service, open to all the local community, on Sunday 23rd December at 3pm.
It was
also agreed that Christmas cards could be on sale during the few weeks leading up to Christmas.
9. NEXT
MEETING
The next
meeting will take place on Wednesday, 14th November.
Items
for the agenda include “Come Home for Christmas”, the Bishop’s Visitation, the International Mass and Christmas
Decorations.
