The meeting was opened with a prayer

Jim Harrington, Fr. Matthew Jakes, John Edwards, Peter Molloy and Chris Hoban

SG circulated a formatted sheet for people to sign up for specific masses. SG will collate the responses and circulate the rota to PPC members. Action SG

Members who cannot attend one of "their" masses must find a PPC substitute to take their place. MR will recirculate the spreadsheet of PPC member details to assist with this. Action MR

GT explained that we shall remember the dead of the last 12 months at all masses on the weekend of 30/31 October. Names will be read out and young people of the parish will carry a candle to the altar for each person who has died. The last date for handing in forms that name the dead is Wednesday 27 October.

MR explained that letters have been sent to the next of kin of all the people who have had funerals for their loved ones in the parish during the last 12 months. The letters invite the next of kin to come along to the masses of remembrance and hear the name of their loved one – to know that they are remembered and prayed for.

At the masses the priest will invite young people to go to the back of church and carry up the candles as the names of the dead are read out. GT asked for volunteers to co-ordinate this. 6.30pm mass is already covered.

AT & DK offered to help at 9am mass and IM & AM offered to help at 10.30am mass.Action AT,DK,IM & AM

GT expressed the hope that any newcomers would be made welcome.

MD & BT offered to provide tea after the Saturday 6.30 mass on 30 October. Action MD & BT

3. Youth Sunday (Sunday 21 November)

BT has spoken to the youth leaders and they have decided to mark the occasion by having representatives from the Youth Group at the 6.30pm Saturday mass to read bidding prayers. BT will invite the brownies, cubs etc. to join in if they wish and she will liaise with IM & AM re. music for the mass.

One of the workers from Crich has been invited to speak to the youngsters on Sunday 7 November.

Some of the youngsters will be helping out with teas at the Autumn Fair on Saturday 13 November.

A discussion was held about the most effective way of distributing this year’s cards. The outcome was that we shall put up a list of street names (in units of 50 houses) in mid November for parishioners to sign up for delivery in a specific street(s). The PPC member "on duty" at the time could encourage people to sign up. The PPC can then get involved in organizing delivery for the streets that have not been adopted.

Further discussion took place about the wording of the "Come & See" message for the cards and it was decided that MD & the card group should propose suitable wording for the November meeting. Action MD

IM gave a brief report of the Cotgrave open meeting held on 6 October to discuss the reorganisation of the parish. It was noted that there seemed to be a lot of opposition amongst Keyworth & Cotgrave parishioners to the diocesan trustees’ proposal to rebuild with one new church to replace the existing three. SG suggested that people in favour of the rebuild may not have attended the meeting, having assumed that the decision to rebuild was cut and dried. JonH expressed concern that parishioners were failing to recognize the implications of falling clergy numbers. He expressed the need for us to do all we can to encourage vocations to the priesthood. He pointed out however that the diocesan trustees have identified the problem of falling clergy numbers and have put forward a proposal for fewer but larger churches to serve larger areas of the community. If we do not plan for the future along these lines then in time parts of our community could find themselves without a priest. SG suggested we have a duty to recognise the future and do all we can to dissolve fear and suspicion.

CC suggested that after their consultations the diocesan trustees should take careful note of how many priests there are likely to be in say 10 years and act decisively in producing a diocesan plan that announces where the mass centres will be. GT explained that the trustees have started this process in the Nottingham area with their recent proposals.

LB suggested that if we rebuild it will have to be done well so that people will want to come and join in. CC raised the issue that some people would not have transport to a new church. GT recognised the challenge and suggested that it could be resolved with careful planning and the help of parishioners who were willing to offer lifts to those without transport. MD expressed the thought that if people are drawn to a community they will find the means of getting to a church.

GT felt that there were some positive outcomes from the Cotgrave meeting. He will be having a follow up meeting with the trustees and much discussion will be needed to find the way forward. He suggested that we must do all we can to build up our relationship with Keyworth & Cotgrave. He applauded the work of the Core Group that draws together members of all 3 churches and he expressed the hope of the Development Group that parishioners from Keyworth & Cotgrave will join them to discuss the future for the parish.

AM suggested that if a rebuild does not go ahead then Holy Spirit parishioners may wish to see more work done to improve their church. JonH pointed out that the work that is to be done is "Phase 1" of the plans for the Holy Spirit and can be enhanced at a later stage if necessary, without wasting the work done now.

It was noted that the church will need to close for a few months during its refurbishment. A brief discussion took place about the best venue for mass during the works. It was decided to make this an agenda item for the November meeting.

A discussion was held about the format of our meetings and several people agreed that they prefer the "one meeting for all" model to splitting up into Mission & Spirituality groups. The preference for having tables to sit round was also expressed by some of the group.

The group then turned its attention to the future of the PPC : how should it be made up? should members be elected or not? when should members stand down? CC & DK offered to explore various models and look at the pros & cons of each. Their ideas will be circulated to PPC members before the November meeting and will be placed on that meeting’s agenda for discussion. Action CC & DK

VL gave an overview of the analysis of the SWOT forms and was thanked for her hard work in producing her extensive draft report. She will send copies of the report to all PPC members. Action VL

VL thanked everyone who had helped her produce the report and suggested that it is used as the starting point for producing a Parish Pastoral Plan.

IM stressed the importance of reading the report and GT suggested we discuss it within the groups we represent.

GT would like to work towards a single Action Plan for the parish, produced by members of all 3 churches working together. He hopes to set up a working group made up of the clergy, the core group and the chairs of both the West Bridgford PPC and the Keyworth/Cotgrave PPC.

LB asked for help with a Children’s Liturgy Group production planned for March. They hope to raise funds for Fr. Vincent’s parish in Uganda to assist him in developing resources for children’s liturgy.

CC offered to explore the possibility of some Becket 6^th formers helping out with sound and light systems. She also offered to explore the possibility of using the Becket Upper School hall for the production. Action CC

IM urged members to discuss items for future PPC agendas within the groups they represent.

He asks that items for the agenda (together with explanations) are sent to him within 2 weeks of our last meeting. This will allow him to circulate the next agenda 2 weeks before the next meeting.

CC mentioned the Senior Citizens party to be held at the Becket school on Monday 6 December 2004. GT suggested that LB puts Anne Turner Harrod in touch with CC since Anne works with the "Help the Aged" charity and may well know of local senior citizens who would like to attend.

The meeting was closed with a prayer.

8pm Wednesday 10 November 2004 in the presbytery meeting room

(Apologies Dympna Kitchin & Maura Roche)