PPC MINUTES
8pm Wednesday 8 August 2007 Holy Spirit Social Centre
The meeting was opened with a prayer.
PRESENT
Chris Hoban (CH) (Chair), Fr. Gregory Tobin (GT), Maura Roche (MR) (Secretary),
Maria Dabrowska (MD), Peter Molyneux (PM), Mary Crosby (MC), Peter Walsh (PeterW),
Jim Harrington (JH), Cathy Clark (CC), Veronica Lawrence (VL)
APOLOGIES
Fr. Peter Vellacott (PV), Anne Murray (AM), Phil Withers (PhilW), Paul Lyons (PL), Liz
Bonner (LB), Maria Simister (MS), Anne Turton (AT), Maria Gascoigne (MG), Ian Murray (IM)
1. MINUTES OF JULY 2007 MEETING
Section 4 "Operation Christmas Card" – second sentence should read "MD will bring……" otherwise accepted as a true record of the meeting,
2. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE JULY 2007 MINUTES
a) Anti sun film
Nothing to report. GT suggested we leave the windows as they are, to provide a good source of natural light for music groups who may be based in that area in the future. He is considering moving the organ to the far side of the altar. This move would give the music groups more space and would allow the creation of a Baptistry area where the organ is now.
b) Traidcraft sales
Nothing to report at present.
c) Operation Christmas Card
VL & MR volunteered to join PeterW & MC in this group.
d) Collection baskets
It was decided to carry on using baskets.
3. RACIAL JUSTICE SUNDAY PACK (Sun 9 September 2007)
CC volunteered to take the pack, produce bidding prayers and put up any display material in the pack. MR will inform Phil Bonner about this. Action CC & MR
4. CHILDREN’S LITURGY AT 10.30 MASS
MC displayed special "Reserved" signs that will be trialled at the 10.30 mass after the Summer holidays. They are designed to be picked up and used to reserve places in the church benches by individuals who wish to join the children’s liturgy group and then return to "their place" in church. MC will explain the purpose of the signs in the newsletter. Action MC
5. PARISH PASTORAL PLAN
The following areas of the "Communications" section were discussed :
"To develop opportunities for feedback on all aspects of the parish’s progress"
The outcome of discussions about this area was that it was generally felt that sufficient opportunities for feedback already existed ; access to the priests, parish phone numbers and email address readily available, members of PPC available at Masses, suggestions box, dedicated feedback email address for the PPC column in the newsletter. It was suggested that a PPP report be given to the Parish AGM. VL offered to liaise with LB about the process for this. Action VL
"To complete a survey/questionnaire of young parishioners to find out their opinions & concerns"
GT suggested we wait & liaise with our Youth Worker, when appointed, about this.
CH noted the success of the recent "open mic" night and suggested it had been a great opportunity to both encourage the youth of the parish and provide an informal setting to communicate with them. It was hoped that further events of this type could be planned and that they would appeal to all our young people. GT noted that a new Confirmation programme will be starting shortly and will provide a forum for young people’s comments.
"In addition to conventional means of communication, to embrace new technology, by extending the use of email and the parish website to communicate with members of the parish."
It was felt that as a whole the parish has embraced new technology fairly well – we have an active parish website and a parish email list. GT commented that he uses email more than any other means of communication and that he automatically puts any new email contacts onto the parish email list. PV’s orders of service for the Easter Liturgies and the Corpus Christi procession were all produced "in house" and were praised. VL suggested that it’s important to remain open to further ways of embracing new technologies. GT agreed and suggested that it was important to "do it well" to make sure that any new ventures would be used. He suggested that feedback from young people would be important in this regard. Suggestions for future consideration included putting information about parish activities on YouTube, making use of webcams to relay services outside the church building, making use of screens inside church to display hymn numbers and words.
6. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
a) Farewell Party for Father Vincent
Arranged for Saturday 18 August after 6.30pm Mass – shared table & real ale available – CH encouraged everyone to spread the word.
b) Review of the Year
VL is still hoping that South Notts College will be able to produce a DVD of parish activities for 2008 but has nothing further to report from them at present.
c) "Cut the Carbon" gathering
VL informed the group about this gathering and walk ending at St Peter’s church in the City Centre. It will happen at 2-3pm on Saturday 1 September 2007 and hopes to draw attention to the issues surrounding climate change. A poster about this will be displayed in the church porch.
The meeting was closed with a prayer.
NEXT MEETING: 8pm Wednesday 12 September 2007 in the Social Centre