Minutes of Parish Council, Parish of The Most Holy Name of Jesus, Oundle, held on Thursday, 13th November, 2008 in the Flat.
Present: Orla Calotier, Stephen Dalzell, Carol Humpherson, Doug Magor, Marlene Rodrigues, Tricia Shingles, Berni Walsh and Fr Peter Wilson.
Minutes of the Previous Meeting
The minutes of the meeting held on 25th September, 2008 were approved.
Matters Arising
Confirmation: Oundle School expects to have 20 candidates for Confirmation, in addition to the Parish’s 8 candidates. On review of the age gap between the pupils from the School and the Parish children, it was felt that with different levels of maturity, it would probably be best to prepare the Parish children separately. Stephen Dalzell volunteered to prepare the Parish children, starting sometime after Easter 2009. Fr Peter undertook to look at suitable teaching material. The 10th October 2009 has now been confirmed by the Bishop’s House.
Altar Servers: The Parish plans to take our Altar Servers ice-skating in January and a sign-up sheet to indicated interest would be put up shortly.
Mass Times: Feedback regarding the new Sunday Mass time was generally mixed, with a slight increase in numbers at the Saturday evening Mass.
OCYA: Fr Peter reported back on OCYA’s AGM and the tremendous work that its Youth Worker contributes to the community. Consideration will be made next year to increase our Parish’s contribution.
Finance/Buildings
Fr Peter produced a second revised budget for the 2008/09 period reflecting a slight drop in income for the projected period (budget £48,300, revised £46,100). With regard to building work, the Presbytery roof and electrical safety work has been completed and paid for, as well as the Presbytery stained glass window. The surplus for the period (£16,800) will be carried over into the 2009/10 period, when work to the next stage of the Church roof will take place. It is also hoped that during this period, the improvement of the Church lighting can be embarked upon.
Current works includes :-
- Repair of the Church bell (in progress).
- Installation of the stained glass window in the Church (in progress).
- Repair of the stonework on north side of the Church (to be undertaken by Coles).
- Restoration of the Presbytery windows. Since confirmation of Grade II status, it is difficult to justify the installation of replacement wooden windows (in excess of £22,000). Discussion has taken place with Coles of Oundle, who seem confident that the existing windows could be restored to a satisfactory level.
Christmas Services
Marius has confirmed that he and a music associate would provide the music for the Vigil of Readings and Carols and Midnight Mass, in addition to Christmas Day. Tricia and Teresa will look after the music for the Children’s Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve.
In preparation for Christmas, Alex Heath from the Diocesan Evangelisation Team will lead an Advent Reflection for Parishioners on 4th December with the other Oundle Churches invited along. On 18th December a Service of Reconciliation would be held.
First Holy Communion 2009
8 children will be enrolled for First Holy Communion on 16th November. A parent volunteer will assist Berni with preparation of the children.
Children’s Liturgy
Concern was raised about the unpredictability of numbers at Children’s Liturgy. The previous week there were 22 children, several at pre-school age. Although most parents of pre-school children stayed with these children, it was felt that it would be sensible to monitor numbers over the next few months to ensure that there was the correct adult/child ratio and to avoid putting our Catechists in a difficult position. As Child Protection Co-ordinator, Tricia undertook to check with the Diocesan CRB Co-ordinator. It was suggested that in January a questions and answers session be held over coffee after Sunday Mass in a drive to recruit additional catechists. It was noted that several Parish teenagers undertaking the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme were seeking voluntary work and could probably offer some support at Children’s Liturgy.
Any Other Business
Appeals: A request had been received to support the Red Poppy Appeal in our Parish next year. The Parish Council fully endorsed this request. In addition, the Parish Council approved the request for the following Sunday Appeals:-
9th August – Aid to the Church in Need
9th August – Aid to the Church in Need
20th September – Medical Missionaries of Mary
Parish Council: In order to make the Parish Council representative of all age groups, it was suggested that an invitation be extended to someone with a young family to join the Parish Council. Orla would make the necessary approaches.
Prayer Trust: Fr Peter circulated sample prayer booklets from the Prayer Trust to help support and encourage Parishioners with prayer. The high quality produced booklets are extremely good value for money, ranging from 10p to 50p. The Christmas booklet was very well received and it was agreed to purchase enough for all Parishioners for Christmas with an insert with the times of Christmas services. A small number of other prayer booklets would be purchased and sold in January on a trial basis.
Date of Next Meeting