Parish Council

St. Luke's and Holy Cross Parish Council meets every 2 months to discuss pastoral, social, educational, liturgical and spiritual matters. They receive a financial report from a separate Finance Commitee.

The following people are the member of the council:

Tom Austin (chair), Father Paul McNamara, John Kobelt, Pat Quinlan, Willie Roche, Dave Summerville, Kathy Brain (secretary), Delia Doyle, Dave Frampton, Jacque Leonard, Sue McGuiggan, Tony Rowley, Jim Wall, Jane Winterbottom.

MINUTES FOR THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

HELD ON THURSDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER 2003.

PRESENT

Tom Austin, John Kobelt, Pat Quinlan, Willie Roche, Dave Summerville, Kathy Brain (secretary)

APOLOGIES

Father Paul McNamara, Delia Doyle, Dave Frampton, Jacque Leonard, Sue McGuiggan, Tony Rowley, Jim Wall, Jane Winterbottom

1 OPENING PRAYER

Tom Austin chaired the meeting.

2 WELCOME

Members of the parish council attending were welcomed.

3 AGENDA REVIEW

The Parish Council approved the agenda of the meeting. Two extra items were added to any other business: stewardship and the Bishop’s visit.

4 PREVIOUS MINUTES

The minutes of the meeting held on Monday 24th March 2003, were taken as read and approved by the Parish Council. Copies of the minutes had previously been circulated.

5 FINANCE REPORT

Tom Austin reported back to the parish council about the accounts for the year ending 2003. An overview and comparison of the past three years accounts was given, and certain areas highlighted as follows. Expenditure for extensive premises’ repairs amounted to £33,050, which included a new heating system for the Church and hall, electrical work, drainage work, and removal of the willow tree. Presently work is being undertaken to remove the boiler in the sacristy, and the area is being converted into a meeting room.

The offertory collections from St Luke’s Church were included from October 2002 onwards, and therefore it was anticipated that the contributions would be higher for the year ending 2004. However, the overall forecast was that our expenditure within the parish exceeds our income, and this would continue until the financial issues of the parish were addressed.

Tom Austin is to present the finances to the parish at the Masses of the weekend of Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th October 2003. Distribution of envelopes and Gift Aid forms will be undertaken by members of the Parish Council after the Masses.

6 PARISH HALL REPORT

The building work previously mentioned in the sacristy, was as a direct result of increased activity in the hall, which can result in disruption for meetings being held in the Parish Centre. Access to the area will be via the old boiler house door to increase security to the Church. The issue of no toilet facilities being available for the Monday Senior Citizen’s Group was discussed, and it was suggested that the group may consider moving to the new meeting room.

7 DIOCESAN PASTORAL COUNCIL REPORT

Jane Winterbottom was unable to attend the last meeting of the Diocesan Pastoral Council therefore no report is available.

8 EDUCATION/SCHOOLS

In Sue McGuiggan’s absence, Dave Summerville brought with him five areas for discussion with the Parish Council, which Sue had discussed with him previously. The school spent £38,000 on the new security fence and Father Paul has a key, so that parishioners can use the car park at the weekend, and the gates can be locked afterwards. Holy Cross School is more than happy for the parish to use their car park at weekends, but unfortunately the gates have been left open on a few occasions. A discussion ensued as to how to ensure that the gates are locked after each Mass and the issue is to be discussed in greater detail with Father Paul.

The school would like an input in the Parish magazine. All schools are to be included in the magazine.

The school choir is to join with St Luke’s School and sing at the 11.00 a.m. Mass for the Bishop’s visit.

The issue of the future of Holy Cross School Pre-School was discussed, in relation to the creation of a new nursery attached to Holy Cross School. The concern was whether there would be a need for two nurseries, and whether Anne would move her group into the Primary School. The issue of who would be responsible for overseeing the new nursery, was discussed at great length. If Anne were to move out of the parish hall, it would have an affect on the amount of income generated from the hire of the hall. It was felt that more information was required, for feedback at the next meeting.

Holy Cross Primary School is in debt, and the issue of a donation from the parish was discussed.

The September 2003 intake of pupils for Holy Cross School was down with 24 out of a possible 30 children enrolled. The financial implications of this were discussed. The speed at which Holy Cross School moved out of special measures, was noted and praised.

The good GCSE and ‘A’ Level results from St Mark’s School were discussed and Dave Summerville explained the scoring system. The new sixth form block at St Mark’s is operational.

9 SPIRITUAL FORMATION & ADULT EDUCATION REPORT

The Confirmation candidates are going on a weekend retreat. The Parish retreat prior to the Bishop’s visit is to commence on Monday 8th September 2003 and it is hoped that attendance will be positive.

10 CATECHETICAL REPORT

The First Holy Communion Programme is to re-commence.

There are presently no candidates for the RCIA programme, but the possibility of an adult education programme was discussed. An example was given whereby a group meet monthly, and had set topics for discussion. Any questions would be put to the Parish Priest for clarification.

11 LITURGICAL REPORT

A meeting with Father Paul is to be arranged to discuss the Advent and Christmas celebrations.

12 TWINNING/OUTREACH

Dave Summerville reported back about the Twinning Co-ordinating Group, which is meeting next week. They have received letters and requests for prayers and finance for education and bibles. Methods of assistance were discussed and the group are to report back to the Parish Council at the next meeting. The possibility of talks at weekend Masses was discussed.

13 SOCIAL/FUNDRAISING

The Social committee presently has two members and they are open to suggestions from anyone about possible social events to organise for the parish and volunteers to assist them with the events.

Dances already booked for Holy Cross Hall are: 4th October 2003, 1st November 2003, and New Years Eve. Some dances have been booked for 2004, and it was asked that a copy of the advance hall bookings was made available for the Parish Council meetings.

The trip to Devon in May 2004 has 42 interested parties at present and a meeting is to be arranged shortly.

14 ANY OTHER BUSINESS

The itinerary for the Bishop’s visitation was discussed. The Bishop will attend 5.30 pm Mass at Holy Cross Church on Saturday 13th September 2003 and 09.00 am Mass on Sunday 14th September 2003 at St Luke’s Church. The Confirmation Mass will take place on Sunday 14th September 2003 at 11.00 am at Holy Cross Church. Members of the Parish Council will meet the Bishop at 12.45 pm and all members are encouraged to attend.

The stewardship weekend was postponed from July to Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th October 2003. A newsletter which contains a paragraph about the activities of each parish group (for eg the Choir, Knights of St Columbia, Legion of Mary) is be produced. The aim is to actively encourage people to join and support these groups.

At a previous parish council meeting, the issue of distributing a letter to each household within the Parish boundaries, explaining all the activities within the Church had been discussed. This issue is to be discussed in more detail at the next meeting whereby it is hoped that this project will be commenced shortly.

A huge note of appreciation from the Parish Council goes to Dorothy McBride, for all her effort and commitment in running the Repository. A letter of appreciation on behalf of the Parish Council is to be sent to her.

15 DATE OF NEXT MEETING AND CLOSING PRAYER

Thursday 27th November 2003 At 7.30 PM.