Welcome to Our Lady, Mother of the Church – Parish Pastoral Council
PRESENT – Fr Francis, Kevin Higgins, Angela Allan, Normal Mitchell, Audrey Parfinowska, Blanca Nieto, Gerry Higgins
APOLOGIES – Val Lawrie, Andy Cooper
INTRODUCTION – Fr Francis opened the meeting with a prayer.
In the absence of Val, Kevin chaired the meeting
Status of Actions from previous meeting on 4th June 2024
SVdP – Action – Fr Francis to follow up on a date for SVdP to present to the Parish
Review of Parish Finances – this has been completed and Audrey will present this review to the Parish annually.
Audrey to set up the Finance Committee by the end of the year
100 Club – Fr Francis to request for volunteers to run this Club. There will be notices in the newsletter for the next two weeks
Names of PPC Members – Now on noticeboard in Church Porch
Volume and clarity of Church Sound System – Has now been checked by Sound Engineer and all in order.
PPC 8th October 2024
Finance
Card Reader – Action – Audrey to contact Graham in Finance at the Cathedral to understand what system they use and how it works.
Quarterly Update – Action – Audrey now has all the information required and this is scheduled for the end of September
Fabric and Maintenance
Potential Modifications to the Lady Chapel and the Church Hall – Kevin has instructed Consultancy Firm Adams Napier Partnership (Our contact there, Chris Prentice) to look at options and draw up plans for how we might make better use of these spaces. The cost for this report from Adams Napier will be £3000 and the plans will be ready towards the end of October. Kevin has proposed an Extraordinary Meeting PPC, ahead of the next scheduled PPC meeting, in order to discuss the plans/options, and decide next steps. Action – Kevin to send out date and details of the Extraordinary Meeting
Final Check of Major Repair Works to the Church 2023 – Once these works are deemed satisfactory (including a review of the Fencing around the rear of the church), the Building Company will be issued the final payment – this is currently in progress – Action – Kevin
Health and Safety
Handrails – have been commissioned and will be installed within the next month – Tony Allen
Emergency exit signs – all tested by local Electrician and will be tested monthly – Action – Kevin and Tony Allen
Fire Alarm – to be tested every month –Action – Kevin to organise
Fire Extinguishers – to be tested every month –Action – Kevin to organise
Organ trip wires – to be covered – Done
Safety Audit (Commissioned by the Archdiocese) – the H&S Team (Fr Francis, Val Lawrie, Tony Allen, Rob Meek and Kevin Higgins) met with the H & S Consultant on 9 July 24. Most of the issues raised by the H&S Consultant had been dealt with, but he advised the following: steps may need to be introduced at one of the fire exit points into the car park; need to ensure all candles are safely and completely extinguished, and that all electrical appliances are switched off before locking the Church.
Note; all of the Risk Assessments completed in response to the visit of the H&S Consultant are held in a large folder in the Sacristy, and are available for review/inspection by parishioners
Safeguarding
– no issues arising. Val read out the annual Safeguarding message to the Parishioners in September.
AOB
Volunteer Readers and Passkeepers – Angela says more are needed – Action – Fr Francis to speak to parishioners after masses
Lourdes – In January 2025 Angela will start the process of our sponsorship of one of our young parishioners – Action – Angela
Healing Service – Fr Francis would like to hold this by the end of the year
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament – Fr Francis suggested we could do this with Morning Prayer
Website – Fr Francis has contacts in St Cuthberts who are willing to be part of a Website Team, and will hopefully be able to help us set up our own Website separate from St Cuthberts. He will write to everyone involved in that team in October – Action – Fr Francis
Volunteers for Flower Arranging – Gerry will take the lead on this with help from others when required. Deanna will continue to arrange the crib at Christmas
Christmas
Christmas Mass Times – Fr Francis will inform when times are finalised
Music – Action -Fr Francis to speak to Kieran’s mum concerning the music for the Christmas masses
Nativity Play – Action -Fr Francis to speak to Anne Robertson
New Liturgical Lectionaries – Fr Francis informed the PPC that from Advent we will have new liturgical lectionaries.
Christmas Donations – Three donation boxes will be assembled in the Church Porch for 3 separate organisations, they are:
- Gifts for Prisoners’ Children – (Angela to send note to Fr Francis during the last week in October with information parishioners will need to know)
- Food Bank – Val will be organising the delivery of these food items
- Gifts for the Homeless – Val will be organising the delivery of these gift items
The cut-off date for all items to be in the boxes at the Church will be 18December.
Next PPC meeting arranged for 4 Feb 2025. ENDWordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!
