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MINUTES OF THE PARISH
PASTORAL COUNCIL HELD ON 19 DECEMBER 2003
Summary
Present:
Fr. Vincent Gallogley, Barry O’Halpin, Judith Carr, Paddy McEneaney, Walter
Huyghe, Yvonne Nielsen, Yvonne Stausboll, Martin Whelan, Susanne Lehne,
Horst Dengler and Jeff Thomson.
Apologies:
Pat Farrington, Brigid Alty, Greg Kaufmann and Suzanne Woods.
The meeting opened at 19.50 and Susanne said the opening prayer.
Matters Arising from the November minutes:
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Jeff Thomson had sent his apologies via
Judith’s mobile phone but she did not receive the message until the
following day. Please send apologies via email or use her landline!
Re the investiture of the Knights and the word “objectionable”. It should be
noted that this was a reported comment and does not reflect the views of the
Parish Council or the Parish in general.
The November minutes were approved.
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Charities:
The Christmas Charities sale was very successful; there were 15 stalls and
the takings were in excess of 3000 Euro. The profit will be advised at a
later date. Many people were glad to have a stall where they did not have to
pay a pitch.
Oasis will make their appeal on 10/11 January when people are back from the
holidays.
The standing order appeal in mid November was very poor so it will be
repeated in mid January.
Susan Jacobs would like people to come forward with bedding of all kinds for
St. Gilles. This will not be an appeal from the altar but will be in Words
for 2 weeks beforehand.
There will be one appeal for February itself (Yvonne will contact Courant
d’Air) and then the Lenten appeals will commence. Yvonne will ensure there
is a mixture of regular and not so regular charities. She will bring a
revised charities list and times of appeals in January. ACTION: YVONNE.
The Confirmation class raised 650Euros for the children’s hospital in the
Ukraine by washing cars and selling plants on Charity Sunday.
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Evangelisation and
Education:
Numbers are very high in the Sacraments classes: 74 for First Communion and
43 for Confirmation.
There was a problem one weekend with using the Cultural Centre so the three
classes used the Church. However, the booking has now been confirmed until
the end of May.
The training weekend with David Wells will go ahead on the weekend of 13/14
March.
Brian had some suggestions for the Children’s Mass:
a) that the children’s lectionary should be placed open at the entrance to
the Church so that the children can see it as they enter and that the altar
servers should carry it forward a the beginning of Mass.
b) That there should be at least three Eucharistic Ministers to distribute
the hosts and three the chalices.
c) That one of the classes writes out the response to the psalm in large
letters so it can be held up and the children can reply.
He also wanted to know who was in charge of the Children’s Mass on Christmas
Eve. Provision of music was discussed as follows. Judy and Steve Martin
would do Midnight Mass, which begins at 23.00 with the Carol Service. The
Folk Mass is to be at 10.00 and the group would also do the Children’s Mass
if the Blake family were not around. There was no decision for 11.30
although the use of pre recorded music is a possibility. In the next couple
of days, it should be clarified who is around.
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Worship:
Greg would like the Lector Workbooks but this would have to be approved by
the Finance Council. They cost $440 but may be a bit too American for this
Parish. It was decided to leave it for the time being.
The Reconciliation Service is this Saturday and either Jeff or Judy and
Steve will provide the music. It begins at 18.00 and will be followed by the
Eucharist.
Greg will have a monthly rota for Ministers from New Year.
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Christian Service:
No report but, as Barry is now Vice Chair, a new head for the Commission is
needed. Yvonne Stausboll volunteered and the change was approved by the
Council.
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Parish Life:
Coffee and doughnuts are selling very well and we have a profit of 2000 Euro
this year up to the end of November.
The first Fayre meeting has taken place and volunteers are needed,
especially for the clothes stall and the games (18 – 25 year olds would be
preferred here). The Fayre will be held on 13 June 2004.
It might be a good idea to have another registration drive in January for
those who missed it in September or who have recently arrived. There could
be a Welcome Coffee for newcomers and information about the Parish could be
produced for this.
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Finance Council
Meeting:
There was a long meeting last night about the future development of the
Parish and two architects attended. There is a problem re the Portacabins as
a temporary permit can often lead to permanence i.e. 10 years. It was
wondered whether the Gemeente would be more receptive to our Portacabins if
we had a development plan for our grounds. We have a long-term aim to
develop the centre but at the moment there are financial constraints due to
the three year mortgage on the Nun’s land. We did have plans 9 years ago and
although these have lapsed, they could be reactivated without extra expense.
There will be a meeting with the Leuven authorities in January to see how
receptive they would be to our tentative plans and if they would allow us
the two Portacabins. We could also ask if there is a joint venture that we
could be part of with the Kraainem Gemeente e.g. a crèche, adult centre,
something with the sports centre.
We have a 168,000 Euro mortgage on the land plus interest and it would be at
least a year before we could put forward a complete package to Leuven. The
mortgage should be repaid within three years and then we would have a better
idea of our financial position.
The Council also suggested having a complimentary event to the Fayre in
November/ December. We do not have a fundraising committee as most things
are done on an ad hoc basis and it would be better if there was a more
cohesive set up.
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Maintenance:
The gate lock has been repaired and the architects are looking into the
waste pipe problem.
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A.O.B.:
Volunteers are needed to set up in the main hall and back kitchen on
Saturday night after Mass for Catechtics on Sunday morning.
A question was raised as to who absorbs the costs when the charity funds are
paid out and it was decided that the charity should.
The meeting closed at 21.10 and Yvonne Nielsen said the closing prayer.
The next meeting is on Tuesday 13 January 2004 at 19.30 hrs.
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