|
MINUTES OF THE PARISH
PASTORAL COUNCIL HELD ON 10 FEBRUARY 2004
Summary
Present:
Fr. Vincent Gallogley, Judith Carr, Paddy McEneaney, Brian O’Neill, Yvonne
Stausboll, Yvonne Nielsen, Suzanne Christmas, Walter Huyghe, Brigid Alty, Greg
Kaufmann, Martin Whelan, Susanne Lehne and Johny Van Der Bracht.
▲up
Apologies:
Pat Farrington, Barry O’Halpin, Jeff Thomson
and Fr. John Kealy.
The meeting began at 19.45hrs and Martin said the opening prayer.
There were no matters arising from the January Minutes so they were
approved.
▲up
Charities:
Fr. Vincent has been given a lovely wooden carving from our twin Parish in
Rwanda as a thank you for all the help we have given in the past. It was
decided that, if we could make an attractive Charity Corner in the Hall, it
could be placed there. ACTION: Yvonne S.
▲up
Education and
Evangelisation:
There is to be a meeting for the parents of the First Communion children on
Thursday night. The idea of a third First Communion Sunday will be put to
them. Brian was of the opinion that the parents would opt for just two
Masses. Paddy said that there would be an extra 40/50 chairs available for
the Church should we just keep to the normal two Sundays. Guy Thiran is
hoping to be well enough to take the photographs again this year.
David Wells is coming the weekend of 13/14 March and will speak to the
teachers on the Saturday afternoon on the theme of “Passing on our Faith”.
In the evening, the theme is “Community: What’s in it for me?”. The Finance
Council has allocated a budget of approx. 1200 Euro to cover this weekend.
The Confirmation group have their next meeting at La Foresta in Vaalbeek,
Leuven on 20 March.
The Sacraments class will hold their Service of Reconciliation at 17.00hrs
on 27 March.
There was a very successful pre-marriage course held recently; this is now
run by Eileen & John Steinitz and 8 couples attended. The next course is on
15 May.
The seven “Life in the Spirit” videos are to be shown between Easter and
Pentecost. No dates have been decided yet but the format will be similar to
Alpha, with a meal, the video and than a discussion.
A discussion was then held about the role of Audrey Walters in our
community. Susanne will ask if she available to attend the meeting at
Vaalbeek to talk to the Confirmation group (subject to approval of the
Confirmation Group Coordinator). She will also find out if Audrey is to hold
her weekly Lenten Bible group. If so, dates must be arranged quickly and
details put in “Words”. ACTION: Susanne.
▲up
Worship:
Greg is running a training session on Saturday 14 February for Lectors
(13.30) and Eucharistic Ministers (15.30). He has plenty of readers
available for the 20.00 Ash Wednesday service and if demand is there, would
also consider a morning Mass. Greg is also compiling a special rota for the
two weeks of Passiontide and would like to know who is available and when.
He has a good email contact list for both lectors and Eucharistic Ministers
and will co-ordinate with Brian and Judith for First Communion and
Confirmation.
Lent and Easter Services:
25 February: Ash Wednesday – 20.00
Wednesday 3 March: Reconciliation Service & Mass – 20.00
Thursday 18 March: Irish Mass of St. Patrick in the Franciscan Church,
Leuven – 20.00
Saturday 27 March: Reconciliation Service & Mass – 17.00
Thursday 8 April: Mass of the Lord’s Supper – 20.00
Friday 9 April: Stations of the Cross from St Pancratius – 15.00
Mass of the Passion – 20.00
Saturday 10 April: Mass of the Resurrection/Easter Vigil- 21.00
Sunday 11 April: Easter Sunday – 10.00 & 11.30 followed by an Easter Egg
hunt organised by the Knights.
▲up
Christian Service:
The Knights had a very successful wine tasting evening.
▲up
Parish Life:
Suzanne is looking into the possibility of starting up the Helping Hands
“group” again within the Parish later in the year (the need at the moment is
volunteers to help at the Fayre).
The idea of Helping Hands could be raised when David Wells talks about
Community and an article could be put in the Newsletter. Suzanne is hoping
to produce a new form where people could tick areas where they would be
willing to help e.g. hospital visits, shopping but they would only be
contacted if there were actually a need.
More volunteers are needed to help with the flower arranging in Church.
Yvonne Nielsen will contact Catherine Sternemann to see what her
requirements are and then the priests could make an appeal. It was also
pointed out that flower arranging classes used to be run in the parish and
perhaps this could be started again.
▲up
Maintenance:
A benefactor has agreed to give a donation to improve the lighting around
the Parish grounds as it can be quite dark in some places in the evenings.
Uplighters placed in the ground has been one suggestion so that the lights
do not break so easily. The benefactor has also offered to pay to finish off
the fencing and he is willing to redevelop the “workshop” in the car park
(if these fall into complete disrepair, they will revert to green belt and
cannot be rebuilt). It is hoped that it can be used to house the electrics
etc and maybe even a classroom.
Fr. John now has his own separate phone line: 02 721 6291.
Fr. Vincent’s computer has not been working properly but this has turned out
to be the way the photocopier had been set up and not a fault with the
computer.
Johny reported that discussions are still ongoing with both Leuven and the
Kraainem Authorities regarding planning approval for a possible extension of
the Parish Centre. The earlier negative response of the authorities may be
reversible and that is being checked out at the moment.
There is a problem with the window behind the altar in that, on sunny days,
it is difficult for the congregation to see what is happening on the altar
and the priests sometimes cannot read the Lectionary. It would be nice to
have moveable stained glass for this area and also for the Cross on the
other window to be given stained glass. Paddy has a contact and will make
enquiries. ACTION: Paddy.
A.O.B.
The accounts for 2003 have just been completed; thanks were given to Yvonne
N. for this. She will be able to give an overview at the next meeting. The
number of standing orders has increased by 12-15 since the last appeal. It
was pointed out that 25% of the Parish generate 60% of the Parish’s total
income through standing orders and there is a noticeable dip in income from
the basket collections over the holiday periods.
Website: It was suggested that Ferran might like to address the next meeting
to tell us how the website is coming along and if any progress has been made
in changing the name. Paddy suggested that the council looks at the site
over the next few days and highlights any areas for improvement.
The next meeting will be on 9 March at 19.30 hrs. Fr. Vincent, Fr. John &
Judith sent their apologies in advance.
Brigid said the closing prayer and the meeting ended at 21.25hrs.
▲up
|
