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Present:
Fr. Vincent Gallogley, Barry O’Halpin, Judith Carr, Suzanne Christmas, Paddy
McEneaney, Lindy Martin, Yvonne Nielsen, Walter Huyghe, Horst Dengler, Yvonne
Stausboll, Susanne Lehne, Johny Van Der Bracht and Brian O’Neill.
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Apologies:
Fr. John Kealy and Brigid
Alty.
Susanne said the opening prayer and the meeting began at 19.50.
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Matters
Arising from December meeting:
Pat and Karen Farrington are leaving on January 15 so it would be nice to organise something before they go. It was suggested that this Thursday evening at about 20.00 would be a suitable time if they were available. The Knights are holding their meeting but they could take a break for about 30 minutes. There will be drinks and a presentation. ACTION: Fr. Vincent.
The December Minutes were approved.
Election
of new officers
Suzanne Christmas has volunteered to be Deputy Chair and this was fully approved by the Council.
Fr. Edmund’s 10th anniversary will be taking place at the end of this month and the Parish should mark this in some way. It was decided that a small reception would be held after the 11.30 Mass on Sunday 23 January. Fr. Edmund’s sister Joan will be here for the occasion and Fr. Vincent will also invite Fr. Willy and Jean
Jadoul.
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Lay
Administrator:
Barry attended a weekend course in Birmingham and found it to be very good. Depending on which options he takes, it could lead to him becoming a lay administrator or an educational co-ordinator.
Liam has suggested that a committee be formed to look into all the options that are open to the Parish for the future. We must be seen to be completely open and transparent in everything we do so that there is no come back in the future and no one can say that we didn’t explore all avenues. Fr. Vincent expressed his willingness to stay with us beyond the age of 70 IF he knows that there is someone who is able and qualified to take over his administrative role.
Barry is proposing six meetings for this committee that will report back to the Council in May with its options and/or recommendations. The committee is to be composed of Lindy Martin, Yvonne Stausboll (Chair), Yvonne Nielsen, Walter
Huyghe, Fr. Vincent, Fr. John and four members from the Finance Council.
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Evangelisation
and Education:
Catechetics restarts on Sunday 16 January.
With regards to the special Children’s Liturgy, Fr. Vincent and Fr. John both like to welcome the children into the Church. Susanne tries to arrive at the Offertory but sometimes finds that timing is difficult.
It was noted that the Christmas Eve Children’s Mass was exceedingly well attended and that the Church was overflowing! Paddy requested that more help should be given to the priests over the Christmas period with the physical preparation for Masses. Oneil D’Sa is taking over as sacristan and will be informed of this.
Hymn books/Mass books: there was a very long discussion about the quantity and quality of our current books. The Children’s Liturgy book has been retyped by Yvonne and Fr. Vincent will check its content and alter any anomalies. It was also suggested that we should get in touch with publishers to see what is currently available and if we could use any of the newer material. Brain will canvas the teachers about their opinions. With regard to the hymns, it was decided to try and amalgamate the hymns from all three Masses and to remove any that are never used. Then, the new liturgy, the hymns and a list of commonly used prayers and responses could be put into one booklet (we have a lady who is willing to finance any new format that we choose); this will stop any confusion over which book should be used when and will make space in the cupboard.
Nuns: Judith has received Christmas cards and a letter from Sister Bernadine. The nuns will not be able to do the certificates again this year, due to ill health but we have plenty of time to order them and write them ourselves.
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Worship:
There will be the commissioning of new ministers on 29 January at the 18.00 Mass
Lenten Calendar:
February 9 Ash Wednesday Mass & Ashes at 20.00
February 26 Reconciliation Service at 17.00 followed by 18.00 Mass
February 27 Special Children’s Liturgy
March 4 World Day of Prayers at St.Paulus, Vossem
March 13 Special Children’s Liturgy
March 16 St Patrick’s Eve Mass (possibly) Paddy check Irish Club/Fr. John
March 19 Reconciliation Service (Sacraments class & others) at 17.00 followed by 18.00 Mass.
March 24 Holy Thursday Mass at 20.00
March 25 Good Friday Stations at 15.00 from St Pancratius
Good Friday Commemoration of the Passion of the Lord at 20.00
March 26 Holy Saturday Vigil at 21.00
March 27 Easter Sunday Masses at 10.00 and 11.30 and 19.15 at Rue le Corrège
Susanne pointed out that the World Day of Prayers for 2006 would be held at St. Anthony’s. She would also like to arrange dates for this year’s Promise.
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Parish Life:
This year’s Fayre will be held on Sunday 12 June. Yvonne Nielsen and Peter Willis are to co-chair the committee. They believe they have found two couples who are willing to run the Tombola and Yvonne and Peter are preparing to do a presentation to the Knights. Prizes are needed from big companies/computer firms/airlines etc and of course volunteers will be needed for the day.
Joe Binns: Fr. Vincent asked for a minute’s silence for Joe to reflect upon all the good works he had done for the Parish. Yvonne asked that the Fayre Committee could pass on its condolences to Joe’s family and to thank him for all the work he had done for the Fayre, especially on the Tombola where he sold the most tickets ever.
Newsletter: Paddy has been talking to Ferran about this and he let us know that we have a potential new editor in Fiona Murray.
Fr. Vincent sincerely thanked Paddy for all his hard work in the Parish and especially recently with the new sound system; he also thanked both him and Susan for their help with the coffee and doughnuts. He then thanked Walter for this beautiful crèche that is in the Cathedral and for the one we had outside.
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Christian Service:
Tsunami: after much discussion, it was decided that the Parish would hold its collection for the disaster on Fr. Edmund’s anniversary and in his memory. Fr. Vincent, Fr. John and Jenni will be on the altar and she will appeal for her island of Indonesia and her people. The collection will be split 50/50 between the Post trauma counselling service in Indonesia and a large organisation such as Caritas. It will also be explained that the Diocese has given €20000 from diocesan funds to Caritas International and that it is asking each Parish to make a collection when it is convenient, ours being that day.
Fr. Max: Lindy will contact the Knights to see what help they can give to Fr. Max.
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Maintenance:
Sewage: at the moment, plans of the present sewage system are needed urgently (if they still exist) as the Gemeente needs them to give us permission to connect to the main sewer. The Council gave its approval to commission someone to do them IMMEDIATELY. Once the permission is given, we then need to see how to make the best connection, given the difference in height between our pipe and that of the main sewer. There is a danger that if it doesn’t slant enough, we may get reflux so there is a possibility that we may need a pump.
The original cost of the simple piping was €15000 without either pump or connections. It may be better for our pipe to come in from the top rather than from underneath as that would necessitate another pit having to be dug. As Fr. Vincent pointed out, the sewer is the most important thing in the Parish at this moment so we need to get on with it!
Sheds: the backs of the new sheds have been finished but rats have been found in the electricity room. The remedy would seem to be to concrete the room rather than have it carpeted. A trench also needs to be dug (by Xavier) around the sides of the sheds to remove the water that comes down from the road and to prevent flooding. The trench should be filled with shale and the area should not be allowed to get over grown.
Future plans: extra parking, a new letterbox, filling in by the gateposts and the possibility of having a parlaphone system connecting the gates to the house.
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AOB:
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The fundraising Committee had its first meeting today. So far it consists of Yvonne Nielsen, Barry O’Halpin and Melanie
D’Sa. Fr. Vincent will make an announcement about it at Mass.
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Paddy said the closing prayer and the meeting ended at 22.10.
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The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 22 February at 19.30 hrs.
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