Dear Parishioner,
Last Tuesday evening we held our first Pastoral Council Meeting
with
our new chairperson, Mrs Elaine Dingsdale. It was a most pleasant
and fruitful meeting, where all assembled had the good of the church
and parish at heart and where a lot of work was surveyed and much was
achieved. As a parish, we are most grateful to these members of
the Parish who represent us in this way and ensure that all channels of
communication are kept open, between the priests and the parishioners
and among ourselves.
At the Council, each group working within the Parish presents its
report on how things are going, and later in this Newsletter you will
be able to read them for yourselves. The only reports not
appearing here are those from the UCM and the ProLife Group. Both
these have recently been much involved in the debate about the
suitability or otherwise of the sex education programmes which are
being offered in schools without parental agreement.
On Monday, I had occasion to sit in on the UCM meeting (Fr Andrew is
their usual chaplain) and I was delighted with what I found – a vibrant
and happy group with their recent problems over filling the posts of
chairperson, secretary and treasurer solved. I took the
opportunity to thank them for all the good work the UCM does for the
parish and beyond. I also suggested to them that they should
invite into their fellowship the young people who have recently moved
into our parish from other countries. This would be very
beneficial in both directions; and they were happy to try to do so.
Before giving you the Minutes of the Parish Pastoral Council and the
Reports from the Groups, let me just tell you that the Catechumenate
group is doing very well. A most enjoyable session is held every
Tuesday evening, when not only the catechumens are present but also a
number of parishioners who attend to deepen their own understanding of
the Faith. There are presently seven people being prepared for
reception into the church next Holy Saturday.
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MINUTES of the meeting of
Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish
Pastoral
Council
held at Stella Maris
on Tuesday 10th October 2006
at 7.30pm.
PRESENT were:
Father Jones – President.
Mrs Elaine Dingsdale – Chairman.
Mrs Mandy Rodrigues – Secretary.
Mr Bill Homewood – Life Member.
Mrs Jacky Horton-Jones – Pro Life and U.C.M.
Mr Brian Sweeney – Justice and Peace.
Sister Jennifer – Parish Sister and Youth Rep.
Miss Mary Moxham – Ecumenism
Mr John Dennison – Stella Maris
Mrs Sarah Dennison – Marriage Care
Mr Mike Darby – S.V.P.
Mrs Margaret Hunt – Catechumenate.
Mr Peter and Mrs Sue Lewis – Deanery Representatives.
THE CHAIRMAN opened the
meeting by inviting Father Jones to say an opening prayer.
APOLOGIES were received from:
Fr Andrew.
THE MINUTES of the last meeting
were read and approved as a correct record. Proposed by Mr Bill
Homewood and seconded by Mrs Margaret Hunt.
MATTERS ARISING from the
Minutes:
a) The Stairs to the Choir Loft have
not yet been roped off.
b) Mr Sweeney reported that he had
heard nothing from the local
authority regarding the flooding problem in the car park which was not
entirely unexpected. Following discussion it was decided that
this matter would be dealt with when finance is available for the total
resurfacing of the car park.
GROUP REPORTS were received
from Stella Maris, Marriage Care, U.C.M., Pro-Life, Ecumenism,
Catechists and G.A.S.
With regard to the UCM report, Father
Jones asked that notification of
UCM events and meetings be provided in advance so as to be included in
the Bulletin.
Following the report on Ecumenism it
was agreed that we should
encourage more Catholic parishioners to attend Cytun services.
And after the Stella Maris Report, it
was agreed that thanks should go
to David and Anita Swann for their patience and assistance while the
repair work was being carried out in Stella Maris.
ITEMS SUBMITTED FOR DISCUSSION
REPAIRS. The Chairman and
members thanked Mr Dennison for all his recent work in the Church and
Stella Maris. The Lightening Conductor has been re-earthed.
The electrics in the Church have been made safe. The Gas Heaters in the
Church have been serviced. Health and Safety regulations keep
changing and the Chairman thanked Mr Dennison for keeping us up to date.
REPOSITORY. Following
discussion it was decided that the
old Confessional in the Church should be cleared out and converted into
a Repository. Once this work is done, the repository will be
opened both after the Sunday Masses and when need arises. It was
also reported that parishioners are availing themselves very well of
the booklets in The Catholic Truth Society stand at the rear of the
Church.
SALE OF NEWSPAPERS. There
had been some concern expressed
that there were no Catholic Newspapers on sale in the Church. The sale
of newspapers had stopped due to a large financial loss a couple of
years ago. The Universe sending us a batch of free newspapers
with a subscription forms. This is a one off event - Newspapers
will not be available from the repository.
DATE OF NEXT MEETING: To be
announced.
THE CHAIRMAN thanked the
members for attending and for their contributions and asked Father
Jones to close the meeting with a prayer.
GROUP REPORTS - Presented
to
the meeting held on 10th October 2006
Guardian Angel Society - Report
by Margaret Hunt.
As members of the Council are probably aware, there have been some
significant changes in the Guardian Angel Society – although the
Constitution and, indeed, the “raison d’etre” remain the same.
Following some lengthy and prayerful discussion meetings and the
resignation, for personal reasons, of some members (including the
Treasurer, Sylvia Bell and the Secretary, Margaret Hunt), Father Jones
agreed to take on the Secretaryship himself, while Mandy Rodrigues
agreed to act as Treasurer; it is to be hoped that these positions will
be temporary and that members will soon be able to take over!
Since then the focus of G.A.S. has changed somewhat. Although
individual visits will still be made, the emphasis now will be more on
visits to the hospital and, particularly, to residents in some of the
many Nursing Homes in our town. At the same time there will be a
more regular and better organised change of visitor so that “clients”
may come to know different people. The giving of gifts and having
Masses said will, of course, continue, and it has been stressed that
members must claim expenses. It is encouraging to note that, although
some of the longer established “clients” have died, there are now
several new and - dare we say – younger members. Finally, thanks
must be given to all members past and present, to Mandy herself and
particularly to Fr Jones who hosted a “farewell” and “change of
direction” lunch at the Pen-y-Bryn, Colwyn Heights on the Feast of the
Assumption.
Catechists - Report by
Margaret Hunt.
We were saddened to receive the resignation of Sheila Johnson from the
Team of Catechists. She well deserves our thanks for the many
years she has devoted to the young people of the Parish, especially
those preparing for Confirmation in year 8 of their Secondary School
career. At the Confirmation Ceremony at the beginning of July,
there were nine candidates, five of whom had regularly attended the
Classes at Stella Maris. Another youngster was received into full
Church membership with the adult Catechumens after receiving individual
instruction.
Stella Maris Report - Report
by John and Sarah Dennison.
Finance: Stella Maris continues to be
self-sufficient in terms of
day to day running costs with the key sources of income being the rent
from the flat and hire charges from Conwy Council’s Fostering
department.
Maintenance: Phase one
of the damp problem (at the rear of the
building) has now been rectified together with improvements to the
ventilation in the flat. Special thanks must go to David and
Anita Swann for doing the re-decoration and putting up with all the
mess and disruption. Proposals will be drawn up over the next few
weeks to install a damp course around the rest of the building.
We are currently tackling a number of Health and Safety issues –
a) the dangerous garden wall has been demolished and replaced with a
fence.
b) quotations have been sought for upgrading the Fire Alarm system and
to provide safer egress via the patio doors.
c) a 5 yearly Electrical Safety Inspection is scheduled for
October.
Use of Stella Maris:
Although we have settled into a pattern of
regular users, it must be remembered that the services and facilities
we can offer are directly related to the number of volunteers we
have. Currently much of the workload is falling on just a few
exceptional individuals.
Marriage Care Report - Report
by John and Sarah Dennison.
The last marriage Preparation Course was held in June over three
evenings and five couples attended, all from within this Deanery.
At the moment we have only one couple awaiting preparation, but we are
hoping to offer the course to couples from our the Rhyl Deanery at the
end of the year. The optimum number for a course is six couples
with the optimum number of courses being 3 to 4 per year.
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