Present
Father Mackle, Monsignor Ryan, Deacon Tommy, John Heath, Ron Drozdziak, Mary Theresa Coyle, Elizabeth Reid, Margaret Barton, Gordon Reid, Iain Pringle, Donal Dowds, FredMcDermott, Donal McDermott and Veronica McLaughlin.
Apologies
Jane Dowds, Sadie Traynor, and Ann Marie Clark.
1. Opening Prayer
The meeting was opened with a prayer led by Father Mackle. Iain Pringle Donal Dowds and Fred McDermott were welcomed as new members to the PPC.
2. Previous Minutes
Minutes of the previous meeting were accepted and there were no matters arising. It was agreed to post these in an accessible place for parishioners and decision subsequently taken to post these on parish website given the high number of people accessing.
3. Group Reports
Group Reports were considered on the following with only questions raised in meeting itself minuted :
Liturgy report- Question was raised about whether there is a need to have music at Holiday of Obligations evening Masses. This has been discussed at liturgy group and it was agreed that the liturgy group will look at numbers attending for future Masses and make a decision thereafter.
Faith Formation- Stephen McKinney’s talk scheduled to take place on 29thNovember will clash with Parish celebrating sacrament of Confirmation.
Action - Elizabeth to rearrange.
Youth- The extent of parish youth activity over the previous 3 years was noted very positively. Net ministry has given good feedback to the parish on their activities. Agreed it would be good to publish the calendar of events as far in advance as possible to further maximize attendance.
F&F- Archdiocese has been written to and parish relatively content with its financial position though levy remains significant.
Action - Fr Mackle to arrange for heating to be adjusted.
Heating loop in church noted as now fixed.
J&P- Joint working continues with St Joseph’s and work done to raise awareness of human trafficking continues. Agreed to look for opportunity to tie in with Faith Formation group.
Action - Elizabeth and Veronica to take forward.
Bereavement group - noted as working well
Transport to Mass- This service is used and there is still a need for additional drivers for the 12 o’clock Masses.
Fallen away- This is now considered as part of the Emmaus group.
Halls - Halls committee still needs additional volunteers and will ask again via bulletin after the summer. Committee intends clearing out crypt in the autumn and will look for volunteers for that specifically.
4. Joint Reachout with St. Joseph’s
The idea for a joint Reachout has arisen through discussions in the cluster meeting particularly with both local schools due to merge, it was agreed as a good idea. St Joseph’s do have a messengers system that could deliver and would input to the content.
This was agreed in principle and the importance of including messages around social justice activities such as highlighting awareness of human trafficking, soup run, food banks and message of mercy was agreed as essential. There was general discussion around possible reasons for people not coming to church services in order to better understand how target the content of Reachout. The parish is very fortunate to have a system that reaches out to 3,200 people with the importance of personal contact to give an invitation and encouragement agreed as essential.
Action – Reachout team to consider future content and take forward with St Joseph’s.
5. Pope Francis Faith Award
The award is a primary school based programme for P6&7s with classroom based sessions as well as parish based activities. Fr. Mackle has discussed with the Head teacher of St Andrew’s who feels that there is not the capacity for the primary school to take on that commitment at this point. There was discussion on whether the award could tie in with the SVDP youth group.
Richard Jackson has offered to meet with the HT and share good experience from St Mary’s Duntocher on the faith award. Parish catechists could go into the school to support for 2018-19. PPC discussed the importance of catholic education and the primary’s role in this.
6. The Emmaus leaflet
New Emmaus leaflet shared with any comments to be sent to John Heath.
7. St Andrew’s Primary’s final Mass 22nd June / refreshments upper hall
St Andrews Primary School final Mass before merger with St Joseph’s is on Friday 22ndJune at 10am and there is a lot of preparations underway to mark the occasion. It was noted that the primary school opened in 1969 so is now in its 50thyear. It is hoped to hold the refreshments in the upper hall after Mass.
Action - Gordon to contact commercial let and see if hall can be made available.
8. SCIAF / St. Nicholas / St. Margaret’s boxes
In recent years the demand for SCIAF and other charity boxes is much reduced partly because people make electronic donations. Parish has therefore advised SCIAF etc to reduce the number of boxes sent to reduce waste. All agreed a good idea.
9. Cleaning Contract
As it has been a few years since cleaning contracts for the church and the hall have been reviewed, an advert was placed in bulletin. At the same time a request issued for volunteers secured 5 volunteers.
Gordon updated PPC on the quotes about which there was some discussion.
Action – Gordon to update halls committee.
10. PPC Constitution
The original St Andrew’s PPC draft Constitution based on a generic Archdiocesan version, has recently been updated and was issued to meeting for discussion.
After some discussion, it was agreed to establish a sub group to review and propose final draft for agreement. Group to consist of Fr. Mackle, Gordon Reid, Donal Dowds, John Heath, Iain Pringle and Veronica McLaughlin.
Action - All to email any comments on draft to Veronica McLaughlin for consideration by sub group. Date of meeting to be confirmed.
11. AOB
Car park next to church is now introducing charges with no free parking time from 18thJune. Convener of local traders had met with Fr. Mackle as he wishes to mobilise as many people as possible to oppose the new charges. PPC agreed it was important to support this due to potential impact on local trade and church attendance.
Action – Item to be drafted for bulletin.
Suggestion made on how to demonstrate the extent to which the church works as part of the community. A high number of hall lets raise money for a variety of charities and it was agreed that it would be good to start to monitor.
Suggestion made to coordinate content of bulletin in time order.
A vote of thanks was given to Margaret Barton and Jane Dowds for all their time and service on the PPC.
Next Meeting
The next meeting is proposed on 6th August at 6.45 for 7pm in the Parish house.
Meeting closed with a Prayer led by Fr. Mackle.
Father Mackle, Monsignor Ryan, Deacon Tommy, John Heath, Ron Drozdziak, Mary Theresa Coyle, Elizabeth Reid, Margaret Barton, Gordon Reid, Iain Pringle, Donal Dowds, FredMcDermott, Donal McDermott and Veronica McLaughlin.
Apologies
Jane Dowds, Sadie Traynor, and Ann Marie Clark.
1. Opening Prayer
The meeting was opened with a prayer led by Father Mackle. Iain Pringle Donal Dowds and Fred McDermott were welcomed as new members to the PPC.
2. Previous Minutes
Minutes of the previous meeting were accepted and there were no matters arising. It was agreed to post these in an accessible place for parishioners and decision subsequently taken to post these on parish website given the high number of people accessing.
3. Group Reports
Group Reports were considered on the following with only questions raised in meeting itself minuted :
- Liturgy
- Faith Formation
- Youth
- Messengers
- Fabric & Finance
- Justice&Peace
- Bereavement,
- Transport to Mass
- Fallen away
- Halls.
Liturgy report- Question was raised about whether there is a need to have music at Holiday of Obligations evening Masses. This has been discussed at liturgy group and it was agreed that the liturgy group will look at numbers attending for future Masses and make a decision thereafter.
Faith Formation- Stephen McKinney’s talk scheduled to take place on 29thNovember will clash with Parish celebrating sacrament of Confirmation.
Action - Elizabeth to rearrange.
Youth- The extent of parish youth activity over the previous 3 years was noted very positively. Net ministry has given good feedback to the parish on their activities. Agreed it would be good to publish the calendar of events as far in advance as possible to further maximize attendance.
F&F- Archdiocese has been written to and parish relatively content with its financial position though levy remains significant.
Action - Fr Mackle to arrange for heating to be adjusted.
Heating loop in church noted as now fixed.
J&P- Joint working continues with St Joseph’s and work done to raise awareness of human trafficking continues. Agreed to look for opportunity to tie in with Faith Formation group.
Action - Elizabeth and Veronica to take forward.
Bereavement group - noted as working well
Transport to Mass- This service is used and there is still a need for additional drivers for the 12 o’clock Masses.
Fallen away- This is now considered as part of the Emmaus group.
Halls - Halls committee still needs additional volunteers and will ask again via bulletin after the summer. Committee intends clearing out crypt in the autumn and will look for volunteers for that specifically.
4. Joint Reachout with St. Joseph’s
The idea for a joint Reachout has arisen through discussions in the cluster meeting particularly with both local schools due to merge, it was agreed as a good idea. St Joseph’s do have a messengers system that could deliver and would input to the content.
This was agreed in principle and the importance of including messages around social justice activities such as highlighting awareness of human trafficking, soup run, food banks and message of mercy was agreed as essential. There was general discussion around possible reasons for people not coming to church services in order to better understand how target the content of Reachout. The parish is very fortunate to have a system that reaches out to 3,200 people with the importance of personal contact to give an invitation and encouragement agreed as essential.
Action – Reachout team to consider future content and take forward with St Joseph’s.
5. Pope Francis Faith Award
The award is a primary school based programme for P6&7s with classroom based sessions as well as parish based activities. Fr. Mackle has discussed with the Head teacher of St Andrew’s who feels that there is not the capacity for the primary school to take on that commitment at this point. There was discussion on whether the award could tie in with the SVDP youth group.
Richard Jackson has offered to meet with the HT and share good experience from St Mary’s Duntocher on the faith award. Parish catechists could go into the school to support for 2018-19. PPC discussed the importance of catholic education and the primary’s role in this.
6. The Emmaus leaflet
New Emmaus leaflet shared with any comments to be sent to John Heath.
7. St Andrew’s Primary’s final Mass 22nd June / refreshments upper hall
St Andrews Primary School final Mass before merger with St Joseph’s is on Friday 22ndJune at 10am and there is a lot of preparations underway to mark the occasion. It was noted that the primary school opened in 1969 so is now in its 50thyear. It is hoped to hold the refreshments in the upper hall after Mass.
Action - Gordon to contact commercial let and see if hall can be made available.
8. SCIAF / St. Nicholas / St. Margaret’s boxes
In recent years the demand for SCIAF and other charity boxes is much reduced partly because people make electronic donations. Parish has therefore advised SCIAF etc to reduce the number of boxes sent to reduce waste. All agreed a good idea.
9. Cleaning Contract
As it has been a few years since cleaning contracts for the church and the hall have been reviewed, an advert was placed in bulletin. At the same time a request issued for volunteers secured 5 volunteers.
Gordon updated PPC on the quotes about which there was some discussion.
Action – Gordon to update halls committee.
10. PPC Constitution
The original St Andrew’s PPC draft Constitution based on a generic Archdiocesan version, has recently been updated and was issued to meeting for discussion.
After some discussion, it was agreed to establish a sub group to review and propose final draft for agreement. Group to consist of Fr. Mackle, Gordon Reid, Donal Dowds, John Heath, Iain Pringle and Veronica McLaughlin.
Action - All to email any comments on draft to Veronica McLaughlin for consideration by sub group. Date of meeting to be confirmed.
11. AOB
Car park next to church is now introducing charges with no free parking time from 18thJune. Convener of local traders had met with Fr. Mackle as he wishes to mobilise as many people as possible to oppose the new charges. PPC agreed it was important to support this due to potential impact on local trade and church attendance.
Action – Item to be drafted for bulletin.
Suggestion made on how to demonstrate the extent to which the church works as part of the community. A high number of hall lets raise money for a variety of charities and it was agreed that it would be good to start to monitor.
Suggestion made to coordinate content of bulletin in time order.
A vote of thanks was given to Margaret Barton and Jane Dowds for all their time and service on the PPC.
Next Meeting
The next meeting is proposed on 6th August at 6.45 for 7pm in the Parish house.
Meeting closed with a Prayer led by Fr. Mackle.
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