Council Meeting
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Minutes of a meeting of St Joseph’s Parish Pastoral Council Open Forum for Parishioners held in the Upper Hall at 12.15pm Sunday 11th September 2011
Parish Pastoral Council Members Present:
Anne Burns Stephen Egan Jenny Gallagher
Geraldine Lyden Margaret McDonach Mary McGinley
Rosaleen Moffatt Janet O’Connor Kathleen Owen
Claire Stillwell
In attendance: Kathleen McGinley(Parish Finance)
Welcome and opening prayer
Mary McGinley opened the meeting and welcomed all parishioners and the meeting began with an opening prayer.
Apologies received
Father Lennon was unwell this morning and wished the meeting to proceed
Jennifer Evans and James McCarron
Purpose of the meeting
Mary McGinley advised that the purpose of the meeting was to review progress with the priorities set out in the Parish Pastoral Plan 2010/11 and to give parishioners the opportunity to meet and discuss issues with the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC). A copy of the Parish Pastoral Plan was given to all in attendance. Members of the PPC present were introduced and new member Janet O’Connor the nominated parish representative for Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults was also introduced. Mary advised, at this point of the obligations of the church with regard to protecting children and vulnerable adults and explained that there is a poster with all contact details and a booklet with further information at the back of the church and church hall. All those working in the Parish and volunteers who come into contact with children, young people and vulnerable adults require clearance under the Disclosure Scotland Scheme. Janet will be facilitating the process within the parish.
Vote of thanks
Mary advised that two pastoral council members resigned during the past year and gave a vote of thanks to these outgoing members: Robert Hosie and Margaret Nicol.
Mary suggested that the hard work and commitment of the Centenary Repair and Refurbishment Group should also be acknowledged and thanks were extended to
Jim Shields, Brian Hawkin, John McTernan, Kate Ferrie and Anne Burns who had
prepared and taken forward the plan for redecoration of the Chapel House and the Church Repair and Refurbishment Plan on behalf of the Parish.
Thanks were extended to the Centenary Fundraising Group: Jenny Gallagher, Margaret MacInnes, Geraldine Lyden, Kerry Gorman, James McCarron, Stephen Egan and Mary McGinley. The planning of fund raising events and efforts to involve the wider parish community was much appreciated. Thanks was also extended to all those who have supported the fundraising events in particular our parishioners who have responded so positively.
There was discussion about the greater sense of parish community that has been established through the different fundraising events and the positive involvement of parishioners. It was agreed that this building up of community was important for the life of the parish.
Update on progress with Pastoral Plan Priorities 2010/11
The meeting moved on to provide parishioners with a detailed update on the progress on each of the priorities set out in the 2010/11 Parish Pastoral Plan.
1. Plan and cost refurbishment of the Church and Chapel House
Mary outlined the work completed to date on the Chapel House and gave a report on the plans for refurbishment of the Church. The “tell tail” monitoring carried out over eight months had revealed no ongoing movement of the building and repairs were now planned. She advised that scaffolding would be going up in October to allow specialist stonemason David Craig to undertake the external repairs which include filling in of the gaps in the stonework, repair and resealing of windows and removal of the Perspex shields from the windows. Repairs to flaking sandstone and removal of lichen would also be undertaken. Interior window repairs and plastering work is planned prior to Christmas. Painting of the Church will begin after a break for Christmas and New Year to avoid scaffolding and ongoing work during this time. Dumbreck Painting Contactors who are well recognised Church painter and decorators have been selected to carry out the paintwork. They will be asked to recommend and provide a number of paint colour schemes for the church and parishioners will be invited to make the final choice of colours prior to the work beginning in January 2012.
The flooring contractor has not yet been selected from the three tenders sought and a start date has yet to be agreed. We have been requested to avoid ongoing work on the first Friday in March to allow St Joseph’s to host the local Churches celebration of Woman’s Day of Prayer and we will avoid disruption during Holy Week and Easter.
Mary advised that grant funding had been obtained for a Conservation Architect to inspect and provide a report on the Church. Members of the CRRPG had reviewed the report and agreed that some of the recommendations could be incorporated into the Centenary Repair & Refurbishment Plan. However it was considered that the report was concerned mainly with architectural conservation and restoration of the Church to its original state, this was considered outwith the scope and remit of the current repair and refurbishment programme. The report will be used to inform future repair work particularly if a large legacy or other significant source of income becomes available. It is also a useful reference report to have for the church centenary archive.
2. Obtain approval from the Archdiocese for the proposed work
Kathleen McGinley reported that she along with Father Lennon and Mary McGinley attended a meeting with Louise Devine, Director of Finance and Ken Crilley, Director of Development for the Archdiocese of Glasgow to discuss and present a paper outlining our plan and cost for the proposed work and how the costs would be met. Our application then went forward to the Archdiocese Finance Council. The paper explained that the parish intended to carry out the work in three tranches to allow funds to be raised to meet the cost at each stage and permission was sought for a £20k loan should this be required. The Finance Council subsequently approved our Centenary Refurbishment Plan in full including granting permission for second collections to be taken up on those Sundays not already designated for a special collection by the Archdiocese. Kathleen advised that all approved fundraising including the Refurbishment Second Collections are exempt from the usual Archdiocese levy with every penny raised in the parish, staying in the parish.
Kathleen McGinley confirmed that tranche one of the planned work was complete and paid. This involved full electrical safety inspection and essential electrical remedial works in the church and chapel house, required to meet the insurance certificate standard. This work had been carried out by George Mundie who in previous years had undertaken frequent electrical repairs and inspection at no charge to St. Joseph’s. This year however with the economic downturn affecting all local contractors George Mundie was awarded the work with the proviso that he must invoice for all works carried out. Our gardeners carried out slip hazard repairs within the church grounds and raked in new stone chips as required. Painting the exterior and interior of the chapel house and replacement of carpets in rooms requiring new carpet was also completed as part of tranche one.
3. Set a target, inform and involve all parishioners in fund raising
Parishioners are familiar with the fundraising target of £52k thanks to the large banner in the Church there had been great support for the fundraising events and a very good response to the second collections. Progress towards the target which is being shown on the banner and has now reached £41,839. Parishioners are also being kept up to date with a weekly report and by a monthly summary in the Parish Bulletin.
Continued support for the fundraising is necessary to meet the planned repair and refurbishment costs and a number of events are planned over the autumn and Christmas. The Hall Committee have organised a Family Prize Bingo Night on Friday 23rd September with all proceeds going to the refurbishment funds. The Centenary Fundraising Group is holding a Race Night on Friday 21st October and a Christmas Craft Fair on Saturday 19th November. A Christmas Raffle is also planned and it is hoped that parishioners and friends will support these events.
4. Support the Parish Catechist take forward liturgical programmes
Jenny Gallagher reported back on the progress made during the past year with regard to the liturgy programmes and spiritual growth within the parish. She advised that she had facilitated an Advent and Lent Group with meetings held in the Chapel House. The Lenten group was based on a Journey through Lent reflection programme by
Father Denis McBride this was very well received by participants.
5. Establish a Parish Liturgy and Catechesis Team
Jenny advised that a parish liturgy team had been set up and that a small group of parishioners were about to undergo training to allow them to support preparation for the sacraments being carried out within the parish. It is hoped that this will help families to identify their faith more strongly with the church and parish community
RCIA: Two new parishioners were welcomed into the Church at Easter and a new programme is due to commence shortly. Anyone wishing further information on RCIA or interested in joining the Parish Liturgy Team should contact Jenny Gallagher.
6. Support two young parishioners to attend World Youth Day in Madrid
Seinead Friel and Gerard Gibson represented St Joseph’s at the World Youth Pilgrimage and WYD in Madrid during August they will be providing feedback for parishioners via a photograph display in the Church Porch and on the Parish Website.
7. Organise an event for all young parishioners to obtain their views on youth involvement and faith development
Jenny advised that the Parish Pastoral Council and the Liturgy Group invited the Archdiocese Pastoral Youth Team led by Father David Wallace to share their experience on ways of involving young people in parish activities.Following this a Youth Barbecue Event was held, both as a send off for the WYD pilgrims and as an opportunity to listen and speak with young parishioners. The key message from this is that young people would like a Youth Club in the parish. A few people have already agreed to help take this forward and applications for Disclosure Scotland clearance are being progressed. Further volunteers welcome.
8. Undertake a feasibility study on the sale of the church halls and building of a new parish hall and car park in the Church grounds.
Mary outlined the proposal to sell the existing Church Halls and build a new hall at the Church grounds. This will be subject to profitable sale of the existing halls and the necessary planning consent. Kathleen McGinley advised that at the meeting held with the Archdiocese in November 2010 it was confirmed that the Grant Street Halls belong to the Parish and that all proceeds from sale of the halls would be retained by the parish.
Ken Crilley, Director of Development for the Archdiocese attended the November meeting and has since made available a copy of a report on the condition and value of Halls which had been carried out at the request of Monsignor Ward in 2003. The report carried out by Chartered Surveyors and Property Consultants highlight that it is almost inevitable that there will be increasing demand for repair and maintenance on the Halls in the years ahead. They had particular concern regarding dry rot and advised that some sections of the roof would require renewal rather than patch repair.
Mary suggested that the parish does not require three halls for parish use and that the Halls are old, large and very expensive to run. It is only through the efforts of the Hall Committee who work hard to let the halls to various community groups that allows the heating, light and other running costs to be covered. As a consequence of this the halls are heavily booked out to exercise and dance classes and other organisations and therefore are not available for parish use. They therefore operate more as a wider community resource rather than a parish facility. There is the added disadvantage that the halls are situated two streets away from the Church. It was explained that the parish needs a parish hall next to the Church to support the parish community and provide facilities for parish events, generate income for the parish and to facilitate fellowship and community within the parish.
Mary advised that the report suggested that 15 to 20 flats could be built on the site.
The report indicated that subject to planning and roads consent for 15 flats that the development value would be £450,000 and if for 20 flats a development value of £600,000 could be anticipated. Kathleen McGinley noted that the sale value for existing use would be in the range of £250,000 to £300,000.
It is estimated that subject to the necessary planning consent that it would be possible to build a new parish hall with the necessary supporting accommodation for around £450.000. This estimate is based on the cost of building a hall similar to the hall at Holy Cross Church, Croy. Mary advised that Father Lennon, and members of the Parish Pastoral Council, Halls Committee, Refurbishment and Finance Groups visited the recently built church hall at Holy Cross, Croy.
All were very impressed with the Holy Cross Church hall and the standard of accommodation provided as well as the ease of cleaning and low running costs. Photographs of the hall were available for parishioners to view at the meeting.
This topic generated discussion from those present, Stephen Gibson advised that he works within the social housing field and stated that there was very little funding available for social housing. He thought it unlikely that the site would support 20 flats and that 12 to 15 would be a more realistic number. He suggested that if there were buyers for the flats in advance of them being built or if they were built to let until such time as market conditions improved then this may be a more realistic option.
It was acknowledged that the report of 2003 was at the prime time in the housing market and that today’s market was unlikely generate the same interest or realise the sale values suggested in the 2003 report.
It was agreed that another, more up to date valuation was required and that the options should be fully explored by an expert group including Stephen, who was asked if he would be willing to contribute. Mary asked whether anyone was aware of an architect or property expert within the parish who could be asked to join the group. Kathleen Owen agreed to approach Colm Murphy who is an architect to ask him to consider joining the working group. Jim Shields, John McTernan and Brian Hawkin who are the construction experts on the Repair & Refurbishment Group will also be asked to contribute to the new working group for the New Hall. There was support from those present to progressing the plan for a new hall.
One parishioner, who lives in Lomond Court requested that the access to Lomond Court is taken into account when these plans are being drawn up. She advised that at Mass times or weddings there can be access problems caused by parishioners parking and blocking the access to Lomond Court. It was explained that as yet it was not known exactly where on the church site the new hall and car park entrance would be situated and that it would not proceed without roads and planning consent.
9.Raise awareness of Gift Aid and contributions by direct debit
Kathleen McGinley presented copies of the new Gift Aid leaflet which is available at the back of the Church. Kathleen advised that £11,500 came from the taxman last year as a result of 108 parishioners being signed up to the Gift Aid Scheme. Despite the considerable financial benefit to the parish fewer than 25% of those regularly attending Mass give their contribution through gift aid. Kathleen explained that anyone paying tax, employed or retired can boost their contributions to the parish at no extra cost to themselves by joining the Gift Aid Scheme. This requires a one off signature and the process is operated in an entirely confidential basis. Those choosing
to pay by direct debit ensure that our parish continues to benefit from their donation when they are on holiday or attend mass at another Church.
There was discussion about the benefit of an annual appeal around the end of the tax year and possibly Pastoral Council Members handing out the leaflets and providing advice on Gift Aid and Direct Debit. The form is also available on parish web site.
10. Organise Father Lennon’s Golden Jubilee Celebrations
The Golden Jubilee Mass and Reception went well and the presentation of the gift cheque on behalf of the parishioners of St Joseph’s by three generations of a parish family was well received.
Open discussion session
Those present were invited to ask questions, raise any concerns or add comments during this open discussion session.
It was suggested that a Commemorative Booklet be produced to mark the Centenary of the Church in Lomond Street. It was noted that a booklet was produced for the Consecration of the Church and that this would be a useful starting point. Kathleen Owen agreed to approach Brendan O’Hara who is involved in newspaper publication. Parishioners with an interest in writing or archive research are needed, and old photographs and stories about the church would also be welcome.
Following concern raised regarding the small numbers of pupils going to Our Lady and St Patrick’s from St Joseph’s Primary School a lively discussion took place. Views on the reasons for this and potential obstacles for children and parents were exchanged. There was discussion about the possibility of provision of a bus for transport, safety issues and social considerations. It was considered that the greatest influence on whether pupils go onto OLSP rested within the home and the example set by parents in relation to practice of their own faith. It was also suggested that the children themselves are subject to peer pressure and that they influence the decision.
It was noted that this year despite active involvement of the St Joseph’s School Board and the Head Teacher of OLSP that numbers remained very low with only 7 out of a class of 24 going to OLSP. It was suggested that Father Lennon and the two Head Teachers should work together with parents and pupils to promote catholic education beyond primary school. The example cited of Caitlin O’Connor, OLSP Head Girl speaking to pupils and parents on the benefits of OLSP was seen as an excellent way of promoting the school. Encouraging greater integration of activities between the two schools would also be beneficial. It was noted that there is a PPC member on OLSP and St Joseph’s School Board and this will enable us to keep us up to date with this.
Mary advised that this topic had been raised at the meeting between the Parish Pastoral Council and the Archdiocese Pastoral Youth Team. The advice given was that the parish should be seeking to promote its own positive identity with young parishioners and build up their links with the church. Providing the youth with a place to meet, a youth cafe, an opportunity to get involved in parish life and feel valued by the parish was important. This may well result in greater numbers of children going to OLSP but irrespective of where they go to school, it is the links with the church and developing fellowship, community and faith that should be the focus for the PPC.
It was agreed that the Parish Pastoral Plan for 2012 will include promoting youth involvement and supporting initiatives’ aimed at encouraging pupils to go to OLSP
All present were thanked for their attendance, for their contribution to the debate and to the Parish Pastoral Planning process. The next PPC Meeting will discuss and agree the priorities for the 2012 Parish Pastoral Plan these will be circulated to all parishioners before the end of this year in the Parish Pastoral Council Newsletter.
