SACRED HEART PARISH
CONFIRMED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PARISH PASTORAL
COUNCIL HELD ON 3 JULY 2014
in the Sacred Heart Lounge
PRESENT.
Members: Kate Kirkland (Chair in absence of Jenny), Faye McGillian (Secretary), Angela Searle, Polly
Harrison, Raja Gomez, Chris Woodward, Pascale Lo,
Parish Team: Canon John Clark, Sr Dorothy, Fr Michael O’Halloran, John Quinn, Cristina Connolly,
Apologies for Absence: Brian Rockliffe, Jenny Cairns (Chair), Sr Francis,
Absent: Fr Thaddeus, John Quinn, Stephen McGlennan
ACTION
Agenda
1.
Opening reading and prayers: Were led by Kate in Fr Thaddeus’ absence.
2.
Items for any other urgent business
 Hall double bookings
3.
Minutes – accuracy, confirmation and any other matters arising from the last
minutes not on the agenda.
4.
5.
Accuracy and confirmation were agreed. There were no additional matters
arising from the last minutes which were not on the agenda for this meeting.
Matters dealt with by the executive group since the last meeting:
Kate thanked all who helped with the organisation of Canon John’s induction,
and also transportation to his 40th anniversary celebration in Maidstone.
Matters which Canon John wishes to raise.
All points were discussed by those present.
i.
The overgrown Leylandi is to be felled. This news was gratefully
received.
ii. Visiting priests conducting weddings/funerals/baptisms.

In future, all will be conducted by the current clergy in order for
consistent follow-up to be done. If a parishioner would prefer a
priest who is not currently clergy at Sacred Heart then a
concelebrated service would be acceptable.

If a couple wish to marry at Sacred Heart but do not live in the parish,
then written permission from their own parish priest should be
sought.
Those present felt that both these points were sensible.
iii. Stole fees and stipends
 Canon John commented that as there is a £300 fee for
flowers at weddings, the stole fee for the ceremony had
occasionally been overlooked. Agreed that clarification on
stole fees is needed when parishioners wish to have
baptisms/weddings/funerals but to be aware that no set
amount can be requested.

Canon John commented that he and Fr Sam and Fr
Thaddeus had agreed to pool any Mass intention fees and
share it between them.

Pascale commented that parishioners need to be reminded
again that Christmas and Easter offerings are essentially
our clergy’s income now that we are under the Diocese.
iv. Dressing respectfully

Canon John commented that a point had been raised to him
about having more focus on a respectful way of dressing
when attending Mass. Those present agreed that it was the
ideal, but ultimately unenforceable.
v. Archbishop’s Clergy Support Fund
 Canon John reported that this fundraising campaign had
come from the Diocese in order to assist sick and retired
clergy and those who are long term ill but still in post. The
fundraising target is a capital sum of £3.5 million across the
Diocese.



6.
A successful pilot has been run in Croydon with £0.5 million
raised. Fundraising is intended to be lay-led and Canon
John is looking for people to be the ‘face’ of the fund within
Sacred Heart parish.
The programme would be due to start in 2015, with perhaps
a social event to promote and launch it.
All
If anyone has any suggested names then they should pass
them to Canon John.
Engaging better with parishioners – valuing and thanking volunteers
Dates and times are as follows (all Fridays):




5th September 8pm-9:30pm
12th September 2pm-3:30pm and 8pm-9:30pm
19th September 8pm-9:30pm
26th September 8pm-9:30pm
Whilst it is not expected that all PPC members should attend all of the
events, please consider carefully which ones you would be able to attend
and diarise accordingly.
All
7.
New Parishioners Mass – 20th September Sub-group setup and
planning
 Potty, Polly and Faye agreed to form a sub-group to organise
invitations, food and volunteers.
 It was noted that lots of volunteers are needed not only to serve
teas/coffees etc but also to ‘work the room’ and engage with the new
parishioners.
 It was suggested that the database be cross-referenced before the
event so that people from the same road/area could be introduced to
each other at the event.
 It was suggested that sticky name labels be provided on the day for
any new parishioners who would like one, and pre-prepared labels for
those who responded with a positive RSVP.
(all
points)
Potty,
Polly,
Faye

8.
Faye to ask Angela Booth if we may borrow some of the mother and
toddler group toys for the event.
WW1 commemoration
Fr Michael O’Halloran reported back on the wording of the commemoration
on the Pieta:
“Pray for the souls of the Catholics of Wimbledon who fell in the Great War
and also the old boys of Wimbledon College”
Discussion around whether to change the wording on the current inscription
to better reflect all wars.
Pascale suggested, subject to practicality, a small plaque to rededicate the
Pieta to all those lost in war. Agreed that this appears a less complex
solution than changing the current wording.
9.
10.
Suggested that any rededication be carried out on Remembrance Sunday at
the 5pm Mass.
PPC half day of recollection
Fr Michael O’Halloran reported back on his planning of the half day of
recollection due to be held at the Kairos Centre in Roehampton on Saturday
15th November 2014.
Timetable:
09:15 for 09:30 start
09:30 - 10:30 talk 1 (speaker tbc) followed by prayer and reflection
10:30-10:45 break for coffee
10:45-11:45 talk 2 (speaker tbc) followed by prayer and reflection
11:45 Mass
12:30 Lunch (provided by the Kairos Centre)
Website development – progress update (Kate)
Natalie Busari is continuing to develop the design. Kate, Chris and Canon
John will take an in—depth look at it when it is in a more finalised state.
Kate has asked Patsy to extract all those from the parish database who listed
IT as an interest/occupation with a view to finding an ongoing webmaster.
KK, CW,
Can J
Patsy
Canon John is still considering how much staff time should be taken up with
website maintenance.
11.
Can J
Ongoing co-ordination of the Parish Plan – taking stock, a new
approach to priority setting. (Jenny)
A suggestion was proposed of a series of Autumn talks on Evangelii
Gaudium with a group from the Diocesan day laying the foundation for the
discussions. (Allied with the Faith Development Group). Putting any plans in
place prior to September appears tricky though.
It was then suggested that the PPC derive priorities from Evangelii Gaudium
and use these to further the Parish Plan. There was debate over whether
this was too ‘top down’ an approach and several felt that the Parish Plan
should be a ‘bottom up’ process where possible – i.e., coming from
parishioners themselves rather than from the PPC.
Canon John would like to look into other more informal ways in which we can
get parishioners to tell us what they would like. A suggestion was made of a
‘writing wall’ (flipchart paper with post-it notes) where people can jot down
their ideas at any point during an event. Having this at the volunteer events
and at the new parishioners Mass appears to be a ‘quick win’. All to consider
additional informal ways and bring suggestions to the next meeting.
12.
13.
All
Proposal to alter the October PPC meeting date (Raja)
Raja proposed that the October PPC meeting date was moved to 9th October
rather than the 2nd. This would then spread the meetings between
September and November more evenly. Agreed.
Standing items
Finance and building works
Building works
Building works are now completed.
Finance
The finance committee are looking at the policy on 2nd/retiring collections.
From September 2014, any retiring collections will be carried out during the
notices prior to the final blessing.
Chris is to formulate a schematic regarding 2nd/retiring collections and
present it back to the PPC.
CW
Items raised by parishioners
 Incense at the 5pm Mass – this has been newly introduced and
commented on by some parishioners. Canon John regarded this as a
topic for the Liturgy group to discuss.
Deanery news
 Please keep John Quinn in our prayers this weekend as he runs the
deanery youth day.
All
14.
Items for future meetings:
a. Future role and working of the PPC (September 2014)
b. Annual Parish Meeting – date and format (2015)
15.
Items for inclusion in Edgeways:
 New Parishioner’s Mass
 Thanking volunteer events
 Call out for a webmaster
NB – This will be September’s Edgeways as it does not publish in August.
16.
17.
Any Other Urgent Business:
There has been a recent issue of several double bookings of the halls.
Canon John has asked Fr Sam to look into devising a new system of hall
bookings.
Date of Next Meeting and prayer leader:
Thursday 11th September 2014 8pm in the Parish Lounge, Potty Connolly.
NEW AGENDA ITEMS AND PAPERS FOR INCLUSION WITH THE NEXT
AGENDA SHOULD BE RECEIVED BY FAYE NO LATER THAN
WEDNESDAY 3rd SEPTEMBER.
Faye
Fr Sam