Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and St Joseph
Ware, Hertfordshire
Minutes of J&P Meeting Friday 13th March 2015
Present: Fr John Gray, Deacon Adrian Cullen, John Vaughan-Shaw (in the chair),
Denise Vaughan-Shaw, Tony Stavrou, Noreen McCallen.
NB If your name is in bold it indicates that some action is required
1. Opening prayer : ACN Prayer for the Middle East from John.
2. Apologies: Michele Beer, Patrick Milne, Mary Hallett, Tim and Hazel
Edwards, Hazel Carpenter.
3. Minutes of meeting Friday Jan 16th 2015: these had been emailed and were
accepted.
4. Matters arising : some matters raised at this point are recorded under the
relevant item.
Deanery : Fr John reported on the last Deanery meeting; he proposed inviting
other Parishes to combine with the Ware J&P Group, eg Hertford and
Hoddesdon; a strong opening occasion would be necessary, eg Fr Mamdouh;
such an event could be in Hoddesdon or Hertford; interested individuals from
other Parishes could be invited to the next Ware J&P meeting. All this found
favour and Fr John will make approaches.
There was discussion about joining in with other Ware Churches’
programmes.. Tony and Fr John described the shared Christian activities
already in place – mainly local social action, Live Ware Love Ware and
liturgical occasions like Good the Friday procession.
5. Live Simply : Adrian is waiting to hear from St Alban’s about a meeting.
‘Fast and Pray for Climate Change ‘ preparing for Dec 2015 Conference ; as
agreed we shall encourage support for the ‘Fast and Pray’ events in WGC on
July 1st. Prior to this there should be a NL flier and offer of lifts. Mary will put in
the diary and ensure an alert in good time. Noreen will try to get more details.
Fairtrade : Fairtrade Fortnight had passed. Adrian and Montse will organise
a Fairtrade wine tasting after Lent; it was agreed an introductory talk would
give added purpose (possibly Rosie and Paul?) Hazel C would be asked to
produce a flier.
Newsletter ‘Thought for the Month’ : John had done one on ‘Slavery’ but
forgotten to invite a further entry: the idea was to pass round the group.
Noreen undertook the next entry.
6. Friends of the Holy Land: see item 4 above; Tony will try to find out the date
of Fr Mamdouh’s next visit; it was hoped Fr M could be hosted in Hoddesdon;
SoJ items would be on sale. John reported that the Open Bethlehem Passport
required attendance at a seminar first which was offputting..
7. WOW Bags: nothing was reported; it was suggested taking samples to other
parishes and finding more representatives.
(continued)
2
8. Visit to Coptic Church, Stevenage: Adrian had discovered that a group of
local Churches had visited recently; he would continue to keep this in view.
9. Parish Picnic : it was agreed that this should be a ‘Live Simply’ event and
would be planned for Sunday July 12th. Adrian suggested inviting reps. from
other Parishes as an example of Live Simply, but the feeling was that an
indoor event might be better.
10. AOB : Food Collection : Tim and Hazel are planning one shortly: John had
suggested to them they might like to record the number of items donated to the
Food Bank.
Cafod sponsored cycle ride: Lea Valley Sunday June 7th; Fr John and
Adrian would commend this to the Confirmation Group and others; it would be
suitable for families.
John said the Parish may receive Cafod cards against climate change.
Noreen raised the importance of the imminent General Election and the need
to scrutinise candidates.
Adrian drew attention to a forthcoming ‘Day for Life’ led by Bp Sherrington;
Adrian will seek more details and promote this event.
11. Date of next meeting: Wednesday 29th April 8.00pm in the Hall
The meeting closed at 9.30 approx with a prayer and blessing from Fr John.