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LATEST EDITION OF THE MINUTES
now prepared and styled by Michael Jones (Secretary)

New Forest Area Pastoral Council

Minutes of the Meeting held on

29 November 2011 at 7.30pm

 

Present Mary Dunn (Chair) Brian Dempster Andrew Doolan Jill Heneghan Michael Jones (Secretary)	Apologies Peter Larke                      Paddy Larke Fr Danny McAvoy          Sr Michelle Cathy Pickles                  Maureen Wixley Rev Michael Welch
Guests Naomi Mincham	Kirsty Richards

 

1.  The meeting began with a prayer.

 

2.  The minutes of the last meeting were accepted.

 

3.  Matters Arising:  All of the local press had been advised of the changes to Mass times and Fr Danny will provide updates to the Diocesan Year Book.                                                                                                                                                                                                         Action: Fr Danny

 

4.  Sacramental Preparation

Confirmation: Cathy advised that this has traditionally been an APC-wide programme with the children catechised in Lymington and the ceremony held in New Milton.  Given the impending retirement of the Bishop, the date of the next ceremony is yet to be confirmed but would normally be May/June 2012.

First Communion / Reconciliation: Cathy explained that the Brockenhurst and Lymington children had traditionally been trained as a group and the method used had varied over time.  Following last year’s experience, current thinking is that this year’s programme should be family based and involve any older siblings, with the parents committing themselves to Mass attendance and to their own catechesis. There was a discussion about whether such an approach would exclude children whose parents are less than committed. Naomi spoke of her experiences in New Milton which had been a child group with some parents attending; it had been well supported.  Kirsty wondered whether the School could be involved and this was welcomed by all; it would of course involve an interchange of information regarding the timing of topics.  The consensus was that in principle, next year’s programme would be on an APC-wide basis and that Cathy would arrange a meeting to take this forward.                                                                                                                                                                                                          Action: Cathy

5.  The Bereavement Team is up and running and is currently considering ways and means; Margaret Heavens is leading the team. They will arrange training and protocols under the direction of Fr Danny.

 

6.  Administration Matters regarding APC:

 

a) Mary advised that the intention is to employ 3 administrators for the APC and that the Job Descriptions were in the process of being finalised.  She suggested that the administrative base for the APC should be at Milford on Sea.  This was accepted and a working party was set up to prepare the premises for this with Peter to call the first meeting.                                                                                                                               Action: Peter

b) The future membership of the APC was discussed (subsequent to the meeting, Michael contacted all existing members asking for expressions of interest).

Suggestions for talks in the New Year (possibly in February) were made as follows: Back to Basics, the Mass, Relationships, Death and Dying, Lent, Moral Theology and Vatican II. At the very least, speakers should receive travel expenses but payment should also be considered.  This would require an APC Budget to be set up.                                                                                                                                                                                                 Action: Fr Danny, Mary

c)  Discussion of areas of responsibilities between the APC, PPC/CfCs and PFCs were deferred.

 

7.  The Pastoral Area Plan will be discussed at the next meeting and will be informed by our Vision Statement.

Under Any Other Business, Cathy wondered if the SVP in Lymington could be expanded to include the other parishes. There is already a new group being formed in New Milton.

 

8.  Care of the Sick in Hospital  It was considered that it would be better if sick parishioners in Lymington Hospital could be visited by Ministers of Communion from their own parish and that this could be achieved when the Administrators are in Post.

 

 

9.  Dates of Next Meetings:

 

Area Pastoral Council                                                        Steering Committee

12 January at Lymington 7.00 - 8.30 pm                                9 January at Mary’s house 7.30 pm

 

10. The meeting then closed with a prayer.

 

New Forest Area Pastoral Council

Minutes of a Meeting held

on 20 October 2011 at 7.30pm

  

Present Mary Dunn (Chair) Clare Bassett Brian Dempster Andrew Doolan Mgr Vincent Harvey Jill Heneghan Michael Jones (Secretary) Peter Larke

Fr Danny McAvoy Di Mussert Sr. Michelle Cathy Pickles Fr Richard Sakson John Sheppard Maureen Wixley Rev Michael Welch

1          The meeting began with a prayer.

2          Mary welcomed Mgr Vincent and Fr Richard to the meeting.

3          The minutes of the last meeting were accepted with the following changes to names:  Andrew Doolan and Kate Boocock.  Michael apologised for his mistakes.

4          Under Matters Arising, Sr Michelle advised that an English translation did exist of the French text of Lectio Divina for Children but it had not yet been published and Mary said that the Bereavement Workshop had been very successful with 6 people wanting to be trained and involved in the APC wide initiative

5          The four PPC Chairs on the parishes then gave brief details as to the consultations re Mass Times in their respective communities.  In general lots of feedback had been received, most of which was positive and recognised the constraints; whilst there was concern about particular Mass times, the crucial aspect is that Masses will continue to be celebrated in each of the eucharistic communities.  Thanks were expressed to the priests who have made this possible by their offers of help to Fr Danny and there is genuine concern about Fr Danny’s workload in his giving pastoral care to the whole of the APC.

6          Mgr Vincent responded by saying he was very heartened by the responses he had received and impressed by the new way of thinking which had been demonstrated. 

7          The final consensus regarding Mass times across the Pastoral Area is as follows:

Sunday	Brockenhurst	-	-	Sunday	18:00
	Lymington	Saturday	18:00	Sunday	11:30
	Milford on Sea	-	-	Sunday	08:30
	New Milton	Saturday	18:00	Sunday	10:00
Weekday	Brockenhurst	Wednesday	10:00
	Lymington	Mon - Sat	09:30
	Milford on Sea	-	-
	New Milton	Mon - Fri	10:00

8          Led by Fr Danny, discussion then centred on suggested new structures across the pastoral area in line with the Diocesan Guidelines. There should be a single Pastoral Council for the whole area (the Area Pastoral Council) and the individual councils for each parish which would be renamed as Councils for Care.  This would focus all of our efforts on meeting the needs of the local community and on the relief of suffering.  

9          The Councils of Care will be supported and guided by the APC.  Each parish will continue to have a Parish Finance Committee (as per Canon Law) and to aid communication within each parish the Chair of the Council for Care would serve on the PFC and vice versa.

10      After a full debate this proposal was accepted with enthusiasm and there was consensus that membership of the APC and the Councils for Care would be by Parish Priest appointment (rather than election) with a suggestion that membership should be limited to 12 with the possibility of co-option for special projects,

11      During this, Fr Danny noted that parish finances are not about profit and loss but rather to have sufficient resources at the service of the Gospel. According to Canon Law, parish funds are for 4 purposes:

v     the care of the poor,

v     for the provision and upkeep of a place of worship,

v     for the upkeep of the clergy and

v     for catechesis and adult education in the faith.

12      Fr Danny then stated that he would be happy to have the APC continue with its present membership but recognised that some may not want to continue in view of these new structures and their other commitments.

13      Mary advised as to the progress as regards the employment of 2 part-time APC Administrators.  A draft Job Description had been drawn up and she was meeting with each of the PFCs.  Overall agreement has yet to be reached. 

14      Mgr Vincent gave a brief update as to other Pastoral Areas and went to say how impressed he was by the creativity and progress shown in this Pastoral Area and by the enthusiasm and co-operation shown in this meeting.

15      Dates of Next Meetings - all to start at 7:30 pm:

Area Pastoral Council                                                      Steering Committee

29 November at Milford on Sea                                                  TBA

16      The meeting then closed with a prayer.

New Forest Area Pastoral Council

Minutes of a Meeting held

7:30 1st September 2011

Present Mary Dunn (Chair) Clare Bassett Brian Dempster Andrew Dillon Jill Heneghan Michael Jones (Secretary) Paddy Lark Peter Larke   Observers Kate Boocock John Boocock

Fr Danny McAvoy Rev Stephen Morgan Di Mussert Sr. Michelle Cathy Pickles John Sheppard Maureen Wixley Fr Gerrit Vervenne Rev Michael Welch

1           The meeting began with a prayer.

2           Mary advised that new members from New Milton and Milford on Sea had been appointed to the APC.  All present introduced themselves and Mary then invited the observers to sit at the table.

3           The minutes of the last meeting were accepted with the following changes:

·         Item 3a                 The date should read 18 October

·         Item 7                   The location should read New Milton

4           Under Matters Arising, Paddy wondered whether a single First Communicant Programme for the entire Pastoral Area would be too large.  It was also reported that no English translation yet existed of the French text of Lectio Divina for Children.

5           Fr Danny advised that temporary arrangements had been made as a consequence of Fr Gerrit’s forthcoming retirement and there being no identified replacement.  For the month of October, Fr Danny will supply New Milton and Milford on Sea and Fr Peter Wilkie would supply Lymington and Brockenhurst.  Sunday Mass times will be unchanged during October.

NB This changed after the meeting. During October, Fr Danny will be Priest in Charge in New Milton and Milford on Sea and will remain Parish Priest of Lymington and Brockenhurst.

6           This will allow a breathing space for further consultation with the hope that a decision can be taken during October as to longer term arrangements.  The Bishop has passed responsibility for this decision to Mgr Vincent Harvey, the Vicar General for the area.

7           It was noted that the possibility of a straightforward replacement for Fr Gerrit was slight and that Fr Danny’s workload and responsibility would therefore be greatly increased.  He will be speaking to clergy in neighbouring parishes about possible assistance but the current number of 7 Sunday Masses in the Pastoral Area might need to be reduced.

8           Rev Stephen Morgan suggested that the meeting should focus on 3 aspects of the Pastoral Area:

·         provision of Sunday Mass

·         how the clergy would cover provide pastoral care and what support they would need

·         how the day-to-day running of the four communities could best be achieved and co-ordinated.

 

9           It was noted that though the retired clergy in the area are very willing to help, it will not be possible to produce a rota of Sunday Mass times which relies on their regular timetabling; similarly it may not be possible to rely on priests from surrounding parishes.  This points to the need to rationalise Sunday Mass times and have 4 in the Pastoral Area (the maximum that one priest can say in any Liturgical Sunday). 

10       Immediate possibilities that arose were:

·         rotation of Mass times between churches

·         Mass in each church every Sunday

·         2 Masses in the 2 largest churches. 

All of these have attendant problems and there may well be other ways.  It was agreed that each PPC would

consider options during September / October.                                                                                   Action: PPC Chairs

11       It was agreed that the minutes should stress that no decisions have been taken and that the views of the parishes will be made known to Mgr Vincent Harvey who will be attending the next APC meeting.

12       No discussion was held on weekday masses except to note that Masses should continue to be celebrated in all of the Churches on some day or days in the week.

13       Currently a part-time Administrator is in post for Lymington and Brockenhurst and it was agreed that this needs to be extended in some way to whole of the Pastoral Area.  The appointment of a Youth Worker was discussed.                                                                                                                           Action: Fr Danny & Mary Dunn

14       It was stated that Fr Gerrit had recently strengthened lay involvement in the pastoral, financial and administrative aspects of his parishes.  It was noted that these arrangements need to follow established Diocesan procedures and that Rev Stephen Morgan would be able to help.

15       Mary advised that the Bereavement Worksop will be held on 18 October and that she will talk after Sunday Masses regarding the September talks.

16       Dates of Next Meetings - all to start at 7:30 pm:

Area Pastoral Council                                                                        Steering Committee

20 October at Milford on Sea                                                                          TBA

17       The meeting then closed with a prayer.

New Forest Area Pastoral Council

Minutes of a Meeting held

7:30 on 29th March 2011

Present Mary Dunn (Chair) Clare Bassett Michael Jones (Secretary) Paddy Lark Fr Danny McAvoy Di Mussert Cathy Pickles John Shepherd Fr Gerrit Vervenne Maureen Wixley Nicky Stevens (Guest)

Apologies Fr David Adams (Co-ordinator) Sr Michelle Jill Henegan Rev Stephen Morgan Rev Michael Welch (on Sabbatical)

 

1             The meeting began with a prayer.

2             Mary Dunn then welcomed Nicky to the meeting.

3             The Steering Committee had prepared a Discussion Paper to Review the pastoral area and this was the sole topic of the meeting. The Bishop had been scheduled to come to this meeting, but due to ill-health, he was represented by Nicky Stevens, Director of the Department for Pastoral Formation in the Diocese.  No decisions were taken but the following are the comments and suggestions that arose:

•         The draft Vision could be extended to include ecumenism, and the significance of the Catholic Community to the wider community.

•         many parishioners are unaware of the reality or the significance of the Pastoral Area. Nicky suggested that those on the APC should not be 'representatives', but people who have the good of the whole area at heart and bring their enthusiasm.

•         there is a need for ‘shared enterprises’ and joint projects

•         the local Catholic schools (Pennington, Bournemouth and Southampton) are far from any of our churches - and many Catholic parents choose not to send their children there. This distances the children from Parish life. It was suggested that we seek to have a representative of the Primary School on the PA Council.  Mary suggested a Conference in which those professionally involved with the young could bring together ideas about how we might develop their faith.

•         would it help to strengthen links if the new Head spoke after Mass in each Parish?

•         would a shared 3^rd World Project help; possibilities include the existing links within individual parishes, a project in Bethlehem, or Butare or Kenya?

•         there was a suggestion of a meeting of existing catechists; Cathy Pickles will bring them together.

•         Cathy Pickles takes a turn on the Lymington Hospital Radio Service which itself may be extended to nursing homes. Others from the PA could join her and take a turn.

•         meetings of PPCs and PFCs (Lymington / Brockenhurst and New Milton / Milford) was explored. The Department for Pastoral Formation can offer a day for the four PPCs to aid in their growing awareness and familiarity with one another.   The Finance Committees could seek common aims, and create a Fund for the PA to use for its events. John Shepherd suggested visiting places where this has been successfully achieved and Michael argued that this should be left to the individual Finance Committees as the Pastoral Council should only be involved in Pastoral issues.

•         the over-riding need is to build relationships between the parishioners of our 4 parishes – especially by having fun together.  The idea of a family fun day in the Forest was again raised - with or without a Mass to start the event.

•         a day for Lay Ministers and Readers has been arranged and  Paul Inwood will be giving 2 days on the new translation of the Missal.  Bournemouth (Corpus Christi) will be 18th May and Southampton will be 24th May. These will be publicised to each of the Parishes. There is also a Study Pack called In Spirit and In Truth.

•         Nicky Stevens quoted from the Bishop's Report on his 2010 Visits to Pastoral Areas:

…this single Parish needs to be a community of communities, held together by a network of relationships which work interdependently for Communion and Mission. This means that the Parish is one pastoral unit working in harmony with a shared vision…The APC is not a "parliament of representatives" from existing Parish Councils but rather an assembling of men and women whose skills and experience equip them to take the lead in the Pastoral Area. (pp 2-3).

4              It was agreed that these and other ideas will be discussed at the next meeting so that firm decisions can be made.

5              Dates of Next Meetings – all to start at 7:30 pm:

Area Pastoral Council                                                                    Steering Committee

12 May  Milford on Sea                                                                  TBA

6              The meeting then closed.

New Forest Area Pastoral Council

Minutes of a Meeting held

7:30 on 10 March 2011

1           Mary Dunn opened the meeting with a prayer.

 

2          Mary Dunn then advised that Sarah Bell had decided to resign from the Area Pastoral Council (APC).  Members unanimously thanked Sarah for the work she had done for the APC over many years and wished her every future happiness.

 

3          The draft Vision Statement prepared by the Steering Committee (SC) was discussed.  Amendments were discussed and those agreed are included in a revised draft which now reads (with changes highlighted in red):

Once upon a time we were four separate Catholic communities living in the beautiful New Forest - Lymington, Brockenhurst, New Milton and Milford on Sea.

Now, strengthened by our faith in Jesus Christ and His love, we move towards melting the boundaries between us, and becoming one pastoral area. We want to talk to one another and support our struggle and search for unity by being mutually tolerant, respectful and committed to solving our problems, through acts of love and openness.

Once upon a future, inspired by the joy and energy of the Holy Spirit, we will grow together in building the Kingdom of God.

 

4          It was agreed that further work was needed on this to include the nurturing of young people and their parents and that examples of good practice elsewhere be researched.  It was also suggested that the Draft be presented to the PPC’s for their comments.     Action: Steering Committee, PPC Chairs.

 

5           John Shepherd suggested that there was a need to define benchmarks by which progress towards achieving the vision can be measured.

 

6          It has become clear that the Bishop is not well enough to come to our next meeting on 29 March and it was agreed that Nicky Stevens (Director of the Department of Pastoral Formation) will be asked to attend the meeting to advise us.    Action: Mary Dunn

 

7          Previous events which had involved all 4 parishes were:  days for Eucharistic Ministers and Readers, mass for the Sick, Confirmation and a Liturgy Day.  The forthcoming ‘In the Steps of St Paul’ Pilgrimage is also a shared event.

 

8          The meeting was advised that arrangements have been made via email for the next Eucharistic Ministers and Readers Days.  These will be held on Saturday 8 October and Thursday 13 October from 10am - 4.30pm at the Dominican Convent; Mgr Jeremy Garrett will be the speaker.  The suggestion of a Milford on Sea representative on the organising committee was welcomed.     Action: Fr Vervenne

 

9           After discussion, it was agreed that that this year’s Mass for the Sick be held at New Milton on 8 May at 3 pm.

 

10       A brainstorming session then focussed on other possibilities for shared events.  Those raised were:

o        Open Air Mass in the New Forest followed by games and other activities

o        Day event on the Isle of Wight – possibly at Quarr Abbey

o        Training on the New Missal

o        Safeguarding Training

o        Trip to a Christmas Pantomime

o        Pub Lunches.

 

11       It was agreed that further thought was required in this area of building relationships and trust.

 

12      Sarah Bell then spoke of her 8 year long involvement with the APC and its predecessor (The Deanery Council) and ended by encouraging the APC to seize the opportunity and go forth in Christ.  After applause, she was again thanked for the contribution she had made.

 

13       Dates of Next Meetings – all to start at 7:30 pm:

Area Pastoral Council                                                                    Steering Committee
            29 March in Lymington                                                                  TBA

Michael F P Jones
Secretary

New Forest Area Pastoral Council

Minutes of a Meeting held

7:30 pm on 3rd February 2011

1           Cathy Pickles opened the meeting with a prayer and Mary Dunn welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced Di Mussert as a new member.

2           An addendum to the minutes was approved as follows:  Council appointed the following people to form a Steering Committee under the Chairmanship of Mary Dunn: Michael Jones, Cathy Pickles, Jill Heneghan and Maureen Wixley

3           It was agreed that the first sentence of the first paragraph on Page 3 of the previous minutes should be amended to read as follows: Informal discussion among those sitting revealed that 3 people were willing to serve.

4           Members were informed that the Steering Committee (SC) had met twice since the last meeting:

o        In order to maintain consistency, SC had thought that the APC Secretary should be a member of the SC. This suggestion was agreed by APC and Michael Jones was appointed.  It was also agreed that Mary Dunn would convey APC’s thanks to Sarah Bell for the work she had done in this area.     Action: Mary Dunn

o        SC also thought that since not all pastoral projects will be able to be run directly by an APC member, it would be beneficial to be able to invite guests to APC meetings to report on such projects.   This was agreed.  A suggestion arose that Anthony Kirk might be appointed to a Pastoral Area KIT project.

o        SC had suggested that APC meetings would be in future be held at different venues within the Pastoral Area; this too was agreed by APC.

5           Papers had been circulated with the Agenda concerning the need for a Vision Statement together with some suggestions as to what this might be.  A Vision Statement is essentially a short statement of how we would like to see ourselves; it should not be bland but should be punchy and be particular to our own Pastoral Area.  It is different from a Mission Statement which says how we can achieve that vision.

6           Mary then ran a brainstorming session during which members were invited to come up with words describing ourselves and our aspirations.  These are listed on Page 3 the minutes.

7           After that, members split into three groups in order to build these statements.  These are listed in Page 3 of the minutes, as are the ones brought to the meeting.  These were briefly discussed and it was agreed that as a Vision Statement is only meaningful when owned by the community as a whole, these draft statements would be taken to each of the Parish Councils for discussion and inspirational input with the outcomes to be discussed at the next APC meeting                                                                                                                                                     Action: All

8           Dates of Next Meetings – all to start at 7:30 pm: 

 

Area Pastoral Council	Steering Committee
10th March  New Milton	10th February - Lymington
29th March  Lymington (Bishop's Visit)

 

 

9           The meeting then closed.                                                                                                                                                                  Action All

Key Vision Words/Phases

Growth	Action	Nurturing	Challenging	New Forest
Community	Togetherness	Strengthening	Evangelising	Unity
Joy	Love	Listening	Communication	Caring
Forward thinking	Openness	Clarity	Holiness	Tolerance
Struggle for community in age of isolation	Glory of the Kingdom	Healing of Separateness	Melt Boundaries	Outward looking
Catholicity	Sharing	Respect	New Forest	Catholicity

Draft Vision Statements – the first three were brought to the meeting
 

Outgoing though our aims may seek to be, we must primarily nurture our own communities in faith and understanding, gently challenging the stronger ones among us and supporting the young and those who are less able. Meanwhile, our horizons must extend so that boundaries between the four (now) separate communities begin to dissolve enabling sadnesses and celebrations to be shared in common. Then, from positions of greater strength, well supported by one another, we will be able to answer the call to evangelise by our actions, making justice our urgent concern. In this way, we aim to recognise and address “the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish” of our brothers and sisters both near and far.

The mission of the New Forest Pastoral Area is to make a positive difference to the spiritual lives of the Catholic community within its boundaries.  Working together with the worshiping communities of Lymington, Brockenhurst, New Milton and Milford on Sea, Our Lady & St Joseph Primary School and the Dominican Sisters at St Joseph’s Priory in Sway, we hope to promote the Gospel values within our area and whenever possible to those of other faiths or of no faith.  Our vision is to : - encourage Adult catechesis by offering to organise small group meetings - promote the work of organisations such as the SVP working towards a Pastoral Area conference to meet the needs of the sick, elderly or infirm in   the area - share catechetical resources for young people - offer day courses for best practice for liturgy, especially for readers and choristers - provide training for Ministries at an area level - produce an area newsletter in which the above can be shared with all

For each community to grow and strengthen in the love of God and to increase their mutual collaboration as a witness of their love for each other and as a signal of greater Catholic involvement in the entire community of New Forest East.

Once upon a time, the Catholic community of the New Forest had a great story to tell.  The story melted boundaries and supported our struggle for unity nourished by tolerance, love and respect.  Once upon a future, the story is still the same. It is the story of the Kingdom of God as we grow together.

As Catholics within the New Forest, we seek to become more aware of all the community so that existing boundaries are melted by love. This nurturing and strengthening of one another will enable us to work together towards the Kingdom of God, relieving isolation and seeking justice and peace.

Growing into a Catholic Community in the New Forest, working together to nurture and strengthen the faith, committed to solving our problems, reaching out to the wider (isolated?) communities, talking to one another at all levels, being personal and visiting one another, in acts of love and openness. Beautiful Forest - Spirit of the Forest - Growth - Ecology which keeps it alive - we aim to do the same. Source of energy.

 

Michael Jones - Secretary

MINUTES of the MEETING HELD IN LYMINGTON

on 4^th NOVEMBER 2010

 

 Welcome and Opening Prayer

 Present: Fr. David Adams, Fr. Danny McAvoy, Paddy Lark, Maureen Wixley, Michael Jones,
Jill Henegan, Cathy Pickles, Clare Bassett, Sr. Michelle, John Shepherd, Mary Dunn, Sarah Bell
Observers: Helen Lister, Anthony Kirke

Apologies: Fr. G Vervenne, and Rev. Stephen Morgan.  Rev. Michael Welch is at present on a Sabbatical year

Minutes of last Meeting: There were no Minutes of the last Meeting which was held without an Agenda on the eve of Fr. Jamie McGrath’s departure and was attended by Bishop Crispian.   A small celebration was held to make the ending of the connection with Fr. Jamie and the informal meeting itself was mainly concerned with the business of selecting a Chair to oversee the business and meetings of the Pastoral Area Leadership Group.  No decision was made at then and it was decided to leave everything until the arrival of the new Parish Priest, Father Danny McAvoy in September. 

Due to unforeseen circumstances the next two proposed meetings were cancelled and finally the one arranged for 4^th November took place.

 

Agenda for Meeting on 4^th November:

1.  Feedback from DPC (Mary Dunn to report)
2. Choice of Chair
3. Consultation on uniting New Forest – East and West

 

Minutes:

Welcome and prayers were organised by Cathy Pickles, after which the meeting opened.  She welcomed Fr. David Adams, who is the Pastoral Co-ordinator of the New Forest East (Waterside) Pastoral Area. 

Mary Dunn explained the role of Fr. David at the meeting:  Bishop Hollis had asked him to be our acting Pastoral Coordinator, with a brief to over-view and advise until the appointment of a Priest to take over the role formerly held by Fr. Jamie.  He was therefore requested to attend our APC (Area Pastoral Council) meetings and be available to the Chair for telephone consultation.

Election of a Chair:

Father David drew our attention to the business of choosing the Chair.

In the first instance the criteria to consider before settling on a suitable candidate was summarised under the following headings:

1.  Someone who is really enthusiastic about the purpose of re-organisation and
     current developments in the Diocese

2.  Someone who is a dynamic group leader

3.  Someone who would encourage participation from individuals in the group.

4.  Someone who is properly aware of both Hierarchical and Parish issues

5.  The individual proposed must be able to work happily with both Clergy & Laity

Informal discussion among those sitting round the table revealed, with the consent of all those present, that certain members wished to rule themselves out of contention, and we ended up with five individuals who were prepared to serve, of whom three were only lukewarm, but would be prepared to do the work if there were no alternative, one would be happy to do it but would prefer not and another was willing to take the role with no ifs or buts. They were asked to leave the room while the rest of the Committee considered the situation.  A unanimous decision was reached very quickly, and Mary Dunn was invited to become the Chair of the Area Pastoral Council.  Her acceptance was received with pleasure and relief!

Consultation on uniting New Forest East with New Forest West: 

Looking at the large map on the Diocese of Portsmouth Website (http://www.portsmouthdiocese.org.uk/large_map.pdf) it is easy to see why this proposition has re-emerged.  The issue was raised in New Milton on 13^th September and met with strong lack of approval.   It was also noted that the matter was being discussed in the absence of Fr. Gerrit Vervenne.  At the meeting the question was asked: what would we all gain by this? No answer was forthcoming but it was pointed out that the melding of a relationship between the four (former) parishes of Lymington, Brockenhurst, Milford and New Milton was very slow in its development and if that wasn’t going at any speed, what would be the point of trying to join up with Waterside, Totton - and renewing one torn apart with little consultation - getting together again with Lyndhurst? The parishes in New Forest East are often hugely separated from New Forest West by time (traffic jams) as well as distance from the four parishes in the south.  Whereas the present New Forest West area is rural, tourist and seaside, the proposed amalgamation would be something akin to mixing oil and water since Totton, Waterside and Lyndhurst are a strange mixture of suburb and semi-industrial zones together with an extensive rural area.

It was proposed that in our current union we all make further efforts to become ‘good neighbours’ for a year and see if we can improve things rather faster.  It was agreed the idea should again be referred to local PPCs for further discussion. 

Date of Next Meeting

By general agreement the date for the next Meeting was set for Thursday, 3rd February at 7.30 in Lymington.

The Meeting drew to a close with a short prayer.

MINUTES of the MEETING HELD IN LYMINGTON
on 24th March 2010 

Pastoral Area Leadership Group

Welcoming and Opening Prayer

Apologies:  Fr. Vervenne, Clare Bassett, Cathy Pickles, John Shepherd, Stephen Morgan,

Present:     Fr. Jamie, Jill Heneghan, Paddy Larke, Sarah Bell, Mike Welch, Maureen Wixley, Mary Dunn, Ian Holden

Minutes:     These were unanimously accepted in abbreviated form.  The summary of
the meeting held on 20^th January was accepted as a record of the Meeting.  Owing to ill-health the normal format of the Minutes was abandoned for the meeting and these notes were agreed instead to be a suitable substitute. (See Minutes of Meeting held on 24^th March)

Mass of the Sick – May 9^th at 3.00 pm Our Lady of Lourdes Church in New Milton.

Liturgy Day – 15^th May The School at Pennington had been booked.  It was proposed that a planning meeting should be organised for 8^th April 2010

Recollection Days at Sway – 9^th and 30^th October

Father Danny, originally engaged for these days, was alas, no longer available.  Franciscans are expected to move into the Diocese and it was suggested they be approached to provide someone to conduct the Recollection Days.

Pilgrimage to Greece – led by Fr. Jamie – April 2011

Those present were asked to promote this in the four Parishes of the Pastoral Area

DPC

Mary reported on the last Diocesan Pastoral Council meeting.  She gave an interesting account of the InterFaith Dialogue and brought to our attention some of the unexpected difficulties which were beginning to show.  Time was spent deciding on the agenda for the Autumn Meeting.  It was confirmed that the new Missal will not be appearing at Advent, as previously thought, but some time in 2011.

Bishop’s Visit 23^rd June

Our next meeting, on May 26^th at 7.30 will focus on the Bishop’s document, our experience of this year and preparation for his visit.  Fr. Jamie asked that by the next time we need on 26^th May we will have ‘familiarised’ ourselves with this document (Parish Area Visits)

New Document  

Guidelines for Pastoral Councils’ was issued at the last meeting.

Any Other Business

A report was presented detailing the success of a Meeting held after Mass on Sunday 21^st March.  47 people stayed after Mass.  A member of the Parish Pastoral Council explained the purpose of the Pastoral Area, the Work of the Leadership Team and collect information regarding people’s concerns so that their views could be represented. Views expressed during the discussion:

v     Naïve to think that Pastoral  Area can become one Parish

v     Community of St. Anne’s to be continued by a regular weekly service of some kind

v     Risk that the Mass becomes more important than the community

v     Our future lies in our own hands 

v     Possible increase of Anglican clergy coming into the Church – worries about role of women

v     Would it be a good idea to have such a meeting in Lymington?

Pastoral Area Team: Wed 20^th Jan, 7.30 pm. 

The Meeting closed with a short prayer.

*       *       *       *       *
 

The summary of the meeting held on 20^th January was accepted as a record of the Meeting (See below).  Owing to ill-health the normal format of the Minutes was abandoned for the meeting and these notes were agreed instead to be a suitable substitute. (See Minutes of Meeting held on 24^th March)

PA Minutes 20/1/10

15^th May  Liturgy Day. Ask him to present on Centrality of Mass, other possible liturgies, recent developments in thinking about the Liturgy, support for liturgy groups – their creativity and resourcefulness. At the school.

How to structure it?

Preparation group, me (Mary Dunn), Cathy, Jill, (Maureen?)

Living our Faith – investment in:

v     Education of priests

v     Formation of the laity

v     Local Projects

v   Capital Projects

Directed by CCS, professional fund-raisers.
Methodology:  phases (takes some getting used-to for us)

v     Quiet phase – visiting fellow parishioners – explaining the pledging.

AOB – members concerns:

v     Sarah’s concern about the new Missal. Tablet article was very one-sided. Could we opt to keep our existing liturgy, slow down the process of using it? Bishop’s don’t have the freedom to delay its use. Church should explain the use of certain phrases. Hopefully some catechesis.

v     Michael’s issue: AGM at Brockenhurst, discussed the use of Churches. (See Michael’s paper). Our Leadership involves developing a vision which is wider. Managing the change process.

DPC – next meeting on 13^th Feb.

Making Parishes aware of the Pastoral Area. How is that going? Needs to happen in the other parishes. Small group could produce a paper and circulate it so that other Leadership Group members could use it.

Send Congrats to Sr Michelle on her election as Prioress.

Date of next meeting: Wed. March 24^th. 7.30

MINUTES of the MEETING HELD IN LYMINGTON
on 10th NOVEMBER 2009 

Pastoral Area Leadership Group

Welcoming and Opening Prayer

Present:  Fr Jamie McGrath, Rev. Mike Welsh, Mary Dunn, Rita Ford, Michael Jones, Jill Heneghan,
Ian Holden, Cathy Pickles, Sarah Bell, Sr Rosaleen Shaw, John Sheppard, Maureen Wixley and Guests: David + Gerry Heneghan

Apologies: Clare Bassett, Fr Gerrit Vervenne, Stephen Morgan.

Day of Recollection:  Feedback from Group who are organising the Day of Recollection: They prefer not to use the school for a spiritual event. It is the geographical centre, and it should be used for some things. 19^th June should be a Pastoral Area fun-day, concluded with a celebration of Mass for everybody. Venue for the Day of Recollection should seek to be at St Dominic’s, with two days organised for two groups. We would like them to find a way to ensure the mix of the parishes. It was suggested that the Fun Day is not to be seen as an alternative way of mixing the parishes. Considering Sept 25th and October 9^th. Fr Jamie will give a progress report.

Membership of the PA Leadership Team:

Fr Jamie is seeking to expand this group, and today introduced Jill Heneghan who will remain on this Group even though she is no longer Chair of Lymington PPC. Membership will no longer just be representatives of the PPC’s, but will include people with specific gifts. People are invited to propose anybody who they think would be helpful. The Diocese will develop guidelines for this Area group to help us.

Report on the Lymington Church Issue:

David and Gerry, Finance and Property responsibility at Lymington Parish.
The matter is currently on hold.

David and Gerry gave a history of the cost of the work that the church has needed. Initially it was £70,000. Then they did a further survey. In 2008 they had an estimate of full costing at £500,000+ for the necessary work.

A discussion followed regarding the items which required consideration which is presented in a free-flowing form here, based on the Mary’s notes:-

Assessed best use of the buildings – in the conservation area, but only the Presbytery is listed. Access problems. Looked at alternative locations, talked to planners and architects, and came up with a scheme which recommended residential use of the high street site. To unlock the value of the site. Expanding the church still gives problems such as access. Do we spend the money or un-lock the value of the site? Diocese is asset-rich but cash-poor. 1100 catholics in the New Forest Area (700 catholics in this PA). Where would the £500,000 come from? The building is past its life-time. The site has been valued at between one and a half and two million pounds. There is land possibly available next to the School on green belt land which would be relatively inexpensive. The church has a strong chance to get planning permission. In general it costs about 3 million pounds to build a new church. Mike thinks nothing will happen for two years, when we have a new Bishop. There is an argument for buying the land against a possible future decision. There is currently no place of worship at the school.  

Thanks were offered to David and Gerry for the clarity and helpfulness of their presentation.

Liturgy Planning: 

It was agreed to invite Paul Inwood to come for a day for parishioners.  While the original suggestion referred to singing, it seems his offer includes other aspects of Liturgy in which he is particularly interested, in other words, his day would not be simply for choirs/singers.  Possibly use the school on June 19^th? Ask him for a date, and think about using the school. Mary to get in touch with Paul. 

Diocesan Pastoral Council – October

The focus for this meeting is ‘The Nature of Community’.

Proposed Pilgrimages

Pat Emmett (Lymington) is organising a trip for the Pastoral Area to Greece in 2011 ‘In The Footsteps of St Paul’. Details have been circulated to everybody via the local PPCs.  This is just at the preparation and planning stage. It is also proposed to arrange a pilgrimage to Lisieux in May 2010.

Disability matters

 

Eileen Rayner – Catholic Disability Fellowship – would like to be in touch with the Needs Representative from each parish.  Relevant issues need to be communicated to Eileen on 01590 673003

Date of next Clergy meeting: Jan 20^th

Pastoral Area Team: Wed 20^th Jan, 7.30 pm

The Meeting closed with a short prayer.

 *                 *                 *                 *                 *

LEADERSHIP TEAM MEETING – New Forest Pastoral Area

 MINUTES (Interim Style) relating to
Meeting on 9^th September 2009
held in the Parish Rooms, Church of Our Lady & St. Joseph
Lymington at 7.30 pm
 

Pastoral Area Leadership Group Minutes.

Present: Fr Jamie McGrath, Fr Gerrit Vervenne, Rev Stephen Morgan, Rev Mike Welch, Mary Dunn; John Sheppard, Maureen Wixley, (both new and from New Milton),  Michael Jones, Sarah Bell, Rita Ford and Jill Heneghan.

Review of the June minutes

We should possibly devote an entire meeting to the question of our own concept of a Pastoral Area. WE should perhaps have a statement of what we are trying to do. Michael had prepared a statement which appears on the Home Page.  This was adopted in a lightly modified form and will be discussed at the next Meeting.

It was suggested that we should communicate Mass times for all parishes in one another’s newsletters. Say no more than ‘this is one body which is working together’. (Rev Mike Welch).  Jill agrees.

Stephen likes Michael’s statement – would like it in all the newsletters. Should add something about ‘this is just the start’, with aims to have social gatherings etc.

When? Begin this week. Share Mass times tonight. Begin in Newsletters from first Sunday in October.

Day of Recollection 2010 – somebody to be responsible for organising it for Eucharistic ministers and Readers only

Venue – school suggested. June – near Corpus Christi. 19^th June. Fr Jamie will book the school. Decide what sort of a day we want. Bring existing organisers together (asked by Fr Jamie). Day for Eucharistic Ministers and Readers only (Brockenhurst organise another day for parish.)

Mass of the Sick – 9^th May 2010. Fr Vervenne and Mike to ask people from all four parishes to organise the day. Cathy Pickles/Tom Turnbull (Lym), Josie Greenhalgh? (Brock) Make joint Music group. Create the Liturgy as PA group.

Confirmation Day – June 4^th.

Possible lay Chair of PA Team.

Wait until we are a group that is stable. Suggestion that Fr Jamie continues until it feels right to change.

John Sheppard was not happy with the way things were going and pressed for more information: What was the endgame or all these meetings?  One kitty? One priest’s house? How much integration?

The general response was that we couldn't see into the future – we should develop so that we are prepared for what might happen.

The general tone of the subsequent discussion was that it was of prime importance at the moment and as a first step to get the 4 communities working together.  It was agreed that current situation was not sustainable as we didn’t want to lose communities.  In spite of all the misgivings and problems Mission would be served as we grow as Christians.

Fr Jamie commented that it was necessary to think about a proper awareness of our collective resources, especially in relation to the issue of the church buildings in Lymington. When that decision is taken, the Leadership Group will have to take the consequences of collective responsibility. Mike would like to have the information about financial issues. Lymington could produce a summary report. Jill will action.

Next Clergy Meeting

The next Clergy Meeting was arranged for 3^rd November.

Next Leadership Group Meeting

This was fixed for 10^th November at 7.30 pm again at Lymington.

 *                 *                 *                 *                 *

 MINUTES (New Style) relating to
Meeting on 25^th June 2009
held in the Parish Rooms, Church of our Lady & St. Joseph
Lymington
 

Our Minutes are now taking a different form: this seems to have been encouraged from Portsmouth.  Apparently it is felt it that a less formal approach might offer a more productive result.

We are fortunate to have Mary Dunn in our group, who plays an increasingly important part in our relations with the Diocese HQ in Portsmouth, and is happy to let us use her notes from recent and future meetings.

After the last meeting I set out Mary’s notes directly into the web pages (www.newforestrcchurches.co.uk) but this month I have decided to condense the information she has set out mainly in table form, because I do not have an internet copy due to technological problems at her end! 

She noted firstly some of the impressions and feelings which we experienced in the two previous ‘brainstorm’ meetings.  The overall indications point to emotions deriving from anger, which included the feeling of being threatened.  Annoyance, irritation and a feeling of frustration affected most of the members who attended. The frustration derived, it seems, from general ignorance in which we felt stranded.  There was cynicism about what the Diocese said compared with which it did, and there was a constant nagging impression that whatever any discussions led by the Diocese were about, the final decisions, which reflected their beliefs and ideas and not those made at any lower level, would be the ones imposed.

The Notes referring particularly to the meeting on 25^th June covered the following points, but not necessarily in this order.  As the ideas flew from around the table in no guided order, I have tried to group our thoughts into some kind of system rather than 23 separate items.  On the original document Mary sent there is a column which lists ‘Named people to take responsibility’ of which there are 5 names, which will appear in the text below as we touch on the subjects near to their hearts. . .

This is an exciting challenge. 

Build up our own communities before we start trying to integrate them into a Pastoral Area.

Suggestions of how to achieve this:

Speak at Masses to make people aware of Pastoral Area issues – create a script to that we are all conveying the same information with our own   personal style

Jill Henegan and Rita Ford have volunteered to organise this.

Publicise the Pastoral Area on the website to make people aware of it.  Put the url of the website on each parish newsletter. (www.newforestrcchurches.co.uk) Michael Jones is taking care of this. 

We are four churches in this grouping:  Milford and New Milton already work together on social and religious events.  Social activities bring people together quicker than anything else because they talk together.  Religious ones tend to emphasize the prayer and meditation times, thus to some extent restricting the chance to get to know each other.

A joint Social Committee has been suggestion and Jill Henegan is keen to promote this.

A suggestion was made to prepare an Annual Mass for the Sick together.  For the last 5 years this Service has been draw up by New Milton and Milford Parishes and invitations sent to other parishes - formerly in the Deanery and now in the Pastoral Area.  Additional or alternative help would be welcome.

Another idea was expressed that Parish Newsletters should be circulated to the other three churches.  It would be good of course to have them on the Website, but this would not be feasible unless they could be sent electronically.  St. Ann’s in Brockenhurst did at one time put up their newsletters on their web site but this has not been updated since April 2008.  It is a very time consuming job. 

Develop our own concept of a Pastoral Area

This idea met with approval, but there was no discussion of where we should go from its inception.  Maybe that will come with time
as we follow up suggestions made of how to develop the relationships among the members of the Leadership Team:

Get to know one another on the Leadership Team

Go to one another’s churches for Mass from time to time, (and perhaps stay for a coffee morning instead of rushing home?)

A suggestion to ‘Share offices’ wasn’t followed up by a discussion of what this might involve.

The following notes deal broadly with the PA Team itself

Monthly Pastoral Area newsletter – Ian Holden has offered to coordinate this

Appoint a Lay Chair of the PA Team

Discuss Membership of Leadership team – change from being made up of PPC members to a stable group of committed people?

Instead of EM/Reader/etc. Days of Recollection being organised separately or even in pairs, the suggestion is that for 2010 one might be organised for all the churches in a single place.  Discussion and decision on a venue large enough to accommodate all involved will be arranged.

Find somewhere big enough for a Mass for all the churches together once a year.

There was a suggestion that pilgrimages etc. might be organised for members of all the churches and it was thought perhaps we could do something for the visit in September of the relics of St. Therese of Lisieux.  This had to be abandoned since St. John’s Cathedral is worried about number problems with too many people arriving in coaches and the Cathedral can only seat 800 people.

Working together on particular aspects of the practice of our Faith:

Bring Catechists together:  Cathy Pickles, who is very involved in preparation for Confirmation in the Pastoral Area, is very happy to organise this.

Bring Liturgy Groups together:  No immediately volunteers for this.  There is an active Children’s Liturgy Group at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in New Milton.

Stickier Problems:

Think about issues for a possible new church

Bring Finance people together

 

The next meeting has been arranged for Wednesday 9^th September 2009 at 7.30 pm in the Lymington Parish Rooms.

 *                 *                 *                 *                 *

  

 

MINUTES OF MEETING OF THE
NEW FOREST LPA LEADERSHIP TEAM
HELD ON 13th MAY 2009
IN THE PARISH ROOMS, CHURCH OF OUR LADY & ST. JOSEPH,
LYMINGTON

Present:

Bishop Crispian, Fr. Jamie McGrath, Fr. Gerrit Vervenne, Mgr. John Nelson, Rev. Mike  Welch,  Rev. Stephen Morgan, Nicki Stevenson. Sarah Bell, Mary Dunn, Audrey Henegan, Jill Heneghan, Ian Holden, Michael Jones, Cathy Pickles, Sister Rosalie Shaw OP.

Apologies:

        Rita Ford

Welcome and Opening Prayer:

        Fr. Jamie welcomed those present and a short prayer was said

(Editor's Note: There was, unfortunately, no Agenda for this Meeting.  Without an agenda it is very
difficult to set out the minutes in the normal style so  the notes made by Mary Dunn during the
meeting will be printed here instead.)

Bishop Crispian opened with some remarks about the purpose of the meeting. Mentioned some unlikely areas where parishes are working together. Problems with ‘parochialism’ – can only see the local picture and not the wider one – disguises a fear that parishes will be closed. Not about doing that – about  enabling areas to work together. PA’s might decide to close a church, not the Diocese.

Fr Jamie’s personal reflections: Reality described peacefully – no blame or guilt.

• We are a PA in name: virtually the same as Deanery.

• Sunday Mass – no urgency to change the existing situation. Distant level of cooperation.

• No great appetite to change in this area. (What is the difference with the Deanery?)

• Leadership Group is ‘up’ but not really ‘running’.

• Lots of questions about Group. Great generosity. No opposition or ill-will.

• Day of Formation at St Dominic's.

• Tried to organise pilgrimages – limited interest.

• Mass for the Sick at New Milton annually.

• Work together in catechetical programme.

• No cross-overs with Finance, Liturgy groups or PPCs. Work well independently.

• Difficulty of not knowing the final geographical shape of the PA.

General Remarks: 

+C: Leadership Group currently representational of their ‘home’ parishes. In the future it will cease to be representative of constituencies. Wise and experienced people who can contribute to thinking. Joint responsibility. Not just representing their community, but the good of the whole community.

Ian: Crunch will come when we have 1 priest for whole area.

+C: Pastoral Plan is not just about numbers of Priests. Plan ahead for the day. Energising and taking responsibility.

Jill: Question of the building at Lymington. Include the whole PA in our deliberations, but who are they?

Cathy: We don’t know who we are.

+C: this meeting is not about PA boundaries.

Nicky and Stephen: Need identity. Seek to be the gospel in this area. No geographical, economic, named centre. New Forest doesn’t describe our identity. Not an area, but 4 parishes.

Mgr Nelson: Endless argy-bargy about boundaries. Not about making geographical ‘blobs’. Its about interdependence rather than dependence. Small places felt vulnerable – unequal with well-resourced big places. Crunch will not be loss of priests, but fewer parishioners – it is already here. Where are the people in 10 years time going to be best placed to worship? 

Sr Rosaleen: We all stay where we are if at all possible. Will be much better to give us a new church which excites and meets all the needs. People in one place will not go somewhere else if they have always gone to their own church 

Mike: Get away from crisis management. We don’t know who we belong-to. New Milton don’t get included in decisions or meetings. We need to know what’s going to happen. We are not self-sufficient. We should be working as a body, when we know who we are. . .

Fr Vervenne: Only had one meeting since last May.  

Sarah: Need more evangelisation. More thought about the faith.  If they don't know why they're coming to church they won't come

Ian: Worry about young children – will they remain Catholics? 

Mike: We have failed as a PA. We haven’t grown. No appetite among the clergy. Lay people impressive. Need an enthusiastic leader who will take us there. We have fallen apart as a group. Not criticising anybody.

Sr Rosaleen: I think Fr Jamie has done a good job.

+C: This is the core of the PA, as it stands. Leadership doesn’t have to be the Priest. Could be anybody. Influence of the school – part of the PA.

Jill: Parish feels it has lost the school. We don’t see them. We have lost coherence all round.

Fr Vervenne: Go to the PA and ask for them to pay for our new church?

Mike: People will need to feel that the PA is theirs. Money will need to be sorted out professionally

+C: We have lost one third of parishioners across Europe in 20 years.

Mgr Nelson: Focus on Communion rather than Mission. Gather to be fed in order to focus on mission. Bishop’s Vision Statement 1996 put Communion and Mission together. Slow to recognise the challenge of Islam. Attitude of ‘leave us alone and we’ll leave you alone’. We have not expected an aggressive religious situation 

Ian: Can’t have ‘one Mass fits all’. Vibrant parish adapts to fit the needs of different groups.  Bigger community can do this.

Mike: Aside from the Mass – we want a praying community. Other ways of worshipping would build up the community. Mass doesn’t suit children. Stop thinking of ourselves as ‘8 o clocker’.

Stephen: How do we create a community? Being leaven in the dough? More about a warm place we feel comfortable-with. We are 1% pf population. We are being too inward-looking.

Sr Rosaleen: St Dominic's does cater for the young. Pity if local parishes take their Days of Recollection elsewhere.

+C: This group is the catalyst for the new PA.

Ian: If Mass attendance is declining, we are missing something crucial to arrive at vibrant faith.

Cathy: Initiative in Lymington for Fr Jamie and others to go to the houses of young families who will be the parents of the next teenagers and have informal chat.

Fr Jamie: Self-understanding of this Leadership Team. Not easy to lead a Team (did not feel criticised). Acknowledged the reality of how it has been. Now hearing an appetite for the PA. Is there a shared commitment here? We want to start moving towards our goal – find dynamic ways of doing that. Hard to pull or drag as leader. Grateful for what we have heard tonight. Regret our separateness. Committed to working together. 

Ian: Sales job in local parishes. If we lose the local Mass, we lose our sense of community. We need a story to sell. 

Mgr Nelson: Switching emphasis from the very local to wider. The level of our planning and work is the PA. These things are best done at a wider level. Not ‘shall we cooperate?’ but ‘this is how it will be done best’. Move to a two-tier structure: Diocese and 24 Parishes. Frees people up from sitting at lots of meetings – saps the energy. Can’t be clergy led alone. Must be shared leadership. If you know what you want to do, the structures are obvious. If you start with ‘buildings or  numbers’ – you are starting at the wrong end. Not about selling it to anybody if we are not clear ourselves. Share responsibility for leadership.

Mike: Bishop has said that we are the core, which gives us some peace of mind.

Fr Vervenne: This has all happened in Holland.

+C: Not without sacrifice.

Ian: Very depressing experience to go to Church in France. No dynamism.

Fr Jamie: What are we going to do in the next 12 months?

Mike: Get together and brainstorm What can we do? Make a blueprint of aims. Do it during a day.

Fr Vervenne: People in the Leadership Group keep changing.

Jamie: Implications of Lymington church – seek shared wisdom. Whose responsibility is it? – everybody’s responsibility, coordinated by Jamie. Don’t know what support we need.

Cathy: We need support from the parishes. Need more communication with the people.

Nicky: Do other parishes know what is happening in one another’s places. Newsletter just mentions two parishes. Do people know about the African Mass?

 *                 *                 *                 *                 *

MINUTES OF MEETING OF THE
NEW FOREST LPA LEADERSHIP TEAM
HELD ON 18 FEBRUARY 2009
IN THE PARISH ROOMS, CHURCH OF OUR LADY & ST. JOSEPH,
LYMINGTON

Present: 

Fr. Jamie McGrath, Fr. Gerrit Vervenne, Sarah Bell, Mary Dunn, Rita Ford,  Audrey Henegan, Jill Heneghan, Peter Marriott,
Cathy Pickles, Sister Rosalie Shaw OP, Rev. Mike Welch.

No one from Brockenhurst attended

Apologies:

               Rev. Stephen Morgan.

 Welcome and Opening Prayer:

                 Father Jamie welcomed those present and then opened the Meeting with a Scripture reading followed by a prayer. 

Minutes of Previous Meeting – 22 May 2009

      The Minutes of the previous meeting were taken as read.  There appeared  to be no matters arising.

Agenda for this Meeting

       The Agenda had been circulated.

1	Apologies
2	Minutes of previous Meeting
3	Matters arising
4	Report from DPC - Report - Mary Dunn
5	Other reports
6	Future Planning
7	Any Other Business
8	Forward dates of this year's Meeting/Meetings
9	Closing prayer

Report from DPC – Mary Dunn:

In a free-ranging discussion members of the Council covered many of the areas which to a very large extent are occupying the concerns of the laity.  It appears that while the clergy are very concerned with the theological, liturgical and traditional aspects of what effect the shortage of priests is going to have on the life of the church in what used to be the parishes, at the moment are pastoral areas but which, it appears, are shortly to return to the name of parishes, albeit much larger ones.

One of the most contentious issues which came up was the suggestion that if there are not enough priests to conduct a Mass once a week, then there will be a service of the Liturgy of the Word, at which it will not be permissible to allow those attending to receive the Eucharist, or Holy Communion, as it is still referred to by most of the laity.  Another issue which came to the fore was the question of whether Communion of the Sick might be discontinued and whether people could continue receive the Sacrament provided they had been to confession.

An argument put forward was that if the Eucharist was to be available during a service of Liturgy of the Word, people (the laity) would confuse that service with the actual Mass.  The answer to that was that they should be educated not to make this mistake.

In these days most people have transport and would be able, if they really wanted to attend Mass, to go to another area where this would be possible. 'People will not come if they only get the Word' was pointed out.  This sort of action would destroy the community and its spirit would be lost.

Without a priest, people develop their own prayer.  There used to be other liturgies instead of relying on the priest.  Anglican have house groups and take them very seriously – we should develop things like that, was another comment.  This is where catechesis could take place – something which is obviously going to be required if the new form of Mass is to find a place in people’s hearts. . .

Looking at practices in other countries – France for instance.  Some priests have as many as 32 churches for which they are responsible.  Only some are used on a regular basis for Mass and times are posted in those churches telling people where the Masses are.  Some have buses waiting and do a round to pick up parishioners and take them to the Mass.  In the Isle of Wight, much nearer home, the Churches which do not have a Sunday Mass do have a regular Mass (not a Sunday one) once a week so that people may attend those.   The disadvantage here is that some people will be working on the days when Mass might be said and be unable to attend.  It could be arranged for the evening, when some parishioners would be lost because they didn’t care to go out in the dark.  This would again affect the whole idea of community and people will drift away from worship in the churches.

         The bishops generally do not seem to realise that they are not only losing priests but also the laity.

Closed parishes should spend some of the money raised by selling the church property to buy or hire and run a transport service for their parishioners.

Ordain married Deacons who want it and would be prepared to serve as priests.

The suggestion that there be a video link between churches so that people could see and hear Mass on screen did not meet with a warm reception among the clergy.  It was, however, pointed out, that from time to time in St. Peter’s Square in Rome people outside were able to see what was going on via giant TV screens in side the basilica. 

    A list of other points raised at the meeting is as follows:

§         Teaching people about the faith so they really appreciate what their faith is.

§          People don’t usually see themselves as part of a community.

§         Indian community come for 5/6 hours, praying and being together. How do we bring this sense of community?

§         People need to recognise THEIR need to belong, what they stand to gain from being in a faith community.

§         People stop listening to homilies – they listen when something different happens, a different voice.

§         Greater formation will bring more vocations. Without priests we do not have the sacraments.

§         Lack of married priests, is the Vatican thinking about the people?

§         Desert Island thinking – we would ordain somebody – we would start our own church based on our baptism.
  We would allocate tasks.

§         Each take responsibility within Church – both flattening hierarchy AND accepting authority.

§         CAFÉ material very useful, but expensive

§         We are saying the same things as we were saying at the time of Growing Together…

§         We must never go back to the days when the Priest was the ‘be all and end all’

 *                 *                 *                 *                 *

Note:

Having concluded by referring to the days ‘when the Priest was the ‘be all and end all’, it would be a pity to finish on that thought.   Most priests work hard against a background where they feel unsupported, particularly at a time when a few bad apples have given the RC clergy as a whole a name which is held in contempt and even disgust by the world at large.  Many are getting older and in poor health while they can be called on at any hour of the day or night to minister to their people.  Priests do need our care, support and gratitude for the work they do, mostly alone, among shrinking congregations in a largely thankless world.  (Webmaster)

Other Reports: 

The Bishop’s letter has now been circulated (24^th March 2009) prior to his visit to the Leadership Team meeting on 13^th May. 

 He wishes to know:  

§         Where we are as a Pastoral Area?   

§         What do we want to achieve in the next year?

§         How do we want to work towards it?

Subsequent Discussion during the Meeting on 18^th February:

It was obvious at the reaction of those present that people felt appalled by the proposed possibilities.  They couldn’t really see any necessity for a change of structures, since the LPAs appearing to be operating the same as the Deaneries used to.

The feeling was that the parishioners themselves, in spite of the efforts of members of the Leadership Team, were no nearer to understanding the concept or of working together between parishes.  As far as we were concerned on the Team, we felt we didn’t know where we were, or really which group of which we will form part.

There was no discussion about the day for Eucharistic Ministers – or for Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist – it was felt that  we could organise that together at a later date.  Practical things, it was felt, we could work on together.  Sacrament preparation  including First Holy Communion and Confirmation could be done by each Worshipping Community under the care of a   Priest if this were possible, a Deacon or by some respected member of the group who was good at organising.

Considering the changes which have occurred over our heads we are not sure how long we will be in the present structure before some new announcements is made about a change in which we have not been involved.  This is one of the reasons which inhibits our commitment to the present grouping.  We face constant and imposed changes in the future which is unsettling.

FUTURE PLANS:

Mass of Anointing:

This year the Mass will be held at Our Lady of Lourdes on Sunday 7^th June at 3.00 pm followed by Tea and Cakes in the Church Hall.  As usual all will be welcome.  Posters will be circulated and details should be up on the website and in church newsletters.

Music Day for Pastoral Area:

          It is still hoped that a successful day will be organised.  Date to come.

Great Year for Lymington:

Lymington is celebrating its sesquicentenary this year and on May 8th Bishop Crispian is celebrating Mass at the Church of Our Lady of Mercy and St. Joseph in Lymington.  There will be an Exhibition about the Church's history over the last 150 years and it is reported there will be African Drumming at the Mass.

On 23rd May a fund-raising Ball has been organised at Walhampton with tickets at £30 each.

Lymington Parish has been researching whether to epend large sums of money on the building.  While the majority would prefer to remain on the site and although the Parish started the venture by looking at the finances on a local basis, it has been realised that now it is important to take into consideration the pastoral concerns of the whole Pastoral Area.  PA finances could be brought together into a central pot, in which case members of the PA should be involved in the discussion.

Long-term aim for the Leadership Pastoral Team:

While the members would like to know where we are and begin to plan within the shape of our Pastoral Area, the idea of a 'long term' aim seems very difficult to attain.  We far we have managed merely to move from meeting to meeting.

Date of next Meeting:

The next meeting will be held on 13^th May at the Parish Rooms in Lymington at 7.00 pm.  Bishop Crispian will be with us at this Meeting.

The Meeting then closed with a prayer, followed by coffee and biscuits.

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