St John Fisher RC Church, Chorleywood

Annual Parish Meeting for the year ending 31 December 2016

Tuesday 28 March 2017

Minutes

Present : Fr Shaun Church (President), Alan Opie (Chairman), Carolyn Opie (Finance Committee), Malcolm Golin (Secretary), Peter Mackie, Duncan Farnsworth, Maureen Fields, Elaine Price, Monica Williamson, Anne Lorrimer Roberts, Francis Holly, Liz Munro, Caroline Holly, Ann Dennis, Jackie Ingham, Patsy Tyden, Jo Whelan, Derek Treanor, Gladys Kerr, Ron Kerr.

1 Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 20 July 2016 The minutes of the 2016 meeting were approved.

2 Matters arising

It was noted that discussion regarding the revised PPC model would be addressed under Item 8 and that mass leaflets for the children were now provided.

3 Parish Priest’s report

Father Shaun’s report is hereunder attached:

PASTORAL COUNCILAt the last Annual Parish Meeting it was agreed that the PPC would have a trial period of meeting in camera. Since July I have met with the PPC in this new format on three occasions - in September and December 2016, and in February 2016. The Minutes of these meetings have been published in full and have been accessible by any parishioners who might wish to see them. These have been three very successful meetings with many excellent ideas and initiatives flowing from them. Alan Opie will give a full report on this later in the meeting.

I am conscious that today marks the end of Alan Opie’s term of office as Chair of the Parish Pastoral Council. Alan’s three years as Chair have coincided with an exceptionally busy period in the life of the parish, marked by the refurbishment of the church and the re-ordering of the flat. Alan, as many of you will know, is also a member of the Parish Finance Committee with special responsibility for property matters. The fact that Alan has held both positons during this challenging and important period for the parish played a very important part in making sure that the two projects– running in tandem – were able to be achieved with the minimum possible disruption to parish life. Alan’s professional expertise in helping me to oversee the two projects has been crucial to the whole process and I am personally very grateful to him for his enthusiasm, commitment and sheer hard work on behalf of the parish. As I have said before, the parish owes Alan a great debt of thanks for all he has done for our parish community. I am delighted to say that Alan remains a member of the Parish Finance Committee and so the parish will continue to benefit from his expertise as we seek to maintain and develop our physical plant.

1

THREE CHAIRSI have continued to meet with the Chairs of the Pastoral Councils of the three parishes and since the last AGM we have met twice - in September 2016 and in January of this year. These meetings were highly successful and are a great way of sharing news and experiences across the three parishes, as well as exploring new ways that we can work together.

FINANCE COMMITTEEI also express my thanks to the members of the Parish Finance Committee for their on-going work in helping me with the management of the financial resources of the parishes. We are very fortunate to have a great team of financial experts making sure that the parish’s resources are managed both prudently and in accordance with Diocesan requirements. I express my particular thanks for the work that they have undertaken in preparing the flat for rental and overseeing the whole rental process. I record my particular thanks to Carolyn Opie. As Chair of the Finance Committee, Carolyn continues to oversee the management of the parish’s financial resources. This is a crucially important task as we seek to pay off the Diocesan loan as quickly as is prudent, whilst maintaining our property and supporting the life of the parish community. Carolyn will, of course, be giving a report on the state of the parish finances later in this meeting.

CATECHETICSOur 1st Holy Communion programme continues and we have three children currently preparing for the sacrament. We look forward to them celebrating their 1 st Communion at the end of May and I am very grateful to Elena McBride for her on-going work of preparing the children.

DAY OF RECOLLECTION FOR READERS AND MINISTERS OF COMMUNIONOn 17th September, Readers and Ministers of Communion from the three parishes accompanied Fr Mark and I to the Niland Centre for a very enjoyable Day of Recollection. Once again Fr John Hemer’s scriptural talks were very much appreciated by all who attended.

MASS OF THANKSGIVINGOn 25th September we welcomed Bishop Paul McAleenan to the Sunday 9.00am Mass, which he celebrated as a Mass of Thanksgiving for the completion of the re-ordering of the church. Bishop Paul was very impressed with what we have achieved here and spoke warm and encouraging words to us in his homily. After the Mass Bishop Paul was able to meet parishioners and have a tour of the refurbished flat.

NOVENAIn October we had a three parishes Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, with each parish hosting on three different evenings. The theme of the Novena was ‘The Corporal Works of Mercy’ in honour of the Year for Mercy. The reflections given by the various speakers were very much appreciated.

BIBLE STUDY COURSEIn October we began a new Bible Study Course entitled Matthew; The King and his Kingdom, which is continuing this year.

WELCOMERS’ DAY OF REFLECTION

2

On 19th November I organised an afternoon of reflection for the Welcomers of the Three parishes. All three parishes were well represented. The afternoon was divided into a spiritual reflection on the ministry of welcome and a more practical discussion on many aspects of the exercise of the ministry of welcome in each parish. It was decided that in future new parishioners would be offered a home visit from one of the parish clergy and the opportunity to attend a small gathering for new parishioners who have arrived during the year. The Information for New Parishioners leaflet has been updated to include the opportunity for new parishioners to sign-up for ministries and activities in the parish. In addition, Welcomers from all three parishes will in future be invited to join Readers and Ministers of Communion for the annual day of recollection at the Niland Centre.

VISIT TO KENSAL NEW TOWNOn the afternoon of Sunday 20th November I was delighted to be able to take a coach full of parishioners from the three parishes to my previous parish of Our Lady of the Holy Souls, Kensal New Town, where we celebrated Mass and where I was then able to give a tour of the church during which I able to explain the work of restoration that I had been able to undertake on the church during my time there as parish priest. Fr Philip, the current parish priest, together with some of the parishioners, gave us a very warm welcome and laid on some refreshments for us.

BLESSING OF GRAVESAlso in November, Fr Mark and I carried out the traditional blessing of graves at Woodcock Hill Cemetery, the Old Chorleywood Cemetery, Chorleywood Lawn Cemetery and in Our Lady’s Garden of Rest. These were well attended and much appreciated by those who were able to come along to them.

ADVENT AND CHRISTMASFor our Advent programme in 2016 we followed Bishop Robert Barron’s DVD series Catholicism: The Pivotal Players, which we were able to offer in both an afternoon and evening session. We also had a third season of Thought Provoking Films for Advent.

Our Christmas Masses were worthily celebrated worthily and well, and I express my thanks to Patricia O’Sullivan, Sue Treanor, Caroline Holly and the Choir for all the hard work that that put into preparing the music for these celebrations and throughout the year. I thank too Rosemary for the flowers, our sacristans and altar servers, Welcomers, Ministers of Communion and Readers and those who care for our altar linens for their important contributions to these special days, and, of course, for all their hard work throughout the year. So many people do so much work behind the scenes, and I thank particularly Maureen Foggo and Juliet Hale for the preparation of the various rotas.

SVP I am delighted to say that our SVP Conference continues to go from strength and strength and Maureen Fields will be giving a report later in the meeting.

CHRISTMAS FAIROn 26th November we had our Christmas Fair which, as always was a great success and raised lots of money for our nominated charities. I express my thanks to all those who put in so much work leading up to the Fair and on the day itself to make it such a success. This parish has a wonderful reputation for its great generosity to charity. I think too of all who support the overseas missions through the APF red boxes and I thank Mary Latimer for coordinating this effort.

3

TEA AND COFFEE AFTER MASSI am also grateful to the small teams of parishioners who make tea and coffee available after our weekend Masses on a monthly basis. The numbers staying for this are growing and it’s a great way for parishioners to have a chance to chat informally with each other and with the parish clergy.

PARISH ADMINISTRATIONAlthough she is not here in person to hear it, I wish, once again, to record my very great thanks to our Parish Administrator, Kerry Van Rensburg, who looks after the administration and book-keeping for all three parishes. Kerry is a charming, efficient and dedicated person. In many ways, Kerry is the public face of the three parishes on a day to day basis, and she handles every situation with tact, precision, calmness and a warm smile. We are extremely fortunate to have her working for the parishes. I would be unable to carry out my role here without all the support and help that she gives me in the challenging task of running three parishes.

FR MARKI cannot finish without expressing my deep and sincere thanks to Fr Mark for all the assistance he gives to me in so many different ways in caring for these three parishes and for all that he does in his excellent and varied ministry here as Assistant Priest. As many of you will know, there was a general expectation that Fr Mark would have been moved last summer. However, the Archbishop decided not to move Fr Mark at that time – which is a great blessing for our parishes. However, I do need to warn you that we are now on borrowed time and you we should prepare ourselves to say farewell to Fr Mark, probably this summer. We will, of course, be sent a new Assistant Priest to serve the parishes.

IN CONCLUSIONFinally, I wish to express, on behalf of Fr Mark and myself, our heartfelt thanks to the parishioners of this parish for their prayers, support and many personal kindnesses to both of us. We know that you appreciate the particular challenges we face in serving three very different parish communities. Your understanding, your patience and your generosity of spirit have been, and continue to be, very much appreciated.

As a parish community we find ourselves in a new and, I believe, exciting place – with a beautifully re-ordered church, which has been much admired by parishioners and visitors alike, and a new parish asset in the shape of the flat above us. In the medium-term – once we have paid down our loan from the Diocese – this will be a major financial asset for our community, which will greatly enhance what we are able to do, not just in maintaining and developing our property but also in opening up new possibilities for many aspects of our parish and community life. St John Fisher, Chorleywood is, I firmly believe, well placed to look to the future with great confidence and hope.

4 PPC report

Alan Opie confirmed that the PPC had met 3 times since it was launched in its new format at the last annual meeting - his report, as Chair, is appended hereunder:

At our first meeting in September, we assessed were we were as a parish, reflecting upon what we called the “Growing Edges of the Parish”, which were the priorities that we wished

4

to focus on for development and improvement. We highlighted a number of areas, which the PPC can come back to in due course but we chose to focus on the 3 biggest challenges:

a. Children’s participation at Mass and within the Broader Parish Community

• We canvassed parents within the Parish to shape our thoughts.

• We have started to explore the potential for a weekly Children’s Liturgy (CL) in the Lounge at Sunday Mass

• We felt it would need to work on a weekly basis, with a committed rota of volunteers. Children and parents would need to be able to rely on it.

• 1 or 2 liturgists (who would, of course, require DBS) would be needed each week, and children of ages 4 to 9 would be included.

• Following their first Holy Communion it would be usual for the Children to participate in the Mass throughout.

• Suitable CL books and equipment would be provided.

• Help and guidance would be sought from catechists at St John’s, Our Lady’s and the Diocese.

• It would be held in the lounge, which would be sectioned off by use of a sound baffle screen.

• The Meeting endorsed the proposal to look to hold a regular weekly CL.

• We highlighted the Offertory and amended the Welcomers instructions to select children whenever possible to take up the gifts.

• Patricia and Caroline are looking at how we could develop music through some musical workshops with a view to leading the Music at Mass.

• The new Youth Worker, Anke, is arranging a series of events to include the children from all 3 Parishes.

• We are considering how children can be involved in the readings and prayers of the Faithful.

• A collection of simple, bible story orientated books will be made available for young children during Mass.

• We hope to involve children in serving of refreshments after Mass.

• Also, we would like older children to assist the Welcomer by encouraging Parishioners attending Mass to fill the front of the church first and leave seats at the rear empty for latecomers; this would help families.

• We noted that children had really enjoyed participating in the Christmas Fair,

5

which maybe could be expanded with a specific children's stall.

Those attending the APM welcomed the proposed development of a CL at St.John Fisher on Sunday morning Mass.

b. Volunteering

• Getting more people involved in the running of the Parish was a perennial challenge.

• We felt that direct personal invitations were likely to be more successful than advertising in the Newsletter or at the notices after Mass. 4 new choir members had been recruited and a new Welcomer for Sunday Mass.

• We also used the Planned Giving campaign to advertise for Volunteers and the early reports are very promising.

• We will ask the parents of those children receiving instruction for their first Holy Communion to consider a commitment to the life of the parish through volunteering.

• New parishioners are a potential source for volunteers so we will look to invite them to a welcoming gathering, perhaps at the monthly Tea/Coffee after Mass. The New Parishioner leaflet will also include an item the subject of volunteering.

c. Promoting the Social Life of the Parish.

• We felt that a clear framework of events was needed throughout the year but that we had to be careful not to overstretch the limited number of Parishioners.

• We decided that we should seek to facilitate:

• The Charity fairs in May (Christian Aid) and November (Christmas)• A pre-Easter event• Summer BBQ• An Autumn Event

• Caroline Holly very kindly agreed to arrange a Musical evening in February, which unfortunately had to be postponed because of the availability of the musicians. However, Caroline and Patricia are hoping to organize simple, low-level, involvement for children in the Parish’s music by holding 2 Saturday afternoon practice sessions.

• The Christian Aid Sale will be held on 19-20 May. Mary Latimer is leading and is looking for help from across the Parish.

• The Summer BBQ is planned for Sunday 2 July. We will advertise for volunteers to help with the organization just after Easter.

• For the Autumn, we are considering the possibility of:

o A Musical Event

6

o A Quizo A Race Night

We will make a decision in the Summer.

• The Christmas Fair is scheduled for Late November/Early December.

• We also advertised the excellent Twitter feed for the Three Parishes through the Parish newsletter. It is a great way of understanding what is going on in the Parish, our sister Parishes, our Diocese and the wider Church.

4d The Responsorial Psalm at Sunday Mass

The PPC also discussed the issue of the way that we say the Responsorial Psalm at Sunday Mass at this meeting. The way that the Psalm is currently recited (with everyone joining in all of it) is not the way that the Church intends the Psalm to be recited.  It is set out in the Lectionary to be recited responsorially with a Cantor (singing) or a Reader (reading) the verses and everyone joining in the Response.  The PPC had decided that the discussion should be widened to the Annual Parish Meeting.

The Responsorial Psalm is responsorial in two ways: 

1. It is a “response” to the First Reading and 2. It is set in such a manner as to literally be recited in a responsorial manner.

Fr Shaun explained the Church’s direction that the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) states that wherever possible the Psalm should be sung, but continues “If the Psalm cannot be sung, then it should be recited in a way that is particularly suited to fostering meditation on the word of God”. Fr Shaun said that he believed that it does not foster meditation on the word of God when everyone joins in reciting all of the Psalm at different speeds and volumes.

After general discussion, the consensus of the Meeting was clearly that the Parish recite the Psalm, responsorially, as it is set out in the Lectionary, with effect from Easter Sunday; Fr Shaun would provide a short explanation in the Parish newsletter.

5 Finance Committee report

Carolyn Opie presented the financial report to the Meeting, a copy of which is attached at the end of these minutes.

In respect of income it was noted that there had been a reduction in Offertory income due to the temporary closure of the church during its reordering, and a small reduction in standing orders. The £175,000 debt has now begun to fall as income from rental of the flat is being received; this is automatically paid to the Diocese by standing order to pay off the loan. The Listed Places of Worship Grant scheme allows us to claim a sum equivalent to the VAT on the works in reordering the church which is some £8500; this together with about £1800 from Growing in Faith donations will allow us to make a lump sum reduction in the loan capital of around £11,000.

6 Property report

7

Alan Opie’s report is hereunder attached:

After the Reordering of the Church and the Flat refurbishment, it was a quieter year for the Property:

We fitted a specialist light for the organist

We repaired a leak in the roof caused by the dormer window.

We tidied up the garden and decluttered the church, filling a large skip.

The trees and bushes in the garden were trimmed

I would like to thank Peter Mackie for his tremendous work in looking after the garden.

We are delighted to have found excellent tenants for the flat who have settled in well and share the building very well with us.

We uncovered a very serious damp problem (penetrative and rising damp) on the wall behind the Organ. It will require a major project to correct the problem externally before we remove the plaster for the affected area, apply the damp treatment and redecorate. The whole project could last about 9 months and we expect it to cost in the region of £5000.

Current priorities are:

• A blind for the organist• Snagging for the Church and Flat at the 12-month point in June• Provision of new Signage

Longer term aims are:

• External Decoration• A new external noticeboard• Reordering of the Lounge, including to facilitate a Children’s Liturgy• Replacement of more appropriate chairs to facilitate the celebration of the Mass• Re-carpet the Sacristy• Provide a Disabled Access to the garden

7 SVP Conference Report

Maureen Field’s report for the SVP Chess Valley is hereunder appended:

Current Membership

Full members: 14 active Auxiliary members: 3

Current Work

Visits to housebound, elderly, and supporting a young family, take place in Rickmansworth and Chorleywood and 2 residential homes. Also visits to sit with those in the last days of their life.

8

Community Lunch: Usually 25/30 in attendance, sometimes up to 40 and often new people attending. Would like more parishioners from across the three parishes to attend. Always need helpers and these do not need to be SVP members. Please contact an SVP member who can put you in touch with Geraldine Page if you can help.

Catholic Worker Farm: Collection of needed items requested in parishes and regularly transported to CWF (long life milk, toilet rolls). Also requested items as presents for 12 refugee Mothers. These were collected from the three parishes, wrapped and delivered to the CWF. Donation given to CWF to pay a utility bill.

Giving material assistance to a family in need through purchasing secondary school uniform and sponsoring 2 members of the family to attend the SVP St Bosco camp in the summer. In addition to this, we have helped families with fuels costs and an individual with travel expenses.

Twinnage: twinned with a SVP Conference in India which we support through prayer, communication and an annual donation. We have a Twinnage officer who corresponds with them and have recently received a letter and card from them telling us of the work they do. SVP South Sudan Appeal- we have recently sent a donation to this appeal. Also looking at Student sponsorship.

Young Vincentians: Met with Anke Vos and Anke has attended an SVP meeting. Proposed setting up parish-based Young Vincentian Group later in the year.

Events:

Mill End Food Bank: 9 SVP members helped with putting hampers together and distributing to those in need the week before Christmas.

Support for Vinnie Packs for the homeless: • 4 SVP members have attended days for putting together the Vinnie packs in an old

school behind St John Fisher Church in Perivale. • Soup Lunch organised by Jesse and Dave Pione who agreed that it be used to support

Vinnie Packs through donations. £150 raised at the lunch (pays for over 50 Vinnie Packs).

• Further donation for Vinnie Packs was given from SVP funds.

Buy a Book for a Child: Working with Chorleywood Bookshop through their scheme to give 12 children aged between 4mths and 18 years old presents of 2 books each which were wrapped and delivered before Christmas.

Finally: We acknowledge Anna Smith for her contribution in working with the core team relaunch the SVP as Chess Valley SVP; There is now an SVP page on parish website; Bank account now open enabling planned giving/gift aiding. Poor boxes yield steady income.

9

8 Pastoral Council – Revised Model

Alan Opie’s report as Chair hereunder attached:

I am very pleased to report that the new format for the PPC has worked very well. We have had 3 very productive and worthwhile meetings and established a firm basis for the future. Meeting in closed session has allowed Fr Shaun and Fr Mark to seek advice, test ideas and gauge feeling in a discreet forum. In turn, the members can speak freely and discuss issues that may not be appropriate for an open meeting.

The new format has enabled us to focused on our mission rather than parish governance and administration. We have established an excellent forum where the clergy can hear the voice of the laity and discuss how the Church’s pastoral work can be better served.

I particularly like the rotation of the members every 3 years as it is helping to get new people directly involved in the running of our Parish while former members do not lose their commitment and continue to contribute.

All parishioners are always able to suggest ideas directly to the clergy or members of the PPC, and may contact the PPC secretary, Malcolm Golin, directly by email at malcolmgolin@outlook.com

The Meeting endorsed the new ways of working for the PPC and agreed that it should be reflected in the Parish constitution.

9 Election of PPC members

The Chair reported as follows:

• The aim of our Constitution is to keep refreshing Council members and to get more people involved in the running of the Parish.

• 4 members are standing down: Francis Holly, Siobhan Hoy and Laurence Turnbull. Serge Marsdon also stood down earlier in the year.

• I would like to thank each one of them for their enormous contributions to the PPC and the Parish over very many years; I hope very much that they will continue to play an active role in the running of the Parish and build on their experience on the PPC.

• I am also standing down as the Chair after 3 years.

• Three parishioners had kindly agreed to be nominated: Liz Munro and Carlos Pierce to be members of the PPC and Peter Mackie to step up to be the new Chair.

• The Meeting endorsed all 3 nominations.

10 AOB

10

A general discussion arose on whether some monies raised by parish events should be retained by the Parish to help with running costs or paying off the loan. Carolyn Opie provided some information in this regard; that Christmas Fair monies funded, in equal thirds, the Franciscan Zambian mission, the Cardinal Hume Centre, and Diocesan charities including the Sick and Retired Priests fund, and the Priest training fund. She also explained that our Parish, although financially autonomous, was technically part of the Diocesan charitable body. The Meeting agreed that those directly involved in the organising of the parish’s fund raising events must be consulted, and, most importantly, that transparency was essential in informing all those supporting these events as to where the monies raised were to be donated. It was also agreed that some events should be held to raise money for the parish.

11 Date of next Annual Parish Meeting To be confirmed

The APM ended at 9:23 p.m.

11