Present
Gerard Barden (chairman), Fr Tom Egan, William Capstick, Janet Butterworth, John Butterworth, Patrick Bolger, Libby Biberian, Edoardo Albert, Greg Howard (minutes), Maureen Molloy, Tom Molloy, John Donnelly, Chris Nagle, Michael McGowan, Felicity Brown, Ramon Landi, Doff Landi and Chloris B Flint.
Apologies
Apologies were received from Tony O'Byrne, Margaret O'Byrne, and Kathy Wurr.
Opening prayer
Fr Tom opened the meeting with a prayer.
Minutes of Annual General Meeting May 2014
The minutes of the AGM of May 2014 were agreed. It was also agreed that matters arising from them should be discussed under the appropriate agenda headings.
Annual Report
Gerard had prepared a report on the activities of the Parish over the past year, a copy of which was made available to everyone attending the meeting. The main points covered were as follows:
Fr Martin will be leaving the Parish in September 2015 and moving to Welwyn Garden City. It was agreed that a thank-you present should be arranged for him.
Ten Ten have moved from Our Lady of Lourdes to larger premises in Muswell Hill. The room that they used will be used instead by Caritas.
Further to item 3 of the Parish Annual Report on ecumenism, Felicity stated that Compass magazine has "fallen by the wayside". She added that she passes details of Churches Together activities to the Parish Office so that they can appear in the newsletter.
Our Lady of Lourdes Church is a large building and is in constant need of repair and renewal. The Diocesan surveyor is visiting on Tuesday 2 June and will advise the Parish on what needs to be done.
Further to the section of the report on repairs and renewals, and in connection with the section regarding the recent health and safety inspection of the Parish, Michael also mentioned that the hot water, which comes out of the taps in the gents' toilets, is very hot. He suggested that a sign should be placed to warn users and that it might be arranged that one tap produces hot water while the other produces cold.
Many different groups use the Big Hall for their activities including Beavers, Scouts, Brownies, and the Saturday Club. It was suggested that the activities of the Scouts should appear in the Parish newsletter as well as being posted on the notice board in the corridor.
John Donnelly has been involved in the Parish's child protection work but this will now be dealt with largely by Nicky Madigan.
The statistics at the end of the report setting out, for example, average Mass attendance in October 2014, have remained stable from the previous year.
Financial report
Patrick Bolger circulated a sheet of figures setting out the parish's financial position. He informed the meeting that the figures were produced by Brian Hunt. The parish's finance committee meets quarterly, and reports to the parish council.
He pointed out that Total Assessable Income was up by £8,000 in the calendar year 2014 when compared with the previous year, and that the parish's total income was up by £25,000 over the same period. Much of the 25,000 can be explained by the receipt, in 2014, of a legacy of £20,000 - if this is removed from the calculations, the figures for 2013 and 2014 are similar.
Total parish expenditure was higher in 2014 than in 2013 by over £9,000. The parish has a large site to maintain, and in 2014 spent over £36,000 on repairs and renewals. Recent expenses include the fitting of a new carpet in the presbytery. The 2014 figure of £21,432 spent on the purchase of fixed assets includes over £17,000 on the installation of CCTV. The parish has a high quality system, which covers the church and the car park, and has proved of use to the local police for the footage it provides of the area outside the church.
Patrick informed the meeting that the paper shop was in reasonable financial shape. In conclusion, he said that the parish's bank balance at 31 December 2014 was £414,450 - up by over £50,000 on 2013.
Address by Father Tom
Fr Tom started by thanking everyone for the contribution that they make to the Parish and added that visitors are impressed by how much goes on. He also thanked Fr Martin for his contribution during his time here. Fr Martin, who is a former teacher, has done a great deal of work with Our Lady of Lourdes School and has made many pastoral visits. He will be moving on to Welwyn Garden City later this year and Fr Tom wished him well.
Fr Tom said that he had noticed a trend, which was an issue in this parish and in others, of families who attend Mass regularly but whose attendance drops away once their youngest child is confirmed. He added that some children are baptised at Our Lady of Lourdes but then they and their families do not appear at the church again. Quite a few parents are not as committed as they were and there are other parishes where this is more of an issue than it is here. Our Lady of Lourdes is not strict regarding parents having their children baptised at the church. He also suggested that children should be confirmed at a younger age than they are currently before they have other interests and commitments.
Fr Tom told the meeting about Fr Vincenzo Santarcangelo who will be joining the Parish in September. Fr Vincenzo is originally from near Naples and is a Paulist. The Society of St Paul seeks to use communications technology to proclaim the Kingdom of God. Fr Vincenzo has previously run bookshops but would now like to be involved in pastoral work. He is currently based in Parsons Green.
Elections
Gerard confirmed that he was willing to stand again as chairman of the Parish Council.
Greg confirmed that he was willing to stand again as secretary of the Parish Council.
Patrick said that as far as he was aware Brian Hunt is willing to continue as Treasurer and that he would check with him on Tuesday.
These appointments, subject to Brian's agreement to continue as Treasurer, were all unopposed. Gerard said that as far as he was aware no one has stood down from the Parish Council, and that no new candidates have stood for election.
Any other business
Felicity strongly encouraged parishioners to come to events organised by Churches Together. She said that we needed to work with other churches and get to know our fellow Christians. Our Lady of Lourdes has a big congregation but there is little interest in Churches Together events.
It was suggested that Churches Together events should be publicised more prominently on the parish website and Felicity agreed that this might be helpful.
William suggested that the parish might hold some collections to raise funds to purchase more wine for use at Communion. He said that at Mass he had noted that there often appeared to be a shortage. Fr Tom replied that it was important not to use too much. He explained that Eucharistic Ministers are obliged to drink themselves what is left over at the end of Mass and that this could affect their capacity to drive. He said that he thought special collections are not needed.
Maureen said that the choir is often pressed for space. She said that this was a nice problem to have and that the choir had recently gained a number of new members, but that it was a problem. In reply Patrick suggested that the choir could use narrower chairs and Gerard suggested that it might be possible to install a bench to replace some of the current seating.
In conclusion, Gerard thanked Fr Tom and Fr Martin and the various groups that contribute to the Parish. Fr Tom closed the meeting with a prayer.