Meeting was chaired by Sheelagh Pickles (The Chair). The meeting started with a prayer from Fr. Paul.

Apologies: from Josephine Abbey- Philips due to work commitments.

Previous minutes from meeting of the 19th March:

• Were accepted as correct and true record of the meeting.

Matters arising from the minutes:

• Update of the progress of the parish website. Sheelagh Pickles is happy to continue to communicate with Peter & Hoa and feed items for the website to them.
• Bulletin now appears on as a PDF file and also in its current format.
• All parish groups have been asked to submit an item about the group and this is nearly complete.
• The Newman Centre -it is hoped to add a layout of the centre and the tariff for hiring each room.

Agenda items:

Parish covenants.
Six charities have been nominated for the overseas charity. They were: 1. Mary’s Meals 3 nominations, 2. Mtwaralinks, 3. Bowe Mission Farmers in Malawi, 4. SPANA, 5. Leprosy Mission, and 6. Nepal disaster . The PPC members held an anonymous vote and Mary’s Meals win with 12 votes from the members. The sum of £1,350 will be sent to Mary’s Meals on behalf of the Parish. The registered charity, “Mary’s Meals” provides life-changing meals in the world’s poorest communities, where hunger and poverty prevent children being educated. Named after Our Lady the charity’s vision is that every child receives a daily meal in their school, meeting their immediate needs and encouraging them to gain education that could lift them out of poverty. 93% of money raised is spent on this work. made possible by the volunteers working in the fund-raising and overseas communities. Currently providing 982,000 meals daily, Mary’s Meals buys locally sourced food , boosting economies with a view to the overall development of those countries . See also: www.marysmeals.org.uk

Marriage & Family Life – Pope Francis recent Synod paper:

• Following the Bishops of England & Wales’s recent document the parish were given the opportunity to give feedback on the 6 questions. This was over 3 weeks via a handout and the bulletin.
  
• We only received 1 reply which has been sent to the Diocese for them to collate.
• From a parish of our size this was very poor.
• Debate took place on how we can ask the people to respond on matters of importance. This needs to be looked at for the future.

Visiting:

• The families of the children who are making their First Holy Communion this year are being visited.
• The visitors have been made most welcome with open arms. The visiting teams have found this to be wonderful experience.
• The Mass book and prayer card have been received by the children with enthusiasm.
• The books and cards need to be delivered or posted to the families who have requested not to receive a visit. Action point
• Again from a parish of our size the response from the parishioners to visit the families was very poor. There are only 9 people which include 4 clergy.
• We must develop the visiting group before this can progress on to other visiting projects.
• SVP already visit regularly, Bereavement group as and when required. Crossgates Community Hub (Old Godson shop) is looking to develop a listening group for the bereaved - perhaps we could link in with this?
• Confirmation families a possibility to be visited.
• Deacon Tom to speak with baptism catechists re visiting the families who attend the baptism courses. This will depend on Deacon Tom's health and mobility.
• Patrick to promote the visiting in the Family & Youth group to encourage extra volunteers.

Music at Mass:

• A recent meeting was held following the Easter services. More music should be used on Palm Sunday not just the Easter Triduum.
• Planning should be made well in advance for big events and services.
• Following the appeal in the bulletin for musicians little response was received. Michael Spellman has started to play the guitar at Corpus Christi on a Sunday morning.
• PF / MS to speak re music stand at Corpus Christi. Action point.
• The organists who play at our weddings and funerals all play regular in their own parishes.
• Lady interest in playing the organ but think this is only a one off. SP to follow this up. Action Point
• Fr. Paul to contact Leeds School of Music to see if any student is interested in play on a Sunday. Action Point.
• It was suggested that one Mass at least should be a quiet Mass without music.

Leeds Citizens – Update re parish commitment

• The first meeting has taken place when 38 people visited the First Bus Depot regarding bus services.
• Another meeting is in the process of being arranged taking forward Health & Social Care with Leeds Mental Health Trusts

Youth & Family Ministry Update:

• Focus on the First Holy Communion community
• a. Celebration Mass after the First Holy Communion for all the children. Arranged for 4th July followed by a party in the Newman Centre.
• During the last meeting the group split into 2 groups. Teenage group & Children’s Liturgy.

Teenage Group – Young group members Freya, Joe & Connor.

Confirmation – invited those that were Confirmed last year to a social with those who are to be confirmed this year. This was the enrolment Mass. The Mass followed with a social and pizza supper.
• T.OR.CH. held a “First Holy Communion Special” inviting all the children who are to make their First Holy Communion this year. Normally only 6 – 10 young people attend. This time 50 plus attended for games, prayer and pizza.

Children’s Liturgy

• Meeting arranged for Saturday 6th June for all 3 churches liturgy groups for a brainstorming session.

Parish AGM

• It has been decided that the PPC meeting on the 17th September will be an open meeting for all parishioners to attend. This will replace a separate AGM

Safeguarding Training

• The Diocese office re Safeguarding training was contacted. It has been requested that all who have a DBS should attend a training session to learn more of what is needed from the individuals. Unfortunately the Diocese does not have the resources to offer this training to parish.
• Further investigations have found a person / parishioner who trains people in safeguarding. Fr Paul is to make contact with him with the view of holding a session on a Saturday afternoon for about 2 hours. PF Action Point.

A.O.B.

Vestment Fund

• Following the success of raising the funds to resurface the Newman Centre car park it has been decided to set up a “Vestment Fund”. All the vestments in our 3 churches are need of replacing. This will come at a great cost. Each chasuble will cost in the regain of £150 - £200 each for a quality vestment. There are 4 colours for each church x 3 = 12 vestments £2,400. To accompany these chasubles other items will be needed for the deacons.
• Donations are welcome to the fund. Also if people would consider having the collection taken at funerals for the Parish as well as the many charities which are supported.
• Another way of fund raising is to sponsor a Sanctuary Lamp. These lamps burn for one week. It could burn
  in memory of a loved one, for someone’s birthday etc. At a cost of £10 each this could bring in £1,560 per
  year if all sold. You could pick which week you would like your candle to be burnt. A thought!
• In the past at Corpus Christi a name was put in a hymn book in memory of a loved one at a cost of £5.

Proclaim 15

• Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster has called in 2015 a significant evangelisation initiative called Proclaim 15. This is being launched to support, inspire and encourage new expressions of parish evangelisations. Sheelagh Pickles & Angela Des-Rosier are to attend the National Catholic Evangelisation Conference on the 11th July following a preparatory meeting in St Urbans on the 11th June.
• The parish is encouraged to hold an evening of prayer on the 11th July
• A copy of the Archbishop’s letter is attached to these minutes
• There are a significant number of resources for Proclaim 15 on the website.
• There is a prayer which everyone is encouraged to say. It was suggested this be said before Mass in place of the Angelus.

Future meetings

11th June 2015 7.00pm PPC Reflection Hour and Social gathering
16th July - 7.00pm
17th September - 7.00pm - AGM Open meeting.
12th November - 7.00pm
21st January 2016 - 7.00pm
Chair – Sheelagh Pickles
Prayers to be prepared by – Patrick Bradley