Report Jun08

Report on St Mary’s Parish Council Meeting 9^th June 2008

Note: This is the first “Monthly” Report for quite some time – the Parish Council has continued to meet on a monthly basis, but the Report was discontinued last Autumn due to a perceived lack of interest in it – it seems that Parishioners still wish to receive these regular missives, so here they are again!

A reminder of who the Parish Council members are:

Chairman:               Michael Thompson

Vice-chairman:        Jim Hill

Secretary:               Tom Parker

Members:                Adrian Earnshaw

                              Gill Egan

                             Gerard Fishwick (Deacon)

                              Margaret Hill

                              Dorothy Miller

                              Michael O'Donnell

                             Jack Whalley

                             Fred Wignall

                             Nick Fish (Finance)

Parish Priest:          Fr Gerry McCusker

The meeting, under the Chairmanship of Michael Thompson, opened with a prayer from Fr McCusker.

Worship and Pastoral Group

There has been no meeting of the Worship and Pastoral Group over the last month, but normal activities are continuing.

Training for this year’s First Holy Communion is going well, with the final guest session and rehearsal planned. First Holy Communion will take place on Saturday 21^st June.

We have had 2 resignations from both the Eucharistic Ministers’ rota and the Lay Readers’ rota due to parishioners leaving the area. Parishioners are reminded of Fr Gerry’s recent request for volunteers for these Ministries – if you are interested please discuss this with Fr Gerry.

The recent collection for Fr Jacob Anthony in Pakistan raised the sum of £418 – thanks to all who contributed.

A “Welcome Pack” for new Parishioners is in the course of production, and it is hoped to have this available in the near future.

Building Group

In recent weeks, the Archdiocesan Architect has submitted a schedule of required works for the Church and Presbytery to the Archdiocesan Buildings Committee. The Archdiocesan “historic buildings expert” has also visited us to consider the special requirements of our Listed Building Status. We have now received the go-ahead to proceed, and various works will be scheduled in the coming months as appropriate.

We are arranging for an initial inspection of the condition of the Stained Glass windows in the Church (and Presbytery), with a view to undertaking a full renovation. We will need to assess the cost and timescale of this – to the layman’s eye the stained glass doesn’t look in too bad a condition, but this is one area where we definitely need the experts involved!

The Church Gable Wall works are now completed – holes were found in the pointing between the roof slates and the parapet walls: these have been repaired. A small area of plasterwork has been removed above the organ to enable us to monitor the success (or otherwise) of the repair. When we are happy, the plasterwork will be repaired and the wall repainted. It is also planned to re-paint the side wall of the Nave and the area above the radiator at the side of the Altar. We will also look at installing radiator shelves to protect the paintwork from damage in the future.

The Cemetery renovation works have now been completed – the new grassed areas still need time to “take” in some places due to the “adverse” weather. Parishioners are thanked for their patience during these works and for their adoption of the new Cemetery Rules designed to facilitate Cemetery maintenance. As always, thanks are extended to our group of volunteer parishioners who maintain the Cemetery grounds. One area of the Cemetery still requiring some “beautification” is the Columbarium, which is probably best described as “functional” – we are considering options to make this more in keeping with the Cemetery as a whole.

Parishioners should note that concrete strip foundations have been laid in the “Cemetery extension” area to provide the underlying foundation for headstones in this area - any memorial stone in this area must be fixed to the foundation using stainless-steel pins. We have now started to use the Cemetery extension, although a small number of unallocated plots are still available in the “old” Cemetery area.

The Cemetery Rules have been updated  - Parishioners may obtain a copy of these by request to Fr Gerry or to Tom Parker (or via the Parish website).

Considerable damage has been done to the lawned area outside the Social Centre double-doors by inconsiderate parking (mainly at school times). We are having the grassed area renovated and concrete bollards installed to prevent parking in this area. As always your cooperation in these matters is appreciated.

Parishioners may well have noticed that a car appears to have been abandoned in the car park – the Police have been informed, but are unable to take action as the car is on private land: they also aren’t able to tell us who owns the car due to Data Protection legislation. We have now asked Chorley Council to investigate, and we await their action to remove this vehicle. If, by some chance, you know the owner of the silver Vauxhall abandoned in the car park you might mention it to them and suggest that they move it while they can! (Assuming that it’s not already been moved by the time you read this!).  

Other items

The Parish Council will be 3 years old this Autumn, and in accordance with the Constitution all the originally-elected members of the Council who are still sitting on the Council need to retire at this year’s AGM – 7 people in total. It is open to members to submit their names as nominees to be re-elected should they choose to do so, however we believe that the Council needs to see the introduction of new blood and new ideas on a regular basis – we are not a clique – and so Parishioners are urged to consider putting their names forward to become Council Members in the Autumn: formal nominations will be sought following the summer holidays, so you’ve got plenty of time to think about it!!

The meeting closed with a prayer from Fr McCusker.