Blessington Parish Pastoral Council would like to be of
assistance to all parishioners and voluntary groups working in the Church
and in the
Parish. They meet on the 2nd Tuesday of each month (except for July & August).
If there are any issues
that need to be addressed kindly put them in writing and drop them into
the post box outside The Parish Office. The P.P.C. members are as follows:
Chairperson: Lisa Charles
Secretary: Mary Young
Muriel O’Neill, Teresa Ball,
Carmel O’Donovan, Valerie Hamilton,
Betty Murphy, Liam Fay, Sally Joyce ,
Ann Creighton, Eugene Tyrrell, Lorcan McMahon, Declan
Naughton, Gerry Staines, Fidelma Hogan, Fr. Tim Murphy,
Fr. Kevin Lyon.
Guideline for Parish Pastoral Council
Minutes of (P.P.C.) meeting 15th November 2006
Minutes of (P.P.C.) meeting 5th October 2006
Minutes of (P.P.C.) meeting 29th June 2006
Minutes of (P.P.C.) meeting 23rd May 2006
Minutes of (P.P.C.) meeting 27th April 2006
Minutes
of (P.P.C.) meeting March 23rd 2006
Minutes
of (P.P.C.) meeting 23rd February 2006
Minutes of P.P.C. meeting Thursday 19th January 2006
Minutes of P.P.C. meeting Thursday 19th January 2006
Matters discussed
/ Decisions
At the start of the meeting it was noted that Gene Gilheany has officially
retired from the Pastoral Council. 3 new members were present at tonights
meeting. They are Declan Naughton, Gerry Staines and Eugene Tyrell, and
they are most welcome to the group.
Minutes of 08/12/05 reviewed:
Matters arising
• As agreed at last meeting a letter was sent to Archbishops House in reply
to questions posed in relation to development of Child protection policy
in Blessington Parish. Reply received today 19/01/06 from Archbishops
House. The P.P.C. are thanked for their comments and advised that all
replies will be collectively examined and that the P.P.C. will receive
details of the analysis by the end of February. This information was
also forwarded to Fr Tim in his capacity of Parish Priest.
Correspondence
•
A letter was received from Mr Richard Hickey of ‘The Voice’ weekly
catholic newspaper, inviting Blessington Parish to be profiled in the
newspaper. It was decided that we are happy with the Parish profile which
is extended on an ongoing basis via the newsletter and Parish website.
These facilities are already generously patronised by the local community.
The group are not comfortable with seeking further advertising from local
businesses which is required to finance the proposed Parish profile in ‘The
Voice’ newspaper. A letter will be forwarded to Mr Hickey declining
his invitation.
Election of Officers:
•
As outlined in the P.P.C. guidelines officers of the council will resign
on an annual basis. This allows for variety of contribution from members
and prevents the roles becoming synonymous with particular individuals.
After some discussion it was decided that the current Vice-Chairperson – Lisa
Charles, and Vice-Secretary – Mary Young, would assume the roles
of Chairperson and Secretary respectively. This arrangement can be reviewed
as the individuals/group see fit. The roles of new Vice-Chairperson and
new Vice-Secretary will be decided at next months meeting. Liam and Sally
were thanked for their work to date.
Child Protection Policy
The subgroup met on 12/01/06 and updated the council on their progress
o Liam will align the current draft of Blessington Parish Child Protection
Guidelines with recommendations of the Ferns Report, and the recently
published ‘Our Children, Our Church’. The subgroup will then
meet to review the updated draft. This will be circulated to the Pastoral
Council at the February meeting. This draft will hopefully be sufficiently
prepared to pass to a yet to be formed implementation group, who will
oversee the practical issues in relation to establishing / monitoring
codes of conduct contained in the guidelines.
• The
C.P.P. subgroup recommends the following
• Selection of persons who will attend Diocesan training in Child Protection
which will be offered in the near future. We cannot identify suitable
trainees until more information regarding training is available. This
information has been requested from Fr Paddy O’Boyle, but has
not yet been received. Any trainees identified should join the C.P.P.
sub
group to become more familiar with the proposed guidelines.
• We need to identify Parish groups who will fall directly and indirectly
under the umbrella of Parish Child Protection Guidelines
• Establish a Child Protection Guidelines Implementation Group
Topic:
•
Gospel Reading ‘Come and I will make you fishers of men’ Mark.
1:14-20
A.O.B.
• Christmas 2005 discussed. Some changes were noted
• Reminder to put 6th January on Christmas Schedule card in Dec 2006.
• No Mass leaflets to avoid confusion of different Mass formats. This
was not missed particularly.
• No Stewards / volunteers at doors to offer welcome as they had less
purpose with no Mass leaflets to distribute. This was missed.
• Christmas 2006 to be put on P.P.C. agenda in Oct ’06 for discussion
and planning.
• 2007 Blessington celebrates 25th anniversary of Church of Our Lady. Need to start planning now for major celebratory event - • Mission. Establish sub-group to discuss / plan
• Ecumenical projects for 2006. Recent ecumenical meeting was poorly attended. There is most likely a need for some form of significant ecumenical social event to involve Blessington residents, especially the vast number of new residents. Needs further discussion
• Lent 2006 – Discuss courses / talks
• Neighbourhood Masses for 2006. We need to address need to reintroduce for coming year after break 2005. Establish sub-group to discuss / plan.
Minutes of (P.P.C.) meeting 23rd February 2006
Venue: Meeting room,
Our Lady’s
Church
Present: Fr. Tim, Teresa Ball, Lisa Charles, Ann Creighton, Liam Fay, Fidelma
Hogan, Sally Joyce, Betty Murphy, Declan Naughton,
Carmel O’Donovan, Muriel O’Neill, Gerry Staines, Eugene Tyrell,
Mary Young.
Apologies: Fr. Kevin, Geraldine Cleary, Valerie Hamilton, Lorcan McMahon
Chairperson: Lisa Charles
Secretary: Mary Young
Matters discussed / Decisions
Minutes of 19th January 2006
Matters arising
Chairperson, Lisa Charles on behalf of the P.P.C. expressed sympathy to
Lorcan McMahon and family on the death of his father.
• We received a letter from the Archbishops House which was requesting us to select 3 People to attend a child protection training programme, one of them being the Child Protection Parish Representative. Fr. Tim told the meeting that he had asked Valerie Hamilton if she was willing to allow her name go forward as the Parish Representative and she was willing. It was put to the meeting and all agreed that Valerie would be a suitable representative. It was also suggested that Gene Gilheany be approached and asked to be a representative, and at the meeting Fidelma Hogan volunteered to be another rep.
• It was agreed
that the subgroup would meet to review the updated draft. The draft will
then
be able to be presented to the
P.P.C. and in turn will be passed over to the Child Protection training
group.
Correspondence
Enda O’Dwyer from C.Y.C. has offered to come out to the P.P.C. to talk to us about the work they do in relation to youth faith formation. It was suggested that Foirege/Guy could take up this offer.
25th anniversary of Church of Our Lady 2007
It
was decided to set up a subgroup to organise preparations to celebrate
the anniversary with
the possibility
of having a week long celebration
in June 2007. Liam Fay, Betty Murphy, Carmel O’Donovan Gerry Staines
and Lisa Charles volunteered to put their names forward.
Lent 2006
• Talks
have been organised for the last 3 Wednesdays of
Lent. All welcome.
• There will be a week-day mass at 8pm on Wednesdays in
Manor-Kilbride for lent.
• The priests are available to say mass in parishioners
homes' during lent.
Neighbourhood Prayer
Service
We could consider organising these services as part of the 25th anniversary
celebrations 2007
Topic
Gospel Reading ‘New Wine, Fresh Skins’ Mark 2: 18-22.
A.O.B.
•
Women’s’ World Day of Prayer 3rd of March 8pm St. Kevin’s
men and women are welcome
• Fr. Tim looked for advice about the change of entrance at the new school as how he would approach the parents and community. A discussion was had and it was agreed that it was a difficult situation and that he would speak to the P.T.A.
• From 1st Sunday in July all Weekend masses will be shared, due to the demand of the growing community.
• Confirmation Programme: Muriel will present a programme for 2007,
which will need to be organised for this autumn ’06
back
to top
Minutes of (P.P.C.) meeting March 23rd 2006
Matters discussed / Decisions
Minutes of 23rd February 2006
Matters arising
We would invite Enda O’Dwyer from CYC to talk to the PPC about their
work at a later date.
Correspondence
We will write a letter to the appropriate organisations to make them aware
of their late invitations to us, and ask if these notices could be sent
out earlier, as we would like to attend them if possible.
Election of assistant officers
Liam Fay and Sally Joyce agreed to assist Lisa Charles and Mary Young during
this present term.
Child Protection Guidelines
The finalised draft was presented to the PPC. A decision was made to make
2 amendments to the document. When the amendments are made Fr. Tim and
Lisa Charles Chairperson of PPC would sign the document. The hard copy
would be left in the parish office and a copy of it would be sent to
Archbishops House.
It was agreed that we would write a letter to Archbishops House to deal
with 2 issues that came up in the Ferns Report seeking clarification and
comments.
We also agreed to seek a 4th male representative to go forward on the CP
course, and the subgroup would meet with the reps before attending the
course.
Topic
Gospel Reading Jn3: 14-21
“ God so loved the world he gave his only son”
25th Anniversary Celebrations
Subgroup to meet to arrange a date for celebrations and to book the Chief
Celebrant.
Confirmation Programme
Deferred until a later date.
Date of next meeting 27th April 2006
Topic – Review
of Gospel for Sunday 30th April 2006
Minutes of (P.P.C.) meeting 27th April 2006
Minutes of 23rd March 2006
Were reviewed and agreed
Matters arising
We would invite Enda O’Dwyer from CYC to talk to the PPC about their
work at a later date.
Correspondence
We will write a letter to the appropriate organisations to make them aware
of their late invitations to us, and ask if these notices could be sent
out earlier, as we would like to attend them if possible.
Child Protection Guidelines
Fr. Tim and Lisa Charles Chairperson of PPC signed the Child Protection Guidelines
document. The hard copy would be left in the parish office and a copy of it
would be sent to Archbishops House.
It was agreed that we would write a letter to Archbishops House to deal with
2 issues that came up in the Ferns Report seeking clarification and comments.
Fr. Tim had enquired of Sean Feely to go forward as a representative on the
C.P. course and it was agreed at the meeting that this was a good choice. The
4 representatives are planning to attend the course run by the diocese in September.
Topic
Gospel Reading Lk.24:35-48
“ The disciples Told their story of what happened on the road and how they
had recognised Jesus at the breaking of bread.”
25th Anniversary Celebrations
Gerry on behalf of the subgroup presented some ideas for the celebrations.
For the 4 Sundays’ of June we would host special masses for the different
groups in the community.
Organise a plaque in memory of the occasion.
Check out the possibility of a mission during Lent.
Concert masses with
special choirs.
Book the Archbishop and Bishop for anniversary masses.
Confirmation Programme
Muriel made a short presentation to the P.P.C. about the confirmation programme.
It was agreed to run the programme at the 7.30pm Saturday mass from October
to March. It was also agreed to meet the parents of the confirmation
children in the 2nd week in September to introduce them to the programme.
A.O.B.
Fr. Tim asked at the meeting as to how it could be arranged to have the
one priest available to say all the masses at the weekend. At the present
moment this is not possible and could see this being a real difficulty
in the future.
Guy
from the Youth Club wanted to make people aware that there would be a child
protection course organised
at the Youth café and anybody
working with children are welcome to attend.
Minutes of (P.P.C.) meeting 23rd May 2006
Venue: Meeting room,
Our Lady’s
Church
Present: Fr. Tim, Teresa Ball, Ann Creighton, Lisa Charles, Liam Fay,
Fidelma Hogan, Lorcan McMahon, Betty Murphy, Declan Naughton, Carmel
O’Donovan,
Gerry Staines, Eugene Tyrell, Mary Young.
Apologies: Fr. Kevin, Valerie Hamilton, Sally Joyce
Chairperson: Lisa Charles
Secretary: Mary Young
Matters discussed / Decisions
Minutes of 27th April 2006
Were reviewed and agreed.
Correspondence
Brendan Doyle accepted our invitation to talk to us about the work of the
CYC faith team and he will be joining us at our next meeting on the 29th
of June.
The PPC are invited to a celebration and an opportunity to meet other
PP Councils on the 16.09.06 at Morans Red Cow Hotel.
A date for your Diary, more details later
Child Protection Guidelines
Liam outlined to the
group the 2 points that need to be clarified in the Ferns Report and
he agreed to write a letter to the Archbishops House
seeking clarification. We also agreed to send a copy of our C.P. Guidelines
with this letter.
The 4 C.P. representatives and the C.P. subgroup are to meet before the
representatives attend the course run by the diocese in September.
Topic
Gospel Reading Mk. 16:15-20
“ Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation”
(Da Vinci Code)!
25th Anniversary Celebrations
Carmel on behalf of the subgroup presented some ideas for the celebrations,
and it was decided to have;
1. For the 4 Sundays’ of June we would host special Masses for the
different groups in the community. Bishop Eamonn accepted our invite for
the
24th of June; we are still awaiting a reply from the Archbishop.
2. Organise a plaque in memory of the occasion.
3. Check out the possibility of a mission during lent.
4. Organise the Tullamore Gospel Choir for the actual anniversary Wednesday
21st for a concert and we would look to have the event sponsored
5. Organise a Mass to be broadcast during the month of October ’07
6. Involve both schools by running art competitions.
7. Publicise on the Website
that there would be 25th anniversary celebrations next year.
Confirmation Programme
More information to follow
A.O.B.
Betty informed the meeting that during her house calls she became aware
that they were many lonely people at home all day and had no contact with
the community and thought we could make of the café in the morning
in St. Joseph’s’ Hall.
Fr. Tim informed the meeting that one of the baptism team were leaving
the parish and if anybody was interested in helping out the next meeting
was on Wednesday 31st May 8pm.
Gerry made the suggestion to have the PPC meeting at 8pm in June because
of our visitor from CYC, and it was agreed to do so.
Minutes of (P.P.C.) meeting 29th June 2006
Venue: Meeting
room, Our Lady’s Church
Present: Fr. Tim, Fr. Kevin, Teresa Ball, Ann Creighton, Lisa Charles,
Liam Fay, Valerie Hamilton, Fidelma Hogan, Sally Joyce, Lorcan McMahon,
Declan Naughton, Gerry Staines, Eugene Tyrell, Mary Young.
Apologies: Betty
Murphy, Carmel O’Donovan, Geraldine Cleary.
Chairperson: Lisa Charles
Secretary: Mary Young
Matters discussed / Decisions
Minutes of 23rd May 2006
Were reviewed and agreed.
CYC Talk with Brendan Doyle
It was agreed that after discussing many projects with Brendan that
the PPC would look at them in more detail to see how we could enhance
our facilities for young people in the parish.
Child Protection Guidelines
Liam presented a draft letter to the PPC outlining the 2 points that
need to be clarified in the Ferns Report, and it was agreed by all
present to forward the letter to the Archbishops House seeking clarification.
We also agreed to send a copy of our C.P. Guidelines with this letter.
The 4 C.P. representatives and the C.P. subgroup are to meet before
the representatives attend the course run by the diocese in September.
Topic
Gospel Reading Mk. 5:21-43
‘
And taking the child by the hand he said to her Talitha, kum! Which
means little girl. I tell you to get up’.
25th Anniversary Celebrations
1. For
the 4 Sundays’ of
June we would host special masses for the different groups in the
community. Bishop Eamonn accepted our
invite for the 24th of June. The Archbishop has accepted our invitation
for the Sunday 19th June, which needs to be confirmed next March 2007.
2. Ann confirmed
that she booked the Tullamore Gospel Choir for the actual anniversary
Wednesday 21st June 2007.
3. Gerry confirmed that the Mass to be broadcast during the month
of October ’07 is booked.
Muriel is to book 2 further concerts during the months of February
and May, actual dates to be confirmed later.
Confirmation Programme
Muriel is to liase with Betty the details of the confirmation programme
and the programme itself will be up and running this September.
A.O.B.
Please keep a note of the meeting in the Moran Red Cow hotel on September
16th, as we will need to confirm numbers the 1st week in September.
Fr, Tim received an e-mail from the production team in RTE with regard to a televised Mass on September the 17th. RTE has requested that the Mass be inclusive of the whole parish. It was agreed that whoever is available from the PPC on July the 11th would meet with Caroline Finan to discuss the whole process.
Date of
next meeting: Thursday 5th October 2006
Topic – Review
of Gospel for Sunday 8th October 2006
Minutes of (P.P.C.) meeting 5th October 2006
Matters discussed
/ Decisions
Minutes of 29th June 2006
Were reviewed and agreed.
Child Protection Update
Fidelma outlined briefly some of the discussions that she had at the
CP course that she attended. She noticed that the process was still
at a very early stage with many questions still unanswered. Fr. Paddy
Doyle expressed an interest in visiting our PPC to discuss with us
our guidelines. It was agreed that we would invite him to our next
meeting along with all the reps who completed the course to give us
their findings.
25th Anniversary Celebrations
Fr.
Tim informed the council that the school next year would be celebrating
it 125th anniversary and that it seemed natural to combine the 25th anniversary
of the church with the anniversary of the school. 2 members from the
council would meet with 2 members from the PTA, teaching staff and Board
of Management to co-ordinate the celebrations.
The events
for the celebrations on the previous minutes have all been confirmed
for the appropriate dates
Topic
Gospel Reading Mk. 10:2-16
‘
God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his
father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become
one flesh’.
C.Y.C.
A group of people from the parish is about to commence a course with
the C.Y.C. faith team in Knocklyon it is hoped that they will be able
to come back with some more suggestions as to how we can take their
initiatives further.
PPC’s
Gathering Morans hotel, Red Cow.
The feedback was very positive from the group that went to the meeting.
It was very encouraging to see over 600 people giving of their time
to come to the seminar. Fr. Tim while speaking with some of his fellow
clergy from the Blessington Deanery felt that it could be possible
to hold a gathering at a local level to discuss how we as a PPC could
move forward and be of assistance to each other.
It was suggested that 2 people from the PPC would meet with other PPCs’ to
plan a gathering.
A.O.B.
The
PPCs’ AGM
will be on the 11th December,
Possible matters to be discussed at this meeting: an extension to the
existing church in Blessington when the new school is built.
The possibility of having a policy for people who advertise in the
commercial section of the parish newsletter.
Acknowledge the letter from the Gaelscoil looking for requests and
we will discuss it at our next meeting.
Date of next meeting: Wednesday 15th November at 8pm
Topic – Review of Gospel for Sunday 19th November
Minutes of (P.P.C.) meeting 15th November 2006
Matters discussed / Decisions
Minutes of 5th October
Were reviewed and agreed.
Child Protection Update
Fr. Paddy Boyle sent his apologies that he would unable to attend the
meeting. He would be happy to attend our next meeting, a date to be
agreed with him.
Fidelma, Sean, Gene and Valerie outlined briefly some of the discussions
that had taken place at the CP training course that they attended.
Sean thought that the process in general was still at an early stage
and he noticed that the Blessington PPC had completed much of the groundwork
in compared to other parishes. Fidelma discussed some practical steps
that could be put into practice immediately. Some uncertainty was expressed
at the meeting as to how we can best proceed with fully enacting our
Guidelines at the present time. This hopefully will be clarified at
our next meeting, Fr. Tim expressed gratitude to all parties who have
been involved to date.
25th & 125th Anniversary Celebrations
PPC to confirm with the Millennium Choir the date of their concert
the 13th May.
It was proposed that for the 4 Sunday masses for the month of June
2007, that we could have co-ordinators to organise the liturgy for
each mass.
Youth Mass-Teresa/Betty
Family Mass- Carmel
Children’s Mass-Betty
Senior Citizens- Valerie
We are to confirm all arrangements again in January.
Carmel attended a meeting with the PTA to assist in the co-ordination
of events. More details to be confirmed later.
Topic
Gospel Reading Mt. 24:42-44
‘ Take the fig tree as a parable: as soon as its twigs grow supple and
its leaves come out, you know the summer is near.
Kilcullen Deanery Meeting
The PPC have been asked to give a 4-minute presentation at the local
deanery meeting. Lisa will give the talk, and groundwork is already
underway to give a review of the work that the PPC has done to date.
Everybody from the PPC is welcome to attend the meeting in Kilcullen
on Thursday the 30th of November at 8pm.
A.O.B.
The PPCs’ AGM
will be on the 11th December,
Possible matters to be discussed at this meeting: an extension to the
existing church in Blessington when the new school is built.
The possibility of having a policy for people who advertise in the
commercial section of the parish newsletter. Deferred until January.
Acknowledge
the letter from the Gaelscoil and outline some of the PPCs’ concerns
with the growing population in Blessington and the pressure that
it is putting
on the parish community.
Date of next meeting:
Tuesday 9th January 2007
Topic – Review
of Gospel for Sunday 14th January 2007
Review
of activities of Blessington
Parish Pastoral Council (P.P.C.)
December 2005-November 2006
Introduction:
The first A.G.M. of Blessington Parish Pastoral Council was held on
28/11/2005. This meeting was well attended and various matters were
discussed and reported i.e.;
• Parish Pastoral Council Guidelines
• Child Protection Policy
• Parish Finance Committee Report
•
St. Joseph’s’ Hall Report
• New School and Theatre Report.
There was also a presentation from the three young people who attended
the World Youth Day in Cologne.
The Parish Pastoral Council
Around the time of the 2005 A.G.M., Gene Gilheany, Hugo Magee, Gerry
McIntyre and Michael O’Connell resigned from the P.P.C. They
were all thanked for their commitment and contribution to the P.P.C.
over the previous three years. Subsequently in January 2006 a new council
was formed and officers were elected. The current P.P.C. consists of
eighteen members namely: Fr. Tim, Fr. Kevin, Teresa Ball, Lisa Charles,
Ann Creighton, Liam Fay, Valerie Hamilton, Fidelma Hogan, Sally Joyce,
Lorcan McMahon, Betty Murphy, Declan Naughton, Carmel O’Donovan,
Muriel O’Neill, Gerry Staines, Eugene Tyrell and Mary Young.
We meet ten times a year and our minutes are published on the parish
website.
Synopsis of work during 2006
The Council has addressed a range of issues as outlined below:
• Child Protection
Guidelines
The Child Protection Subgroup formally presented their revised and
completed policy to the Council. Further revisions were required
and the guidelines were finally agreed by the Council. They have
since been signed by the President and Chairperson of the Council,
and were subsequently agreed by the Archbishop.
4 Child Protection Representatives were nominated; they are Valerie
Hamilton, Gene Gilheany, Fidelma Hogan, and Sean Feely. The representatives
have completed a Child Protection training course, which will enable
them to enact the Guidelines in due course.
• Christian / Spiritual
Education
The P.P.C. organised a successful and very well attended series of
Lenten talks with keynote speaker Fr. Pat Collins CM.
• Anniversary Preparations
Preparations have been initiated for the 25th / 125th Anniversary Celebrations
for the Church and School. The main focus for events will be during
the month of June 2007.
• Sacramental Preparation
Programs
A Confirmation Programme has been initiated and has been running successfully
since September 2006.
The Communion Preparation Program is now in its 3rd annual cycle.
• Television Mass
The P.P.C.co-ordinated a representative Parish Community for the televised
Mass which was broadcast live by RTE last September.
• Other Matters which were addressed during the year
• Liaison with Parish
Groups
• Progress of DeCaf
• Discuss shortage of Priests to celebrate Mass
• Agreed that there only be shared anniversary Masses at the weekend.
• Invited speakers
at P.P.C. meetings
Invitees have attended particular meetings to share with the group
their knowledge/expertise in certain areas:
o Brendan Doyle CYC faith team spoke about how to enhance the spiritual
needs of young people through activities. June 06.
o Fr. Paddy Boyle Child Protection Co-ordinator for Dublin Dioceses
will speak to the P.P.C. about our guidelines. (Cancelled Nov 06’)
New date Jan 07’.
• Team Work / Support
for P.P.C. members
o A meeting took place in September for all P.P.C.’s in the Dublin
South, Blessington, and Tallaght Deaneries. The meeting was addressed
by Archbishop Martin. It was helpful to network with other Councils
and to listen to their experiences and recommendations. Subsequently
the local Blessington Deanery held a gathering in Kilcullen to share
with other Councils in the locality and to establish if we could network
and support one another. This meeting was very well received.
o As part of each P.P.C. meeting agenda, the following weeks Gospel
is reviewed and discussed.