PARISH MEETING: WEDNESDAY 20 November 2024

NOTES FROM THE MEETING

1. Financial Report. Fr Peter presented the parish accounts for the last 12 months. Click here for the report. He expressed his gratitude to the regular generosity of parishioners, which meant that the parish had no financial concerns and was able to maintain and improve its property. There was gratitude expressed at the meeting also to the generous responses to the SVP appeal and the Bambisanani partnership fund-raising, as well as many other causes.

2. Church Sanctuary Works. Fr Peter gave an update on the proposed works to the sanctuary of the church. The initial plans were put together in September 2023, and the diocesan Art, Architecture & Heritage Committee approved the works on the 18th January 2024, with a budget of £75,000. The tendering began in April 2024, and the deadline is 20th December 2024. The plan is to move the tabernacle to the centre of the sanctuary, flatten out all the various levels and steps of the sanctuary, reduce the width of the current altar, create a new stone lectern (using the marble already used), replaster the back wall of the sanctuary, upgrade all the sanctuary lighting, and incorporate new bespoke oak furniture, including curved benches that will fit around the back of the sanctuary wall. The front of the church will have more space, and the whole church will be recarpeted. The process has taken longer than expected. The stone mason has unfortunately reported that due to the age of the marble in the altar and the tabernacle stand it is likely to fracture, so replacement of some of the marble is now having to be considered. The replastering and smoothing out of the back wall is also more complicated than envisaged. Fr Peter has been told that the works will last about 3 to 4 weeks, and that during this time the Sunday Masses will need to take place in the Parish Hall. Weekday Masses should be able to take place in the church porch. He hopes that the works can be completed by Easter, but in reality he thinks they may not happen until next summer. The architect has also submitted plans for the upgrading of the whole church lighting system, but Fr Peter feels that the next stage of church improvements should be the secondary glazing of the windows in order to make the church warmer during the winter.

3. Church Porch Heating. Fr Peter reported that a concern of his is the heating in the church porch which is currently inadequate. There have been two occasions in the past few years when during a long, cold spell the pipes in the toilets have frozen. The convector heators in the porch barely make a difference, even when turned on for a number of hours. On advice from a contractor, it is proposed to install a separate central heating system which would be operated by an electric boiler. A quote of £5424.28 has been received, and there was general agreement at the meeting that it would be worth it. The diocesan property department have indicated that they would support an application for the installation of solar panels on the church roof, which would obviously offset some of the additional electrical charges. A gas-powered system is not an option due to the location of the gas mains, and a heat pump system needs much better insulation than we have at the moment, so the electric-boiler proposal seemed the best way forward.

4. Hall improvements. There was some discussion about future improvements to the parish hall. Janice Whitworth reported that the diocese were helping the hall committee to submit applications for grants to install a new fire exit and a fire alarm system. It is hoped that the grant will also allow for an upgrade of the facilities and interior decorating of the hall.

5. Presbytery. Fr Peter reported that the roof of the presbytery has been leaking since he arrived, and that finally over the summer the repairs were made, which required expensive scaffolding. Other than the replacement of the front door and boiler room door (which will incidentally happen next week), the presbytery is in good shape and no further works are envisaged for a little while, please God!

6. Live Simply Award. Fr Peter spoke about the coming Jubilee Year and our bishop’s recommendation that the CAFOD “Live Simply” award is a positive response for each parish in the diocese. Fr Peter was encouraged by the response from various parishioners, and so the next step will be to have a planning group that would meet to discuss the various proposals and what our plan of action as a parish would be. Some ideas were shared at the meeting: “Live Sustainably” could focus on recycling, in particular those items that the Council currently does not accept in the green bins. This could easily involve the parish and school commnity as a whole. “Live in Solidarity with the poor” could develop the Bambisanani links we already have with the community in South Africa, and in particular to link in with the local parish. “Live Simply” could involve a deeper study and understanding of the life and teaching of St Francis of Assisi, and how his spirituality and ethos can be lived in our own daily lives. Fr Peter will arrange an initial open meeting for anyone who is interested in discerning what commitments we will make as a parish community. He reported that a number of parishes in the Leeds and Wharfedale areas have already joined to share ideas and help each other, so we could easily link in with them too.

7. Jubilee Year Pilgrimages. The theme for the Jubilee Year is “Pilgrims of Hope” and so it would be appropriate to have a parish pilgrimage. Fr Peter proposed that we could have a day pilgrimage which would be family-friendly, and suggested that we go to the shrine of Our Lady at Mount Grace, Osmotherley, North Yorkshire, and then onwards to the shrine of Blessed Nicholas Postgate in Egton Bridge & the church associated with him in Ugthorpe, before finishing off in Whitby. This could be in the Spring half-term at the end of May. For a longer pilgrimage, Fr Peter proposed to have a week in Assisi, Loreto and Padua, and that it could be in the October Half-Term holidays next year. More concrete proposals will be announced, hopefully by the end of this year. If anyone is interested in helping Fr Peter to plan either of these pilgrimages, please get in touch with him. There was also a proposal from the meeting to have a weekend or day retreat at The Briery in Ilkley. Again, if anyone wishes to be part of arranging this, please contact Fr Peter.

8. Other matters. Our school have requested that the annual Christmas Fair take place on Friday 13th December at 3.00pm, rather than on a Sunday afternoon as in previous years. Instead, David Farmer has proposed an Easter Gala to take place in the parish hall on Easter Monday (21st May 2025), and has already got a team of committed people from the parish who have met and started the planning. The meeting was grateful to David and the team for their efforts. There will be another planning meeting in January.