What has been achieved?

The Parish Pastoral Council – What Has Been Achieved?

The Dunhill and Fenor Parish Pastoral Council was established in December 2007. Parishioners will, no doubt, want to know what the council has been up to since then so we will attempt to satisfy their curiosity and interest by describing some of its achievements.

Early Days

At the start progress was slow because it was necessary to set up the administrative structure of the council by electing the officers, deciding on the conduct, order, and timing of meetings, and so on. In order to learn more about the role of the pastoral council, six council members attended a workshop on pastoral councils in Clonmel in February 2008. Also, one member was delegated to attend meetings of the St. Otteran’s Pastoral Area, which is the “cluster” of seven local parishes. Members of the council continue to attend training sessions or information seminars as and when they occur.

Parish Newsletters and Parish Notices

The first visible sign of the working of the council was the new Pastoral Newsletter which was edited by Marie Crowley and Mary Murphy. The first edition appeared at Easter 2008 and was followed by further editions at Summer, Autumn, and Christmas. These are still available HERE on this web site. However, the council decided later to replace the quarterly newsletters by the weekly Parish Newsletters which are available HERE.

Baptismal Team

Marie Crowley was largely responsible for putting together the baptismal team. The team members were:

Susan Cooper
Breda Halley
Helena Harrington
Susan Moore
Kitty Murphy
Pat O’Shea
Phil Tyrrell

 

The team took part in a training session in St. John’s Pastoral Centre in October 2008 and began working in the parish in January 2009. Breda Halley was the team leader.

Child Protection

Ann Marie Queally and Rita Byrne of this parish were responsible for putting together the Child Protection policy for Dunhill and Fenor. This was presented to parishioners at an open meeting in the Dunhill Enterprise Centre on 14th May 2008 and subsequently forwarded to the bishop for his approval. It is now an important part of the way in which children are cared for and protected while involved in our parish. The agreed policy may be seen HERE on this web site.

Saturday/Sunday Masses

The question of the number and the times of Masses in the parish was a topic for discussion at many pastoral council meetings. In order to hear the views of parishioners, an open parish assembly was held in the Dunhill Educational Centre on 28th October 2008 after which a decision was made to have only one Saturday Vigil Mass which was to alternate every six months between Dunhill and Fenor churches. The change was made on a trial basis to be reviewed after one year. On completion of the trial year, and after considering both the recorded attendances at the Saturday/Sunday Masses and the suggestions of parishioners, the Vigil Mass was left permanently in Fenor Church at the time of 6:30 p.m. The pastoral council continues to keep a watchful eye on Masses and Mass times.

Pastoral Council Constitution

As pastoral councils are properly constituted parish bodies, the Irish bishops require each council to have a constitution. The constitution of our pastoral council was drafted by the council and forwarded to Bishop Lee who gave it his approval in January 2009. The constitution may be viewed HERE.

Pastoral Plan

The diocesan pastoral plan Building In Faith was published towards the end of 2008. By then our pastoral council was a year old and was feeling the need to plan its work rather than deal with whatever matters just happened to arise. A planning session facilitated by Fr. Liam Power and Sr. Antoinette Dilworth was held in the Dunhill Educational Centre over three evenings in January 2009. This resulted in a pastoral plan for the period January 2009 to January 2010. The plan was published in the Parish Newsletter of Summer 2009 and may be viewed HERE.

Parish Census

One of the tasks that emerged from the pastoral plan was the setting up of a list of who lives in the parish and where they live so that collection envelopes, notices, and any other literature may be delivered correctly and efficiently. Several meetings were held with the parish collectors to decide how to gather the information. A computer data base package was purchased to make the recording of the information easier, and much of the information has now been entered into the data base by the parish secretary.

Bereavement Group

Another task from the pastoral plan was the setting up of a bereavement group in the parish. The team members were:

Maureen Flynn
Sharon Hayes
Kathleen Murphy
Kathleen O’Brien
Mary Sheehan

 

This group was set up in April 2009, underwent training at St. John’s Pastoral Centre later the same month, and offers bereavement support to parishioners.

Youth Programme

Several events were organised, largely by Fr. Murphy, to interest and involve young people. A successful evening of making and eating pancakes was held on Shrove Tuesday 2009 and 2010 with about twenty young people. Also, the Easter ceremonies were particularly marked by the presence and activities of scouts and young parishioners. In June 2009 a pre-exam Mass was celebrated but it was not well attended. The youth pilgrimage that was intended for summer 2009 was cancelled because of the terrible weather.

Web Site

This is another task from the pastoral plan, intended to improve communications within and without the parish. The initial web site design was provided by Maria Murphy and the content of the web pages was provided by the communications team which is a sub-group of the pastoral council. The web site contains many pages with numerous documents that can be downloaded for inspection.

In February 2012 the web site was redesigned by Stephen de Roiste and the content was provided by the communications team. A major feature of the new web site and the catalyst for the new design was the information now provided about the Fenor cemetery. This includes headstone information and grave photographs which were gathered by the graveyard team. The data base created to make this information accessible to the public was also designed by Stephen de Roiste.

Facebook

In April 2011 the parish Facebook Page went live. The Page is linked to the web site but independent of it. Perhaps the most important aspect of the Page is the way it allows parishioners and any other interested people to join in the life of the parish in ways that were not possible before. The Page is regularly accessed by several hundred people, some from as far away as the UK, the USA, Australia, and Cork. There is a large following in Dublin and a dedicated few who read the Page in Polish. Most of the readers are in the 25 to 45 age group and female readers number nearly twice as many as male readers.

Liturgy Group

Following an information evening attended by Mary Dee of the Diocesan Liturgy Commission, a parish liturgy group was set up. This group has been active in advising the parish administrator on the ceremonies at Christmas, Easter, and St. Patrick’s Day and members of the group participated in the ceremonies. The group has also been involved in processions, graveyard Masses, Eucharistic Adoration, and Benediction during Lent. The members of the group were:

Georgina Flynn
Brendan Gallagher
Pat Greene
Mary Harney
Tom O’Neill
Ita O’Reilly
Pat O’Shea

 

Parish Pilgrimages

A parish pilgrimage to Mount Melleray Abbey was organised by the pastoral council for 6th June 2010, the feast of Corpus Christi. The council also organised beautiful weather for the day so that everyone had a good time, even though a good time is not normally the top priority on a pilgrimage. You can read about it and check out the photo gallery HERE.

In June 2011 the parish pilgrimage was to Rome, Italy. You can read about it and check out the photo gallery HERE.

Defribrillators

Information about defribrillators will be published shortly.

What is a Pastoral Council

The Parish Pastoral Council - What Is a Parish Pastoral Council?

The following explanation of the role of the pastoral council is taken from Parish Pastoral Councils – A Framework for Developing Diocesan Norms and Parish Guidelines, March 2007, Sections 4.1 and 4.3.

The Parish Pastoral Council is a leadership group through which priests and people work together as partners in furthering the mission of Christ in their own place. It does this through building up a vibrant Christian community that is rooted in baptism and marked by its faith, worship and service.

To fulfil its role the Pastoral Council needs to be a representative body, in which the diversity of the parish community is reflected. It is a means whereby all parishioners can take part in all discussions that relate to the parish and its future development.

The primary ministry of the Parish Pastoral Council is to discern the way forward for the parish at the given time. It does this in the light of the gospel, the teaching of the Church, the ‘signs of the times’ and what the Holy Spirit is saying through the members of the local community.

Processes in which the Parish Pastoral Council is involved include:

Reflection and Planning
In collaboration with the parish community, identifying their needs and the challenges they face, and reflecting in dialogue with them on what needs to be done.

Animation
Enabling the baptised to discover their gifts, in response to the needs and challenges of the parish, and developing these gifts through the provision of training and on-going formation.

Action
Providing structures that will marry the needs and the challenges of the parish with the gifts and resources in the parish and the diocese.

Communication
Ensuring that effective dialogue takes place within the parish, the diocese, and the wider community.

Evaluation
Reviewing the life and activities of the parish so that parishioners might have a sense of a developing dynamic Christian community.

The council’s pastoral interests include church liturgy, baptismal preparation, bereavement support, faith formation, communications within and without the parish, community care, and many others. Council members are not expected to carry out all of these activities themselves, though they may be involved in some of them, but it is their responsibility to empower the individuals and teams of people who do carry them out.

The pastoral council is not responsible for financial matters or for matters relating to parish property. Financial matters are the responsibility of the parish finance council while the parish property committee is responsible for the maintenance and development of parish property such as land, buildings, graveyards, car parks, etc. The pastoral council has an interest in all these matters and receives frequent reports about them but they are not the pastoral council’s responsibility.

The individuals and teams of people who assist the parish administrator maintain direct contact with him on a day-to-day basis. However, the two councils have the responsibility of establishing the teams, where they do not already exist, and of providing any necessary training, advice, assistance, or finance.

Of course, the parish administrator has overall responsibility for all parish matters and the councils and committees are there to advise and assist him.

Council Members

The Parish Pastoral Council – Council Members

Current Council Members (2016)

The names of the current council members are:

Rt Rev Msgr Nicholas O’Mahony PP
Martin Middleton (Chairperson)
Stan Flynn (Secretary)
Brendan Gallagher
Carmel Dunphy
Sharon Hogan
Rita Byrne
Kitty Murphy
Dan Cowman
Donal Lehane
Helena Harrington
Kathleen Murphy

 

Previous Council Members (2007 – 2015)

Founding Members – December 2007

The names of the fifteen founding members are:

Dan Cowman
Marie Crowley
Terry Cunningham (asst. secretary)
Fr. Garrett Desmond (president)
Julianna Dunne (vice-chairperson)
Stan Flynn
Brendan Gallagher
Pat Greene
Mary Harney
Anne Kavanagh
Donal Lehane (chairperson)
Kathleen Murphy (secretary)
Mary Murphy
Ita O’Reilly
David Raher

Of these founding members, Anne Kavanagh resigned for personal reasons and was replaced by Gillian Connolly.

Fr. Desmond was transferred to become the parish priest of Newcastle and Fourmilewater Parish and was replaced by our then parish administrator, Fr. Paul F. Murphy.

At the council meeting of 8th September 2009 the chairperson and secretary left office as their terms had ended. Marie Crowley and Mary Murphy were elected as the new chairperson and secretary, respectively.

November 2010

As of 1st November 2010, the names of the fifteen members were:

Gillian Connolly
Dan Cowman
Marie Crowley (chairperson)
Terry Cunningham (asst. secretary)
Julianna Dunne (vice-chairperson)
Stan Flynn
Brendan Gallagher
Pat Greene
Mary Harney
Donal Lehane
Kathleen Murphy
Mary Murphy (secretary)
Fr. Paul F. Murphy (president)
Ita O’Reilly
David Raher

 

According to the pastoral council’s constitution, one third of the members of the council must be replaced every year, after the first three years.

An Information Leaflet and Nomination Form were prepared for distribution to parishioners after Mass on three consecutive weekends. Parishioners were requested to complete the Nomination Form attached to the leaflet and return it.
A parish meeting was held on Tuesday 2nd November to explain the purpose of the pastoral council and the role of its members. After the general meeting, those interested in membership were invited to attend a “discernment” process to help them to make a final decision.
As a result of the discernment, eight nominees were accepted as members of the pastoral council. They were commissioned as members at the pastoral council meeting on Tuesday 9th November 2010.

As of 2nd November 2010, the names of the council members were:

Finola Cooke
Gillian Connolly
Dan Cowman
Marie Crowley (chairperson)
Wendy Cullinane
Terry Cunningham (asst. secretary)
Ann Marie Curran
Julianna Dunne (vice-chairperson)
Helena Fitzgerald
Stan Flynn
Laois Gavin
Pat Greene
Donal Lehane
Paul Lynch
Ned Morrissey
Mary Murphy (secretary)
Fr. Paul F. Murphy (president)
Cait O’Donovan

November 2011

The process of replacing approximately one third of the members each year was adopted again in October/November 2011. At that time six members resigned, namely, Dan Cowman, Maria Crowley, Terry Cunningham, Stan Flynn, Pat Greene, and Mary Murphy. All of these members had served on the council for four years as they were founder members. One new member, Peg Curran, joined the council making thirteen members in all.

Shortly before the change of membership, a new process for electing the four officers was adopted. Henceforth, each officer is to be elected for a term of one year. The vice-chairperson and assistant secretary will automatically assume the roles of chairperson and secretary when the latter come to the end of their term of office. The new officers elected at this time were Ned Morrissey (chairperson), Finola Cooke (secretary), Paul Lynch (vice-chairperson), and Ann Marie Curran (assistant secretary).

As of November 2011, the names of the council members were:

Finola Cooke (secretary)
Gillian Connolly
Wendy Cullinane
Ann Marie Curran (asst. secretary)
Peg Curran
Julianna Dunne
Helena Fitzgerald
Laois Gavin
Donal Lehane
Paul Lynch (vice-chairperson)
Ned Morrissey (chairperson)
Fr. Paul F. Murphy (president)
Cait O’Donovan

 

November 2012

On this occasion, two members resigned, namely, Donal Lehane and Julianna Dunne. Both of these members had served on the council for five years as they were founder members. Three new members, Helen Cooke, Brendan Gallagher, and Brian McMahon, joined the council making fourteen members in all. Brendan had already served a term on the council as one of the founding members.

The new officers elected at this time were Paul Lynch (chairperson), Ann Marie Curran (secretary), ?? (vice-chairperson), and ?? (assistant secretary).

As of November 2012, the names of the council members were:

Finola Cooke
Helen Cooke
Gillian Connolly
Wendy Cullinane
Ann Marie Curran (secretary)
Peg Curran
Helena Fitzgerald
Brendan Gallagher
Laois Gavin
Paul Lynch (chairperson)
Brian McHatton
Ned Morrissey
Fr. Paul F. Murphy (president)
Cait O’Donovan

November 2013

In November 2013 Brian McHatton was elected chairperson and Helen Cooke was elected secretary.
The names of the council members were:

Rt Rev Msgr Nicholas O’Mahony PP
Brian McHatton (Chairperson)
Helen Cooke (Secretary)
Ann-Marie Curran
Cait O’Donovan
Ned Morrissey
Brendan Gallagher
Paul Lynch
Carmel Dunphy
Sharon Hogan
Mary Murphy
Rita Byrne
Tom Drohan
Martin Middleton
Stan Flynn

November 2014

In November 2014 Martin Middleton was elected chairperson and Stan Flynn was elected secretary.
The names of the council members were:

Rt Rev Msgr Nicholas O’Mahony PP
Martin Middleton (Chairperson)
Stan Flynn (Secretary)
Brian McHatton
Helen Cooke
Brendan Gallagher
Carmel Dunphy
Sharon Hogan
Mary Murphy
Rita Byrne
Kitty Murphy
Dan Cowman
Donal Lehane
Joe Burns

Pastoral Council – A brief history

The Parish Pastoral Council – A Brief History

The Second Vatican Council ended in 1965. In its decrees the Council expressed a desire to involve the laity in the work of the Church and, as a result, many parishes set up parish councils. These were meant to advise and assist the parish priest in running the parish. They operated successfully for a few years but, in the end, suffered from focussing too much on financial, material, and administrative matters to the detriment of the pastoral needs of the parish.

In 1959, Pope John XXIII announced that the Code of Canon Law (i.e., Church law) was to be completely revised. The revision was finally completed twenty-four years later in 1983. The revised Code made provision for the establishment of parish pastoral councils which were to advise and assist the parish priest in carrying out his pastoral duties. Financial matters were to be the concern of a separate parish finance council.

As the number of priests declined, the need to involve the laity became increasingly pressing and the Irish bishops began in earnest to plan for the creation of pastoral councils throughout the country. Their aim was to have a pastoral council in every parish in Ireland.

Dunhill and Fenor Parish Pastoral Council was set up in October 2007 by Fr. Garrett Desmond who was the parish administrator at the time. There were fifteen members on the council – Fr. Desmond (the president), and fourteen lay members. The new council took part in four evenings of training provided by the Diocesan Commission for Pastoral Councils and held its first meeting on 11th December 2007. At this meeting three officers were elected – the chairperson, who facilitates the regular meetings, the secretary, who records the minutes and deals with correspondence, and the assistant secretary, who is responsible for the minutes and correspondence in the secretary’s absence. A vice-chairperson, who facilitates the meetings in the absence of the chairperson, was elected at the council meeting of 16th October 2008.

A meeting of the council is held every month except July and August.

In the summer of 2008, Fr. Desmond transferred to the parish of Newcastle and Fourmilewater as the new parish priest. He was replaced by Fr. Paul F. Murphy. In December 2013, Fr. Murphy transferred to the chaplaincy service of the Department of Defense. With the transfer of Fr. Murphy the parish was left without a resident priest and the parish was then serviced by the priests of the parish of Tramore and Carbally. The parish priest of Tramore and Carbally, Monsignor Nicholas O’Mahony, took on the additional roles of administrator of Dunhill and Fenor parish and president of its parish pastoral council.