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The Parish Events CommitteeWHO ARE THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE?In 2008 the members are: Fr Michael Cozens, Shirley Brown, Mavis Brick, Liz Bennetts, Phil Dodd, Lynda Hodges, Margaret Holman, Janet White, Gill Wood.
WHY AND HOW A PEC?First some background history. One of the Committees that arose out of the Parish Development Day in 1998 (yes it was that long ago!) and the subsequent Development Plan was the Pastoral Care and Common Life Committee. It had a dual but associated role. On the one hand it had responsibility for overseeing the pastoral needs of the Parish. The Bereavement Support Group was one of its initiatives. It was also responsible for the provision, oversight and proper ordering of parish and other events in our community. With the development of the Ministry Leadership Team, it seemed appropriate that the Team should take on responsibility for the pastoral care element. As a result the Pastoral Care & Common Life Committee was renamed the Parish Events Committee, the first meeting under its new name being held in April 2002. WHAT DOES THE PEC DO?If it is important for the health of the parish for a wide range of events to be provided that can both maintain the social cohesion of the Parish family and also involve the wider local community, then there needs to be proper organisation and ordering of these events. This is the responsibility of the PEC. There is a surprisingly wide variety of events to be considered. There are those major set festivals such as Harvest and Patronal Festivals, which require not only a meal to be provided but often some form of 'entertainment'. Other Church festivals (such as Easter, Corpus Christi or Ascension Day) perhaps need only a drink and biscuits but these do not appear by magic. Someone (or two or three or more) needs to be asked to provide them. There are the one-off events such as theatre visits, dances, quizzes, talent shows, sometimes organised by individuals, sometimes by our Committee. There are also occasions which we hope will attract the wider community such as the Wedding and St Nicolas' Celebration Weekends, fetes, the Abertillery Choir concert, flower festivals. As a Committee we need to be aware of these to ensure that events do not clash (and reduce attendance), that there is no 'bunching' of similar events and that such practical considerations as booking of the premises well in advance have been taken into account. And of course there is the provision of food for many of these events and here we are grateful for the invaluable support we get from the willing members of the catering teams led by Marion Godden and Shirley Brown. WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS?Trying to determine what our congregations want is one. A Barn Dance will be very popular one year and then a similar event the following year has to be cancelled for lack of support. For some events tickets are sold out well in advance; for others attendance is meagre. Why? Another major headache for our catering leaders and their teams is not knowing sufficiently in advance what is required of them. For a major meal event, the menu needs to be settled in time for ingredients to be bought and members of the teams alerted for responsibilities to be allocated. This is apart from decisions that must be taken on pricing of tickets and restriction on numbers (itself dependant on the type of meal - full sit-down, buffet or bring and share when only drinks are required). Timeliness of information has improved but we mustn't be complacent. Something on the horizon which is likely to be of real concern are the restrictions and requirements of the current food handling legislation. Such demands as food hygiene certificates for church volunteers and double sinks are examples of the kind of regulation that could clearly affect what we will be in a position to provide in the future. WHAT PART CAN YOU PLAY?We need your views on the kind of events you would like the Committee to organise and your opinions on why certain ones fail. We are aware that there are gaps in our provision and that there might be someone who is eager to organise something different. It would be good to have someone prepared to organise a parish walk, for example. Please get in touch with any member of the Committee. The catering teams, too, would always welcome new offers of help. John Elliott This article first appeared in the October 2003 edition of the Prestbury Parish magazine |
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