Parish Notices 5th February 2012

The Rector writes… “This week I have been reading many passages about ‘Hope’. It always seems to work out that way, whatever book I pick up seems to speak about a certain theme and this week the dominating theme was ‘Hope’. Wonderful sentences jumped out at me like ‘Hope has feet and we are still walking’ which was written by a man called John Heagle who is involved in Social Justice issues or as the American Christian activist Jim Wallis puts it ’Hope is

believing in spite of the evidence and watching the evidence change’    At a time when people often have trouble finding reasons to hope, those who place their trust in the God of the Bible need more than ever to “give to anyone who asks an account of the hope that is in [them]” (1 Peter 3:15) When we despair we can do nothing at all.  It is only from a position of hope that change comes. As it says at the end of our Morning Prayer Service (page 116) ’May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope’   Amen 

TEA AND COFFEE this morning in the Church Hall after the Service in St Mary’s. Please do come along and enjoy the fellowship..

SUNDAY SCHOOL this morning in St Mary’s. Children of 4 years old up to 1st year of secondary school are welcome. Sunday School resumes on 4th March after half term. The teachers have asked for any donations of markers, pens, colouring pencils, crayons etc that may be lying around at home. These can be handed directly to the teachers or dropped-in to the Parish Office during opening hours.

MID-WEEK EUCHARIST in St Mary’s Church every Wednesday at 10.30 a.m. All are welcome to come along.

PARISH RENEWAL group met with the rector this week and she was very impressed with all the work done so far. The document presented at last years Easter Vestry provides an excellent way forward for our community. There will be regular communication on this initiative.

CHILDREN’S READING IN CHURCH WORKSHOP will take place next Wednesday 8th February in St Mary’s Church from 7-8pm. This will be a fun and pleasant way to introduce young people to reading the scriptures. It will provide practical instructions; answers about why we read certain parts of the bible and some of the history of reading the word of God out loud in churches. It is also a great way to introduce children to public speaking.

PRAYER REQUEST SHEETS are at the back of both churches. This allows anyone to request prayers which will be incorporated into the prayers said at our services. Please just write the date and the first name of the person you would like to be prayed for. More details may be written but names will be not be mentioned aloud but will be remembered silently during our time of corporate and private prayer.

EVENSONG has been celebrated in St John’s Church, Monkstown over the last four years; chanted and sung by Monkstown Chamber Choir. Please do support this beautiful service which is at 7pm every second Sunday of the month. The next Evensong will be next Sunday 12th February.

DIOCESAN MAGAZINE subscriptions are now due. Please forward €20 to Rowland Newenham or the Parish Office.

INTERCESSIONS IN CHURCH If you would like to be involved in doing prayer intercessions at our church services, please contact the Rector who will put together a rota of all interested persons . As it will involve a little training in this area, the Rector has written a small instruction booklet which will help anyone who is new to this area of ministry.

REVISION OF LIST OF VESTRY MEMBERS  meeting will be in St Mary’s Parish Hall at 7.30 p.m. on Thursday 9th February.  If you are not registered as a Vestry member you have no vote at the Annual Vestry at Easter so please do come along and register so as to have your voice heard in your parish.

THEOLOGICAL BOOK CIRCLE  sounds fancy but really only involves reading a particular book every three months. The book chosen for our first meeting in the Rectory on Tuesday evening 1st May is “The Lost Message of Jesus” by Steve Chalke and Alan Mann. This is an interesting, thought-provoking book rooted in good scholarship yet accessible to anyone. Jerome in the “Carrigaline Bookshop” has offered to source these books and offers us  a 5% discount as well. Please do support our local shops and keep jobs in the community.

MAD ABOUT SCIENCE Mid-term Forensic Science Workshop on Sat 11th February at St Mary’s Parish Hall, 10am to 1pm. €20 each. 10% discount for siblings. Check out :www.madaboutscience.net

ST LUKE’S HOME EDUCATION CENTRE have a series of workshops on Saturday 25th February (10am—1pm) is on Mindfulness which hopes to provide an opportunity to reduce stress in our lives and Caring for the Older Adult(9.30am—4pm) will have professionals helping those who care for older family members at home. http://www.stlukeshome.ie/education-centre

CORK THEOLOGY FORUM. will have a series of introductions to four themes: Creation, Evolution and ecology; Justice, the Budget and Social Capital; The Church of Ireland/Methodist Covenant; Feminist Theology. Four Monday’s in February starting 6th Feb. 8-9pm. Scala Centre, Opposite Blackrock Castle. Contact John Scanlan at john.scanlon021@gmail.com.

 

The Church, Carrigaline, Co. Cork.’, a printed postcard by ‘Lawrence, Publisher, Dublin’, c.1905.

 

Certainly the earliest, and very possibly the only commercially produced postcard of the Church, published by the well know publishing house of William Lawrence, O’Connell Street (formerly Sackville Street), Dublin, whose negative collection of over 40,000 images now forms the basis for the collection held by the National Library of Ireland.

 

A most interesting view, taken, presumably in the Summer, from a field to the south of the church, approximately where the present rectory now stands, with the still extant ancient boundary wall, and profusion of trees, fine old beeches and limes, and many Irish yews, that formerly graced the Churchyard, much in evidence. The railings which surrounded the chest tombs of Burke, of Prospect Villa, and Hodder, of Hoddersfield have unfortunately since disappeared, as alas also, has the elegant tracery and glazing of the four windows, that to the left being replaced with one of fine stained glass, by an Tur Gloine, erected to the memory of members of the Dorman family in 1923, and the other three in the early years of the 1960’s, when after an infestation of dry-rot on the south wall, it was felt necessary to remove the windows entirely, and have them replaced with the present much simplified, and much less attractive versions of the originals.

K.L.R.