Pew Sheet – 24th September 2023

The Rector writes ’Please do have a close look at the ’Dates for your Diary’ page in this Pew Sheet as there is a lot happening over the next few months!    We will once again have an Advent Bible Study which will take place on-line on Wednesdays beginning on 29th November and continuing  6th, 13th and 20th December. During those nights, we will be looking at four familiar  ‘Songs of Advent’; Zechariah’s song, Mary’s song, the song of the Angels and Simeon’s song’.  I hope many of you will be able to take an hour on Wednesdays to explore this theme. I’m looking forward to it.   

Also in Advent we will have the Posada (Mary, Joseph & Donkey figurines) travel from home to home in the parish.  I’ll advertise it soon enough….  But in the meantime, less talk of Christmas and more talk of Harvest!  We will celebrate the blessing of our Animal friends today at the 11am Service and then in two weeks, on 8th October, we’ll celebrate the blessings of our Land at the Harvest Thanksgiving Services.  Fr James McSweeney will be our preacher at both the 9:30am and 11am Services. We look forward to hearing from him.’

Random Notes CDXXXV

The 2023 Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies was published last month. What is the Hype Cycle? It is a graph that shows what happens to new technologies over time. When a new technology emerges, people tend to get very excited about its potential very quickly. This is followed frequently by huge disappointment as that technology fails to deliver results quickly. Over time, as the technology matures and expectations become more realistic, we settle into a situation where that technology is reliably productive and useful. There’s a lot on this year’s curve that will mean very little to most people.  This is because the Hype Cycle is very IT focused and a lot of those technologies are not evident in everyday life.   But right now, you can see Generative AI at the top of the curve. This includes things you may heard of, like ChatGPT, Google Bard and Microsoft Bing. These are the AIs that are hitting the news right now, especially in terms of their impact on education. 

The graph shows that Generative AI technologies will reach maturity in 2-5 years.

What does this mean? We’re not talking about bowing down to our machine overlords, nor will we welcoming Commander Data or Robbie the Robot into our houses. What we might see is Generative AI being incorporated into our mobile phones, apps and other portable  technologies, even our cars. It may mean improvements in productivity (for less effort) in some jobs.

Personally, I hope it will mean huge improvements in voice control and systems that better “understand” what we mean when we talk to them. This could leave to better quality of life for those dependent on such technologies. Personally, I am hoping for an in-car GPS that understand my destination requests!

SJFW

Harvest Supper

As we look forward to our Harvest Supper on Saturday 7th October in the Canon McCrea Hall. Please let Millie Kingston 086 8091443 know if you can contribute a salad or dessert,  many thanks for your support and generosity

Nativity / Crib  Festival

We are planning to have a display of special or unusual Cribs / Nativity sets in the Parish Hall this December.  Each exhibit will have a little explanation so that people visiting the Hall can understand where each one comes from, what it is made of and perhaps if there was any special meaning for you….. it would be really lovely to have your special ones there. They will be on display from Friday 15th until  Sunday 17th of December so you will get them back in plenty of time for your own Christmas festivities.

Please let the Rector know if  you would like to be involved.

    Bicentenary Quilt

Our Bicentenary Quilt is coming together very nicely – thank you again to everyone who has made a square/squares and to Millie and her team who will put them all together.

Now it is time to gather up the stories to go with the squares. Thank you to everyone who has already sent theirs in; there are lots still to come though. Please get in touch with Hilary Dring 086-3680513 or hilarydring@gmail.com with your story.

It would be just lovely to have a story/description for each square to help people appreciate all the thought and work that have gone into it. It can be one sentence or a paragraph or whatever you wish. If you would like some help with putting it into words, please let Hilary know. All stories should be in by mid-October if possible, so that we have plenty of time to put them together into a booklet. Thank you.

The Owenabue Garden and Flower Club,

Carrigaline will host a horticulture talk titled “The Long Handled Hoe” by Paul Smyth, Head Gardner, RHSI Bellefield House.  Also Horticulture and Decorative Competitions and Plant Sales Table, Raffle and Refreshments. 

On 25th September 2023 at 8pm in St. Mary’s NS, Waterpark, Carrigaline.

All are welcome, visitors €7.

Dates for your Diary  

October

7th    Harvest Supper & Ceilidh in Canon McCrea Hall at           7:30pm

8th    Harvest Thanksgiving Services  9:30/11am    Fr James McSweeney is our Harvest Preacher this year

15th   Healer/Prayer Services 9:30/11am Lydia Monds of CMH:I (Churches Ministry of Healing)

will be our Preacher.

18th   The Rector will speak at the Mothers’ Union meeting about her recent trip to the Holy Land in the Parish Hall at 3pm

18th   Ecumenical Eco Congregation groups present a Film Night in the Parish Hall at 7:30pm  ‘The Letter’ is a powerful film about the environmental situation.

29th   United Service in St John’s Church at 11am

November

12th   Remembrance Services 9:30/11am

19th   ‘A Celebration of Lay Ministry’ 7pm St Fin Barre’s Cathedral

24th   Pageant/Drama 7:30pm in St Mary’s Church

26th   Parish Gift Day 9:30/11am Also two Speakers on Gender Based Violence (from Cuanlee Refuge & OSS Cork Support Services) will be at the 11am Service to launch the exhibition ‘Souls of our Shoes’ which will run until Wednesday 29th.  There will be a Bring & Share Lunch in the Parish Hall.  More details nearer the time.

29th   First of the Advent Zoom Bible Studies (also on 6th, 13th and 20th December)

December

3rd   Tractor Run

5th    Movie Night ‘The Scarlet and the Black’ 7:30pm Parish Hall

15th   Community Carols in St Marys Church 7:30pm

15th to 17th   Nativity Display in Parish Hall

17th   Nine Lessons & Carols 4pm  St John’s Monkstown

24th   Carols around the Crib  4pm  St Mary’s Carrigaline