Confirmation 2010 –

It is time, once again, for us to inform the Bishop of the names of those wishing to be confirmed. I prefer that those wishing to be confirmed ask me themselves – confirmation is, after all, a time to make one’s commitment to Christ for one’s self. A telephone call, quick chat after church or, even, by email, is sufficient to get your name on the list. If you missed out when younger, it is never too late and it has become quite common for mature adults and young people to be prepared for confirmation together and to share in the same service. Dates for confirmation will be arranaged by the bishop in the coming weeks. Preparation classes are arranged to suit the candidates and the Rector/Curate.

Harvest Thanksgivings;

Sunday, 18th October – Tullaghmeelan – Rev James Mulhall NSM @ 3.00pm

Theatre Evening-

“Robinson Caruso” @ Strand Theatre, Carrick-on-Suir on Sunday evening, 25th October – Tickets €10 – booking with Rector.

Singing Group –

Friday, 16th & 30th October 2009 @ 8.15pm in Old St. Mary’s – the 16th will take place in the room above the tourist office as there is a diocesan meeting in the church - New voices are always welcome –whether you want to sit near the organ or not! We practise well known hymns etc and learn new ones.

Whist Drives –

Our first whist drive made a good start to the season. Held the 2nd Friday of each month from Friday, 9th September – 9th April 2010 @ 7.45pm in the school hall across the street from Old St. Mary’s is the place to be on those nights!

Donations of prizes for the raffle and contributions to the supper, both in help and food, most welcome! These events contribute to our efforts to meet our Sustentation/Assessment commitment.
Friday, 13th November @ 7.45pm
Friday, 11th December @ 7.45pm (Christmas Drive)
Newcomers always welcome – beginners are welcomed and treated kindly!

Coffee Time –

This will be a “drop – in” type of morning and new faces are beginning to appear!! Your are invited – all of you – to drop into the Rectory on Saturday, 14th November 2009 between 10.00am – 12.30pm. The idea is to facilitate parishioners meeting each other over a cup of tea or coffee. There will be a biscuit and, if your lucky, maybe a scone and jam! There will be a jam-jar for anybody who might like to make a donation to the Hall Restoration Fund – no obligation! This invitation includes all of all ages

Helping Others –

St. Mary’s Church Ballintemple (Dundrum) recently had their tower re- roofed as an emergency safety measure. They are a very small rural congregation and I and the Rev Carter have a special interest in it!
Gospel Choir Concert in St. Mary’s Church, Ballintemple (Dundrum) on 11th November @ 8.00pm – Booking to the Rector. (note change of date)

Bereavement –

We sympathise with Anne and Bob Savage who have both been bereaved.
Anne’s mum died at the age of 93 years and bob’s nephew was killed in a
road accident, both in England. May they rest in peace

St. Mary’s Parochial School (sometimes called the Model School) –

Having taken a very active part in the Harvest Thanksgiving Service in Old St. Mary’s, the schoolchildren brought their baskets of fruit and vegetables to Mariancourt the following Monday morning.
Thank-you to Rev James who visited the school in preparation for the 4th Sunday Service in September – the children loved his time with them and his lesson on St. Michael and All Angels.

Break-in at Holy Trinity –

The church was broken into sometime during the night of 30th September. Having removed part of a window in the vestry, the culprits sprayed foam from a fire extinguisher on almost all surface and then sprinkled petrol & oil on wooden surfaces. Thankfully no matches we lit. Thank-you to Brian Palmer who organised for cleaners to clean up the mess in time for the Harvest Thanksgiving.

Harvest Thanksgiving -

Thank-you to those who decorated Old St. Mary’s Clonmel and Holy Trinity Fethard for the Harvest Thanksgiving Services we have had so far.
The congregation in Old St. Mary’s was over 200 and in Holy Trinity, 85. Both churches were beautifully decorated for the occasion.
The choirs of St. Mary’s, Irishtown, St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s and St. Olivers were present in Clonmel. The friars from the Franiscans took part in the worship. Archdeacon Murray preached a though provoking sermon with many challenges in it.
The Dean of Lismore, the Very Rev Paul Draper preached another challenging sermon in Holy Trinity. The curate, Fr Anthony MacSweeny and Fr John from the Augustinians attended and took part.
On both occasions, refreshments were served by parishioners. Thank-you, everybody for your efforts.

Fas –

The new arrangement at Old St. Mary’s is going very well. There are 5 participants, but when the scheme to which they have been assigned rolls over at the end of October, one of these men will end his time with Fas. His replacement will be chosen from Cahir (under the Clonmel St Vincent de Paul Scheme) and will work at St. Paul’s and Kilcommon under a Cahir scheme.
There is no Fas scheme in the Tullaghmeelan area, so we will be making arrangements to help them in the coming year to maintain the church and grounds

Select Vestry –

The next meeting will take place in Holy Trinity Church, Fethard Monday, 9th November 2009 @ 8.00pm – notices will not be posted to members before hand – so write it in on your kitchen calendar! The Rector will text those whose numbers she has a day or two before – if she does not have your mobile number, please text her!

Treasurer –

Caroline Quaid is settling into her new role as Parish Treasurer. She is putting in place some measures that will ensure that your contributions are acknowledged promptly and that lodgements etc are seen to efficiently. The Select Vestry, at its last meeting, decided that there should be only one current account for the day-to-day running of the parish. We will continue to have local accounts for building, restoration and repairs – these funded from fundraising.

“Sunday Life” on Tipp Fm –

This programme of prayer, meditation and hymns is broadcast on Tipp Fm every Sunday mornign at 7.00am .
The Rector will next broadcast on Sunday, 8th November 2009 @7.00am

Organ Marathon –

The final sum raised by the bishop form his Organ Marathon is €56,292 . Our diocesan Outreach Project in Seoul, South Korea, which assists in the ministry to Anglicans in the that areas by the Ven. Paul Mooney, former Archdeacon of Ferns, Bishops Appeal, the Church of Ireland aid agency, Protestant Aid will benefit for this amazing effort. As a result, our bishop doesn’t seem inclined to sing “Come, ye thankful people, come,” at the moment!!! Thank-you to all who supported this effort.

The Tourist Office –

The tourist office, which has been housed in Old St. Mary’s for the last four years will move to the Mainguard, Clonmel sometime in the near future. The Secretary and outreach worker will remain in the church and this will greatly assist us in keeping Old St. Mary’s open to the public.
Those of you who have been at Old St. Mary’s will see the improvements that have been made in the grounds. Bulbs are being planted in the new flowerbeds at the moment. The renovation of the toilets in the hall is approaching completion

The Tourist Office –

The tourist office, which has been housed in Old St. Mary’s for the last four years will move to the Mainguard, Clonmel sometime in the near future. The Secretary and outreach worker will remain in the church and this will greatly assist us in keeping Old St. Mary’s open to the public.
Those of you who have been at Old St. Mary’s will see the improvements that have been made in the grounds. Bulbs are being planted in the new flowerbeds at the moment. The renovation of the toilets in the hall is approaching completion

School Extension Blessing –

The rector attended the blessing of the new extension at the CBS school on 1st October. The blessing was performed by Bishop Lee and the extension was opened Dr Martin Mansergh T.D. It with some horror that I heard that only 1/3 of the Department of Education and Science budget for building in 2009 has been either spent or allocated so far this year.

Shrapnel Fund -

I hope you haven’t forgotten about the shrapnel fund which is part of our initiative to pay off our debt. We have asked that as many of you as possible would put your loose change into a jam jar and give the proceeds to us to help with our effort to get rid of the debt. Shirley Clooney has taken charge of the counting etc. Over €1,000 has now been given in this part of our project.

Diocesan Synod –

Our diocesan Synod takes place in the Woodlands Hotel, Waterford on 21st October. We will be represented by the Rector, the Rev James and five who were elected at the triennial elections last year. As the Rev James has forfeited his layman status the 1st supplementalist takes his place. We welcome Jenny Nash to Diocesan Synod. This meeting of the con-joint synods of Cashel & Ossory and Ferns reviews the workings of the diocese in the last year and is empowered to make diocesan rules based on the Constitution of the Church of Ireland – please pray for us as we do this important business on your behalf.

Safeguarding Trust –

The latest newsletter explains who should be contacted by the Parish Panel in the event of an incident or suspicion of an incident of abuse of minors coming to the knowledge of the Parish Panel. The members of the Parish Panel in this parish are :
The Rector: Tel 052 6187464/086-2750735
Mrs Mulhall: Tel 051 646984
Dr Alan Thomas: Tel 052 28235
The next training day is Saturday, 17th October @ 10.30am – If you would like to help with setting up youth work in our parish , you speak to the Rector and attend on this day

October 25th –

The Service on this, the fourth Sunday of the month, is a Service of the Word that is oriented towards family worship. The children of our Parochial School more-or-less conduct the Service with parents taking an active part as well. We have many children in our parish who do not attend the Parochial School and it is the Rev James and my hope that more of these families would join in this service particularly. In order to spread participation wider than the school, I need you, the parents, co-operation in organising the Service. If I might have names of children who might read or lead prayers, take up the collection or do other things, please, ring me – if you get the answering machine leave a message and I will get back to you or use my mobile number.

St Paul’s Church, Cahir-

Sometimes we scorn the raising of small sums of money. We love to make large sums. But small amounts do add up to great achievements. At our most recent Select Vestry meeting, the members gave the parishioners of St Paul’s permission to paint the church. A lot of work has been done on this historic building in recent years and now, probably in January, the present work will be completed with its redecoration. Congratulations is due to the small group who have “stuck with it” and reached this point. A small fundraising event is all that is needed to do this work.

Butler/Charteris Hall -

The work on the hall is completed and the bills are paid. A big thank-you to Rev Carter for his diligence in getting everything into order.