Clonmel Union of
Parishes Newsletter
May – June 2018
St Paul's – During the 1st weekend of June 2018 St Paul's,
Cahir will play host to a special exhibition. With the kind permission of Mr
Felix O'Neill a Tyndale Bible will be on display together with other
interesting. Books. There will be a concert by “Cahir to Sing” in St Paul's on
the Friday evening and an introduction to the Bible.
Miles Tyndale (1494 – 1536) took
advantage of the advances in printing to produced the 1st mass -
produced copies of the Bible; for the 1st time ever; in English. These
were the early days of the Reformation and the Church in England saw the
translation of Holy Scripture into the language of the common people as being
totally opposed to Church teaching. (this departure from Church teaching was in
accordance with the belief of the Reformers on the Continent who believed that
everybody should be able to read the Word of God in their own
language or dialect.
The Church in England believed that there were two
distinct orders of members of the Church; the clergy and the people. Those in
charge believed the Church to be an institution with different degrees among
it's members. It was a place where everybody knew his/her place in the order of
things; as they were expected to do in the their civilian lives.
For the Reformers there was only one authority and
that was Holy Scripture; “The Word of God”. They referred to the membership of
the Church as “the congregation.” All members, both clerical and lay together
having a role in all aspects of Church life. The Bible is not a complete translation
of Holy Scripture. He paid the ultimate price for daring to seek
equal access to the Bible for all who could read; both lay and clergy without
any differentiation.
He was unfrocked by the
Church and handed over to the Civil Authority who strangled him and then burned
him at the stake. His final words were; “Lord! Open the King of England's
eyes”. That King was HenryVIII who before he died was to bring the Reformed
Faith to England and to instigate, with Abp Cranmer, the 1st Prayer
Book in English - The Book of Common Prayer.
Whist Drives – Thank-you to those who helped in many ways to
ensure that these social evenings happen – Jimmy Kingston
who sells tickets and helps in whatever way he can. Thank-you also to Bernard,
Bob, Heather, Shirley, the ladies who do supper and those who come to enjoy a
relaxed evening of card playing.
Greeting Cards – Greeting cards with
pictures of all our 5 churches are available in each church at €2 each. The
inside is blank to facilitate personal greeting.
Bio-Diversity Project – This project at Old St
Marys & St Pauls have developed very well in the last year;
both due to dedication of parishioners and the CoCo. At Old St Marys; we welcome contributions of
plants for the new areas. Please consult with Bernard regarding which plants are
best for such projects. Offers of helping with maintenance is also most
welcome.
Lay Reader Training – A new course will probably
begin in Autumn 2018. Anybody can do
this course for their own interest if they wish. It is presented at Level 7 and
can be quite challenging. We rely on our Lay Readers to keep our churches open
and it is always necessary that new people offer themselves for this Church
ministry. Cork Diocese has now begun its own course due to demand.
Data
Protection:
a. This protects information about you. The forms each of you needs to
fill in are in our churches. They ask for your permission to contact you. If
you wish to see what information I keep for each of you; ask me.
At this point most of us are getting tired of the notices falling through
our letterboxes from banks and other institutions informing us of their
participation in Data Protection.
This is all necessary.
The next item is “Safequarding for Adults”! The clergy have been summoned
to a training day!
CHURCH
SERVICES
2018April/May
2018
|
St Pauls, Cahir
9.30am
|
Holy Trinity Fethard
9.30am
|
Old St Marys
Clonmel
8.30am
11.00am
|
Tullaghmeelan
11.00am
|
May 6th
Rogation
|
M.P
|
H.C.
|
H.C
H.C.
|
Worship in other church
|
May 13th
Easter 7
|
H.C
|
M.P.
|
H.C.
M.P
|
H.C.
|
May 20th
Pentecost
|
M.P.
|
H.C.
|
H.C.
H.C.
|
Worship in other church
|
May 27th
Trinity
|
H.C.
|
M.P.
|
H.C.
Service of
the Word
|
Worship in other church
|
June 3rd
Trinity
1
|
M.P.
|
M.P
|
M.P
|
Worship in other church
|
June 10th
Trinity
2
|
M.P
|
M.P
|
M.P.
|
M.P.
|
Wednesday weekday service – Service at 10.30am in Old St
Marys – Refreshments
Ordained Local Ministry (OLM) ; this is the new ministry in the Church of Ireland where people will be
ordained to serve in their own parishes. If you would like to explore whether
this is something you may be called to; your 1st port of call is
your Rector. The course for those selected will be challenging and it will be a
few years before the 1st candidates are ordained.
We are relying more and more on our Diocesan
Readers. It is likely that some of them will offer themselves for ordination
for their own parishes. The 1st Selection Conference has taken place
and we will have the results from that soon.
Confirmation
– Our four candidates were confirmed by Bishop Michael on Sunday, 22nd April. The group, as
part of their preparation, spent Holy Thursday evening with the Bishop at
Cashel Cathedral. They really enjoyed the chat, Holy Thursday Service and were
treated to “tea”/”supper” by the Bishop. Thank you to parishioners and the
candidate’s families, who turned out in style to support the quartet. Bishop
Michael rose to the challenge of preaching about the topic chosen by the
candidates - “Satan” - “WELL DONE BISHOP!
Your
Prayers – Please
remember those who are unwell, at home & in hospital. At this time we
need to pray, especially, for peace. Some of our older members have been quite
unwell and in hospital of late; as have quite a number of others. It has been a
very hard beginningto 2018 weatherise.
General Synod will be in
Armagh from 10th - 13th May. Union of
Parishes representatives will be in attendance.
Sunday Life -This is an hour-long
programme on TippFm which is broadcast from 7- 8am on Sunday
mornings. It usually comprises music, reading and interviews. We keep it light
as most of our listeners have just woken up!
Cleaning
& Flowers in our Churches – Please remember to do what you have volunteered to
do, and please remember to take your rubbish away with you. New volunteers are
always welcome.
General
Easter Meeting – The attendance was not very large, but we had the usual
elections and much reference to new compliance requirements. Please remember
ALL registered vestry members are eligible to participate in the General Easter
Meeting.
Concerts -
Friday, 1st June – Concert by “Cahir to
Sing” in St Paul’s Cahir, which will begin a weekend of the exhibition of Tyndale's Bible. The
proceeds of the weekend will go towards the essential repairs required on St
Paul's, Cahir Church.
Wednesday 8th
August - The Koln Philharmonia will perform in Old St Marys, Clonmel @ 8pm