CLONMEL
UNION OF PARISHES
(Clonmel,
Cahir, Fethard, Tullaghmeelan & Inishlounaght)
Anglican & Episcopal
January – February
2017
Newsletter
Sometimes it seems that parish & diocesan life is
dull and that there is little to lift our spirits. It seems that financial woes and unending
demands on our resources to maintain building are never ending.
We all need a bit of a lift, a change of mood; maybe a
challenge or event that diverts us, for a while.
We can feel that we are alone and that nobody cares,
that the needs far outweight any opportunity to be yourself or to enjoy anything. And while all of that
can be true, too often we forget that we are supposed share in the life of our
parish, our community, our family and that life is not about waiting for others
to do for us, but that we should offer our help, participate and use those
talents that all of us have; in different aspects of life so that while we
enrich the lives of others our own lives are also enricheed.
The beginning of any change in parish and other
relationships often comes about through invitation rather than challenge, a
sincere and genuine response rather than a
vain promise and, having come together to respect others points of view
and to have our own points of view listened to.
At the beginning of this year, let strive to build
community in a spirit of doing what is best for everybody.
Barbara
Safeguarding Trust – Thank-you to those who have signed up to be vetted. It is good to have a
team willing to help with our young people. If you have filled a form and not
given it to me; please do so before the end of the coming week so that I can
move this forward. If you would like to be part of this parish tem, please ask
for a form.
Singing group – Will meet in
Old St Marys on Fridays 3rd & 17th February & 3rd
March 2017. All welcome – this is an
opportunity to learn new hymns and sing old ones in a relaxed atmosphere.
Place 4U - Charity Coffee Mornings on Friday morning from 10am – 12 noon.
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
Parking Permits for 2017 – There are
just a few still available – deadline is 7th February 2017 -
available for Old St Mary's Churchyard @ €25 – they
are for use with the registered vehicle only – wrong car, or/and wrong year may
result in clamping – space not guarenteed.
Preaching – The Rector will preach in St Canice's Cathedral on 26th February 2017as part of her duties
as Treasurer of the Cathedral.
Schools – At a time of controversy about the funding and other
matters in regard to Primary Schools
under Church management, there is good news in our diocese. I am a
former pupil of Christ Church NS, Waterford (it was the Model School then).
When I was enrolled there, it was a one—teacher school. A second teacher
arrived soon after and as the years passed numbers grew. Today, it is a very
large school with many members of staff & support. The present site is
quite small as the present expansion was not forseen at the time the school
moved to its new site.
On 6th
March the latest re-designing of this building will be dedicated and officially
opened. It is an amazing building! There is a play area on the 2nd
floor, large windows, a minimum of corridors and all that a modern school should be– it is so
different from the large, draughty, decaying building I attended for eight
years. This development has been due to the foresight and devotion and of
staff, parents, and friends.
Diocesan
Magazine –
Thank-you to those who have paid for their diocesan magazines – I have two
spares if anybody would like to get all the diocesan news monthly. (€40 for ten)
Cleaning
& Flowers in our Churches – The draft rota for Old St Mary's has some empty
slots! If there is no name to the right that “flower” slot is empty and those
cleaning should do the flowers – so, a few more volunteers will take the burden
off those who have already volunteered!
Parish
Funds – The
Church's concept of maintaining the life of a parish is that the parishioners
give towards all that running a parish requires freely. - This includes, for
maintaining the clergy, shelter & sustenance – the “shelter” is the
Rectory and the “sustenance” is the
Assessment, the maintenance of our buildings and the running costs. The onus is
on the Select Vestry to ensure that sufficient funds are found; but the actual
provision of these funds is found through the generosity & participation in
parish life of /by the parishioners, fundraising and the use of investment
income in the manner prescribed by each individual investment. The the case of
the latter, the new Regulatory Authority is charged with ensuring that all
charitable income is allocated to the cause for which it was invested.
Envelopes & Assessment – If you have outstanding
envelopes ffrom 2016, please submit them asap. If you need to indicate where
the contents of an envelope needs to go; please write “collect” or “Asses” on
the back of the envelope. Receipts will be issued as soon
as possible early in 2017. In 2015 those
of you who filled out the tax relief forms reduced our liability for Assessment
by €3,500 – if more of you did that, we would get much nearer to achieving our
full Assessment in the correct financial year.
Board of Management
Training – Ms Wallace and I attended a training evening for Treasurers of Primary Schools one evening about a fortnight ago. It was
very good and applied really to anybody working in similar environments. There
was lots of revision, enlightenment and sound advice!
Our next training
evening is on the 8th February 2017 – venue to be decided – the
module addressed will be that which addresses the issue of bullying in schools.
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!
Wednesday
Weekday Service – Service at 10.30am in Old St
Marys – Refreshments
Afterwards
Bishop Michael will be the celebrant in Tullaghmeelan on 12th February. Our
Bishop visits each church in our diocese on a regular basis. We should always
remember that the celebration of Holy Communion is principally the function of
the diocesan bishop and that the clergy celebrate when he cannot be present
Remembrance
– Family
& friends of the late Betty King gathered in Tullameelan in January to
remember her and to give thanks for her life.
Congratulations
– To
Brian Melbourne who has been awarded his BSc (Honours) in Agricultural Science
and BSc in Agricultural Engineering at
IT Tralee. He, and three others, were also presented with the Outstanding Student of the Year Awards by
Dairymaster. Well done and may you have success in the future!
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!
Your
Prayers –
Please remember those who are unwell, at home & in hospital. At this time
we need to pray, especially, for peace.
Whist Drives - A whist drive is quite relaxing, sociable
evening with a nice supper and all for €5. Contributions to the supper, prizes
and raffle, please; even if you do not play!
Friday - 10th
February 2017
Friday - 10th March 2017
Lent - Ash
Wednesday is on the 1st March 2017 this year.
We have not had any
Bible study or other Lenten evenings for a couple of
years. So, beginning on
Ash Wednesday wherever the evening worship is, there
will be an introduction to our Lenten study. Rather than Bible study, I intend
doing a short series on our Prayer Book – why we have one, what is in it and
how we use it. So, one Ash Wednesday evening we will be in holy Trinity,
Fethard @ 7.30pm and on the following Wednesdays at the Rectory @ 8.00pm. I hope
to have a print-out each night so that you can follow up on what is discussed.
Meeting – The Rector met with parishioners of Cahir to discuss matters of maintenance of St Paul's. The main concern, at the moment, is the
ingress of water in the area of the northern small pinnacle. They also hope to
paint their west door (which is facing east!). This renewed energy in this part
of our parish is to be commended. Maybe
we should do the same in each part of our parish.