News Letter 2022

 

News Letter 2022

Rector Canon William Deverell 086 803 0239 or 462 1044,  Auxillary Priest Rev. Avril Bennett 628 23 53,

 Parish Office Tues – Thurs (9.30am  – 12.30pm) 462 6006, Parish email tallaghtparish@gmail.com 

 

Last November 2021, following Covid, it was nice to be able to have a gathering for the ‘Tree of Angels’ in the Churchyard again, in memory of lost babies. Mellissa Luttrell originated the idea after her own sad neonatal loss. It’s a way for those who have lost a child to remember.

We had our Christmas Services and the church, as usual, was beautifully decorated by our very talented Flower Guild, they also did amazing work for our Easter and more recently, Harvest Services. Since the pandemic we have been having a ‘drop off’ of flower arrangements followed by coffee outside.

Noelle, one of our loyal parishioners, who had been in hospital for some time and as her name suggests, had a Christmas Eve birthday. Her daughter Claire asked the congregation after our Carol Service to video a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ for her Mum on the steps of the Church. Sadly, Noelle passed away in June, but we hope we cheered her up for her last birthday.

The Holocaust Memorial Day took place on 30^th January in the Mansion house when concerns about Putin and hate speech were raised; as we all know, it wasn’t long before those concerns came to fruition. We pray for the people of Ukraine as they face the tyranny of Putin.

 

We were glad to be able to resume tours of the Church and Graveyard with visits from local schools and in March, a tour by some of the clients of the Intercultural Drop-in Centre (who were temporarily back in our Small Hall for most of the year) where I was able to hand them a leaflet on St. Patrick explaining the Christian meaning behind our Patron’s Saints Day. Also, in March we had the launch of the Tallaght Heritage App in the Church.

 

In April we were delighted that the Whist Drives resumed in the Small Hall on 3^rd Monday of each month, another sign of life getting back to normal. It wasn’t long before the Mother’s Union ladies began meeting for coffee beginning in the summer, at the coffee shop in the Civic Theatre. All parish organisations are back running now.

 

Tallaght Community Council (who organise Tallafest) asked me to write an account of the parish’s experience of dealing with COVID for a time-capsule in Tallaght Hospital. I wrote of how I, along with the help of my family, continued Sunday Services on FaceBook live during the strict lockdowns and also my reflections on the pandemic.

 

On Sunday 8^th May following our Easter Vestry we had a presentation to Jim Bird who stepped down as Hon. Treasurer after thirty years plus. We are very grateful to Jim for all his work during that time. We also had presentations for Billy Gould, who loyally served as Rector’s Church Warden for more than fifteen years and also to Joyce Smart, our organist, who retired after over thirty years dedicated to the music of St. Maelrauin’s. Our heartfelt thanks to these three parishioners, your service to St. Maelruain’s over the years is very much appreciated

 

We normally had a concert by the wider community in springtime pre Covid and we held the concert this year with the proceeds going to the Diocesan fundraiser for U&Ukraine. The evening was a great success and we raised twice as much more than in previous years. The concert featured the local DAMS male voice choir who sang popular music, Cara Daly who sang classical pieces and ‘Now and Then’ who sang numbers from the Christian rock musicals which they had preformed previously for their pre Easter concerts. It was a lovely evening and we were delighted to be able to help the Ukrainian cause.

 

Our Confirmation Service took place on 5^th June in Christchurch on a very wet day after the beautiful evening for our concert the night before. We had a large group of candidates as confirmations didn’t take place during Covid, the candidates were Eoghan Beckett, Charlie Cox, Lucy Cox, Reuben McDermott, Zitalu Okafor, Zubelu Okafor, Sam Nolan,  Chloe Sharkey, Huxley Braden Samuel, Breanna Bosswell Samuel and PJ Rigley. Despite the weather it was a lovely service even though the young people were only allowed to have four guests attend.

 

At our Family Service in June we were sad to say goodbye to Malik Sanusi and Tosin (nee Kuti) along with their girls, Zara and Zayah (who are third generation parishioners) as Malik took up a new work position in Manchester.

 

On 3^rd July we had our first Blessing of the Graveyard Sunday (since COVID) organised by the Dominican Priory. There was a good turn out and again, another sign of life returning to our new normal.

 

On the Thursday 21^st July we had a visit from the Archbishop with Prof. Anne Lodge who was working on a report for our Diocesan Synod about our International parishioners, a sample of whom she interviewed.

 

At our family service in July we had a presentation to Amy who has now moved to the UK.  in recognition of working with our Good News Club for sixteen years, she sang in the Music Group for fifteen years (including singing and playing the Ukulele for a year & a half on Facebook live services during the restrictions) and she also was a Boy’s Brigade leader for fourteen years. We wish Amy the very best with her move to London.

 

In August the Tallaght Historical Society erected a plaque on the grave for local writer and poet Alice Furlong who was a contemporary of Maud Gonne.  

 

Tallaght featured on 21^st August in the RTE programme Creedon’s Atlas, Tallaght was where the written history of Ireland began in the 8^th century and therefore along with Finglas was The Eyes of Ireland in the land of Saints and Scholars. St. Maelruain’s Cross and Missal are in the centre of the current GAA Dublin crest.

 

In September it was lovely to be back in Mount Seskin Community College to give the 5^th years a talk about our denomination and to introduce myself to the 1^st and 2^nd years. It was also lovely to see the resumption of parish activities with BB starting their session with a BBQ in the Parish Centre Car Park on Sat 10^th September.

 

Friday 23^rd was Culture Night and I’m delighted to say that it was our best one ever, perhaps because an article about Culture Night in the Echo Newspaper featured a beautiful photograph of church by Lionel and of course we were mentioned on all social media platforms.

 

On Oct 1^st we had a ‘Spring Clean’ of the church suggested by Rebekkah Eddy with a few ladies and a gentleman to give a helping hand.  Thank you to all who helped, it made a big difference. A big thank you to John and Regina Donohue who have been painting the radiators and pipes in the church along with the Church Porch since the summer, a much needed job and it looks smashing.

 

On Sun 16^th October we had a surprise visit from the Archbishop for our Harvest Service at the 11.00am service

 

Baptisms    On Saturday 29^th January we had the baptism of Ethan and Emma, the children of Jared and Mandy (nee Fletcher) Breffman. The Baptism of Ryan Byrne took place on 30^th April son of Stephen and Alison. In October   I baptised Oliver Hyland son of John and Suzanne (McCoy). We pray for all these families as these children begin their spiritual journey.

 

Funerals     The funeral of Bobby Wilson took place on 22^nd April here in St. Maelruain’s. We extended our deepest sympathies to his wife Pat and family. Bobby was a founding member of our Table Tennis Club.

We were also sad to have the funeral of Hyacinth Blennerhassett on 4^th May, wife of the late Arthur and formerly late Christy. We sent our condolences to her family and friends. Hyacinth will be sadly missed.

On Wednesday 18^th May the funeral of Brian Huet took place in Newlands Cross Crematorium. We extended our deepest condolences to his wife Patricia, family and friends.

The funeral of Philip Mantle took place here on Monday 13^th June. Our sincere sympathies go to his wife Lorraine, and to his family and friends. He was very generous with his skills as a roofer to the parish.

On Saturday 18^th June we had the funeral of Noelle Lewis here in St. Maelruain’s followed by burial in the Graveyard, as mentioned previously in this letter Noelle was a much valued member of the congregation and we extended our deepest condolences to her daughter Claire and to her wider family and friends.

On 23^rd June the funeral of one of our 8.30am parishioners took place, Jenny Dunne, our sympathies went to her husband Aidan and family, Jenny was originally from England.

The funeral of Noel Gorman took place on 21^st October and our condolences go to his wife Eileen, family and friends. Noel joined the congregation in recent years and Eileen continues to watch the serives on FaceBook live.

 

Weddings   Congratulations to Amy Smart & Daniel Sage who were married here in St. Maelruain’s on 1^st September on a beautiful sunny afternoon. I thanked them for coming to church to get married as we haven’t had a wedding in five years, partly due to the pandemic but also as a lot of couples now choose to have a one venue event and have their ceremony in the same place as their reception. We wish Amy and Daniel every future blessing.

On Oct 22^nd we were also delighted to have the wedding of Rebekkah Eddy & Paul O’Dwyer. It was a pleasure to hold another wedding in such quick succession and we were also pleased to be able to give a warm Irish welcome to Rebekkah’s family from the United States, congratulations to Rebecca (Select Vestry member) & Paul.

 

We submit Parish Notes to the Diocesan Church Review Magazine on a monthly basis, which we also put up on the parish website, anybody who would like to receive the notes by email or any other parish information please send us your email to tallaghtparish@gmail.com.

 

Sunday Services (11am Services also on Facebook Live 237+ services recorded and a 1000 + FB followers)

8.30am Service Holy Communion each Sunday     11.00am  Service   Holy Communion: 1^st &  3^rd Sun of each month.            Morning Prayer: 2^nd & 5^th Sundays of each month.

Family Service: 4^th Sun of each month. 1^st Wed of the month Holy Communion with prayers for the sick  10.00am

Newsletter Autumn/Winter 2021

 Autumn / Winter 2021

It’s good to be sitting down to write a Newsletter, the first one since Spring / Summer which covered up to our Easter Vestry. We are still in very precarious times with Covid19 but it has been good to open the Church doors again to our parishioners albeit with the pews spaced for sitting with every third pew, which we can reduce if numbers require. We are also putting families who enter through the fire door in the choir stalls close to me for my children’s sermon and there is also space on either side of the platform. We continue to have our 8.30am service in the Small Hall which proves to be a comfortable setting. We now have over one hundred and fifty services saved on Facebook and continue with the service online for our faithful band of viewers. Thank you to our videographer who films the services while taking care not get any shots of the congregation in order to comply with GPDR.

 

I would like to thank our Organist Joyce Smart who has retired after over thirty years of faithful service to St. Maelruain’s. We are very grateful to Joyce for her dedication to the parish. Over the years she rarely missed a Sunday and I really appreciated all her help in choosing the music for our Services and her input into our festival services. We missed Joyce over the last eighteen months of Lockdown.

 

Braeden (who is the son of our deputy Church Warden, Boswell) has agreed to be the organist for the foreseeable future, we are grateful to him especially as he is studying hard.

 

We had our Harvest Service on Sunday 10^th Oct at 11.00am & also on Facebook live. Thank you to Gerard Moody, our relief organist for playing, for encouraging Braeden & our three masked singers & also for playing at funerals.

Our three ladies sang the harvest hymns with masks on, (perhaps as they all work in nursing it wasn’t a problem for them) thank you ladies as they continue to do so. It was a lovely service and the Church looked beautiful.

A big thank you to the ladies who Decorated the Church for Harvest. They normally have a morning together and put their creative skills into action but this year they decided to do their arrangements at home and drop them off to the Church on the Saturday.  The Church looked fabulous and every one of our flower stands was used. We also are very grateful to local sheep farmer Donie Anderson for donating a hay bale and vegetables etc. to make for a fabulously decorated Church for our Harvest service.

While thanking the ladies for Harvest, I would also like to take the opportunity to thank them for all the arrangements they created during the period of Covid19. Our videographer used their arrangements for our one hundred and fifty plus Facebook Live posters and of course they were a lovely focal point for our services which continue online.

Church Flowers
I’m sure you will all agree, it has been lovely to see flowers in the Church all through lockdown and that Lionel did a great job with his photography skills enhancing the Church for our Facebook viewers. As the members of the flower guild couldn’t gather or go into the Church during lockdown, in order to comply with rules, I met William outside the Church and gave him a fresh arrangement when necessary. I feel it worked well and I’d like to thank the two ladies (you know who you were!) who donated towards the cost of the flowers for Easter . It was much appreciated.
However, please goodness we are trying to get back to some sort of “normal” and we’ve returned to the flower list. Thank you to those who have done flowers recently.

We have lost two valuable members, as they have moved away from the Parish. Miriam Gibney has moved away and returns for short periods of time and Janet Edgely has moved to the Mageough . I might add that these two ladies, despite not being here, have continued to pay for and provide arrangements for the last two or more years and we are deeply grateful to them. They were both involved with us for St. Maelruains Flower Festival eight years ago and were two much valued members. 

As a result, we are looking for more people to help us in the flower guild, as many as are willing. We usually split a month between two people, so each person is responsible for two weeks only. No experience is necessary, oasis and container can be provided and I am willing to meet and help anyone who needs a hand to get started. Once the arrangement is in the Church, that person is responsible for checking it, watering it and replacing and dead material for the next week, if necessary. We do the arrangement at home and simply ring Hazel to arrange to leave it in the Church.

We decorate the Church for the festive occasions as in Christmas, Easter and Harvest and these occasions are an opportunity to have a chat with each other and meet, inside or out for a cup of coffee. 
We need people as soon as possible, so if you can help us, please text me or give me a ring on 0861255161 and we’ll take it from there.                                                                                                                           Thank you -  Regina

 

 

On Saturday 10^th July Barbara, a former parishioner who is Canadian and has moved to Mountmellick had a tradition of having a BBQ for Canada Day (1^st July) invited the Bible Study to a BBQ in her new home. Barbara is a keen gardener and we had a lovely afternoon in her beautiful garden.  It was great to see her happy and settled into her new home. Barbara keeps in contact with us by joining our Bible Study on Facebook Messenger. One of the advantages of technology is that Barbara can continue to join us.

I had to take my holidays later this year than I normally do and while I was away the annual ‘Light up a light’ took place in Jobstown. This is an event which began in 2006 when local woman Mellissa Lutterell suffer a miscarriage and found support to be lacking. Mellissa came up with idea of lighting lanterns and sending them up into the sky in memory of babies lost through miscarriage, neo natal death and SIDS. It has evolved into an annual event with doves and balloons released by parents in memory of their babies. Gail Sheridan led the group attending in prayer on a beautiful, end of summer evening. Unfortunately the group attending could not go for refreshments afterwards in Tallaght Leisure Centre at they did in previous years but they were compensated by such a lovely sunny evening. Thank you to Gail for representing me.

 

As life began to return to some sort of normal we decided to take part in ‘Culture Night’ on 17^th September, as we have done in recent years. The Church doors were open from 4pm and early on I welcomed a newly qualified Italian tour guide who was leading a group of local people around the area. We had a steady flow of people over the course of the evening but numbers started to dwindle earlier than in previous years so I closed up at 10pm. In other years I had people call on their way home from town to see if we were still open but this didn’t happen this year. Most of the people who did visit were couples and families. Needless to say, I had the doors of the church wide open and masks were mandatory. It was great to be able to welcome people into our beautiful church again even in the ‘new’ normal.

 

On 5^th November TUD (ITT) held their Remembrance Service for those members of staff and students who have passed away since the College opened. In my capacity as part time chaplain I preached last year for the online service so this year I was delighted to be able to preach to a congregation.

 

We had our Christmas Shoe Box Appeal on Sunday 7^th November.

 

Our Bible Study has moved from Thursday evenings to Tuesdays at 8pm on Zoom, please contact me on 086 803 0239 it you would like to join us.

 

Engagement: We have been joined in recent years by a young American woman who also blesses us with her insight at our Bible Study. Rebecca is one our parishioners who cycles to church, as pre Covid she cycled to work to the International Financial Services Centre. She recently came to church with her fiancé Paul with news of their engagement.  Paul is a local man, hence Rebecca started coming to Church in Tallaght. Congratulations and every blessing for their future happiness.

Wedding: In late May Annama and John’s daughter, Sharon, who grew up in the parish was married to Leo in the Indian Orthodox Church in St. George and St. Thomas, C of I Church, Cathal Brugha Street. I preached at the service in the morning and as I sat in the Sanctuary and looked down at the open glass door and the socially spaced family and friends, I had forgotten what a lovely Church it is.  They then came to our Parish Hall to cut the cake.

Baptism: On Sunday 24^th October we had the baptism of Zaya Sanusi baby daughter of Malik and Tosin (nee Kuti) We welcome Zaya into Christ’s flock and pray for her and her family.

As in the African tradition the family came to the Sanctuary with an offering and for a blessing and keeping Covid safety in mind, they went outside from the Font at the back of the Church and then in the fire doors to access the Sanctuary where they remained seated.

Funerals: The Funeral of Margaret Ezekwe (nee Yates, as her Northern Irish father was an engineer in Nigeria) took place here in St. Maelruain’s on Tuesday 11^th July. We extend our deepest condolences to her children James, John, Yvonne, Andrew and their respective families and friends.

The funeral of Philip Bailey took place on the afternoon of Monday 13^th September. We extend our heartfelt condolences to Philip’s wife Trish, his young son Mason, to his parents Ronnie and Kay and to his siblings, Sharon, Wendy, Rhonda and Ronald and also to his wider family and friends.

On 22^nd October the funeral of Esther Osinuga took place here in St. Maelruian’s. We extend our sincere sympathies to her six children and to her extended family and friends.

 

 

Friday 16^th October was World Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) Awareness Day. We are very lucky in Tallaght to have a local newspaper ‘The Echo’ which is celebrating it’s 40^th anniversary this year. David Kennedy founded the paper and has been very good to Tallaght Parish over the years, supporting our various events such as our Summer Sale, Harvest, Carol Service, Christmas Sing Along and other concerts and events held in the parish. They also ask me for my ‘Christmas thought’ every year to be published in the paper.

It was great to hold for the second year running

 

 

David’s daughter Emma, who is the Echo office manager, has a son with DLD and came to me to ask if we would light up the Church in yellow and purple on October 16^th to help raise awareness of DLD. As a dyslexic myself I was happy to be of any assistance so St. Maelruain’s was lit up in purple (portable spot lights) and yellow (our flood lights are already yellow sodium light). Other public buildings across the city were likewise lit up such as City Hall / Dublin Castle, the Red Cow Inn and City West. Let’s hope DLD Awareness Day brought this condition to the attention it deserves.

 

 

 

Sunday Services (11am Services also on Facebook Live)

8.30am Service          Holy Communion each Sunday.               11.00am  Service   Holy Communion: 1^st and 3^rd Sundays of each month.            Morning Prayer: 2^nd  and 5^th Sundays of each month.

Family Service: 4^th Sun of each month. 1^st Wed of the month Holy Communion with prayers for the sick  10.00am

	Parish Website: www.stmaelruains.ie       www.facebook.com/St.Maelruains

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March April 2021 Newsletter

 

From the Rector

 

As mentioned in last month’s Church Review article people may be struggling with this third lock down mentally so we have been using the Bible Society’s ‘Lifting the Lid’ Bible study course during our Lenten midweek services which focuses on faith and mental health, drawing on well known Bible stories.

 

One in four people will have a diagnosable mental health condition in their lifetime. We in churches can offer support and space that listen and welcome people suffering in our congregations. During this Bible course we looked at how God treats those who feel exhausted, rejected, hopeless and heartbroken.

 

The story of Zacchaeus tells us how Jesus looks at outsiders who are stigmatised by their community. Jesus stops and notices Zacchaeus who was a tax collector for the pagan occupier and who was looked upon as a sinful person who cheated people but Jesus asks Zacchaeus for assistance therefore raising his self esteem, he goes to Zacchaeus’ house encouraging him on his own turf and valuing him by giving him ways to rethink his situation. These are all ways we can think about valuing those who are stigmatised and struggling especially with their mental health in our own communities and learn how Jesus treated people on the periphery of society.

 

We learnt that mental health can be defined as a state of well-being in which people realise their own potential and can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and are able to make a contribution to their community. Mental health affects how we feel about ourselves and others, how we interpret events, how we cope with life events and how we develop relationships. As previously mentioned a quarter of all people will be diagnosed with some sort of mental health issue during their life time and we as Christians are not immune to these issues. The Bible tells us of a number of characters who suffered for example the prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah and not forgetting Jonah and Elijah. Elijah who prayed for death because he didn’t feel he could go on but was used powerfully by God despite his mental health challenges.

 

Elijah who ran for his life out into the desert until he came to a tree where he sat and prayed to die, he had fallen asleep when an angel came to him and woke him and gave him food and drink, he slept again and the angel returned and said get up and eat for the journey is too much for you. God gives Elijah hope to carry on. This shows us how giving people room to complain but not to be judgemental and to encourage with practical help like the angel giving Elijah a cake of hot bread and a jar of water first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Depression is defined by at least two weeks of loss of interest in normal day to day activities; loss of enjoyment, lack of energy, sleeping too much or too little and a loss of appetite. We need to resist that telling someone to ‘pull up their socks’ is not the answer and that we should help people suffering from depression as we would help someone with a physical illness.

 

When the course dealt with anxiety it gave the Biblical example of the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. These two men were anxious about their belief in Jesus, he hadn’t appeared yet and they wondered had their hopes and dreams crumbled away. Jesus came to them and walked along side them and listened to their pain eventually taking the time to explain the scriptures to them and helping them to see things from another perspective only making himself know at the breaking of bread at the evening meal. In our everyday lives do we take the time to walk along those struggling with anxiety, to listen to their concerns instead of trying to ‘fix’ them?

 

Everyone gets anxious from time to time and it is a vital emotion giving physical symptoms like a racing heart, sweating, difficulty breathing and insomnia to name just a few but sometimes it becomes too sensitive and is triggered too often and it becomes a problem that begins to disrupt everyday life and instead of being a ‘fight or flight’ reaction it becomes an anxiety disorder that needs to be treated.

 

Physical exercise, talking therapy, connecting with people (even by phone), slowing down, and trying to be calm including prayer (while connecting with a higher power) can all help in dealing with anxiety when life gets too frantic.

 

Mental health is a term that popular culture seems to have adopted, especially during the pandemic. I hope this course has been of help to those who are suffering and to their support network, awareness is sometimes half the battle and I look forward to completing the ‘Lifting the Lid’ course during the remainder of Lent.

 

God Bless                                                                                                        William

 

 

 

Funeral

 

The funeral of our Nigerian parish reader Victoria Oyinade Osigbade-Osho took place in St. Maelruain’s on Thursday 25^th February. We extend our deepest sympathy to her husband Samuel Sr., to her sons Samuel Jr. and Solomon and to her extended family and friends. She was taken from us all too young.

 

 

December 2020 - Newsletter Tallaght Parish

 

December 2020

Fortunately, during the eleven weeks in the summer that we were back to Church after the initial lockdown we kept our Church services going on Facebook live. We have a faithful group of African mums and some cocooners who have formed a little community on Sunday mornings who recognise each other. Our African ladies post their greetings and enthusiastic religious comments and our cocooners posting their greetings and supportive messages during our Facebook live services. It was lovely to have this online community when we were forced to close the church doors again for the second time. We now have 66 services saved on the website. We are delighted to be back to public worship in December with socially distancing measures in place. Please wear a mask while attending Church.

 

We celebrated Harvest on 11^th October, I deliberated on the date, hoping that we could have a congregation but, in the end, decided as the month was moving on to have our Harvest on Sunday 11^th on Facebook Live. Our ukelelist sang the three Harvest hymns, ‘Come ye Thankful People, come’, Holy is the Seed Time’ and we finished with the quintessential harvest hymn, ‘We Plough the Fields and Scatter’.  We decorated the Pulpit and Communion rails with apples and oranges and for props used a couple of paintings with harvest scenes that two parishioners had created in previous years. I think the church looked well but a very different Harvest this year, our Flower Guild normally do such an amazing job decorating our Church for Harvest, hopefully next year we will be back to church.

 

Friday 16^th October was World Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) Awareness Day. One in every fourteen children and adults has a Developmental Language Disorder, which causes significant issues with speaking and comprehension for those affected. In a bid to raise awareness of the hidden condition, which is very poorly identified in Ireland, an International DLD Awareness Day was held on October 16^th.

 

Emma, who is our local newspaper ‘The Echo’s’ office manager, has a son with DLD and came to me to ask if we would light up the Church in yellow and purple on October 16^th to help raise awareness of DLD. We  were delighted to be of assistance for DLD day especially as the Echo have be so supportive to our Parish over the years so St. Maelruain’s was lit up in purple (portable spot lights) and yellow (our flood lights are already yellow sodium light). Other public buildings across the city were likewise lit up such as City Hall / Dublin Castle, the Red Cow Inn and City West. Let’s hope DLD Awareness Day brought this condition to the attention it deserves.

 

I returned to my bike during the weekdays as I was not getting as much exercise as I normally would, similarly a couple of parishioners came to church by bike for the same reason. We had a surplice bike rack beside the parish hall which we brought over to the Church and I asked a parishioner, who is a qualified painter and decorator, David Gibson, if he would give it a coat of paint and he very kindly offered to paint it along with the two church benches, the downpipes of the church and the Sexton’s cottage gates. I took it as another vote of confidence in the future after the voluntary painting of both halls which I reported on previously.

 

Christmas is going to be very different this year because of COVID19 and so it is with this year’s Team Hope Christmas Shoebox Appeal. We had our appeal on our Facebook Live on Sunday 25^th October, our Family Service, which is the Sunday in the calendar that I normally launch our appeal, just before Halloween. It always amuses me the reaction of parents in the lead up to my talk to the children about the launch when I ask the children in the congregation ‘What would they like for Christmas?’ Imagine the reaction of the children when I ask them about receiving the four W’s.

 

Washing: Would they like to receive items for Washing? Such as facecloth, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush… Perhaps a child who has no means of personal care?   Writing: Would they like to receive items for Writing? Such as pens, pencils, copy books….. Perhaps the child who can’t afford to go to school?     Wear: Would they like to receive items to Wear? Such as hats, gloves, scarves, socks ….  Perhaps a child who has little clothing and suffers in the cold winter?     WOW: Would they like to receive items to WOW? Such as a doll, toy car or a soft toy …. Perhaps a child who has no possessions or toys and receives no present at Christmas?  The children in the congregation usually only show excitement about the contents of the boxes when they see sweets! My hope is the simplicity of the Shoebox puts the needs rather than the wants of our western overly commercial Christmas in perspective.

 

 

This year, unfortunately with the Corona Virus, we can’t ship our donated Shoeboxes as we normally do to Eastern Europe and Africa but Team Hope have invited us to send €20 so that they can make up the boxes and distribute them to the children in need, who so excitedly receive them. If you go onto their website www.teamhope.ie you can choose items from the four W’s to be put in your box or if you prefer just simply donate €20, you can donate up until 23^rd December. Team Hope can also be contacted on 01 294 0222.

 

On 12^th November we recorded the TUD Tallaght Campus’ Annual Remembrance Service in the Church for deceased staff and students, I was asked to preach and I chose to speak on the Beatitudes, the  eight blessings recounted by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew.

 

We had our annual Gift Day on 22^nd November and as we go to print approximately € 5,000 has been donated, a big thank you to those who have given so far. As mentioned in the Gift Day letter and reported by our Hon Treasurer at our Easter Vestry we were €8000 in deficit at the end of 2019 so I am dreading to see what the end of year accounts will show for 2020. If you have not already given please consider doing so, every bit helps to ensure the future of our Parish. As you prepare to open your purses to support businesses in your local area, as we are all being encouraged to do, we urge you to support your parish too. Traditional methods of fundraising could not take place this year, so please put your parish on your 2020 Christmas present list.

I was sad to learn of the death of (Archbishop for North America and Europe) Metropolitan Dr. Joseph Mar Thoma of our Indian sister church that have used St. Maelruain’s as a place of worship for a long number of years. Dr. Joseph visited St. Maelruain’s in 2018. We extend our condolences to the Mar Thoma community in Ireland on his sad passing. Unfortunately, with the Covid19 pandemic they have been unable to use our Church since March but we hope to accommodate them again in the future.

 

May I take this opportunity to wish all the readers of the parish Newsletter a very happy Christmas, I pray that at some stage in 2021 our lives will have returned to some sort of normality with our health intact and I look forward to the doors of our church remaining fully open to welcome back parishioners.                          

God Bless                                                                                                                      William

 

FUNERAL

The funeral of Eileen Williams took place in St. Maelruain’s on Monday 19^th October, we extend our deepest sympathies to her husband Michael.

 

ENVELOPES Church giving envelopes will be available in the Church Porch by Christmas. If anybody would like to join the envelope scheme, keeping in mind the tax rebate available to the parish, please ask the Rector or contact the Parish Office 462 6006 or email tallaghtparish@gmail.com

 

THE CHURH OF IRELAND GAZETTE If you would like to subscribe to the Church of Ireland all Ireland monthly magazine please contact the Parish office 462 6006 or email tallaghtparish@gmail.com

 

CHURCH REVIEW  Subscription of €40 will be due in January on orders of the Dublin and Glendalough Diocesan Church Review Magazine, please send payment to Parish Office (cheques make payable to Tallaght Parish Church). If you do not wish to continue with you subscription or if you would like start receiving the magazine please let the parish office know 462 6006 or email tallaghtparish@gmail.com.

 

 

Christmas in St. Maelruain’s

 

Sun 20^th Dec            11.00am        The Nine (short) Lessons (but no sermon!) on FACEBOOK live & parish website

 

Thurs 24^th Dec Christmas Eve  

11.30pm Christmas Eve Midnight Holy Communion  in the MAIN HALL To keep the church sterile for the 11am Not on Facebook live

 

Fri 25^th  Dec

8.30am           Christmas Early Morning Holy Communion Service in the Small Hall to keep the church sterile for the 11am Service not on Facebook live

 

11.00am  Christmas Holy Communion Service with overflow  speaker in Church car park or watching via FACEBOOK

live saved on parish website

 

Sun 27^th Dec Sunday after Christmas - No service for congregation for either 8.30am or 11am services as the buildings will not be sterile following Christmas.                       

11am Family Service on FACEBOOK live only                       

 

Thurs 31^st  New Year’s Eve       

11.30pm  New Year’s Eve service in the Main Hall so that church will be sterile Sunday Service.

 

 

 

Sunday Services

8.30am Service          Holy Communion each Sunday.               11.00am  Service   Holy Communion: 1^st and 3^rd Sundays of each month.            Morning Prayer: 2^nd and 5^th Sundays of each month.

Family Service: 4^th Sun of each month. 1^st Wed of the month Holy Communion with prayers for the sick 10.00am

 

	Parish Website: www.stmaelruains.ie       www.facebook.com/St.Maelruains