+++
Fashion show in Belturbet
This was a brilliant night’s entertainment
for the 400 or so ladies who gathered for the evening and it
was particularly pleasing to see the whole community come together
for this event. Five local shops exhibited their wares on the
night with something to suit all tastes and ages – these
included Joan’s Fashions of Ballyconnell, Paula Pryce
Fashions from Belturbet, Jezanne’s Boutique, Cavan,
Daisy Dukes from Cavan and Dream Brides of Ballinagh. Most of
the models had never been on a cat walk before the night and
have to be congratulated on how well they carried themselves
and displayed the clothes. There was one unexpected model who
graced the catwalk at the end of the evening – the sight
of Revd Geoff Wilson was enough to clear the function room at
the end of what was a really good night for all concerned!!
We are indebted to the staff and management of the Seven Horse
Shoes Hotel, Belturbet for the way in which they welcomed and
treated us. Thanks to the all the various boutiques and shops
who were involved on the night and to the organisers for all
of the hard work which made the evening worthwhile. €4560
was raised for the Church Repair Fund for Tomregan Parish. Currently
the parishioners are working hard to raise funds for the complete
replacement of the floor in the Church together with some significant
work which needs to be carried out to the roof.
+++
Forward! News
Please take note of the following forthcoming
Group events;
Trip to the cinema and McDonald’s
This will take place on Saturday 16th December with a trip to
the Omniplex in Enniskillen followed by a meal in Ronald McDonald’s,
that is assuming the children do not mind going to McDonald’s!!
This trip is aimed at our Sunday School children, though it
is also open to our young people as well. The plan is to see
a relevant film in the afternoon (times not yet available) followed
by a Happy Meal in McDonald’s. Sunday School children
will be contacted about this by their teacher, but anyone else
who would like to go along should contact the Rectory in order
that we can make the relevant bookings and benefit from group
discounts. There was a cost for the equivalent trip last year
but we have decided to make this available to all of our children
at no charge.
Sunday School Party
This will take place in St Paul’s Hall, Kinawley between
2pm & 5pm on Friday 22nd December. This party is for all
of the children in our group and certainly was a great success
last year as the children played games and had great fun under
the leadership of Beatrice. Of course Santa comes at the end
of the party and this all adds to the excitement of the season.
+++
Holy Communion Service in
Breffni Residential Care Centre, Ballyconnell
We probably had out best attendance yet
at our November service, and the atmosphere at our little service
was very special. We just want to let you know in advance of
our meeting for December which will take place on Tue 12th at
2 pm as usual. Please do make a very special effort to come
along to this service. You are not required to do anything at
it more than at any other service you might attend, but your
presence would be very much appreciated by the residents who
really do look forward to our monthly gatherings and the fellowship
which we enjoy.
Please note: to date we have had this service on the second
Tuesday of each month which can mean that it can occasionally
fall on our Group Newsletter week. This is an extremely busy
week and therefore in order that we can commit to this little
service without one eye always being on the clock, we have decided
to move it to the fourth Tuesday of each month commencing 23rd
Jan 2007.
+++
Attention All Carol Singers!!
Come out of the woodwork all you closet
singers as we prepare to bring the Good News of Jesus to folk
who will be unable to make it to any of our Advent Carol Services!
The children from Ballyconnell Central National School will
be encouraging the residents of the Breffni Residential Care
Centre through the bringing of the Christian message in a most
traditional way with carols and music. We would be delighted
if you could come along and be part of this ministry to the
residents and invite you to join the children in the centre
at 2pm on Monday 18th December. Don’t feel that you have
to be a Pavarotti or a Vera Lynn to contribute to this –
just come along and join in the celebrations!
+++
Advent Carol Services
Our Advent Carol Services will take
place this year as follows;
St Peter’s, Templeport 3 pm Sun 10th Dec
Tomregan, Ballyconnell 8 pm Fri 22nd Dec.
St Augustine’s, Swanlinbar 8 pm Sun 24th Dec
I would encourage all parishioners to travel to these services
and in so doing support one another.
+++
Sustentation/ Free-will offerings
We really value the gifts of all our
parishioners and friends of the various Parishes in our group
– without your giving the work of the Church would not
be possible. But we would like to gently encourage people to
ensure that their offerings are with the various Parish Treasurers
by the last Sunday of the year, ie 24th December. If we all
comply with this request then the Treasurers will have opportunity
to bank your gifts before the end of the financial year, ie
31st December, and they will then be in a position to produce
a set of accounts based on the balance in the account at that
date.
We are also very much appreciative of the work of our various
money counters, recorders and the Parish Treasurers, and would
ask you to get your gifts to them rather than them having to
come to you, a task which is difficult, time consuming and embarrassing
for all concerned. Unfortunately, if your gift has not been
banked by the 31st December then it will not appear in the set
of accounts for 2006. Thank you once again for your support
in giving to the work of the Church.
+++
Swanlinbar Parish Annual Sale
of Work
Our annual sale of work in Swanlinbar
Parish will take place on Saturday 2nd December between 2 pm
& 4 pm in the Old School House, Swanlinbar. If you would
like to buy your Christmas cake, logs for the fire, or even
some crafts or bric-a-brac then the sale of work is the place
to be. All proceeds will be for Parish Funds.
+++
Bawnboy Festival
Sincere thanks
are extended to the Committee of the Bawnboy Community
Festival. Geoff is pictured receiving a cheque for €4000
from the Committee on behalf of the Parish of St Peter’s.
The festival was a great success, as ever, raising around
€29,000 for the charities listed in the table.
The committee wish to thank every one who gave so generously
towards the festival once again.
The Bawnboy Festival website may be found at: www.bawnboy.utvinternet.com/2006-festival |
 |
+++
Tomregan
News Update
As I am sure all
of you will be aware, the Parish has been working hard
at fund raising over the past 9 months or so and the members
of the Select Vestry would like to take this opportunity
of thanking everyone who has given so generously for the
necessary repairs and renovations to our Parish property.
Some folk have asked me in recent weeks when work will
begin in the Church itself as there seems to be a lot
happening in the Rectory and the Hall, but nothing in
the Church. We feel that it is therefore very important
to explain what the progress has been to date and outline
some of the plans for the future.
Rectory
The rectory is
almost complete having undergone a complete renovation
and re-decoration. It is estimated that we will have spent
around €45 000 when all of the work is complete.
We already had €20,000 of this in the Rectory bank
account and have financed the remaining €25,000 through
a bank loan which will be paid off over 10 years from
the income generated by tenants living in the Rectory.
We hope to have new tenants in place by December. None
of the money given by parishioners or friends of the Parish
has gone towards this project. The Rectory is completely
self-financing and the Vestry feel that it should remain
so.
Parish
Hall
Some of you may
be aware that the room to the rear of the stage has undergone
a major renovation. This now provides us with a fine meeting
room which we are already making good use of and intend
to use much more in future. This work has not simply been
upgrading property for the sake of it but is a substantial
development as we explore ways in which we can reach people
the Church is not currently reaching – in short
this is money being spent for Gospel purposes. We have
used some of the funds which were raised over recent months,
something which was explained in particular in the letter
relating to our Gift Day. The work on the Hall is almost
complete, for now, but the ministry is really just beginning.
Parish
Church
No work has begun
to date on the Parish Church. This is not because the
Rectory and the Parish Hall are seen as being of more
importance but simply due to the fact that we as a Vestry
are seeking substantial grant aid for the work to our
Church, something which is not available for either the
Hall or the Rectory. There are grants available from at
least four different sources and, in most cases, work
cannot commence until grant applications have been submitted,
considered and approved. We are currently planning to
meet a deadline in December and hope to obtain a maximum
grant of €13 000 from the County Council for the
replacement of the floor in the Church – if we begin
the work prior to the approval of the grant we lose out
on the whole amount! We hope to carry out these repairs
during 2007 and plan to address the other areas of concern
in subsequent years, maximising the level of grant support
available, where possible. Please do bear with us and
trust that we have the best interests of the Parish at
heart and are working tirelessly to see our Church restored
and in pristine condition. We do thank you for your support,
both financial and prayerful in this ongoing work |
+++
St Peter’s Update
We have very recently received the report
dealing with our Parish Church and are acting on it already!
A number of recommendations were made regarding work required,
with some work being considered of higher priority than others.
At our last meeting of the Select Vestry we considered this
report at some length and have decided to carry out the following
work during 2007;
Remove barge stones from gable walls, install damp-proofing
and replace barge stones in accordance with report recommendation;
Renew guttering on Church roof with Cast Iron guttering designed
for such purposes as existing guttering is for a domestic house.
This work is going to cost in the region €20 000. Before
you begin to panic, we will be making application to the County
Council for a grant to assist with this work and cannot begin
work until such times as this grant has been approved. Hopefully
we will be in a position to begin in May/June 2007.
There are other areas identified as requiring attention and
these will be dealt with in order of priority and in line with
any grants available. We also hope to reach a decision regarding
a heating system for our Church in the coming year.
+++
St Augustine's Update
And last but not least on the building
front, the Select Vestry for Swanlinbar Parish have been considering
how to renovate the Old School House in the village. After a
period of research and planning we have agreed to carry out
work in several phases. The first phase has been approved and
should begin in the very near future. This will involve the
following work;
Dry-lining of the existing kitchen
Partitioning off a section of the kitchen to be used as a disabled
toilet with access from the main hall
Installation of new kitchen units.
Consideration will be given to further necessary work in due
course.
+++
Scribe Subscriptions
These are now due and should be forwarded
to your Parish Scribe distributor as soon as possible. The current
level of subscription is €15.50 or £11.00.
+++
Youth Celebration at Kilmore
A very brief note to remind folk that
there will be a Youth Celebration at 8 pm on Saturday 2nd December
in Kilmore, Co Cavan. Bishop Clarke will be the speaker with
the Diocesan Youth Band, Eternal Echoes providing the music.
+++
Informal Praise Service
Our first informal praise service in
Drumany was fantastic. I would like to thank everyone who made
the effort to come along and in doing so contributed to the
evening. There was a powerful sense of God’s presence
with us as we sang both traditional and contemporary songs with
the same enthusiasm. Do tell others about this service and encourage
them to come along to our next service in Swanlinbar at 8 pm
on Sunday 10th December. The speaker at our next service will
be Revd Ian Linton from Enniskillen Cathedral and Ian will be
speaking on the theme of EXPECTATION.
If you would like to be involved in leading the worship through
playing an instrument or singing we would love to hear from
you and invite you to come along to our next practice which
will be between 7.30 pm and 8.15 pm on Wednesday 22nd November
in Derrylin Parish Hall.
+++
Congratulations
To a former parishioner,
Denise Richardson (Foster) and her husband Keith on the
very recent birth of their first child. Denise and Keith
are the proud parents of a baby girl who weighed in at
9lb 9oz on Thursday morning. Both mother and baby are
doing well. We offer our sincere good wishes to you all
at this joyous time, especially Granny Evelyn and Granda
Cyril!!
|
