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The Church of Ireland Diocese of Dublin |
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The Church of Ireland Diocese of Dublin |
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Other NewsChristmas Fair | All Soul's Day Service | Positive and Negative Traits | Diocesan Synod Report | Good Morning Vietnam | Finance | Happiness Christmas Fair
All Soul's Day ServiceWednesday 2nd November at 8 p.m.St. Mary’s ClonsillaThis is a chance to remember our loved ones who have died, in a simple, 40 minute service. If you would like someone’s name to be remembered at the Service, please put the names in writing and give them to the wardens or drop them into the Parish Office.
Diocesan Synod ReportThe Dublin and Glendalough Diocesan Synods for 2005 were held on 18-19 October. I attended as a first-time member of the Synod and, having not previously heard anything about what it does and how it does it, thought that I would share something about it with readers of Parish News. The Synod is about 400 people in all – all of the clergy of the two Dioceses, and elected lay representatives from each Parish. Castleknock and Clonsilla send six lay people in all. We met over two evenings in Taney Parish Centre, presided over by the Archbishop.
The first evening started with the Archbishop’s Presidential Address, in which he reflected on how rapidly Ireland is changing, with the old uncertainties having been swept away. This has led to a need to redefine what it means to be Irish. The changes have impacted on everyone, but he concentrated on their effect on young adults (people aged 15-25). They have grown up in the changing times but are not (yet) in a position to change things. Ireland has stopped saying ‘go away [emigrate]’ to young people, and instead says ‘sink or swim’, with the Leaving Certificate points system a good example of this. There and high and rising suicide levels in this age group. The Archbishop pointed out that the Church of Ireland needs to respond to these phenomena – we need to think beyond ‘entertaining’ young people to see what we have to share with them, coming forward with an open attitude but without letting go of our core Christian values. The Archbishop also spoke of the need to overcome racism and to welcome people to Ireland. A group set up by him has completed a publication, Welcoming Angels, to help parishes in welcoming those new to Ireland. The group producing this report was led by Sandra, who was invited back from Dundalk to speak to the Synod about it. After dinner, we started into the business of the meeting. This had to follow various legal requirements – there was a Senior Counsel sitting alongside the Archbishop to ensure that nothing went wrong in this regard. The remainder of Tuesday evening (7 p.m.-9.30 p.m.) was spent working through the report of the Diocesan Councils. This covered a very wide range of activities, emphasising the wide range of things that are being done in the dioceses:
The report also covered communications, the Dioceses’ accounts for 2004, church building matters, the Bishops’ Appeal, and changes in clergy staffing during the year. Reassembling on the Wednesday evening at 5 p.m., we heard about legislation passed by the General Synod, including provisions that will change the way that marriages are handled, with the State registering marriages (and clergy no longer being responsible for these legalities). These provisions will come into effect when the Oireachtas passes the necessary legislation. Another piece of legislation passed by General Synod concerns the need for 3-yearly inspections of all listed buildings owned by the Church. Scattered throughout the meeting were the elections of people to various committees. Many of these will be by postal ballot, but during the meeting we had to agree the membership of the Courts of the two Dioceses, despite the fact that neither has had to meet since 1914! We heard a report on the Parish Development Programme (codenamed Church 21) which is taking forward what used to be called Stewardship. We also passed a motion of support for the Archbishop of York, who has recently been subject to racial attacks. The debate on the report of the Board of Education highlighted concerns that education is becoming seen too much as a business, and is taking more and more time for the clergy involved with Church of Ireland schools. That on the report of the Council for Mission stressed that the church is about people, rather than about place. The debate on the report of the Committee for Social Action was extremely side-ranging. We heard experiences from the Chaplain of Mountjoy Prison; Andrew reported on the interfaith dialogue in Dublin 15; and many people spoke of personal experiences. One speaker suggested that we had spent so many years thinking what it means to be the Church of Ireland that we had forgotten to think about what it means to be church. The final report was on the Church’s Ministry of Healing, and including a powerful speech by a lady whose brother committed suicide, and who had herself been treated for severe depression. Issues of supporting clergy as they deal with the wide range of healing needs were also discussed. The Archbishop summed up the seven hours of the meeting, which had included input from 70 different people, by saying that Tuesday had the sense of affirming all that is going on in the Dioceses, with Wednesday adding to this a sense of the new, wide challenges facing us. We came away tired but challenged! If you would like to know more about the Synod, read the reports discussed, or the report prepared by Sandra’s group, please talk to any of the Diocesan Synod representatives or the clergy. Iain Greenway
Good Morning VietnamAppeal from Syd Nagle In November of this year, I will be taking part in VIVA’s major fund raising drive for 2005, a 500 km cycle through the northeast highlands of Vietnam. As a group, we hope to raise over €50,000 for VIVA projects. VIVA (Volunteers in Irish Assistance) was established in 1999 to work with smallholder farmers in the developing world. Its main role is the provision of training in areas such as basic animal husbandry and artificial insemination. In addition, it sources educational materials, equipment, and medicines for animal health projects. At present, VIVA (working in conjunction with other livestock aid organizations such as Bothar and Heifer International) is involved in projects in India, Kosovo and Malawi. For further information, please see www.vivaid.ie If you would like to sponsor me, please send donations to Syd Nagle, via the Parish Office. All donations will be gratefully received and acknowledged.
Finance
As we approach the end of the year, it’s a good time to review our giving to the church. We need everyone to support the Church regularly through giving, if we are to maintain our ministry and outreach. Too many of us give unrealistically: a few euro on the plate when we turn up to church isn’t going keep everything going! While many of us do give as much as we can, many could give more. Here are a couple of suggestions: Standing Orders: Easily the most painless way of giving! Your donation simply comes straight from your bank account to ours each month/quarter/year as you specify. You can now print a standing order form directly from our parish website at www.castleknock.dublin.anglican.org/support. If you’re concerned about not having anything to put on the plate you can also get a set of envelopes which you can use, but empty. Envelopes : Contact the Parish Office or speak to the wardens if you would like a set of envelopes for regular giving. Don’t forget: these methods allow us to claim Gift Aid tax back on your giving at no cost to you!
Emmaus Course 2005 | A Letter from Janet Craven | Halloween Art Camp | Best Wishes | Digital Photography Course… |
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Parishes of Castleknock and Mulhuddart with Clonsilla |
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