The Beadles have landed!

It’s great to finally take stock having arrived at last! On behalf of the Beadle family I can say with confidence we are truly delighted and excited to finally be here.
Thank you so much to everyone for your welcome. We really enjoyed our service of welcome and appreciated all who went out of their way to make it such a memorable occasion.
The first week was largely spent unpacking. It is a long while before I want to see so many cardboard boxes again! The children have really enjoyed the space the house provides while I am very grateful for the office space for books and visual aids.
We really must say a big thank you to all who have worked so hard to make the house feel as welcoming and homely as possible. To all who have overseen contractors, listened to our preferences for colours and curtains, helped with drills and cleaning and making things - a huge thank you. We really appreciate the gifts of your time and talents. Thank you.
The twins Alicia and Asher are in playschool two days a week while Ruth has settled really well at school in Ballyconnell. Ruth went to the Girls Friendly Society yesterday for the first time in Newtowngore and had a brilliant time.
I’m learning to find my way a bit but it will take time. I have though learnt some important things like always take a map and try and start a journey going on the right road! Much of the countryside looks the same (especially at night!) but I will soon learn the different routes around. More seriously I am greatly looking forward to getting to know many of you as people in your groups and homes over the coming months.
For ourselves as a family we are going though a time of enormous change. Not surprisingly we have sometimes asked ourselves “What are we doing?” but always we are reassured that God is truly in this move. I can tell you that’s the best place, indeed the only place we want to be.
We are also conscious that we come to a parish group that is in the midst of significant and exciting change. We can see that it is change not for change sake but so that more of Jesus can be seen as we grow as a church family and grow in faith.
I was particularly encouraged to attend the informal praise service at Kildallon. Some of you came, like me for the first time not knowing what to expect - but you came. Some of you knew that the music might not be your preference - but you came. Most of you knew the topic was challenging to all of us (forgiveness is never easy) yet you came. You came out of your normal fixed routines to seek God. There was a hunger for God that night. Growing is difficult but so much easier when we are seriously seeking after God. We were so encouraged!
We as a family look forward to journeying with you over the next few years. As together we seek after God, may we encourage one another.

Richard, Pauline and the children

To protect the children their faces have been altered

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Welcome to Richard, Pauline and the children!

Above, from left: Rev Geoff, Bishop Ken, Capt Richard Beadle and Captain Colin Taylor Below: Richard’s parents behind himself and Pauline. Right Geoff, Naomi, Pauline & Richard
We had a great service of welcome for our new Church Army Officer, Capt Richard Beadle, his wife Pauline and their 3 children, Ruth, Asher and Alicia on Sunday 6th Jan. There was a lovely warm atmosphere in the service and afterwards in the community centre as we continued fellowship over a cup of tea. Bishop Ken spoke on John 3 and 1 John 3, reminding us of the awesome, generous love God has for each one of us. One of the most significant aspects of the service was the call to commitment from the whole congregation to be part of the ministry to which Richard has been called. Richard and the family will need our support and encouragement as they settle into a new area and a new ministry. Richard’s work will be primarily, though not exclusively, with children and families with young children. We want to see this crucial area of ministry grow in our group. I would like to thank everyone who helped in the preparation of the service, all who took part in the service and all those who contributed to the refreshments afterwards – all of these contributions say “You are Welcome” in their own small way. There are lots more pictures on the web site at: www.swanlinbar-kildallon.kilmore.anglican.org/group-news/beadle-welcome TOP    +++

United Services

One of the first tasks that I have been asked to look at is the United Service. We want this to be a service that is meaningful worship for people of all ages - from the youngest to the oldest. This is a wonderful challenge and will take time to develop. I ask for your patience as we find our way. I expect that I will be pointed to a few people who may be able to help but would love to hear from anyone who would like to be involved. Based on the Church of Ireland Service of the Word these are creative visual and participative and informal in shape. The liturgy will sometimes be new. There might be drama or quizzes. Prayers might sometimes be written. Talks will always have a visual element. Songs will be in both modern and more traditional styles.

United services are not simply an adult service with the children present or indeed a service just for the children. Our hope and longing for this service is that it becomes a special quality of worship of its own that can only happen because ALL AGES interact creatively and worshipfully. United services will teach us so much about what it is to be a community of faith, to participate and rejoice in our creativity, our different ages, gifts and preferences that can all be offered to God.

The next United service in the Kildallon part of the group will be on Sunday 10th February for GFS Enrolment Sunday and in Swanlinbar on the 17th when we celebrate Holy Baptism. Whatever your age please come along.

Richard    

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Office Administrative Assistant

The Group Office in Ballyconnell is nearing completion, with just a few things remaining to be done at the time of writing. I would like to encourage folk to consider the position of Administrative Assistant to work in the office for a total of 15 hours per month. It is envisaged that this position would be flexible in nature, of course within certain necessary parameters. Rather than listing details of criteria required for the position, we would welcome folk to contact Geoff for more details, including remuneration package and an application form. Closing date for applications is Friday 8th February 2008.

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Sparklers galore!!

Christmas was a busy time for young men in the Swanlinbar part of our group with proposals of marriage coming thick and fast!
Nicola Breen (Kinawley) and Dave McLean, Louise Fisher (Swanlinbar) and Barry Healy, Lorraine Kells (Templeport) and Gethin Duggan & Gail Foster (Ballyconnell) and Steven Johnston all made commitments to one another through engagement over the holiday periods. Sincere congratulations to each couple on this important step in their relationships. It will be a busy time for Geoff with marriages in 2009/2010!

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New births

Congratulations to Noel and Naomi Mitten of Tomregan Parish on the birth of Emma Ruth and to Paul and Emma Whyte of Kildallon Parish on the birth of Ella Louise – both little girls are absolutely gorgeous. May you all know the Lord’s blessing in your families.

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GFS Enrolment Service

If you want to support an existing children’s ministry, without actually having to get involved, why not make a special effort to come along to the annual enrolment service for our GFS on Sunday 10th February at 11 o'clock in Newtowngore Parish Church.   By simply being there you can communicate, through your presence, that you value the work of GFS in general and our local leadership specifically.   Matilda, Jacquie and Jenny work tirelessly with a small number of girls in our branch and their leadership is very much appreciated

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MU News

The February meeting of MU will take place at 8pm on Tuesday 19th February in St Paul’s Hall, Kinawley – speaker, Mrs Hazel Hicks.

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Jar of Grace – “The Body of Christ has AIDS.”

The Jar of Grace is not a new initiative for folk from the Swanlinbar part of the Group, but some explanation is essential for our new Grouping to engage with this fully. In this Newsletter, you will find a self-adhesive label with the words “JAR OF GRACE” written on it. Beginning on the 6th of Feb, Ash Wednesday, I would ask you to stick this on a jam jar and place it in the centre of the table where you have most meals. Each time you sit to have a meal, I would invite you, along with every other participating home in our Parish Grouping, to place a coin in the jar and say a simple prayer for those who are less fortunate than ourselves. Please do try and remember this each meal time, as a note shoved in to make amends for forgotten coins and prayers is not quite the same as regular giving and prayer. On Easter Sunday, we will collect in all of your offerings and give thanks for this grace in giving.
Each coin, no matter how small, can make a difference. Each prayer, no matter how small, can make a difference. Let us give together and pray together and together we can make a difference.
(The Jar of Grace appeal, together with the loose offering at each of the mid-week Lenten services, in our own Group of Parishes, will be going to the work of “The Body of Christ has AIDS” campaign).
This special appeal is supporting projects where Mission Agencies (Bishops’ Appeal, Christian Aid & Tearfund) are working with people living with HIV and AIDS. We cannot begin to imagine the impact of these diseases in families and communities throughout the developing world, but your giving will enable Mission Agencies to bring relief and education in much needed areas. Tim McGowan of Tearfund commented at the recent campaign launch “Sexual violence during the recent civil war in Liberia was often used against women and children, thus heightening the HIV infection rate. This appeal will help Tearfund to tackle the spread of HIV and AIDS in communities which are rebuilding after the civil war by building the capacity of local churches to respond, targeting high risk groups and raising awareness of the stigma about HIV and AIDS through youth programmes and activities within the wider community.” This sounds like a way in which our local church can support another local church in its response to the real needs of real people. Please give generously. The proceeds from our Jars of Grace will be received at our Easter Day celebrations.

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Points to Ponder - Mother’s Day / Mothering Sunday

Mother’s Day is a special day for honouring Mothers through out the world. Mother's Day holds great significance for all of us. This year, Mother’s Day will be celebrated on the 11th of May in America whilst in the UK and Ireland we will celebrate on Sunday the 2nd of March.
The reason Mother's day is celebrated in the UK on a different date to other countries is due to the relationship between Mothering Sunday and Easter. It falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent - which varies from year to year - and it is thought that the tradition is related to a mid-Lent festival in which people were encouraged to return to their 'mother' church (i.e. the church in which they were baptised) to renew their vows.
Mother's Day in the USA and a number of other countries including Australia, Belgium, Denmark and Italy, falls on the second Sunday in May and is a more recent tradition, having been established in 1914.

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Points to Ponder 2

Here’s how to get MAD without being BAD:
- Be angry with the right person.
- Be angry for the right cause and reason.
- Be angry for the right duration of time.
- Be angry in the right way.
Nothing is more discouraging for a parishioner than a discouraged minister.
A Minister on one occasion said: “The Church is supposed to be a show window of what heaven looks like.” How nice, but experience tells us that sometimes it is the show window of something quite different.
The season of Lent amongst other things, should remind us that the Lord suffered a great deal of injustice with never a complaint or any self-pity.
Just wonder how a Minister can persuade others to taste the goodness of the Lord when he himself does not enjoy the intimacy of that relationship.
We can never attain true friendship in our Church until we are able to disengage ourselves from counting what the others do or do not do.
Overheard: “It’s not that we don’t like our Minister. It’s just that we feel so happy when he is not around!”
At times communities settle for the lowest common denominator for reasons of avoiding tensions instead of opting for serious conversion efforts and renewal.
Holidays can be a soothing balm for some Ministers but can also be a source of anxiety for others. Take the case of a Minister I heard of who was so afraid to take holidays not because he was overly concerned regarding the ministry and the office works that may be left behind, but for self-oriented motivation. In reality, he was afraid that people would soon discover and realize that his office, after all, could function more efficiently in his absence.
I always find it so amusing to have a colleague who complains and gripes every moment of the day … as long as he lives far from me! .

[Onz, oar]

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A bit of History - Shrove Tuesday 5th February

1. Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the ritual of shriving, when tradition held that the faithful confessed their sins to the local priest and received forgiveness before the Lenten season began.
2. As far back as 1000 AD, "to shrive" meant to hear confessions. (Trivia note: the term survives today in the expression "short shrift" or giving little attention to anyone's explanations or excuses).
3. Historically, Shrove Tuesday also marked the beginning of the 40-day Lenten fast period when the faithful were forbidden by the church to consume meat, butter, eggs or milk. However, if a family had a store of these foods they all would go bad by the time the fast ended on Easter Sunday. What to do?
   Solution: use up the milk, butter and eggs no later than Shrove Tuesday. And so, with the addition of a little flour, the solution quickly presented itself in... pancakes. And lots of 'em
4. Today, the Shrove Tuesday pancake tradition lives on throughout Western Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia, but is most associated with the Britain and Ireland where it is simply known as Pancake Day with a traditional recipe, although these can be as varied in the England as there are households.
5. In England there are several celebrations on this day but perhaps the best known one is the Pancake Day Race at Olney in Buckinghamshire which has been held since 1445. The race came about when a woman cooking pancakes heard the shriving bell summoning her to confession. She ran to church wearing her apron and still holding her frying pan, and thus without knowing it, started a tradition that has lasted for over five hundred years
6. In France, (as well as in the United States - or more famously - in New Orleans) it's known as Fat Tuesday which kicks off the Mardi Gras festival with wild celebrations just before the austere Lenten season.
   In Sweden, Fat Tuesday translates to ‘Fettisdagen’, and in Lithuania it's ‘Uzgavens’. In Poland, traditional celebrations take place on a Thursday a week before Ash Wednesday and so it's ‘Tlusty Czwartek’, or Fat Thursday.

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