Informal Praise
We wish to thank everyone who has supported our informal praise service in the past and would encourage others to come along as our new term begins in Jan 2009. The theme of the services up to the end of June will be How to Grow the Church of Christ, something which I would hope all committed folk would have on their hearts. The program of services and themes are as follows;.
Day / Date |
Church |
Theme |
| Sunday 11th January 2009 |
Kildallon Parish Church |
A welcoming church |
| Sunday 8th February 2009 |
Derrylin Parish Hall |
A loving church |
| Sunday 8th March 2009 |
Ballyconnell Parish Hall |
A serving church |
| Sunday 10th May 2009 |
Derrylin Parish Hall |
A witnessing church |
| Sunday 14th June 2009 |
Kildallon Parish Church |
An outward-looking church |
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Kildallon dance
Kildallon Parish will be holding their annual dance in the Seven Horse Shoes Hotel, Belturbet on Friday 6th February commencing at 10 pm. Dancing to Showbud (Robert Browne) starts at 10 pm.
Tickets are available from Gertie Woods (049 9526324) or the usual ticket sellers in the Parish and are priced at €10. |
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Congratulations
To Rowena Elizabeth Kells as she was welcomed into the church family at our United service in Templeport on Sunday 7th December. We wish Robert and Rhonda every blessing as they now encourage Rowena, throughout her childhood, in the faith into which she has been baptised.
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| MU – change of venue for January meeting |
Would members of MU please note that the venue for the January meeting is now Kinawley rather than Swanlinbar. The meeting is still at 8pm on Tuesday 20th January and the speaker will be Helen Elliott (Blackslea Tours). |
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Templeport Development Association
Thank you to all those who supported our fundraising 70’s/80’s/90’s Adult Disco in Templeport Resource Centre on 28th December.Your support was much appreciated.
2009 Christmas Cards and 2010 Calendar
As part of its fundraising activities for the coming year, the Development Association plans to produce Christmas Cards for the 2009 season and a calendar for 2010 with a strong local dimension.Anyone with suitable photographs should leave them with the Secretary, Seán Coll (Mullaghmore, Bawnboy), over the coming weeks.Please put your name, address and contact telephone number on the back of them so that they can be returned in due course.
Alternatively you may email them to the secretary or webmaster: Details are on the web site at www.templeport.ie
Faith & Doubt |
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That’s the name of the book we will be using during our services this coming Lent. It’s written by an American pastor called John Ortberg, author of the course If you want to walk on water, you’ve got to get out of the boat – we studied this during Lent last year. At each service, we will take a look at a chapter from this book and see how it might relate to or inform our lives, our faith and our doubt. In a sense, faith and doubt are two sides of the same coin – Ortberg deals with the paradox of faith and doubt so sensitively in this beautifully written book.
The following is written of this book; |
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“You long to live with certainty, to know without a doubt that you’ve bet your life on the truth and that no surprises await you on the other side of eternity. Even those known for their deep faith – people like Billy Graham, Martin Luther, and Mother Teresa – have wrestled with unanswerable and often painful questions.”
We would encourage as many people as possible to engage more fully with this whole issue. You can do this by buying a copy of the book from the Christian Bookshop in Enniskillen by ringing 048 6632 2400 or by contacting Geoff or Richard who have spare copies for distribution priced at £9.50 (also available on audio CD priced at £17.99). If reading one chapter of a book each week (each day during Holy Week) helps someone wrestle with their doubts and grow in their faith, then it is time well spent!
Lent commences with an Ash Wednesday service in Ballyconnell Parish Church at 8pm on Wednesday 25th February so please get your order in as soon as possible. |
Christmas Eve 
It was great to see a good crowd of folk of all ages present for our early Christmas Eve service in Kildallon. There really is something special and right about sharing in the Christmas drama at Christmas itself! For those who didn't go, we all joined the drama of that that first Christmas following the story around different parts of the church.
It was a joy to see many adults as well as children dressed as shepherds, wise men and angels joining in. Thank you everyone who took part . It was great fun and I hope planted a Christ memory at Christmas itself for all. One of my personal hopes for my ministry here is to help us develop services of celebration in our Christian story for all ages. I pray this service was a helpful step on that journey. |
The children's faces have been blurred to protect their identity |
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Christmas Party
Many thanks to all those who brought children to the Sunday school Christmas Party. Thank you also to Beatrice and the Sunday school leaders for making it such a fun event. We had lots of fun playing lots and lots of games, not to forget of course a visit from that funny man in the red suit!
The children's faces have been blurred to protect their identity
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Vestry meetings
Would members of Select Vestry please take note of the following meetings and, if possible, make it a priority to attend or send an apology. |
| Date |
Time |
Vestry |
Location |
| 21st January |
8 pm |
Kildallon |
Swanlinbar Rectory |
| 26th January |
8 pm |
Ballyconnell |
Kildallon Rectory |
| 28th January |
8 pm |
Swanlinbar |
Kildallon Rectory |
| 2nd February |
8 pm |
Newtowngore |
Swanlinbar Rectory |
N.B. It is intentional that the Kildallon part of the group meeting are being held in the Swanlinbar rectory and the Swanlinbar part of the group meeting are being held in the Kildallon rectory. Last year the situation was reversed.
Light refreshments will be served at the rectory meetings! |
Just a note on attendance at our most recent united Vestry meetings. It was very disappointing that less than 25% of our vestry members were able to make it to this meeting. We really can’t conduct any proper business with less than 50% attendance at any meeting, so I would encourage vestry members to engage with these united meetings where possible. This is not simply dry business we are dealing with, but rather making decisions which can make a huge difference in the lives of brothers and sisters in Christ on the other side of the world.
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| Surgery Hours |
| 19th January |
2 - 4 pm |
| 27th January |
11 am - 1 pm |
| 5th February |
10 am - midday |
| 10th February |
2 pm - 4 pm |
Tomregan Church
Repairs continue slowly to the roof.
In the photo on the right you can see Rev Geoff and Eric Mitten discussing the progress with the architect and contractor Nicolas Prinse. The lower right photo shows the (black) steel reinforcing frame which has been fitted in the attic. Below is the wooden tower temporarily holding up the roof.
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| Lent services |
Following on from comments and feedback after last year’s Lenten services, we will be having midweek services in each of our churches this coming Lent with the emphasis during Holy Week being around the two churches at the centre of our Group. Each service will commence at 8 pm and will last no more than 45 minutes, including a short address at each service. One of the comments some people made last year was that there were no services in their church. Hopefully, this change will show that these comments have been heard and that this in turn will encourage a good attendance at each service and not just those in your church.
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Day |
Date |
Church |
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Wednesday |
25th February |
Ballyconnell |
Wednesday |
4th March |
Corrawallen |
Wednesday |
11th March |
Templeport |
Wednesday |
18th March |
Newtowngore |
Wednesday |
25th March |
Kinawley |
Wednesday |
1st April |
Swanlinbar |
Monday |
6th April |
Kildallon |
Tuesday |
7th April |
Ballyconnell |
Wednesday |
8th April |
Kildallon |
Thursday |
9th April |
Ballyconnell |
Friday |
10th April |
Kildallon |
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Quotable Quotes
Those who scatter sunshine can not live in shadow.
Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
Jumping to conclusions is the wrong type of exercise.
No one ever injured their sight by looking on the bright side of things.
Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face. (Victor Hugo)
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Church Bulletin Bloopers
Thursday night - Potluck Supper. Prayer and medication to follow.
For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
This afternoon there will be a meeting in the South and North ends of the church. Children will be baptized at both ends.
This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs. Lewis to come forward and lay an egg on the altar.
At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What is hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice.
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