Swanlinbar Group Churches

Swanlinbar Group Churches
in the
Kilmore Diocese of the Church of Ireland
Parish Newsletter No 1 September 2004

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‘Allo ‘Allo!
I don’t know if many of you are familiar with the situation comedy ‘Allo ‘Allo, so for those who are not, a brief explanation;
The programme is set in war-time France and Renee, a French café owner is linked with both the Germans, who are patrons of his café, and the French resistance movement. The German authorities referred to people such as Renee as collaborators ie people who worked with others to undermine their rule. In such a context, the word collaborator is extremely loaded and even to use the word in our own culture it is difficult to separate it from earlier usage and the obvious connotations which were associated with it.

Children singing

But I believe that collaboration is something which we need to be doing more of in our church. And when I use the word in this context I simply mean that we need to be working together. But what, you may ask, does it mean to work together? Many of you may feel that it is up to the minister to be the leader in the church and of course you are right. But as I reflect upon our United Service at Ballyconnell I believe that by involving more people in our worship we move from being passive recipients of the work of the minister to becoming active participants in an act of worship which is vibrant, relevant and a joy to be part of. This is what I believe worship should be and by occasional usage of more contemporary liturgies I believe that we will come to a fuller appreciation of the more traditional services which have served the church so well.
Thank you to everyone involved at Ballyconnell for making our worship something which many folk are talking about, of course for the right reasons! I certainly value your contribution and have a desire to involve more and more people as God has gifted each one of us with various gifts, not for our own benefit but in order to bring blessing to His name.
As we work together in this group of churches, may we keep in mind the words of the writer to the Hebrews;
let us run with perserverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith (Heb 12: 1,2).

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Mother’s Union News
Remember to keep this coming Saturday, the 18th of September, free as the Mother’s Union Fun Day takes place at Florencecourt House between 1.00pm and 6.00pm. This should be a most enjoyable day and is not just for Mothers and young children who would be well accustomed to playing the Tug of War, but also for fathers who would like to have their faces painted!!

Opening service for our United MU
This will take place in Kinawley Church with a service of Holy Communion at 8.00pm on Wednesday 6th of October and will be followed by tea in the adjoining hall. This is the launch of the new term for the MU and I would encourage everyone, who is a member within the Parish, to support this development of the MU within our own group of Churches. The format for future meetings will be that they will be held at Kinawley and Ballyconnell alternately beginning with Ballyconnell on a date yet to be agreed in November.

Come ye faithful people come!
Harvest is almost upon us and as we come together to give thanks for God’s provision to us and to His world we welcome the following speakers who will be bringing the harvest message to us;
Church Date Speaker
Swanlinbar 17th Sept Rev Malcolm Kingston
Kinawley 24th Sept Rev Ian Linton
Ballyconnell 1st Oct Rev Henry Blair
Templeporty 8th Oct Mr Gary Galway
Please do support these services, in each of our churches if you can, as we celebrate this important festival once again.

Annual Supper Dance
Will be held as usual in the Unionist Hall, Enniskillen on Friday 22 Oct 2004 at 9.00pm. Dancing will be to the music of Country Cousins and tickets are available from the usual sources or the Rectory at a cost of £8.

Reality
An evening for the ladies which will be held in the Ardowen Theatre, Enniskillen on Tue 12th of Oct at 7.30pm. This evening is arranged by an organisation called “Care for the Family” and I would commend it to all ladies who have a heart for upholding Christian family values in what are generally considered to be difficult times. Joanne Hogg will share, in word and music, ways in which others helped her through difficult times.

Community alert
Sadly, one of our elderly parishioners had an uninvited visitor in the last few weeks. This visitor proceeded to search through their private belonging, but thankfully did not offer any force or violence towards the householder. We must all be vigilant of suspicious behaviour, not only for our own sake but for that of our neighbours, reporting all such behaviour to either PSNI or the Garda Siochana. Please do verify the identity of all callers to your home before allowing them to come in.

CE Convention
This annual convention takes place on Friday 17th of Sept and Saturday 18th of Sept. The speaker over the course of the weekend is Gordon McDade who is an engaging and gifted preacher. For details of events either visit www.more2life.me.uk or contact the Rectory.

United service in Templeport
Following resounding success of our last United service at Ballyconnell our next service will take place at 11.00am on Sunday 17th October at St Peter’s Church Templeport and will be followed by a cup of tea in the nearby community centre. Please do not treat these United services as an opportunity to have a Sunday off but rather as an occasion to renew or develop friendships.

Service Schedule fot the next month

Service Schedule changes will be posted on: www.swanlinbar.kilmore.anglican.org

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News Items

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