Issue
80 CSNL NEWS November/December, 2023.
Parish
Of Celbridge & Straffan with Newcastle-Lyons
Church
of Ireland United Dioceses of Dublin & Glendalough
By the
parishioners - for the parishioners
From
Our Rector - Dear Friends ..
I am very conscious that this is our Christmas edition
and I want to say
something that addresses what Christmas is about. What
immediately springs to mind is a theme that permeates so many of the carols we
shall sing this Christmas: ‘Peace and Goodwill to all People’ but we live in a
time when Peace is far from a reality on this Earth. The very land in which our faith finds its
origins is torn apart by the most brutal conflict in which innocents are
suffering and dying in huge numbers. And for the moment removed from our
headlines the ongoing brutal war in Ukraine is still being waged and indeed in
so many other parts of our World violence and death are the daily experience of
so many.
So what do we do? What can we do? I wish like many I
had an answer but I do think that each of us in our own small way can begin to
make a difference – let us
make a priority of reaching out to those who we are different from – those who we
would not ordinarily give the time of day and let us try to see in the other
the image and likeness of God that is in each one of us, no matter our
religion, our ethnicity, our nationality, our gender, our sexuality or any
other criteria which we use as an excuse to fail to recognise the common
humanity of one another. Because when we do that it is not possible to hate, to
hurt and to annihilate each other and that is the beginning of Peace – it starts with
each one of us and we may never know the fruit of our efforts but they will not
go in vain. And while we are at it a prayer would not go astray:
God of Love, we lift up Palestine and Israel — its
people, its land, its creatures. War is
a monster that consumes everything in its path.
Peace is a gift shared at meals of memory with Christians, Muslims, and
Jews. Let us burn incense, not children.
Let us break bread, not bodies. Let us
plant olive groves, not cemeteries. We
beg for love and compassion to prevail on all your holy mountains. Amen. (Prayer
by Rose Marie Berger of Sojourners)
Yours Stephen
Church Services & Christmas Services
Sunday Newcastle
9 a.m* Straffan 10.15 a.m. Celbridge 11.30 a.m.
1st Holy
Communion Service of Word Holy Communion
2nd Service
of Word Holy Communion Service of Word
3rd Holy
Communion Morning Prayer Holy Communion
4th Morning
Prayer
Holy Communion Morning Prayer
5th
(31/12/2023) United
Service. 11 a.m. Straffan.
*Services will continue in Newcastle at 10 a.m., on
the 1st Sunday as a permanent change in the Sunday timetable.
December
Sun 17 4
p.m. Newcastle-Lyons Christmas Carol
Service.
Sun 24 11
a.m. Straffan Christmas Carol Service.
4 p.m. Christ Church, Celbridge. Carols around the Christmas Tree.
9 p.m. Christ Church, Celbridge. Christmas Eve Eucharist.
Mon 25 Christmas
Day. Services in all churches at usual times.
On Going Events
Craft
& Chat: The Group continues each Tuesday afternoon
at 2.30 p.m., in the Slip Hall. There
will be a break in December until the New Year - date to be arranged. The afternoon is open to all for crafting,
chatting and refreshments.
Whist Drives. After a long Summer break it was a great joy
to welcome back so many regulars to our Whist Drives in the Slip Hall. Both the September and October drives were
well attended and all those who came enjoyed a beautiful supper at the break on
both nights. Friday, 24th
November at 8 p.m., will be the Christmas Whist Drive and promises to be a very
enjoyable night with some seasonal prizes on offer. Thanks as always to Esther Lougheed &
Rebecca & James Taylor for organising the nights and to Val Denner for
helping with the raffle.
WhatsApp
Groups
WhatsApp group continues to be very active. There are also groups specifically for
Newcastle and another for Straffan notices – together they provide a very
effective means of contact in the parish.
Pet Blessing
Service - 7th October - Christ Church, Celbridge
At the Ecumenical Service, Rev. Stephen was joined by Fr.
Peter Nwiwgw from St. Patrick’s Church,
Celbridge. A big thank you to our
musicians - James Pasley, Andrew Keeling & Rebecca Pasley. Thanks also to Sophie for distributing
the blessing certificates. As always it
was great to have the staff and rescue dogs from Kildare & West Wicklow
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The collection was for KWWSPCA. Thanks to our catering team - Lucy Jones,
Linda Daly, Vivien Bond, Judith Gleeson & June Galligan. Thanks to the Rector’s Churchwarden, Paula Howard, for looking after
the preparations in the church and to Linda Daly & Judith Gleeson for
the lovely photos on www.facebook.com/CSNLParish.
Saturday
Night Services - Christ Church Celbridge - 7 p.m.
On 9th September the theme was “The Priority of Love”. Love
is His priority - so much so that He died for it. These Services continue (normally on 2nd
Saturday of each month) at 7 p.m., and are a more informal type of service with
a variety of musical accompaniment. All
are welcome and an integral part of the evenings is the fellowship afterwards
over a cuppa and some nibbles. There was
a service in October and yesterday November 11th. There will not be a service in December but
will resume in the New Year.
Dublin &
Glendalough Magazine - The Church Review
Subscriptions will be due on 1st January - thanks to Elizabeth
Waldron (Newcastle-Lyons), Debbie Kelly (Straffan) & Ken
Denner (Celbridge) for distributing and to whom subscriptions will be
due. If you do not already receive the
bumper packed magazine and would like to do so, please contact the above.
Remembrance Sunday
- 12th November - Poppy Appeal
The Rite of Remembrance will be observed in all churches. The Royal
British Legion are experiencing greater difficulties in arranging public
collections as many of their members are growing elderly, making the
contributions of the Church of Ireland congregations even more important. Poppies were available in all churches.
Confirmation
Classes will be arranged in January.
Straffan Market
& Car Boot – Looking Back at
2023
In September we finished the 11th season of the Straffan Market and Carboot.
Another successful season, both from a social and a financial point of view.
The weather however was a different story.
Unfortunately we had to cancel two events due to heavy rains, including
the very last one. In addition, there were only a few Saturdays which provided
us with clear and sunny weather. Climate change reminded us that even our event
wouldn’t escape
adversity. Looking back over this past
season, our Team of 42 volunteers can be pleased and proud of what we achieved
and contributed to both our local Community and to our church maintenance fund.
We held 8 events this year, two were cancelled due to rain plus one due to the
Irish Golf Open tournament. Despite missing out on three events, we still
hosted 502 cars and generated a total income of €12,520. Again this year we have seen a large number of
new customers coming in. There has been an increase in the number of craft
people and artisan foodie things. We are planning to create a more dedicated
section to this next season. The ever popular
home bakers tea stall generated a fantastic €3,625. This is a great achievement and we are indebted
to all the bakers who very kindly donated all the ingredients, baking, time and
energy. Due to their generosity our event has taken on such an important social
dimension. Thank you to all our bakers.
On the social front of our event, we were pleased to sponsor two
volunteer groups this summer, the Straffan Community First Responders (SCFR)
and the Irish LifeBoats. The SCFR group are in the process of setting up this
year and are fundraising to purchase equipment for their unit. Their function
is to support the ambulance service and provide a local immediate response in a
case of a medical urgency whilst waiting for the ambulance service to
arrive. The proceeds of our event are
equally divided between the Straffan Community Hall (SCH) and our Straffan
church. The SCH received a grant this summer that eased their financial
position. In recognition of that, the SCH donated their share of the September
event to our church. A very generous gesture which was acknowledged by Rev
Stephen.
At the end of September we finished up with a get together of all
volunteers and had some refreshments at Friel’s of Straffan. It was a great opportunity to meet up
with others who we generally only see in a fleeting way when we are on site or
tea stall duty. We look forward to another season next year and will be
looking again for your support. Your volunteer efforts this year have
contributed €6,450 to parish
funds. Thanks again to everyone for your
support until we meet up again in early 2024 to prepare for another
season. Jos
Evertsen
Primrose
Hill National School
Thank you to the outgoing Board of Management for
their hard work and support over the last number of years and best wishes to
the new Board which is being formed at this time.
Thanks
.. to Geoffrey McMaster for taking the service in Straffan on 1st
October, when our Rector was in St. Finian’s & Dee Huddleston on 4th
November. Thanks to all those who
donated items for the shoeboxes and to those for their contributions to CSNL
NEWS during the year. The next issue
will be out on the 2nd Sunday in January. Happy Christmas & New Year!
Calendar
Of Events
November
Sun 12 Remembrance Sunday.
Fri 24 Whist Drive. Slip Hall, Celbridge. 8 p.m.
December
Sat 2 Concert. Christ
Church, Celbridge.
Sat 9 Concert. Straffan
Church.
Sun 10 Concert. Christ
Church, Celbridge.
Wed 13 Concert. Christ
Church, Celbridge.
Sun 17 Concert. Christ
Church, Celbridge.
4 p.m. Carol Service. St. Finian’s Church,
Sun 24 11 a.m. Carol
Service. Straffan Church.
4 p.m. Carols around the Christmas Tree. Christ Church, Celbridge.
9 p.m.
Christmas Eve Eucharist. Christ Church, Celbridge.
Mon 25 Christmas Day.
Holy
Communion in all 3 churches at usual times.
Sun 31 United Service. 11
a.m. Straffan Church.
January
Mon 1 Subscriptions due for the Church Review.
Tue 9 Closing date for CSNL NEWS Issue 81.
Harvest
Thanksgiving Services
St Finian’s Newcastle-Lyons was as always the first
of our harvest services on Sunday 24th September. The church was
beautifully decorated as always and it was great to see so many in attendance.
Thanks to those who provided the lovely tea afterwards and to James Pasley
who played the organ. Straffan
Harvest was held on the 8th October and again the church was
beautifully decorated. It was
particularly good to see Jenny Shaw back at the organ and joined by the
choir. There was a lovely harvest tea afterwards in the Straffan Community Hall
and thanks to all those who prepared and served it. Celbridge Harvest which was held on 22nd
October was equally a lovely occasion and the church was looking at its best
with the harvest fruits and decorations. It was a great pleasure to see so many
children and their parents from Primrose Hill School in attendance and playing
such an active part in the service.
Thank you again to James Pasley and choir for leading the
singing. Collections at all Harvest
services were given to Bishops’ Appeal.
Reverend Hawker in 1843 invited parishioners to a special thanksgiving
service for the harvest at his Morwenstown Church, Cornwall - the tradition we
still have today. He put a notice in the
church - “Let us gather
together in the chancel of our church, and there received, in the bread of the
new corn, that blessed sacrament which was ordained to strengthen and refresh
our souls.” In other ways, he was an eccentric. One of The National Trust’s smallest buildings, Hawker’s Hut, was constructed of driftwood and Hawker
is said to have spent a lot of time there writing poetry and smoking
opium! One of his poems “Song of the Western Man” became Cornwall’s National Anthem.
The
Church Of Ireland Bishops’ Appeal For World
Aid & Development
The Appeal released €10,000 in emergency funds to the
Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. The
Diocese includes 7,000 Anglicans worshipping with 28 congregations in Israel,
Palestine, Lebanon, Syria & Jordan.
The Diocese runs Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza which provides medical
care and support to all people, regardless of their faith or ethnicity.
Concerts In
Celbridge & Straffan & Culture Night
In recent times we have hosted a number of concerts in
Christ Church. On 21st October, Johnny McEvoy provided a most
enjoyable evening of ballads and many of the audience were devoted fans. On 4th
November, pianist Frank McNamara (of Late Late Show fame) played Chopin
by Candlelight and it was a beautiful event.
Coming up on 2nd December are the New York Tenors with
Deirdre Masterson, 10th December, Celbridge Concert
Orchestra, 13th December, The Voices of Spring Community
Choir and 17th December, Connor McKeon & the Maynooth
Gospel Choir. In addition the Misneach
Orchestra will be performing in Straffan Church on the 9th
December. Tickets from www.misneachorchestra.ie. So a busy musical season ahead!
This year Christ Church, Celbridge hosted CCE Leixlip
for a wonderful night of Irish traditional music and dance - the energy and joy
of the performances was infectious and we look forward to welcoming the group
back in the future.
Sympathy
Ken Beattie of Saggart
(formerly of the 12th Lock, Lucan) died peacefully at home on September 20th. Our deepest sympathy and prayers are extended
to his partner Marian, his brother John and sister-in-law Mary
and the extended family. Ken, a farmer was a very
popular man locally and in his later years had
travelled the four corners of the world with his beloved Marian. His funeral took place in St. Finian’s Newcastle-Lyons
and the burial in Esker Lawn Cemetery, Lucan. May he rest in peace and rise in
glory.
Deepest sympathy to Lilian Webb on the recent
death of her brother, John Cromer, (Toomevara, Co Tipperary) after a
long illness. John (who was a parishioner of our Rector in his
last parish) was a very warm hearted and generous man who worked very hard
throughout his life and was a trusted friend of many people the length and
breadth of the island. His funeral took place in Borrisnafarney Church,
(Moneygall) and burial was in Toomevara churchyard. As well as thinking of Lilian
our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Liz, his family, Maurice,
Simon, Jonathan & Louise and their families. May he rest in peace and
rise in glory.
Who’s Who
In The Parish
www.cs-nl.org celbridgestraffannewcastlelyns@gmail.com
Rector: Rev.
Stephen Neill 01-6288231 087-2328172
www.paddyanglican.com stephen.neill@gmail.com
Keep up to date on
www.cs-nl.org
&
https://www.facebook.com/CSNLParish & www.Dublin.anglican.org
Chuckle
Time
Seen outside a church in Birmingham on 18th
November - “Come
this Sunday and avoid the Christmas rush.”
iPod? iPad?
Try iPray …. God is listening!
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