Tidings September to November 2015 by St Matthias Church

September - November 2015

View online at www.stmatthias.ie

Tidings

Email us at stmatthiastidings@gmail.com

A Letter from the Rector

William, enjoying a pint of Carlsberg in Sunny Copenhagen. Dear friends There is a sense of anticipation as we begin this new term. Firstly, I am delighted to welcome Paddy and Helen McGlinchey to St Matthias (see their biopic herein). Paddy and Helen bring many gifts to pastoral ministry and I know that they will be a blessing to us – as, I know, we will be a blessing to them! Secondly, you will see details below about our new Messy Church initiative starting later in September. I am very grateful to Alistair Doyle who is providing an inspirational lead for this exciting ministry. I have been especially encouraged by the Select Vestry’s warm and enthusiastic support for fresh expressions of worship in our parish. It is also important to mention that the values underpinning Messy Church fit perfectly with our own parish values. Please pray for Messy Church in St Matthias. Incidentally, 2

‘messy’ refers to our lives, lives that are often messy and imperfect. When we gather to worship and learn more about Jesus we do so as people who need each other and, most especially, need God’s love in our lives. Thirdly, you will see from Tanya’s up-date on the Parish Centre that St Matthias is increasingly becoming a hub for all sorts of community activities. This is such a joy to see and is the fulfilment of all the hard work put in by Bill Fleeton, the Select Vestry and many members of the parish over the past few years. It gives us the encouragement and the confidence to continue with our parish development plans! Finally, on a personal note, I want to say a big ‘thank you’ to everyone who contributes to the life of our parish and I look forward to what the Lord has in store for us in the weeks and months ahead!

A Letter from the Rector A Reflection on Wisdom During the summer the Sunday readings invited us to reflect on wisdom. We heard the account in 1 Kings 3 of how, in a dream, Solomon asked the Lord for wisdom: ‘… give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?’ (1 Kings 3: 9). Wisdom represents a key theme in the Old Testament and in Jewish tradition Solomon’s name became synonymous with exercising right judgments and wisdom. But what sort of wisdom is in view and where can it be found? Firstly, then, what sort of wisdom is in view? Biblical wisdom has to do with the way we approach every day circumstances – it is practical wisdom. Most especially, it is wisdom to order our relationships. Solomon asks God for wisdom so that he can rule wisely over his nation (1 Kings 3: 9). Solomon’s wise judgments became so famous that the Queen of Sheba travelled to hear him in action! There are, of course, strong echoes of Solomon’s wisdom with the way the crowds were ‘amazed at Jesus’ teaching’. Ultimately, biblical wisdom concerns the practice of God’s wisdom for life, discerning the plans and purposes of God. This brings us to the second part of our question: where can we find this sort of wisdom? How do we get it? In psalm 111 we read ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’ (Ps. 111: 10). This is the key insight provided in the book of Proverbs (see, for instance, Proverbs 1: 7). What this suggests is that wisdom begins by acknowledging our dependence on God. As we come in humility before God, and as we acknowledge his love and his grace over our lives, we put ourselves in the right place, the right frame of mind, to be aligned with God’s character and his will. The opening petitions of the Lord’s Prayer provide us with an excellent way in: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be you name. Your kingdom come, your will be done’. In very practical ways, we can learn wisdom by practising the sorts of things that Jesus did: we can serve, we can love, we can extend forgiveness, we can stand up for the poor and the marginalised and we can be generous. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, will help us to do these things and, as we do, we will begin to inhabit what it means to be wise. This is the sort of wisdom that brings both honour and joy to our heavenly Father. So, whether we are looking for wisdom in conducting a relationship – husband, wife, partner, parent, child, friend, colleague – or if we have some decisions to make about our work, finances or health, I think Solomon would urge us to learn the fear of the Lord. It is the beginning of wisdom. In Christ’s Love William

Cecily writes St. Mel’s, the Roman Catholic cathedral in Longford, was recently restored and reopened for use. Five years ago a disastrous fire destroyed the building and only the four walls and the tower were left standing. Sensitive care has been taken in restoring it as a place of worship. Two Harry Clarke windows were restored and lovely modern stained glass windows let in a rainbow of different colours. The new and large font is made of Carrera marble. A pool of water surrounds the column on which it stands and around the base is a colourful circular mosaic. The little tiles have a rich variety of blues and greens with curved lines of golden tiles threaded through the colours. These symbolise the waters of life flowing in and around the place of baptism - very simple and pleasing to the eye. The river of life reminded me of the world’s largest river, the Amazon, which I visited recently. It is truly an amazing sight. No school geography lesson can ever prepare one for the actual sight of the river. It is enormous. The estuary is about two hundred miles wide and it spills a volume of fresh water into the Atlantic forty times greater than that of the Nile, the next longest river. Ascending the river towards Manaus some eight hundred miles from the ocean is like crossing a great inland sea. During the twice yearly rainy season the river can become one hundred and twenty miles wide. It contains at least three thousand species of freshwater fish. Along the banks grow lush tropical forests, occasionally interrupted by small villages whose houses are built on stilts or on floating rafts because the water level can rise at least twenty feet during the rainy season. The river provides access to the interior as well as being a source of food while the forests support a rich variety of flora and fauna. From a mighty river to a small river. Some years ago I drove a Sudanese clergyman down to Powerscourt Demesne. He had never seen a waterfall as there aren’t any rivers of significance in Sudan where he lived. Normally, Powerscourt waterfall has quite a narrow cascade of water, but on this occasion, following recent wet weather, gallons of water came rushing down over the rocks. It was a marvellous sight. Yotoma rushed forward and was generously splashed by the water! Then, standing still, he gazed up at the water tumbling down and commented in an awed voice, “All that water provided by God, just as He pours out his Holy Spirit on us! There are many references to water in the Bible. There is Moses striking the rock in the wilderness to obtain water for the thirsty people. In Isaiah, there is the promise of God to provide water so that the desert would bloom again. In the gospels, Jesus speaks of the water of life and the need to be reborn of water and the Spirit. And in the final chapter of the Bible, there is the vision of the river of life flowing from the heavenly Jerusalem providing water for the thirsty as well as the gift of life and of healing for all who respond to Jesus’ invitation to come to him and accept his free gift of the water of life. A verse of a well known hymn comes to mind: “O the deep, deep love of Jesus Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free, Rolling as a mighty ocean In its fullness over us.” Cecily West 4

Parish and Diocese News We welcome the Rev Dr Paddy and Mrs Helen McGlinchey Paddy and Helen hail from Northern Ireland although much of their pastoral experience has been within the Church of England. They have three adult children (Paul, Patrick and Tim) and prior to moving to CITI, where Paddy lectures, were based in the Queen’s University chaplaincy. Helen currently works part-time for the YWCA and both are passionate about the local church and its place in God’s mission.

Confirmation If anyone is interested in being confirmed in 2016 please make contact with William by the end of October 2015.

Open to God Our mid-week fellowship group “Open to God” will meet again on Monday 14th September. The evening will begin at 8pm in the rectory and will include worship, bible study, and prayer. Everyone is welcome. Holy Communion on Wednesday mornings begins again at 10.30am on the 2nd September. We will meet initially in the church.

Safeguarding Up-date As a parish we take very seriously our care of children. Our safeguarding panel consists of three members of the church: William Olhausen (chair), Philip Salter (church warden) and Nikki Rice (member of Select Vestry). Contact details and latest news is published at the back of church.

BACI event in Greystones with Bishop Kenneth Kearon (recently appointed Church of Ireland Bishop of Limerick) The AGM of the Biblical Association for the Church of Ireland, open to all, will be held in St Patrick’s Church, Greystones, on September 25th from 6.30 pm. The AGM Lecture, “The BIble’s Unexpected Stories” will be given by Dr Brad Anderson, chair of the Irish Biblical Association, and the AGM to follow, “BACI - the way forward”, will be chaired by Bishop Kenneth Kearon. Substantial refreshments will be served from 6.30pm with the lecture at 7.30pm. William is currently the chair of BACI. Further details can be see at https://bibliahibernica.wordpress.com/

Parish and Diocese News

Parish Fundraising

St Matthias Parish Centre

Saturday November 14th 8 Til late Tickets 20 euro Live Music, Food & Dancing Contact Adrienne 086 341 6375

Who can resist one of Cecelia’s cakes? Not me... Cecilia will have Christmas Cakes and Puddings available for sale after Sunday Morning Service from Mid November. If you would like to prebook a Cake or Pudding Please see or call Alistair 086-6081223 or Cecilia 085-7231434, all proceeds go towards the Fete Fundraising. 7

Messy Church Exciting new launch on Sunday 20th September 2015 from 4-6pm…. The Vision: Over the past year we have found that the move to a monthly meeting of the Sunday Club has allowed for a better sense of friendship and fellowship among the children and their leaders. However we fully recognise how busy family life has become in this day and age and we have been looking for relevant ways of engaging the whole family at worship. Building on the past year, we now want to involve our whole church family in the launch of a new once a month service on Sunday afternoons from 4 to 6pm This will be held in the Parish Centre and we will be no change to our regular morning worship services. This initiative is called ‘Messy Church’ and started in a Church of England parish but is now being run in churches worldwide. (Please see www.messychurch.org.uk for more information.)

In A Nutshell Messy Church is... • is a way of being church for families involving fun • is a church, not a craft club, that helps people encounter Jesus as Lord and Saviour • is found across the world, is for all ages, based on creativity, hospitality and celebration • has values that are Christ-centred, 8

At St Matthias... Our Messy Church services will be held in the Parish Centre from 4 to 6pm in the evening, and the dates for this year are as follows:

20th September - Creation 18th October - God’s Good Gifts 15th November - Jesus is King 13th December - Messy Nativity If you would like to help out with Messy Church, there are five areas where volunteers are always needed. Each area has a leader, they are as follows: Welcome Team - Philip Salter Craft Team - Alicia Reid Celebration Team Alistair Doyle/William Olhausen Hospitality Team - Maria Waters Discipleship/Promotion Team Lynn Hegarty/Alistair Doyle

Lordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prayer Word Search

St Matthiasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; FĂŞte 2015 The Parish Fete took place on Saturday 6th June and was a great day despite Mother Nature sending us some challenges by way of gale force winds that destroyed all but two of our tents. Because of man-power requirements and time constraints it is necessary to erect the tents the night before the fete, even though they were firmly secured and anchored, we received a call at 3am from the Nightwatchman to say that most of our tents were airborne and some had even made it as far as the road! However, this did not deter us and the early morning team put in a great effort to relocate stalls and set up temporary cover. We received a huge amount of donated goods this year, the hall was full to the brim with bric-a-brac, clothing and toys and the sorting team did a tremendous job identifying the best area for all the items. We tried a new idea for a seating area, we purchased some hay bales from a farm in Wicklow and decorated a designated area outside the parish room with bunting, this gave a nice feel to the area and we were overjoyed to see families sitting on the bales and enjoying their lunch, we would like to improve on this next year with perhaps the addition of a covered area. We offered the hay bales for sale after the event and some people purchased them for pet bedding etc and the remaining few were sent to a horse sanctuary in County Meath. We also had an Art and Craft Studio, managed by Jennifer Harte, this was set up in the new divided room inside the Parish Centre and Jennifer had the bright idea to open up the second set of double doors into that room, which really gave it an inviting and open feel. Children and adults could pay to make a craft, while Jennifer and her sister gave assistance and creative input. It was a wonderful new addition to the fete and one we hope will grow in the coming years. Dublin Fire Brigade were generous enough to support our fete this year, to the amazement of everyone, at mid-day a huge fire truck arrived on the grounds and the children (and some adults) were treated to an opportunity to explore the truck and even to turn on the hoses! This really gave the fete a community feel, to see the delight on the childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s faces and to see families leaving after having a good day out, a tasty lunch with a few bargains under their arms is what the day is all about and makes all the hard work worthwhile. 2015 was a record year, we managed to increase our totals once again and hope to continue this trend in the coming years. We would like to thank everyone who helps year after year to make the fete possible, from the people who make games, the collectors and sorters who devote so much time leading up to the day, those who put up banners, signs and bunting, the people who make all the edible goods, set up and man the stalls, the ladies in the kitchen who provide food for the helpers and the team who run the tea rooms and BBQ throughout the day, those who provide financial support, give donations, help with the clean up. It is impossible to thank everyone, without this team of dedicated volunteers we would not be able to have the fete and we are truly appreciative of the time and help that people give. For anyone who is interested, a video montage of the fete is available to view on the parish website at www.stmatthias.ie/notice-board 10

St Matthiasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; FĂŞte 2015

The fete committee: Maria Waters, Philip Salter, James Malseed, Jennifer Harte 11

St Matthias’ Fête 2015 A final thank you must go to the local businesses who sponsored gifts and vouchers. Please support our sponsors and mention St.Matthias’ when you shop. Apple Green, Ballybrack Ballybrack Medical Hall Shades Hair Studio Deerings Butcher Centra Ballybrack Black Knight Dry Cleaners & Suit Hire, Killiney Shopping Centre Igo Inn, Ballybrack Kershaws Dry Cleaners O’Donnell’s Total Health Pharmacy, Shankill Irish National Sailing School, Dun Laoghaire

Annual Parish Raffle Thank you to all who sponsored prizes for this year’s annual parish raffle and to Andrew Hill for the printing of the tickets. Thanks also to those who sold tickets and to everyone who supported us by buying a ticket. Congratulations to the lucky Winners below: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th

Ronnie Crampton Margaret Doyle Anne & Frank Waring Mervyn McKeown Nadia Hapsil Carol Cunningham David Judge Mary & Aidan Gill McCutcheon Emma Craxton

Philip Salter 2824072 philipsalter@eircom.net 12

Doran’s Pharmacy Cosgrave’s Butcher Gillian’s Barber, Ballybrack Guinea Pig Restaurant, Dalkey Comfort Bed Outlet, Ballybrack Woodies, Sallynoggin Rochestown Lodge Hotel Murray’s Pharmacy, Killiney Shopping Centre O’Brien’s Wines, Ballybrack Musgraves, Sallynoggin Dandelion Hair Design, Cabinteely

Parish Centre News The Parish Centre is buzzing this term with new clubs and socities using our facilities and the expansion of the Montessori school into a second classroom. For anyone who is interested in seeing a list of the clubs who use the centre you will find schedule of bookings on the website under Parish Centre, this timetable is subject to change so if you’d like to book the parish centre for your event, please contact Tanya Olhausen on 01-285 2228 New this year are Bridge Club, Circuit Training, Stretch+Grow Children’s Movement class, Montessori Holiday camps and Messy Church. Another exciting new tenant is “Foróige Empowering Youth” a much-needed club for young people in the Killiney/Ballybrack area. It will be held on a Thursday evening and is for young people aged 12 to 16. Here are some details about the Foróige organisation: Foróige is one of Ireland’s largest and longest serving youth organisations, engaging with almost 60,000 young people aged 10-18 years old in youth related initiatives and programmes of education. Foróige’s bedrock is based on volunteerism, with a strong force of up to 6,000 adult volunteers who lend their time week by week to the young people served through the organisation. Our ethos is to enable young people to develop themselves consciously and actively and to enable them to develop their own society. Foróige places a strong emphasis on learning by doing, giving young people a chance to decide for themselves what they would like to do and be actively involved in achieving their goals. Our organisation aims to ensure young people of all capabilities and interests feel they have a place, somewhere they can foster friendships, to learn important lifelong skills and to widen their world horizons. Our range of achievements within our youth club settings are far reaching, eclectic and fun from hanging out, to movie nights, Come Dine With Me Competitions, science experiment evenings, jewellry making, The Cube Game to putting together a music showcase of local teen bands to raise essential funds for Pieta House. For further information on the new club and Foróige contact Claire Hutchinson, Regional Youth Officer for South Dublin on claire.hutchinson@foroige.ie / 085 1666945. You might also wish to visit www.foroige.ie, Foróige’s Facebook page or the Foróige Channel on YouTube.

St Matthias’ Clubs and Societies Book Club

55 Club News

Our last meeting before the Summer break was in Susie’s house and we discussed a difficult book “Beloved” by Toni Morrison.

The 55 Club is a social club holding both indoor and outdoor activities. Despite its name, it is open to all ages and always welcome new members and guests joining in on any of our activities. We try to have an activity every 4-6 weeks. Our regular activities include visiting historic houses and gardens; attending or organising cultural talks, lectures, exhibitions; watching plays often in conjunction with the Book Club; and, holding our annual big get-together Christmas party. We hope to start the season with a visit to the nearby Killruddery House and Garden in Bray for September. For any queries or to be included in the mailing list for club updates and news, please forward your contact details to susie.tyler@me.com or 087 679 7589.

The author was born in 1931 and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. In 2012 she was awarded the US Presidential Medal, the highest civilian award in the USA. The story is set at the end of the American Civil War and the theme is about the psychological impact of slavery. It is based on a real story about a mother who kills her children to avoid lives of continual slavery. Recent news items show that racist attitudes in parts of the USA still change slowly. We suggest that the review on the Cliff Notes website may help to understand this complex book. Our Summer reads included: “Harvest” by Jim Crace, Adele’s choice. The writer won the Dublin Literary Award in 2015. The story is a medieval tale set in a time before the Land Enclosures and describes how progress disrupts the idyllic pastoral life of an English village. “A Wild Sleep Chase” by Haruki Murakami, Jim’s choice. The author is a popular Japanese writer and the story is a mock detective tale, very contemporary. Our next meeting to discuss these books is on Thursday 24th September at 7 Shanganagh Terrace. For details and further information, Tel. 0862540146

Art Competition An Art Competition was run in conjunction with the fete. The students of our parish school, Glenageary, Killiney N.S were invited to enter. We had over 200 submissions and choosing winners was very difficult, however after much consideration the following young artists were awarded prizes: Snr Infants: Ruby McNaughton Florence Chipperfield 1st Class: Sally James 2nd Class:

Thomas Fives

3rd Class:

Anna Wilson

4th Class:

Lola Michel Mary Walton

5th Class:

Levi Smith Maya Sullivan

The winning artwork is on display in the Parish Centre.

St Matthias’ Clubs and Societies Prayer Ministry Prayer ministry is us being a link in the chain of communication with the Lord. In our experience it has been such a blessing to receive prayer for ourselves and for those about whom we have concerns in life. It is a privilege for all Christians to be able to come to God in prayer and this is what He longs for us to do. ‘Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.’ 1 Peter 5; 7. Jesus wants us to bring even the smallest of things to Him in prayer. As we are reminded in Matthew 10; 29 his eye is even on the sparrow, ‘Not one of them will fall to the ground outside the Father’s care.’ How much more then is Jesus’ eye on us since we ‘Are worth more than many sparrows.’ Matthew 10; 31. When we come to God in prayer today we can follow Paul’s advice in how he called the Christians in Phillipi to pray (Phillipians 4; 3-7): to rejoice in the Lord always and to come with gentleness knowing that the Lord is near. Paul exhorts ‘In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.’ Most Sundays after the service we are available to pray with you, near the front of the church. Gillian and Jeanne

Whist Drives Our next Whist Drive is on Thursday evening 10th September at 7.45 in the Parish Centre. Further dates for your diary are Thursdays 8th October, 12th November and 10th December and we welcome both parishioners and friends. For those who would like to take part but have not played for some time or not at all, lessons can be arranged by contacting Bill at 01 2824247

From the Registers Baptisms: 7th June: Summer Florence - Daughter of Lynn French 9th August: Remi Marcella - Daughter of Amy Mullen & Daniel Mahony, Great Granddaughter of Betty Gould.

Marriages: 18th July: Sarah Louise Lee & Fergal Connolly were married in Monkstown Parish Church, William presided over the service. 15

Not Ready ‘Twas the night before school starts And the house was a mess, The school bags not ready The trousers not pressed.

Get to bed now! Shouts Mum, the top of her voice I’m not asking again Get off that Device.

Mum’s ironed on labels and covered the books But the kids were too busy Tweeting on facebook

You’ve had all summer long, Why leave it ‘til now? Even Dad’s piping in There’s one Holy row.

New hoodies and school coats tossed on the ground How long will it be ‘til they’re in lost and found?

Soon they’re all sleeping Alarm set to wake Pour me a glass Love, When’s mid-term break?

We’ve bought tracksuits and gum guards A new Fountain Pen, And next month when they lose them We’ll buy them again!

By Maria Waters

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HELP!!

For a personal service and help in sorting out your tax, please contact Cliff Kirker at Phone: 2351442 or Email: cliff@kirker.ie 16

For a personal service and help in sorting out your tax, please contact Cliff Kirker at Phone: 2351442 or Email: cliff@kirker.ie

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