Just down the road from St Paul’s, beside the site of our old parish hall, Acquired Brain Injury Ireland have an assisted-living centre in two houses (pictured above) on Adelaide Road. One of their goals is to develop a sensory garden for their residents and other clients behind these houses and the Select Vestry have approved this as a community project for us as a parish in this our 150th anniversary year. 
 CEO Barbara O’Connell will speak at our main morning service this Sunday, March 4th, about the work of Acquired Brain Injury Ireland and we will use the opportunity to launch this parish project.  There will be a retiring collection for the Sensory Garden Fund.
 A brain injury can happen in seconds and change a life for ever.  See the ABI website for more information abiireland.ie

Nominations are closed and the count begins …Come along to find out – and sing –  the favourite hymns of St Paul’s parishoners at our Songs of Praise this Sunday, February 25th at 7pm. It will be a celebration, in this our 150th anniversary year, of the great musical tradition of St Paul’s, as well as a thanksgiving for the tremendous restoration work, which is nearly complete, on our pipe organ. Refreshments will be available in the Parish Centre afterwards

This Ash Wednesday, February 14th, and each Wednesday throughout Lent, there will be a short service of Holy Communion at 7.15 am in addition to the regular 11 am Communion service.
 The following Monday, February 19th, a Lent discussion group will start to meet weekly at 8 pm in the Committee Room (upstairs) of the Parish Centre.  This year we will use the 2018 Lent Course prepared by the  Biblical Association of the Church of Ireland: As the Father sent me, so I send you – The Five Marks of Mission.
 The themes are: Feb 19^th Tell; Feb 26^th Teach; Mar 5^th Tend; Mar 12^thTransform; Mar 19^th Treasure. The booklets that accompany this course will be provided.  All are welcome.

The parish is to work towards an Eco Congregation Ireland award as part of marking our 150th anniversary. The Rector explained in his address at the 10.30am service on Sunday, February 4th,  that Eco Congregation Ireland (ECI)  is an ecumenical organisation which encourages churches  to take a more eco approach to worship, lifestyle, property and finance management, community outreach and contact with the developing world.
 While St Paul’s ticks some boxes in this regard, there is much more we can do, both as a parish and as individuals. An action plan is being drawn up and all suggestions are welcome. You can learn more about the ECI here.
 Here’s one project you can get involved in immediately: for Lent (which starts on February 14th), the Bishops’ Appeal is partnering with the ECI in  “Jars4Journeys“. The idea is that every time you use a car for a journey that you could have done by foot or by bike, or take a flight, you put some money in a jar to go towards offsetting your carbon footprint. The proceeds will go towards projects in Third World communities adversely affected by climate change. Learn more and download a jar label here.