The special preacher at our Harvest Thanksgiving this Sunday, October 16th, at 10.30am will be the Right Revd Dr Paul Colton, Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross (pictured below). Coffee afterwards will be served by members of the Badminton Club, in aid of the Blackrock Hospice.
The church will be decorated from 9am  this Saturday, October 15th, for the Harvest . All volunteers are welcome to come and help (no experience necessary!). Donations of vegetables, fruit or flowers will be gratefully received and these will go to the Capuchin Fathers afterwards.

Our annual special service for pets will be held at 10.30am on October 2nd, the closest Sunday to the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, on October 4th. It will be a service of thanksgiving for the companionship of pets, with a retiring collection for Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind. All creatures great and small, and toy ones too, are invited. Well-behaved owners are also welcome.

There will be a chance to contribute to the ongoing work of the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association at coffee after the 10.30am service this Sunday, September 18th and, in doing so, show your support for parishoners Roland Evans and his wife Annette.
Meanwhile you can learn more about the disease and the life of the Evans family by clicking on the following link to watch a short film: youtube.com/watch?v=d7jRKwjaOnY

Sunday Club starts this Sunday, September 11th and all children are welcome! They should go to the church for the start of the 10.30am service and they will then move to the Parish Centre. We will be doing a “getting to know you” activity and talking about things lost and found and finding time for God in our day. In the Gospel reading for this Sunday, Luke 15. 1-10, Jesus tells two parables about finding things that were lost. He says that the rejoicing that follows is like the rejoicing in heaven, when one sinner turns back to God.
There will also be a Lego club at the end of Sunday Club (see below) – please bring your own Lego.

Lego wanted
Do you have any Lego that you feel you could part with? Sunday Club is going to start its own Lego Club and we are looking for Lego! If you have a donation you would like to make, please telephone Fiona Arnold on 087 9239491. We will collect!

Choir practices will start again in the church on Wednesday, September 7th at the usual time of 7.15pm. Anyone who thinks they might be interested in joining the choir is very welcome to come along to a few practices, without any obligation, to see what the choir does and how it feels to be singing as part of this group.  Our director of music and organist Nathan Barrett would love to hear from you: on 086 846 0658 or by email: barretna@tcd.ie

Some of the outsider users of the St Paul’s Parish Centre who are gearing up for Autumn include:

Leeson Park School of Music Kindergarten class reopens Tuesday, September 6th at 10 am in Parish Centre for babies/toddlers up to two-and-a-half years old with guardians. Colourstrings Music Education through singing, movement, percussion, listening and fun. See lpsm.ie for further details and contact Teresa at 085 816 4002. Cost for a full year  is €495 which is paid on a term-by-term basis.

Fitness League classes re-start in the Parish Centre on Wednesday, September 7th and Friday, September 9th at 10am.  If you would like to find out more, please contact Lesley Moore on 087 7485154.

A new Beginners’ Pilates eight-week course starts in the Parish Centre on Friday, September 2nd, at 10.45am. Cost  €144; max eight places. Contact Linda on 087 225 3820 or: linda@pilatesforlifeireland.com. See also pilatesforlifeireland.com

There are still a few places available for the Parish Outing  on Saturday, September 17th,  which will include a cruise on the River Shannon from Banagher to Shannonbridge, followed by a guided tour of Clonmacnoise.  Lunch stop over at Lukers Pub and Restaurant, Shannonbridge. The bus leaves from St Paul’s at 8 am and is due to return to  Glenageary at 6.15 pm approx.  Cost, not including lunch, €35 per person.  To reserve your seat please contact John White Tel: 087 2594729

All are invited to our now traditional outdoor service in the grounds of the church, on Sunday, August 28th, followed by a family barbecue, to mark the end of the summer holidays. Please note the later starting time of 12 noon for the service and it will go ahead regardless of the weather, even if it means we have to retreat into the Parish Centre – but we’ve been lucky so far!
There will also be an opportunity to register your child for Sunday Club (ages 4-12) which will begin again on Sunday September 11th.

On August 28th our annual Outdoor Service, at the later time of 12 noon, followed by a family  barbecue, will mark the end of the summer holidays. There will also be registration for Sunday Club that day for children aged four to 12. Other key dates between now and the end of the year include:

September 11^th Sunday Club begins; it will meet on the second and fourth Sunday of each month
September 17^th Parish Outing: Cruise on Shannon and Clonmacnoise (see below)
October 2^nd Pets Service 10.30 am
October 16^th Harvest Thanksgiving –Preacher Rt. Revd Paul Colton Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross
November 6^th Remembrance and Thanksgiving Service for Loved Ones 7 pm
November 13^th Remembrance Sunday
December 18^th Service of Nine Lessons with Carols by Candlelight 7 pm

St Paul’s choir combined with members of the choir in  St Patrick’s, Dalkey to sing both the morning and evening services in St Patrick’s Cathedral on Sunday, July 3rd. As chance would have it, the preacher for the day was a former curate of Glenageary, Canon Paul Willoughby.