A Service of the Word at 10.30 am this Sunday, March 1st, will include an official commissioning of Jeremy Haworth, who recently joined St. Paul’s with his wife, Claire. He is a full-time staff worker with the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES), a global network in 150 countries. IFES exists to encourage and equip the student Christian Unions to reach out to their campuses with the message of Jesus Christ. We will officially commission him for this work, showing our support for his ongoing ministry.
Meanwhile, later in the day, Worship and Wedges in the Parish Centre at 6 pm will include craft activity, songs led by the music group and a short bible talk, followed by a light supper of wedges and sausages.  All are most welcome. (There will also be a 7 pm service of Holy Communion in the church as usual.)

The Bishop of Meath and Kildare, the Most Rev Pat Storey (pictured below), will be the visiting preacher at three of our services during Holy  Week. Following  the success of last year’s experiment, during which the services rotated around four local Church of Ireland parishes, this is being repeated, with St Patrick’s, Dalkey also joining in. Bishop Storey will preach on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings and the schedule for the services, which start at 8pm each evening, is as follows:
Monday, March 30th:  St Patrick’s, Dalkey
Tuesday, March 31st:  St Paul’s, Glenageary
Wednesday April 1st: St Matthias, Ballybrack
Maundy Thursday, April 2nd: Holy Trinity, Killiney 
Good Friday, April 3rd: Christ Church, Dun Laoghaire

An adult discussion group will take place every Monday night during Lent in the Committee Room of the Parish Centre, starting at 8 pm. We will use a five-session study by the liberal theologian Marcus Borg (pictured above), who died last month, called Embracing an Adult Faith – What it means to be Christian.   Each evening we will begin by watching and listening to Marcus Borg on a DVD as he introduces each topic and shares his own insights. Hopefully this will lead to a stimulating discussion.   Borg, who died on January 21st  at the age of 72, was Canon Theologian at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland Oregon and author of 19 books.  The weekly topics are as follows:

Monday, February 23rd: God

Monday, March 2nd: Jesus

Monday, March 9th: Salvation

Monday, March 16th: Practice

Monday, March 23rd: Community

All are most welcome.  Each session will last for approximately one hour.

Six young people from St Paul’s – Jordan Murray, Sarah Poole, Hannah Byrne, Michael Hall, Claudia Jones and Lucy Coulter-Smith – will be confirmed by Archbishop Michael Jackson in St Brigid’s Church, Stillorgan, this coming Sunday, February 1st, at 11.30am. They will join other candidates from Holy Trinity, Killiney and Stillorgan/Blackrock at this Confirmation service for our area.

“We want all singers and all instrumentalists to come and join,” says Music Group co-ordinator, Nathan Barrett. The group, specialising in contemporary music for worship, leads the music at two services a month – one at 10.30am and the other at 6pm –  with a short practice before each service.
“There are no midweek rehearsal commitments, and there is always refreshments for the music heads afterwards!” he adds. Think you could give it a try? Contact Nathan on 086 846 0658 or email barretna@tcd.ie ”

And the next gig for the Music Group…

Is Worship & Wedges on Sunday, February 1st, at 6pm in the Parish Centre. Everyone of any age is welcome as we explore doing church in a different way!  Our session will include a craft activity, songs led by the Music Group, a short bible talk, followed by a light supper of wedges and sausages.

The Age of Innocence, a film adaptation of an Edith Wharton novel, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder, will feature at our next Parish Film Night, on Thursday, January 22nd,  introduced by Philip Molloy of Newstalk. Please reserve a seat by emailling stpaulsdub@gmail.ie

The Select Vestry will next month revise the Register of Vestry members as it is required to do annually under the Constitution of the Church of Ireland.  If you are not already registered, are over 18 years of age and would like to become a registered vestryperson, please obtain, complete and return the necessary form from either the churchwardens or the Rector.  If you are registered, this entitles you to vote at the Easter General Vestry (AGM) and to become eligible for election to the Select Vestry.

Thank you to all those attended our church services over the Christmas season.  Special thanks to our organists: Nathan Barrett (who also acted as choir director for the carol service) Matthew Breen, Sheila Wayman and Mervyn Cooper.  Thanks to the choir for their outstanding contribution to our worship and for their time, preparation and hard work and also to the Music Group for their contribution.
Thanks to the readers at the carol service. To those who contributed towards providing the poinsettias in memory of loved ones and to the dedicated and talented group of people who decorated the church so beautifully for the festive season under the direction of Harriet Greenlee.
Thanks to those who generously donated non-perishable food items for the Dining Room on Christmas morning.
Thanks to Geoff Barry and to all our church wardens for all their work and to Cynthia Gray and Joe Harvey for making sure the church was so warm and comfortable.
The retiring collection at our carol service for the Capuchin Day Care Centre in Bow Street amounted to €1,246.40.  Thank you for your very generous response in support of such a worthy cause.

There will be an informal, all-age act of worship on Sunday, January 4th, at 6 pm in the Parish Centre, with Epiphany as its theme, led by our intern deacon, Rev Abigail Sines, with contemporary music from the Music Group led by Nathan Barrett. Sausages and potato wedges are served afterwards.
There will also be an evening service of Holy Communion in the church at 7pm as usual.

On Christmas morning, at our 10.30am service, young people are invited to bring some non-perishable food items to be placed under the Christmas tree as gifts for those who are homeless or suffering as a result of food poverty.  Immediately after Christmas these will be brought to the Dining Room in Dun Laoghaire. Meanwhile, the First Eucharist of Christmas will start at 11.30pm on Christmas Eve.