Thank you to all who contributed last Sunday to the special Bishops’ Appeal collection for relief work in the Philippines, following the devastating typhoon.  There will be another opportunity to contribute to this fund at St Paul’s next Sunday, November 24th.  Archbishop Richard Clarke and Archbishop Michael Jackson have asked every parish to respond generously  in the face of such overwhelming need.

This month’s  Family Service  is at 10.30am in St Paul’s next Sunday, November 17th. (After this service, the Dun Laoghaire branch of the RNLI is selling Christmas cards and providing the coffee in the Parish Centre to raise funds).
 Worship and Wedges,  an informal act of worship with contemporary music, followed by a light supper of sausages and potato wedges, will be on the following Sunday, November 24th, at 5.30pm in the Parish Centre.

See the latest news from Kisiizi hospital in Uganda, which is supported by St Paul’s, on its updated website: http://www.kisiizihospital.org.ug/.  A blog by medical superintendent  Dr Ian Spillman and his wife, Hanna, gives ongoing insight to life out there:  http://spillmanuganda2.blogspot.ie/

Please buy your tickets this week for the gourmet four-course dinner being held in the Parish Centre on Saturday, November 16th, starting at 7.30 pm sharp. Canapes with a glass of prosecco will be served on arrival. Wine also available.
Tickets, at €25 a head, are  available from Mary Heseltine (087 225 6562) or Deirdre Moppett (086 822 3327), or order by email stpaulsdub@gmail.com.

You are invited to participate in a time of quiet reflection at our Annual Service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance for loved ones in St Paul’s on Sunday, November 3rd, at 7 pm. The choir will be there to provide appropriate music, including items from Faure’s “Requiem” and his beautiful “Cantique de Jean Racine”. If you would like the name of a loved one to be read out at this service, please add their name as soon as possible to the list which you will find on the table at the back of the church.

The first Pets’ Service in St Paul’s on Sunday, October 13th, was such a success it is sure to become an annual fixture. Some 39 dogs turned up in the church, along with a cat, a hamster and a guinea pig – not to mention a few two-legged creatures in tow. Rosemary Smyth (pictured below with the Rector and some young members of the congregation) gave the address, talking movingly about how she acquired her guide dog Clint and the difference he has made to her life.

This is a first for St Paul’s: in the month that remembers the patron saint of animals, St Francis of Assisi, you are invited to bring your pet to church next Sunday, October 13th, for an All Age  Service of blessing and thanksgiving. An address will be given by  Rosemary Smyth, a guide dog owner, with her dog Clint.  There will be a retiring collection on behalf of the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind.  Also meet Nora, with her fundraising dog Maya, and Clarissa with her retired guide dog Fee.
A few rules: birds, guinea pigs, hamsters, etc. to be kept in cages, out of the way of cats, and cats and rabbits to be kept in cages, out of the way of dogs, and dogs to be kept on a leash at all times. Pooper scooper rules apply too!

The choir of St Paul’s has been invited to sing at the Harvest Festival in St Peter’s, Portlaoise, this Sunday evening, October 6th, at 7pm. So if you have family or friends in the area, let them know!

A reminder that if you want to be confirmed next year, please make contact with the Rector (garydowd@eircom.net) by the end of today, Monday, September 30th. Confirmation for our rural deanery will take place on Sunday 9th March 2014. Classes will begin in January 2014.  The preferred age is those in second year at secondary school.

Our former rector, the Ven Gordon Linney,  will be guest preacher at the Harvest Thanksgiving next Sunday, September 29th, at 10.30am. There will be a special collection at the service for the Bishops’ Appeal for Syria.  The church will be decorated the day before, Saturday, September 28th, from 9am. All are welcome to come and help and have a cuppa (no experience necessary!). Donations of vegetables, fruit or flowers will be gratefully received and will go to the Capuchin Fathers afterwards.
Meanwhile, we also urgently need new volunteers for the weekly flower rota all year round. If you can help, please contact Harriet Greenlee on 0872247195 (again no experience needed).