CARRIGROHANE UNION OF PARISHESCARRIGROHANE UNION OF PARISHESSt Peter’s, Carrigrohane St Senan’s, Inniscarra The Church of the Resurrection, Blarney

www.carrigrohaneunionofparishes.iewww.carrigrohaneunionofparishes.ie

SPANSPAN Summer Edition 2009Summer Edition 2009

Letters from Ian and Ruth...

At last we’ve arrived and are gradually getting ourselvesinto some sort of order, adapting to suburban livingafter the quiet lanes of W Cork, and gradually makingthis our home.

So thank you for giving us such an excellent start. Thewelcome we have received, the practical things thathave been done in the rectory, and many kindnesses.Everyone of us in the Jonas family have appreciated itincluding the cats, Megan, Finn and Maggie, and Spunkthe hedgehog, who is convalescing after Gail found himinjured on a road in Innishannon.

Now its time to find out who is who. To that end, Ihope to get out and meet parishioners and I may ringbeforehand. On the plus side, this saves me travellingmiles knowing you will be there! On the down side itcould mean you give a quick hoover and the best chinacomes out! Please don’t!! If you call to see us in the rec-tory, and you are welcome, you will have to take us aswe are and so must I when I call to see you! Now obvi-ously it is going to take time to get around, so if any-body needs to meet me urgently, for whatever reason,please ring me.

It is also time to find out what is what. One of themost challenging things I have to work out is what allthe keys I have been entrusted with, are meant tounlock. With in excess of 125 it is no easy task! Somedefy logic, possibly cast-offs from previous incumbents?Did Harold Miller loose a key to the case for hisCrosier? And then there is a key that looks like anignition key – does it reflect Francis Rutledge’s penchantfor cars? Or is it simply the key to the ride-on mower?Joking apart, some are easily definable as keys belongingto the different church buildings. In themselves they tella story, given the number of clergy over generationswho have handled them. It is that story that I am nowthrilled to be part of, for it is the unfolding of God’sstory.

Chris Peters, the preacher at my institution, helpfullytook the Epistle passage from1 Timothy 3 as part of hissermon.“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as awise builder, and someone else is building on it. Buteach one should build with care.”(1 Timothy 3 v 10)

I’m conscious of much good work done by my prede-cessors and the importance of taking that on, with care.So if I have any goals at this early stage it is to listen and

pray and I invite you to join me in doing so. Paul writesto the Corinthians that as he has opened his heart sothey should,“…open up your lives. Live openly and expansively”

(2 Corinthians 6 v 13 The Message).

Please join me in living “openly and expansively” todiscover God’s unfolding plans, in particular by availingof the opportunities to gather together for prayer in thecoming while.

Thanks again and every blessing in Christ,Ian Jonas

Dear friends,It’s been a long time of interregnum, time of waiting.Thank God, it is now over and it is great to welcomeIan, Gail and the family.Thank you to all those who have encouraged and sup-ported me over this past time, thank you to those whohave taken on extra responsibilities and have worked sohard to keep the show on the road. It has been a greatlearning time for me and it is lovely to hand the parishover to Ian and his leadership. A time of interregnum isa ‘holding time’, almost a pause button time, in a parish.It is wonderful that we can now begin to move on inanswer to God’s call at this time.For me, it is good to be able to turn my attention backto Blarney again. Last Easter, I was full of so many ideasthat had to be put on the back burner. It is lovely to beable to re-engage properly with that process. As part ofthat, it was great to celebrate our first ‘Lighthouse’ andwe pray that this form of family worship will become acentral part of our regular worship as a church commu-nity. Thank you to all who helped on the day, but par-ticularly to April, who did most of the organising. It’sgreat, too, to look forward to a Holiday Club in Augustat the secondary school in Blarney and we hope thatthis will feed into regular attendances at the Lighthousenext year. It is great too that regular times of prayer atBlarney have been started and we look to God’s leadingin all our plans.Personally, I am looking forward to a bit of a break overthe summer. I have signed up for a part-time PhD whichis due to start in September, just to keep me out oftrouble after that. It follows on a bit on the study I didbefore, but will focus on the relationship betweenChurch/Gospel and Irish culture over the centuries.Thanking you for all your support and looking forwardto all that God has in store for us,

Ruth

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Carrigrohane UnionYouthJust a quick update from the Youth Work today. We are enjoying the summer sun and slightly quieterprogramme as Katie continues to get a feel for balancing her work commitments and looking afterCharlie.

Our main work over the summer is the‘Youth Café’. It is simply a space for local youthin secondary school (or just about to be) to comeand hang out 2 afternoons a week, on tue and fri 2-4. It has been well attended so far and has beenreally encouraging to run.

This relational work is making good links withlocal non-parish youth, and is great fun!

We would value prayer for this summer project, inparticular the wisdom in knowing how to take itforward once the regular term rolls around. In the

meantime there is lots of coffee to be drunk! A big thank you to all the people helping to lead and for allthose baking cakes. We will be taking a break over July as Matt and Katie are away, but restarting overAugust, so if you fancy baking then it would be great, just let us know what day you are planning to bakefor.

PrayerAn up to date prayer letter has been sent to Joan Hales (contact on 021 4343059) so if you would like topray for us and the work, then there will be some pointers there.

We are really aware of the need for prayer to cover all areas of this work, and particularly in this excitingtime in the parishes life as we think about moving forward with Ian at the helm.

DatesGlow—11th Sep / 2nd Oct / 6th Nov / 4th Dec

Glow Max- 25th Sep / 16th Oct / 20th Nov(Trip out somewhere!) / 18th Dec

Sunday PM—watch this space for dates and plans for the term.We had a great time away in Castletownshend in Holy Week in April.

Matt’s mobile:085 1080067

Katie’s mobile:085 1080030

SPANSPAN

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Blarney Holiday ClubWe are running the Blarney Holiday Club again thisyear from August 18th – 21st at the Secondary School.The title this year is Pyramid Rock, which tells thestory of Joseph. It will include the usualmixture of drama, games, crafts, songs, stories etc. Allchildren from senior infants to 6th class (September2009) are welcome to come and teenagers and every-one else is welcome to help on the team. This year,April (086 3781345).will have responsibility for thesenior infants – 2nd class while Matt and Katie will beresponsible for the older aged group. For more infor-mation, please contact themdirectly. Booking forms from the parish office orthey’re NOW downloadable from the website!

SPANSPANSummer timetable of Services (July and August)

• 1st Sunday of each month 9.30am, St Peter’s, with coffee in the Parish Centre from 10.30 followed by UnitedCelebration of Worship at 11am in the Centre (5 July & 2 August)

Other Sundays• 9.30am—St Peter’s, Carrigrohane;• 11am—Family worship in the Church of the Resurrection, Blarney;• 11.30am on 2nd & 4th Sundays in Inniscarra; (12 & 26 July and 9th & 23rd August)

8pm on Sunday 16th August—a Summertime Informal Worship in BlarneyAny Sunday that you need to confirm the location and time of services, please consult the website:

www.carrigrohaneunionofparishes.ie or telephone the parish office on 4877260. We change the answermachine message at the beginning of each week—and include the times of the services for the following Sunday.

LADIES’ GUILD & MOTHERS’ UNION

A visit to the Bible Garden at Cobh was muchenjoyed in May—to be recommended!We are very grateful to Olga for the past yearthat she’s led us—and also now to Helen who hastaken the Chair of Ladies’ Guild. We will beworking on the programme of activities for 2009-2010 during the summer ready for a new start inthe Autumn. Thanks to everyone who has knit-ted the lovely blankets & caps for the prematurebabies in CUH.—part of an on-going diocesanMothers’ Union project.Patsy would like to say thank youto everyone for all the prayersupport and encouragement during the last while in her roleas Faith & Policy Co-ordinator for Mothers’ Union.. Thatcontinues—so please keep praying!

‘The Lighthouse’On Sunday, 14th June, we welcomed 45 people of all ages to celebrate creation in crafts, games,songs, story and prayer for our first Lighthouse. The idea comes from what in the UK is calledMessy Church (www.messychurch.co.uk) which seeks to involve all the family in many differentactivities, on a Biblical theme, culminating in a short service of worship. Given the connections wehave through Toddlers in Blarney and the response of Mums to the 10th anniversary celebrations,

this form of Church would appear to fulfil a real need within our church, aiming to make deeper spiritual connec-tions with local families. Our first experience was a good success but there were many lessons to learn beforestarting again in September.Our aim is to run The Lighthouse monthly next year with a core team taking responsibility and having differentpeople take responsibility for activities each time. Do you have a particular craft or skill that you would be willingto share some Sunday afternoon? Please get in touch with April. There will be an information evening for anyonewho is interested in finding out more at the end of August.

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It was great to welcome11 couples as guests on theMarriage Course during Mayand June.As usual, we really enjoyed

providing the goodies and set-ting the scene for their evenings together., andwe look forward to the next one!

Robert, Patsy, Janet, Bill & Deirdre

SPANSPANBlarney Toddler group

- will be back in action on 8th September.In the summertime anyone is welcome to come alongto Blarney Square on 14 July for a picnic at 12

noon, and/or to Tower Playground on 11 Augustfor another picnic at 12 noon.

If either day is rainy, please call Ruth on 087-2941281—as an indoor alternative will be arranged!

Carrigrohane Toddler GroupFriday morning, June 12th was our last Toddlers of

this term. We were at full capacity but able to spreadout into the playground as it was a beautiful sunny day.This is always greatly enjoyed by both the children andadults.I have now stepped down as Toddler Group leader. Ithas been a wonderful 12 years and I have been greatlyblessed through friendship and fun with the team andgetting to know some of the many children and adultsthat have come to Toddler Group.I really love Toddler Group and pray that this ministryof outreach will continue. I am sad that I don’t, as yet,have anyone to take over leading, but pray that some-one will feel called and able and willing to take it on.I want to say a BIG thank you to my team for all themany wonderful Friday mornings-(Leigh, Heather,Brenda, Janice, Lorraine, Jean, Joan, Ruby, Heather,Marg and Olga) and to those who have marvellouslystepped in once in a while ( Evelyne, Anne, Pam, Sarahand Patsy). Also a big thank you to Ruth Hockey –itwas fabulous that you led song time when I was away,and so good to share and pray together as Toddlerleaders, and thank you to Ruth Jackson for her greatencouragement and support.Thank you to all who have prayed for Toddlers overthe years- God has been so faithful at keeping us allsafe, bringing just enough team when needed and bless-ing us as we reached out.Please continue to pray for a new Toddler leader and/or a new fresh way of reaching out to this group ofpeople.On June 16 about 20 of us (a mix of Toddler Mumsand parish people involved with Toddlers) met for abrainstorm about Carrigrohane Toddler Group. Wehad a worthwhile evening, looking back and forward.There is much enthusiasm but we just need a harvestof workers!I had fun putting together a few memories of my 12years to share on the night of the Brainstorm and Ithink this bit sums up Toddlers quite well:Janet on the phone to Ruth Hockey, “Please can wemeet to chat and pray - We’re full before we’re open,the older boys are running riot, they’re grabbing myguitar but they love coming and one of the Mumswants to do Alpha!”Please email or call the Parish Office if you have ideasor offers of help or involvement and it will be for-warded to Ruth Jackson. Janet

Holiday plans

Step Out:New Wine Conference,

Sligo 12th-17th July 2009www.new-wineireland.co.uk.

Greenbelt28th-31st August 2009

Cheltenham race courseGreenbelt is a combination of a Christian festival, an artsfestival and a social action festival with activities for all agesand types of people. At every stage of day or night, thereis a wide selection of seminars, concerts and activities tochoose from, including the hymn sing in the bar tent everyevening. We are planning a group to go for the weekend,flying from Cork to Bristol and hiring a car or two. Ticketcosts include camping, though there are at least some peo-ple who want to share rented accommodation. The parishgroup is for over 18s only, under 18s need to be accompa-nied by an adult.Costs: (if booked by 30/04/09): Adults: £83 (concession£55) For more information, see www.greenbelt.org.uk ortalk to Ruth.

The OM ship, Logos Hope, will be in Cork from1st—14th July. Look our for opportunities to vol-unteer and get involved in this great opportunityfor outreach.

The Book Club...usually meets on the 2nd Wednesdayof each month and has been runningfor a number of years now.It's an opportunity to meet and dis-cuss a range of books: contemporaryfiction, classics, biography etc. We meet in one an-other's homes and each member of the group gets achance to suggest books for discussion.Our summer schedule is as follows:Wednesday 8th July in Helen’s house —’The Bookseller of Kabul’ by Asne Seierstad.Wednesday 12th August in Hilary’s house—’Inkheart’ by Cornelia Funke.

Further details contact Fiona Giles383089/0872220419)

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