PARISHES OF CASTLEKNOCK AND MULHUDDART WITH CLONSILLA

A CHURCH OF GOD, A CHURCH FOR ALL

Growing together as a Christ-centred community where all are welcome, all are loved

VACANCY – ORGANIST AND CHOIR DIRECTOR

• Two Sunday morning Services (10am and 11.30am)
• Additional services e.g., Holy Week, Christmas etc.
• Enthusiastic choir – currently two midweek practices per month
• Weddings and funerals as required
• Attractive salary in line with Church Music Dublin guidelines

For more information or to apply for this position please email a CV to
Rev Colin McConaghie
revcolinmcc@gmail.com
Closing date for applications Friday 23rd March 2024
Interviews to be held late March 2024

On Thursday 29th April it was announced that restrictions would be eased from the 10th May and that churches can re-open with up to 50 people in attendance.

With this in mind both St. Mary’s Church, Clonsilla and St. Brigid’s Church, Castleknock will re-open on Sunday 16^th May at 10.00 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. respectively.

Live streaming of the service from St. Brigid’s will continue for those wishing to ‘attend’ church this way on Sundays at 11.30 a.m on our YouTube Channel. Service sheets will continue to be sent by email to you all. Our midweek Wednesday Holy Communion service at 10.30 a.m. will open for an in-person service on the 19^th May and this service will also continue to be streamed live.  

To ensure the safety of everyone who wants to come to these services, precautions will be in place for those that wish to attend:

• We ask that those in the ‘at risk’ groups or those who have been in contact with covid-19 sufferers within the past 3 weeks not attend.
• It is recommended that facemasks, although not provided, should be worn, except by those with underlying conditions, which preclude the wearing of one, e.g. asthma or COPD sufferers, children under the age of 13.
• All churches have been examined to establish the maximum number that can be accommodated safely in line with social distancing rules.  Please follow the directions of the churchwardens and assisting vestry members when entering and leaving the building.
• Please do not congregate when entering or exiting the church and members of the congregation should not meet in the carparks without adhering to social distancing rules.
• No coffee or tea will be available after the services.
• Use of bathrooms will be allowed under strict supervision of numbers.
• Sanitisers are provided at every entry and exit to the church.
• A family should share the one pew.  Persons should avoid sitting in pews that have been closed off, or in parts of pews where notices have been placed, to satisfy social distancing protocols.
• To allow for contact tracing, those attending a service must complete the form left in the pew to satisfy Government guidelines regarding contact details.  Completed forms and biros are to be left on the seat in the pew. 
• As with previous reopening for religious service congregational singing and choir singing is not permitted.
• Collections will be by way of retiring collections at the exits.

The office remains closed at this time, but can be contacted by email, cmcparishoffice@gmail.com,

God Bless and stay safe.

 Each year in January the select Vestries update the Register of Vestrypersons.

All parishioners aged 18 years or over are entitled to be on this register.

This will allow you to have a vote at the Easter General Vestry when we elect the Select Vestry along with Church and Glebe Wardens.

This register is the church equivalent of the electoral register which allows you to vote in local and general elections.

You will not be given any extra job to do by being on the register!

If you are unsure whether or not your name is on the register, you can contact the Parish Office by email and it can be checked for you.

As Christmas is approaching, a number of measures have been put in place this year to ensure that in-person services can continue safely in our Parish. Below is a list a services that are taking place in our parish, numbers are limited to 45 at each service to comply with government guidelines and to ensure social distancing. Attendance at a service will be on a first come basis.

In addition to the church services listed below, there are now opportunities to join acts of worship online with services from St. Brigid’s Church, Castleknock, live streamed on our YouTube Channel.

If you do decide to join one of our services, we would ask that you respect and follow the instructions of the churchwardens.

Due to the recent Government announcement, there will be no in-person services in the Parish from the 27th December onwards. From Sunday 27th December, services will be live streamed from St. Brigid’s Church, Castleknock, on Wednesdays at 10.30 a.m. and on Sundays at 11.30 a.m.

Wednesday 23rd
10.30 a.m. Holy Communion, St. Brigid’s Church, Castleknock. 

Thursday 24th – Christmas Eve
3.00 p.m. Holy Communion, St. Brigid’s Church, Castleknock.

Friday 25th – Christmas Day
10.00 a.m. Family Holy Communion, St. Mary’s
11.30 a.m. Family Holy Communion, St. Brigid’s

Sunday 27th – The First Sunday of Christmas
10.00 a.m. Holy Communion, St. Mary’s – Cancelled
11.30 a.m. Holy Communion, St. Brigid’s – Online Only

Wednesday 30th
10.30 a.m. Holy Communion, St. Brigid’s Church – Online Only

Church Services will be going online this weekend.

In line with tighter restrictions just announced, in-person church services are cancelled from this weekend and will be broadcast online. I am very sorry about this.

We will be broadcasting our service online on Sunday via YouTube with access on the website and Facebook.  The churches will be closed until these restrictions are lifted. 

Please see below a message from Archbishop Michael.

Yours sincerely

Canon Paul

Message from Archbishop Michael

As I write it is looking more and more likely that we in Dublin will have further restrictions imposed on us and be put into Level 3 of the government’s Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID-19. I am sure that you, like me, find the prospect of this both frustrating and frightening but it is important that we face this with resilience and hope. The resilience that we will once again find ways of coping with these restrictions and in the hope that by abiding by these imposed restrictions, by looking after ourselves, our families, our neighbours and our communities, we will suppress this rise in cases.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1)

+Michael
Archbishop of Dublin
18th September 2020

It has been decided that St. Thomas’ Church, Mulhuddart is to be re-roofed along with other repair works.  This work will begin on Monday 7^th September.

After consultation with the churchwardens, glebewardens and the Archbishop, it was decided to postpone services in the church for several weeks while the work is ongoing.  The last service before the work commences will be this Sunday 6^th September at 7.00 p.m.

This work is essential to the continued use of the church and it is hoped to have this much needed work done before the winter.

To all Parishioners

We are delighted that we can re-open our churches from Sunday July 5th.  On Sundays 5^th and 12^th of July, there will be services of Morning Prayer, at 10.00 a.m. in St Mary’s Church, Clonsilla and at 11.30 a.m. in St. Brigid’s Church, Castleknock.  There will also be evening services in St Thomas’ Church, Mulhuddart at 7.00 p.m.  The Wednesday morning Communion Service, usually held in the Parish Centre, will be held in St. Brigid’s Church at 10.30 a.m.  The resumption of the 8.30 a.m. service on Sunday mornings will be deferred to a later date.

To ensure the safety of everyone who wants to come to these services, there are some precautions that we are requesting you follow if you attend:

• We ask that those in the ‘at risk’ groups or those who have been in contact with covid-19 sufferers within the past 3 weeks not attend.
• It is recommended that facemasks, although not provided, should be worn, except by those with underlying conditions, which preclude the wearing of one, e.g. asthma or COPD sufferers, children under 14.
• All churches have been examined to establish the maximum number that can be accommodated safely in line with social distancing rules.  Please follow the directions of the churchwardens and assisting vestry members when entering and leaving the building.
• Please do not congregate when entering or exiting the church and members of the congregation should not meet in the carparks without adhering to social distancing rules.
• No coffee or tea will be available after the services.
• Use of bathrooms will be allowed under strict supervision of numbers.
• Sanitisers are provided at every entry and exit to the church with paper towels.  Used paper tissues, disposable gloves and service sheets, etc., should be placed in the bins provided at points of entry and exit.
• A family should share the one pew.  Persons should avoid sitting in pews that have been closed off, or in parts of pews where notices have been placed, to satisfy social distancing protocols.
• To allow for contact tracing, those attending a service must complete the form left in the pew to satisfy Government guidelines regarding contact details.  Completed forms and biros are to be left on the seat in the pew. 
• During the service, further instructions will be given regarding singing and arrangements for Holy Communion.
• Collections will be by way of retiring collections at the exits.

Looking forward to seeing some of you on the 5^th.

Canon Paul Houston
Rector

On 29 June 2020 churches can begin to reopen once again for public worship. From this date on, and when they are ready to do so, parishes the length and breadth of the United Dioceses of Dublin & Glendalough will be looking forward to welcoming people back into their churches.

In this video, RTÉ’s Bryan Dobson guides church goers through the general steps being taken to ensure their safety and the safety of their fellow worshipers. It also supports clergy and select vestries in the measures they are putting in place locally as every church is different.

With these guidelines we can begin once again to worship together as a community of faith.

Welcome back.

During this unprecedented time, it is important for us all to keep informed as to what is going on in our Parish.  We are endeavouring to keep as many parishioners updated as possible and are using a number of methods to do this.  These include our newly re-designed Parish website, Facebook and Twitter.  We also now have our own YouTube channel where we have been publishing weekly pre-recorded services.

The Parish Office is also issuing weekly emails from Canon Paul.  Some of these emails are not been delivered so if you have changed your email address recently, especially if you have an eircom.net email address, can you email the Parish Office with your new email address on cmcparishoffice@gmail.com, so that you can be kept informed, especially with the possibility of churches re-opening from the 29th June.

Stay safe and God bless.

Dear Parishioners,

I hope you and your families are keeping well in these uncertain times. I continue to stream services online with many restrictions still in place.  All the videos will be hosted on YouTube with links to the YouTube video on the website, Facebook and Twitter.  I hope you can join me in these. The most recent video can be viewed on the homepage of this website. www.castleknock.dublin.anglican.org  

This Sunday 7^th June is Trinity Sunday, so I hope you will be able to join with me this week for a Holy Communion service from 10.00 a.m. I would like to thank Philip Good, Jenny McGrath, and those who will read this week for their help with the services.

If you have children, or are young at heart, you can download, free of charge, activities from Roots on https://www.rootsontheweb.com  and also the new Dublin and Glendalough Kids Facebook Page. The Diocesan Church Review is also available online at https://dublin.anglican.org/news/church-review.

For those many people that have been, and continue to be affected by the crisis, my thoughts and prayers are with you. We continue to pray for all victims and their families that have been affected by the coronavirus and also give thanks and pray for all frontline workers.

As I have mentioned before, if anyone needs assistance, personal or financial please do not hesitate to contact me, at the Rectory, phone 01 8213083.

Jenny continues working from home and can be contacted by email, cmcparishoffice@gmail.com.

If you know of anyone who is not getting the weekly letter, service sheet, updates,  please do ask them to send in an email and I can add them to the list, or maybe you know someone that hasn’t an email and you could print off the service sheet and drop it in to them.

I will keep in contact until we meet again.

With kind regards & God Bless,

Canon Paul

With The CMC Times on a hiatus, here is Canon Paul’s letter from the June edition of the Church Review.

Dear Parishioners

As I write the world is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale. She is known as the lady with the lamp, going around the Scutari Hospital in Turkey during the Crimean War. Florence made nursing a profession.

She arrived in Scutari in November 1853 with a group including 10 Irish Sisters of Mercy. What she found in the hospital appalled her. Over the next 18 months she fought a most successful battle to introduce hygiene re-organise the kitchens and laundries, employ soldiers as orderlies and obtain such basics as blankets. Nurses were told to wash their hands! Physical distance was placed between beds. By May 1855 mortality from cholera and typhoid had halved.

Florence was a committed Christian. Her main contribution to nursing was as a manager and organiser who did not brook opposition. After Florence returned to England, she used her new found fame to promote the ideas of nursing and sanitation. The training school she founded at St Thomas’ in London in 1860 was instrumental in establishing nursing as a profession. This was the hospital that Prime Minister Boris Johnston was treated in for Covid-19.

I am sure that Florence Nightingale would have been proud of all the work frontline staff have been doing during this pandemic. Their professionalism and dedication have been exceptional. Moreover, they have shown great courage and some have made the ultimate sacrifice for their patients. We owe them a great debt of gratitude.

Church Services

Our church buildings are closed at the present but church services are continuing online at 10.00 a.m. on Sunday mornings. I would like to thank Philip, my wife Adrienne, Stella, Fern and Jenny for their help in making these video services, as well as those parishioners who are reading and taking part in the service.

At this uncertain time, we must look to the future with hope. I realise this has been a difficult period for people, both personally and financially. Some parishioners have contracted Covid-19, but I am pleased to say they have recovered.

I will be discussing with the select vestries how we might move forward, under the guidance of the State and the Archbishop and how we may begin to worship in our churches again.

God bless and stay safe,

Canon Paul

Dear Parishioners,

I hope you and your families are keeping well and stay safe in these difficult times. I am pleased that the restrictions have been eased somewhat. However, with many still in place I continue to stream services online.  Apologies for the technical problems last week.

All the videos will be hosted on YouTube with links to the YouTube video on the website, Facebook and Twitter.  I hope you can join me in these. The most recent video can be viewed on the Parish website homepage at www.castleknock.dublin.anglican.org.

I will broadcast a Service of Morning Prayer for the Fifth Sunday of Easter at 10.00 a.m. this Sunday, 10th May.

I would like to thank Philip Good, my wife Adrienne, Jenny McGrath, and those who will take part in the service this week for their help.

If you have children, or are young at heart, you can download, free of charge, activities from Roots on https://www.rootsontheweb.com  and also the new Dublin and Glendalough Kids Facebook Page.

For those many people that have been and continue to be affected by the crisis, my thoughts and prayers are with you. We continue to pray for all victims and their families that have been affected by the Coronavirus and also pray and give thanks to the healthcare, and all front line, workers.

As I have mentioned before if anyone needs assistance, either personal or financial, please do not hesitate to contact me, at the Rectory, on 01 8213083.

Jenny continues working from home and can be contacted by email at cmcparishoffice@gmail.com

If you know of anyone who is not getting the weekly letter, service sheet or email updates,  please do ask them to send in an email and they can be added to the list, or maybe you know someone that hasn’t an email and you could print off the service sheet and drop it in to them.

I will keep in contact until we meet again.

With kind regards & God Bless,

Canon Paul
Castleknock & Mulhuddart with Clonsilla Parish

Hi,

Do you get regular updates from the Parish Office?  If you are not receiving regular emails from us you may not be on our email list.  If you would like to be included for regular updates, you can email the Parish Office at cmcparishoffice@gmail.com.

Dear All,

It is with deep regret that it has been decided to pause publication of the parish magazine, The CMC Times, for the during of the current COVID-19 crisis. This is mainly due to the lack of articles for the magazine as all activities in the parish have been suspended.

The website, Facebook and Twitter, along with YouTube are been used regularly to update parishioners and the community.

However, the April 2020 edition of The Church Review, the diocesan magazine, is traditionally is distributed through parish churches but is not possible at the moment. The editor of the Church Review, the Revd Nigel Waugh, has taken the decision to make this edition available online. You can read it at https://dublin.anglican.org/news/2020/03/26/april-edition-of-the-church.

Also, in a gesture of support for everyone during the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the Board of the Church of Ireland Gazette has decided to make the April issue available FREE online. The April Gazette is free to view and/or download at bit.ly/2yyNx1r.

Stay safe and God bless.

Dear Parishioners,

I am thinking of you all at this very difficult time.

All our church services have been cancelled until further notice.

For this Sunday, we hope to try out a service to go up on our Facebook page and website.

If you need any help whether it be personal, financial, or in any way, we may be able to help.  Please contact me, along with the parish, there is outside help too that can be called on to assist.

The Parish Office will remain open at this time and I can also be contacted at the Rectory on 01 8213083.

I will keep in contact and hope your and your families are well and stay safe.

God Bless,

Canon Paul.