Annual Revision of the General Vestry Register of Clontarf Parish

Each January we are required to revise our register of general vestry people. All parishioners over the age on 18 are entitled to register. Only registered members can serve on the Select Vestry or vote at the annual Easter General Vestry Meeting.

If you have joined the parish in the last year or have not previously registered, this is a good opportunity to do so. Parishioners living within the parish boundary – see the map here – should complete Form 1, those living outside the parish boundary should complete Form 2, before 31 January.

Please contact the Rector if you want to check if you are already on the register.

Online Parish Quiz

Join us this evening 29th January at 7.30 for some light-hearted fun at the first quiz of the New Year. As always, a couple of households can team up if desired and the winning team will receive a €30 Just Eat Voucher. Parishioners and Friends welcome – get the link from the Rector.

UPDATE – Clontarf Parish Christmas Services bookings

At the moment, all our Christmas Services are fully booked except for Christmas Morning at 8.30 where there are currently 20 spaces left.

You can book a place here – please use a separate line for each person booking.

NB: If you have booked places at a service and your plans change, please email or text – 087 9091561 – the Rector to remove your names and free up the spaces. If you wish your names to go on a waiting list for a particular service, please contact the Rector.

All Christmas services will be live-streamed on our website and the 11pm and 10.30am services will be recorded and available to view later.

In addition, all Sunday services in the run up to Christmas will be Holy Communion so everyone should have an opportunity to receive the Sacrament if they wish.

Cocooners can arrange to receive Holy Communion at home before Christmas- contact the Rector.

Clontarf Parish Christmas Services bookings

NB Limited places left in all services except for Christmas Day @ 8.30 which has lots of availability.

As strange as it sounds, places will need to be booked for our four Christmas services this year: 3pm & 11pm on Christmas Eve and 8.30am & 10.30am on Christmas Day.

Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis and we will put a waiting list in place if necessary. In order to do this, click the link to your preferred service time (below) and add in the names of your family members individually on separate lines.

If you have any trouble with this please contact the Rector directly. Please only book for one service, and if your plans change and you cannot avail of your place, please let me know in advance.

All services will be available to view on our website and later on Facebook, so no-one has to miss out.

Thank you for your cooperation in these extraordinary challenging times.

Christmas Eve 3pm

Christmas Eve 11pm

Christmas Day 8.30am

Christmas Day 10.30am

Clontarf Church open to worshippers but with COVID measures in place

We are delighted to be able to welcome worshipers back into the church on 6th December.

Our Covid Response Plan remains in place which means:

  • A maximum of 50 people at any service – first come, first served.
  • Masks, not visors, must be worn
  • Do not sit in a pew marked with a yellow social distancing sign
  • Sanitise your hands on entry and exit
  • Keep a 2 metre distance from others as you enter, exit or queue for Communion
  • Contact tracing forms to be completed for every attendee

Please do not come to church if you are unwell or have any symptoms of Covid 19.

Both the 8.30 and the 10.30 services will be available to watch live on our website through the webcam, or later on the recordings tab and on Facebook.

Prayers needed for Family Service on 27th September

Although we can’t welcome people to worship in person in our beautiful church at present, we can still certainly worship together thanks to the wonders of modern technology.

This Sunday (27th September), being the fourth Sunday of the month, will be a pre-recorded Family Service, and we are looking for children to write a prayer, record it in landscape mode and send it to the Rector via WhatsApp if possible to 087 9091561 by Thursday evening at the latest.

Please encourage your children to take part – their prayers are a blessing to us all.

The postponed Annual (Easter) Vestry will take place on 2nd September at 8pm

Better Late Than Never…

The Constitution of the Church of Ireland requires that an annual General Vestry meeting be held every year around Easter. This year parishes were obviously unable to fulfill this requirement due to the corona virus pandemic.

Accordingly, new arrangements were put in place and the outgoing officers and Select Vestry members remained in place until an Easter General Vestry Meeting could be convened- many thanks to all concerned!

The rescheduled Easter General Vestry Meeting in our parish will be held, DV, on Wednesday 2nd September at 8pm in the Church.

As this is a triennial election year, Diocesan Synod Members and Parochial Nominators must be elected along with a new Select Vestry, Churchwardens, and Glebewardens.

This meeting is similar in many ways to an AGM, when those present will hear a review of the main happenings of the past twelve months; get a chance to hear and discuss plans for the future, including the ongoing significant challenges posed by Covid-19, and be presented with the parish accounts for year ended 31-12-2019.

The meeting will also elect members to the new Select Vestry (the parish management committee if you like), People’s Churchwarden (assists on Sunday mornings and other events) and Glebewarden (responsible for upkeep of Rectory & church grounds). The Rector will announce her choice for the appointments of Rector’s Churchwarden and Rector’s Glebewarden.

While only those on the official parish general register are entitled to vote (should a vote arise), everyone is welcome to attend and speak.

Normally I encourage as many people as possible to attend and to take an interest in and ownership of the running of our wonderful parish- this year of course our numbers will be limited by the guidelines in place at the time around social distancing and indoor gatherings. Health and safety protocols remain a priority, so the length of the meeting will be shortened and there will be no refreshments afterwards, not even Easter Eggs!

We do however, need people to attend and to be willing to serve in various capacities, and I’m sure I can depend on you to consider seriously how best you can give something back to the parish which we all love.

Many thanks in anticipation.

Lesley

We’re Back!

As per Phase 3 of the Road-map for reopening our country, we will be opening our doors for worship once again this Sunday at our usual 8.30 service times.

Please make sure you have familiarised yourselves with the updated guidelines and protocols which will be in place.

We ask for your patience and understanding as we get  used to the new normal, particularly as we have no idea how many people will wish to attend worship. Regardless, a maximum of 50 people can be allowed in the church at the one time, and only 33 pews are available for seating. 

In the event that more than 50 turn up, unfortunately the excess will not be able to come in. If this happens, we will have to introduce a booking or rota system for the time being. But the good news is that after Phase 4 comes in on 20 July d.v. the overall capacity should increase, though not the number of available pews.

The other good news is that the 10.30 service will be available to view live or recorded on our parish website.We will be continuing to broadcast Morning Prayer at 10.30 on Facebook Live, Monday to Friday up until 20 July. After that, Morning Prayer will be broadcast on Wednesday mornings only.

Revision of Register of General Vestry

Each January the membership list of the Parish – the Register of the General Vestry – is revised. Anyone aged 18 or over who is a member of the Church of Ireland and who lives in the Parish or regularly attends services and who is not already on the register should contact the Rector.

The registered members of the parish, along with the clergy, constitute the general vestry, which meets annually to hear the Rector’s report and to elect the churchwardens, the glebewardens, and the members of the Select Vestry.

Tearfund Pedal Against Poverty

Thank you to all who have contributed to Tearfund’s Pedal Against Poverty campaign by donating to parishoner Dave Lynch’s sponsored cycles throughout the Summer. Dave successfully completed his astounding 1,800km target over July and August with the 150km Boyne Valley Tour last Saturday.

The idonate web page is still open for anyone who would like to make a donation or alternatively, Dave will have a sponsorship card with him at church on Sunday 8th September. You can read about Tearfund’s Self Help Ethiopia project here.