Bicentenary Celebration Service
Arva Parish Church
Sunday 16 June 2019 at 3.30pm
Music by Kilmore Cathedral Choir
Preacher: Bishop Ferran Glenfield
Refreshments afterwards
Everyone Welcome
On Saturday 8th of June 2019,as part of the Gathered In Training day a Personal Beliefs Survey was carried out by volunteers in Cavan town between 3 and 4 pm. Up to 50 completed surveys were obtained from pedestrians on Main Street and homes in College Street, Wolfe Tone Street and Railway Road. The completed surveys were anonymous and there was no attempt to ascertain the religious affiliation of respondents. What did the survey tell us?
Question 1 asked what did you believe about God? Six out of ten respondents believed that God was personal. A quarter of those questioned were unclear about God .One out of ten thought God was a distant being and 3% of respondents did not believe that God existed.
Question 2 probed beliefs about the afterlife. Nearly four out of ten respondents believed that all went to heaven after death. Whereas a quarter held the belief that some went to heaven and others to hell. The remainder of those surveyed were equally made up of those who were unsure about the afterlife and those that thought that death was the end, there was nothing more.
Question 3 examined beliefs about Jesus. Six out of ten of those questions held the creedal belief that Jesus was the only Son of God. Just over a third replied that Jesus was a spokesperson for God, while about one in ten people thought that Jesus was an ordinary human being.
Question 4 asked people about their spirituality. Seven out of ten people admitted to praying about an issue; three out of ten had a definite spiritual experience. About four out of ten had experienced both prayer and a spiritual experience.
Question 5 enquired if people could know God personally would they be interested? Seven out of ten responded yes, two out of ten were unsure and the remainder were not interested in the possibility.
The survey was a limited exercise which gave a small snapshot of beliefs. Belief in a personal God, life after death, the divinity of Jesus, the reality of spiritual experiences, particularly prayer, and the desire for a relationship with God is strong. Deism and atheism are minority standpoints. Views on the afterlife were more mixed with less than 25% holding a traditional understanding of heaven and hell. The divinity of Jesus was questioned by almost 40% of the sample.
Most of those questioned were spiritual and were open to a personal relationship with God.
Cootehill Parish Bicentenary weekend at the end of May was an outstanding success. On Friday 24th we had the pleasure of listening to Joy Boyd, a Gospel singer from Larne, Co Antrim. She was accompanied by the Gospel Group Testify, from Co Antrim and Co Down. The evening included some community hymn singing, and an unexpected highlight of the evening was when Co Cavan singer, Lorraine Vance from Arva, who was in the audience, was called forward by the group to sing an impromptu piece. She did this to huge acclaim. The event was held in the church, and there was a sizeable crowd in attendance.
On Sunday 26th the church was almost filled to capacity for our special Bicentenary Celebration Service. This was held at 3.00pm, and we welcomed as our guest preacher our Bishop, Right Rev Ferran Glenfield. We were honoured to have as our soloist a member of Ashfield congregation, Farrah Keith, who was accompanied and trained by a local lady, retired Presbyterian minister Rev Florence Taylor. Farrah sang two pieces in the service which were beautifully performed – ‘Pié Jesu’, and ‘Brother, Sister Let Me Serve You.’The lessons were read by Mr Victor Reilly, our Parish Reader, and his wife Audrey, Diocesan Reader. Three of our young people ably led our prayers, Ethan Smyth, Alannah Pepper and Zara Johnston. The offering was received by Richard Pepper, Roy Grindle, Aaron Pepper, Kenneth Pepper, Kate Donnelly, Pam Johnston and Jonathan Smyth. Norman Foster arranged a Bicentenary Cake for the event, and this was cut after the service by the Bishop and was enjoyed during the tea. Thanks to all those who took part and helped to make our service the success which it was. Many people were involved behind the scenes, cleaning the church, tidying the grounds, bringing extra chairs, producing the beautiful flower arrangements and promoting the events. I am reluctant to mention any individuals, but Victor Reilly of Pricewise seemed to be down at the church for a while almost every day that week.
In his sermon the Bishop impressed us with some interesting historical information about the town of Cootehill and our church. He then used the early church, as described in our second lesson (Acts 2:42-47), as an example of what church should be.
The church then was clear in what it was about – bringing the Gospel message to the world.
The early church was a caring group – different from the world.
The early church was a learning church – they learned Jesus teaching and they were people of the book – the Bible.
A big thank you to the Bishop for his inspirational and challenging words. Thank you also to everyone in the congregation who made a huge effort – without you all we could not have had such a successful weekend.
Cutting the cake
Bishop Ferran Glenfield, Rev. David Moses and his wife Catherine at official opening of rectory
Bishop Ferran Glenfield, Rev. David Moses and glebewardens, members of building committee and Mr Ronnie Carnew, builder at official opening of rectory before the service on Sunday.
The Bishop of Kilmore wishes to appoint a Diocesan Youth and Children’s Coordinator based in the Kilmore area of the diocese.
The Bishop is seeking someone who:
In turn the Diocese will undertake to:
Applications will close at 4pm on Friday 7th June 2019. They should be submitted by email to [email protected] or be received by post to Kilmore, Elphin & Ardagh Diocesan Office, 20A Market Street, Cootehill, Co. Cavan.
Should you require further information regarding the post please contact:
Mr Alan Williamson,
Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh Diocesan Youth Council.
Tel: 089 2554664
Email: [email protected]
28th June-2nd July 2019. Glenarm Estate, Co Antrim. Cost: €100
Bookings are now open for this year’s Summer Madness festival. Summer Madness is a festival for young people, where you’ll hear brilliant biblical teaching, have space to encounter God and grow in your relationship with Him. Young people from across Ireland, across backgrounds and church denominations will be gathering together at glorious Glenarm to worship, celebrate, learn and grow. If you would like to join the yKEA Diocesan group at this year’s festival you will find all the details you need in the booking form here.
LL SAINTS’ DRUMGOON (COOTEHILL) – BICENTENARY CELEBRATION WEEKEND – 24th & 26th May 2019
GOSPEL CONCERT WITH JOY BOYD & FRIENDS
COOTEHILL CHURCH OF IRELAND FRIDAY 24TH 7.30pm
(Voluntary donations – proceeds in aid of church funds)
BICENTENARY THANKSGIVING SERVICE
SUNDAY 26TH MAY 3.00PM
SPECIAL PREACHER: RIGHT REVEREND FERRAN GLENFIELD (Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin & Ardagh) Soloist Farrah Keith. Refreshments to follow.
The Mulligan Sisters, accompanied by Dr Padhraic Ó Cuinneagáin (Lecturer: DIT Conservatory of Music) will be performing in concert at the Church of Ireland, Boyle, Co. Roscommon, on Saturday, 23 March 2019 at 8:00pm.
Doors open from 7:15, seated by 7:45
Tickets €20, €15 (seniors/students), €5 (under-18s): The Úna Bhán Centre (071- 966 3033), Boyle Credit Union (071 966 3144), Taylor’s Jewellers (071 966 2386), Daly’s (071 966 2090) or ring/text Marie (087 644 1636) or Pearl (087 282 9430).
This evening with ‘The Mulligan Sisters’ gives you the chance to experience a wonderful mix of well known music and song equal to that of a night at the opera, a night on Broadway, or a Celtic night at the proms.
To mark the 5th annual Day of Prayer for Young People and Youth Ministry, instigated by the Church of Ireland Youth Department, and set for the Sunday before Lent by the House of Bishops, a gathering for prayer was held on Sunday 3rd March in St. John’s Church, Longford. Attended by people of all ages from local parishes, as well as others from across the Diocese of Kilmore, Elphin & Ardagh, an encouraging time was had.
A simple Service of the Word provided the structure for the evening, led by Mr. Damian Shorten (Diocesan Youth & Children’s Coordinator for Elphin & Ardagh), with music led by Mrs. Yvonne McHugh on the keyboad, along with a visiting band from Longford Methodist Church, made up of some teenagers singing and playing the violin, organised by the Rev’d. Christiaan Snell and Mrs. Dianne Clendenning (who also sang and played guitar). Bishop Ferran Glenfield preached from Luke 9, vv. 28-36, unpacking what we can learn about prayer from this account of our Lord’s Transfiguration. We reminded that prayer brings us in touch with an unseen world – the world of the Spirit; in prayer we enter the timeless realm of eternity – God is the God of the past, the present, and the future; and prayer is a conversation – speaking to the God who speaks to us today through his Word, and who in the Transfiguration said ‘“This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”’ (Luke 9, v. 35)
Having been ‘energised’ by the Word read and preached, we then set time aside for what we gathered for: prayer! There was opportunity for people to pray for young people and youth ministry in different ways: silent prayer, prayer with others, or by engaging with different prayer stations set up around the church (many of them inspired by CIYD’s recent prayer booklet for the Day of Prayer). Having engaged with prayer individually and personally, the congregation were led in liturgical prayer by some young people from Church Street Youth (CSY), the youth club in Longford Parish. As we concluded, Bishop Ferran encouraged and challenged those present to continue in, or to take the first step into, the adventure that is prayer and following Christ, an adventure which requires courage and fellowship in our world today.
Following the time in the church, the congregation moved down the street to Church Street Hall to share in pizza as well as other refreshments provided by parishioners, and enjoyed a time of connecting and reconnecting with others. Thank you to all those who played any part in making this new event such a success; success seen most clearly in the highlighting of and engagement with prayer which was exhibited throughout the evening.
