St Nicholas Collegiate Church Galway

A letter from the Rector, Archdeacon Gary Hastings with details on the upcoming Christmas Fayre, Advent Procession and the pastoral letter from the Bishops of the Church of Ireland.

Christmas Fayre

This year, as an experiment, we’re holding the Fayre in the church itself on Saturday 3rd December from 10am to 2pm. We’ll have a lot more space, and we’re going to have some entertainment — choirs and other musicians who use the church during the year, as well as our own choir. It should create a very nice atmosphere. We’re trying to inject a bit of new life into the Fayre, changing the style of it, with more crafts and products than previously. Some stalls,— the Wheel of Fortune, for example —won’t be suitable,  but we feel that, as the proverb says: ‘más maith leat do bhó a dhíol, bí i lár an mhargaidh‘ — If you want to sell your cow, be in the middle of the market! Which is exactly where our church is situated, and we should take that advantage.

We’d be very glad of your assistance, in any form, and especially if you could find the time to sell some raffle tickets for us. You will be receiving some tickets in the post. The Christmas Fayre is one half of our annual fund raising, and the raffle is half the income of the Fayre, so please help as best you can.

If you’d like to get involved on the day, either by donations of materials for sale or through turning up to give a hand, you’d be very welcome.

Advent Procession

The Advent Procession will take place on Sunday 27th November at 5pm. This is a wonderful religious and musical occasion, and is really worth attending. There is a very special atmosphere as the choir process around the church in candlelight. We’d be very pleased to see you, not only at this but at the other special Evensongs we have throughout the year, perhaps 5 or 6 in all, usually on a Saturday or Sunday evening for special festivals. Please consider coming along.

Bishops’ Pastoral Letter

The Bishops of the Church of Ireland have issued a pastoral letter regarding the situation arising recently concerning Civil Partnerships.

They begin by affirming the Church’s teaching on marriage, and emphasise that Civil Partnerships are not recognised by Church or State as marriage. To address the present ‘painful experience of disunity’ in the Church, they intend to organise a major conference in Spring 2012 to discuss the content of this Pastoral Letter, to assist the church in becoming more fully informed, and to explore wider issues related to human sexuality.

The full text of the Pastoral Letter can be found at http://ireland.anglican.org/information/217, and should be read alongside the previous pastoral letter from 2003, available  at  http://ireland.anglican.org/information/85.