Dear Friends, As this month’s magazine goes to print, we are delighted to announce the appointment of Reverend Dr. Ryan Hawk as Curate Assistant here in St. Finnian’s. Ryan will take up his appointment in mid-June following his ordination to the Priesthood on Sunday 15th June at 3.30pm in Down Cathedral. We hope as many […]

Dear Friends, As the magazine is being prepared this month we are enjoying a beautiful week of spring weather. The sun has been shining, the clocks have gone forward and the gardeners are out in force, cutting the grass and getting everything into a beautiful array of colour and vitality. As these things are happening, […]

Dear Friends, Have you ever found yourself switching over the channel on the TV or the radio because what you are seeing or hearing is just too unpleasant to deal with? Sometimes I find myself doing that with certain news stories where the suffering or the detail is overwhelming and I don’t feel in a […]

Dear Friends, As Spring enters our consciousness with the brighter evenings and people descending on garden centres to get plants and seeds, are there lessons we can learn that would be of relevance to our church situation? In recent months many are aware of the challenges we face in attracting new people, with a particular […]

Dear Friends,I recently had a service on the car and as part of that process I was sent a video from the garage. It was called a vehicle health check and the mechanic discussed the overall state of the car. He pointed out a fewsignificant things. The thread on one of the front tyres was […]

Dear Friends, It’s hard to believe that we stand at the cusp of another new year. As a new year dawns we are conscious of the benefits of looking back with thanksgiving, taking stock of where we are and looking to the future withanticipation. As this magazine goes to print, we are preparing to say […]

Dear Friends, It’s hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner. We shouldn’t be all that surprised really, since the Christmas movies have been beaming in on one of our channels since late August, I think. The shops have had alltheir Christmas goods on display since Halloween and charities and churches have sent […]

Dear Friends, November is an important month for remembering in the life of our church. We gather to remember with thanksgiving those who have died in the past year and had a connection with the parish on 3rd November in the evening time. On 10th November at our morning service at 11am we remember those […]

Dear Friends, As we move into the month of October, our thoughts start to turn to Harvest Thanksgiving. It’s a month where we notice the evenings drawing in earlier.It feels darker as we are getting up in the mornings and the clocks go back. Over the past few years we have partnered with our friends […]

Dear Friends, September is a month in the church calendar when we see lots of organisations and activities get up and running again after a summer break. We have been greatly encouraged this summer through reflecting together on some of the GROW seminars hosted by the Diocese earlier this year as we have looked together […]