Evening of Prayer for Christian Unity in Nenagh

Gathering to pray for Christian Unity

Nenagh Catholics hosted Christians from the Church of Ireland and other traditions at an evening of prayer for Christian unity in St Mary’s of the Rosary on Sunday 23rd January. The prayers were provided by Christians in Jerusalem, who chose the challenging theme ‘All things in common’. The organ was played by Roisín Ryan, and Antoinette Cleary led the singing.

Gathering. Fr Pat Malone PP welcomed the congregation, who joined in singing the Pilgrim Song, ‘Brother, sister, let me serve you’, as readers and representatives came forward to place candles, a Bible and a plain wooden cross on an altar table. Fr Pat then led prayers of intercession for Jerusalem and the world, during which incense was offered symbolising prayer rising to God.

Liturgy of the Word. We listened attentively to God’s word. Rae Croft read from Isaiah. We sang Psalm 96 in a Scottish metrical version to the tune of ‘Amazing Grace’. Mary O’Donnell read from Acts. Audrey Gordon read from Matthew’s Gospel. In a short address, Joc Sanders asked what our response would be to the challenge from Jerusalem: would we leave separately with just warm feelings, or would we leave together determined to act to bring closer a unity of love and purpose?

Response. John Cullen led prayers of penitence and declared the Peace, which all shared with handshakes. After singing ‘Christ be with me’, we joined in saying the Apostles’ Creed. Fr Pat introduced the prayer for Christian Unity, during which representatives from the different traditions came forward two by two to light a candle and offer petitions, to which we responded with the words, ‘May everything become new and make visible our unity’. Then we joined together in the Lord’s Prayer.

Sending out. Sr Patricia Greene led a closing prayer and Fr Pat gave a final blessing. Jane Coman read from Revelation, and before leaving we sang a closing hymn, ‘A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you’.

Afterwards many of us shared light refreshments kindly laid on by ladies of the Catholic parish in the Pastoral Centre. It was generally agreed that the evening of prayer had been moving and well worth while, both a challenge to our separation and a lovely opportunity to come together – definitely something to be repeated.

Briefing participants beforehand

Enjoying refreshments in the Pastoral Centre

Creation Flourishing on St Francis' Day

This report appeared in the Nenagh Guardian for 16 October 2010

Sharing refreshments after Creation Flourishing (photo Patrick Rowley-Brooke)

Creation Flourishing – a time for celebration and care
Monday 4th October was the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, who had a very special love for all God’s creation. So what better day could there be for a large congregation of nearly100 people from different churches and Christian groups in and around Nenagh to come together at 7.30 pm in St Mary’s Church of Ireland to celebrate the flourishing of God’s creation and to reflect on our duty to care for it.

The liturgy was developed by a team from Nenagh Churches Together, Eilish Cummins served as Master of Ceremonies, and the organ was played by Sylvia Crawford.

Gathering & Welcome
The liturgy began with everyone singing that great hymn How Great Thou Art, led by a joint choir from the CofI and Catholic parishes, as local church leaders Rev Marie Rowley Brooke (Church of Ireland), Fr Anthony McMahon (Catholic), Rev Brian Griffin (Methodist) and Philip O’Regan (Living Water, non-denominational prayer group) processed to their places in the front. Rev Marie Rowley-Brooke gave an address of welcome, commending the Nenagh Churches Together initiative.

Wonder
God’s creation is so amazing in the diversity of life it supports, in its complex and intricate inter-relationships, in its beauty. Our first response to it could only be wonder.

Children from the four Nenagh primary schools – the Gaelscoil, CBS, St Mary’s Convent and St Mary’s Church of Ireland – began by reading The Story of Creation, adapted from Genesis. Cantor Patrick Rowley-Brooke sang an extract from Psalm 104 with choral response, Bless the Lord O my soul. Sr Christine Quigley read a Prayer of Wonder. Suma and Priya from India then danced a graceful Dance of Wonder in Keralan costume to a traditional Malayalam song of praise – one of the high points of the evening.

Thanksgiving
As we contemplated the wonder of God’s creation, we realised how perfectly made it is to sustain us, and not just us but the whole web of life of which we are part. Our response could only be to give thanks for all that God has given us.

Philip O’Regan led intercessory prayers, written by Catherine Brennan SSL for Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. Guitarists Ken Mulcahy and Stephen Normayle then led the congregation in singing a thanksgiving hymn, Thank you Lord for food to eat.

Repentance
As we wondered at and gave thanks for creation, we recalled the damage we human beings do it by thoughtless and greedy actions. We were moved to repent and seek forgiveness.

Joc Sanders called the congregation to repentance and led them in a prayer of confession. After a period of reflection without words on human responsibility, all joined in a prayer for God’s grace to grant us the courage to change our ways.

Covenant of Care
Scripture assures us that God has graciously made a covenant to preserve and protect his creation, to which we responded with our own covenant to care for God’s creation.

John Armitage read a passage from Genesis, The rainbow is the symbol of God’s covenant with creation. Denis Holmes read St Francis’ lovely prayer, Make me an instrument of your peace. Rae Croft, Joseph Kelly and Nadzeya Piatrouskaya lit candles to symbolise our Covenant of Care and all joined in declaring it. Then the joint choir sang Timothy Dudley-Smith’s hymn, The God who set the stars in space.

Going out as God’s people
As the congregation prepared to go out together, united as God’s people, filled with wonder and thankfulness for God’s grace shown in creation, penitent for the human damage done to it, and determined to join in God’s covenant to care for it, all joined in saying The Lord’s Prayer together. The church leaders then led the people in saying a Community Blessing, and the service finished with all singing that stirring hymn, All creatures of our God and King.

Most then shared in delicious refreshments kindly provided by a team from the Church of Ireland parish, amidst a happy chatter of conversation between old friends and new. A common theme was how lovely and meaningful the evening liturgy had been.

Why not join us next Monday, 4th October?

Nenagh Churches Together
Invite you to an ecumenical celebration

Creation Flourishing

- a time for celebration and care

St Mary’s Church of Ireland, Church Rd., Nenagh
Monday, 4th October 2010, at 7.30 PM

Christians learning together

Young flag-carriers at Celebrating Our Nations
(photo Padraig O Flannabhra)

Nenagh Churches Together
Nenagh Churches Together is the name chosen by a group of lay Christians from different denominations in and around Nenagh, who come together to work on common projects. Last year we organised two events involving Roman Catholic, Methodist, Baptist and Church of Ireland people: a Day of Prayer for Climate Change in October; and a Prayer Vigil for Copenhagen in December, using and adapting materials prepared by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI). Both were lovely, well-attended, prayerful events, and gave a powerful witness to the faith we all share. I also enjoyed meeting and getting to know the organisers from the other churches - it was a real learning experience for all of us, working together, developing trust, discovering each others gifts – and it was fun!

This year lay members of the Nenagh Roman Catholic Pastoral Council invited Nenagh Churches Together to help organise an ecumenical service to celebrate the diversity of our Nenagh community and to welcome newcomers from so many different countries and church traditions to the town. Once again we shared the pleasure of working with and learning from each other, and making new friends in an even larger and more diverse group.

A Celebration of Our Nations
The service, entitled ‘A Celebration of Our Nations’, was held in St Mary’s of the Rosary Catholic church on 29th April. It was attended by close to 350 people, both native Irish and many foreign nationals, and all agreed it was a great success – a truly worthy celebration of God-given diversity.

Flags of many nations at Celebrating Our Nations
(photo Padraig O Flannabhra)

We began with a colourful procession of 22 foreign flags, most carried by natives of the country concerned, followed by our own Irish flag, and lastly the UN flag, carried by Nenagh Town Mayor Hughie McGrath, representing the Civic sphere. Nenagh Catholic priest Fr Tom Whelan then welcomed everyone to his church, including Nenagh Rector Rev Marie Rowley-Brooke – Methodist, Baptist and Romanian Orthodox ministers were unable to attend, but sent their apologies.

There followed five themed sections, each with a scripture reading, a prayer and music: congregational hymns, solos - even a colourful liturgical dance! The themes were:

All Christian Churches: We celebrated the glorious diversity of our Christian churches and traditions – yet diverse as we are, we are united as followers of Jesus Christ.
The Nations of the World: We celebrated our many homelands, and our diverse races, languages and cultures – yet for all our diversity, we are all united in our common humanity.
God’s Creation: We gave thanks for the diverse universe God has made, and for the miracle of our living world, which provides so bountifully for all our needs – yet underlying this diversity, science reveals a deep unity in creation.
Our Community: We reflected on how our lives in our communities of Nenagh and North Tipperary are so enriched by those amongst whom we live and work, whether native Irish or from other countries.
Those in Need: We prayed for all those in need, both locally and around the world, and we prayed that we might ourselves become agents of God’s transforming love, working to relieve the suffering of others.

Among the marvellous variety of readers and musicians involved were: students from the town’s primary and secondary schools; people from England, Russia, India, Poland, South Africa, Romania and Ireland; members of the Church of Ireland, Roman Catholic, Methodist and Romanian Orthodox churches, and the Living Water non-denominational prayer group; a harpist, a soloist with guitar accompaniment, a creative dance troupe, and the joint choirs of the Catholic and Church of Ireland parishes.

At the end, as we prepared to go out together as God’s people, we joined in the Lord’s Prayer, each in our own language - a powerful symbol of shared faith, reflecting the experience of the first Pentecost in Jerusalem. The clergy present then pronounced blessings and led the people in saying a Community Blessing together:

Blessed are we when we sing God’s praises
and walk together faithfully on God’s earth.
Blessed are we when we proclaim God’s justice
and enjoy together the fruits of creation.
Blessed are we when we are guided by God’s wisdom
and live in harmony with God’s world.

Finally we were all invited to join in refreshments prepared by the ladies of the Catholic parish. The hall was packed, we met old friends and new, the craic was mighty, and the refreshments were delicious – I can confirm there is no truth in the old adage that protestant cakes taste better!

The Future of Churches Together
Those of us involved in Nenagh Churches Together certainly hope to continue working together on future projects. It would be wonderful if our work on ecumenical events were to lead on to joint outreach in our community, bringing the love of Christ to the poor, the sick, and the disadvantaged.

There are many ways in which people are already involved ecumenically. Clergy organise ecumenical services during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. There are ecumenical Bible Study groups in many places. And there is the marvellous Oak House inter-church fellowship which has been meeting for many years in East Galway. With no desire to diminish these, but to complement them, I suggest you might consider forming a local ‘Churches Together’ group in your own town.

The ‘Churches Together’ model of local, lay-led, practical ecumenical action is working well for us, and would be a good model for others too, I think:

• It unlocks the energies and gifts of a host of committed lay Christians, largely because it is lay led with clergy support.
• It strengthens Christian mission to the wider community by the joint witness of different denominations. We are stronger together – as Paul puts it, the body of Christ needs all its parts.
• It encourages people from different denominations to learn from each other as they work together. They grow as disciples – they grow together in love - and they enjoy doing so.
• Most denominations are members of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), which provides a host of useful approved materials, and gives legitimacy to the name.
• All you need to make a start are one or two enthusiastic lay people, with tacit clergy support, who will work to organise an ecumenical event with similarly enthusiastic lay people in one or two other churches, while reaching out to others – see http://www.ctbi.org.uk/ for ideas.
  

A Celebration of our Nations

At the initiative of the Nenagh Catholic parish, Nenagh Churches Together are organising a service to celebrate the cultural diversity of our Nenagh community and its varied churches. It will include a procession of the flags of many nations, hymns, music and dance, and readings and prayers - all offered to the glory of God by people drawn from many nations and faith traditions.

The service will take place at 7.30 pm on Thursday 29th April in St Mary's of the Rosary, Church Rd, Nenagh Co Tipperary. It will be followed by refreshments in the Pastoral Centre.

All will be very welcome, from whatever nation, including Ireland!

If you are in the vicinity why not come and join us?

Nenagh bells rang out – and the people came

The Nenagh Churches Together team

l-r: James Armitage, John Armitage, Joc Sanders, Sr Patricia Greene,

Rev Marie Rowley-Brooke, Rev AnnaGretta Hagen (visiting from Norway)

photo by Padraig O Flannabhra

The bells rang out on Sunday 6th December to announce the Nenagh Churches Together prayer vigil for the Copenhagen climate talks, held in St Mary’s Church of Ireland from 4.30 to 6.30 pm. And the people came, from many different church traditions including Catholic, Methodist, Church of Ireland, and Lutheran. Some came for just a few minutes, others for the entire two hours, but between 20 and 30 were present at any one time, substantially more than attended the Day of Prayer for climate change in Teach an Leinn in October, according to the organisers.

The focus of the vigil was a table covered with a green cloth symbolising creation, on which were placed symbols of the faith shared by all Christians, a cross, a bible and a candle, together with a globe symbolising the beautiful God-given planet earth, now threatened by global warming.

In a calm, contemplative atmosphere, those present listened to readings and music, reflected in silence, and prayed for the success of the Copenhagen talks. They prayed too for the world leaders gathered there including our own – it is not nations that make decisions, but individual human beings, who must feel the heavy burden of their responsibility. And they also prayed for an end to the human greed which is damaging our God-given planet. Young people played a big part, among them: Thomas and Ellen Langley from Templederry who read prayers; and Leaving Cert student Maggie Starr who read her poem ‘It’s a sprint to the line’.

It is pleasing to note local TD Máire Hoctor was there - she will no doubt convey the message of the vigil to An Taoiseach Brian Cowan and Minister of the Environment John Gormley, who lead the Irish delegation at Copenhagen.

Afterwards people shared refreshments of tea, coffee and delicious home-made cakes, and chatted. Among comments overheard were these:

• “Let’s hope that the governments can wake up and see what the average everyday people are seeing over the world”;
• “The poor earth needs all the prayers we can manage”;
• “It was moving and meaningful, and especially so because it was a shared witness with Christian traditions working together”.

The Nenagh Churches Together team look forward to working together on many such shared events in future.

It's a Sprint to the line, Or a race against time.
By Maggie Starr

In the dying sunlight of my evening,
My thoughts smell of burning fear.
I've over-dosed on my anger,
And the antidote has yet to be conceived.

We've blinded our views of previous failings,
Unwilling to comprehend their probable conclusion.
We've smoked this animal from his caving,
Our deafness anaesthetizes our guilt.

Our knowledge-seeking conscience have tasted the antidote,
Some have touched the formula in moral experimentations.
Our selfish race have evaporated the referee,
Our league must now trust in our own resourcefulness.

A great poet once said;
*"I had a dream, which was not all a dream,
The bright Sun was extinguish'd, and the stars
Did wander."

This problem is the religion of our age,
Self-righteous, intolerant based on dissent.
But, the best time to do something worthwhile,
Is between yesterday and tomorrow.

It's a sprint to the line,
Or a race against time.

*Lord Byron