The results of the Central Communications Board’s Communications Competition were announced on the last day of this year’s General Synod in Armagh. We are delighted that the ‘Scribe on Tour’ won a highly commended award in the Diocesan Magazine category. The aim of this competition is to showcase good examples of how printed communication is being used to build Christian community and communicate Christian faith. David Jones was at Synod to collect the award and we would like to recognise the work of Ruth Garvey-Williams and Tara McCormack in producing a fantastic publication that gave us a real flavour of the vitality of church life across the diocese.

David Jones receiving a ‘highly commended’ award in the Church of Ireland Communications competition from Bishop Pat Storey.

18th May, 8pm: Solid Joys, Lasting treasure. A Tribute to Canon Liz McElhinney in Roscommon.

A very special celebratory evening is being organised in recognition of the life and ministry of Canon Liz McElhinney. Very many of our lives were touched by Liz during her life and so the evening is for the whole Diocese and friends.

The evening has been planned for Friday May 18^that 8 pm. It will be held in the Kilbride Community Centre, Fourmile House, Roscommon (3 miles from Roscommon on the Boyle Road).

The event will feature readings from a selection of Liz’s inspirational poems by the internationally acclaimed actor Ian McElhinney. In addition there will be musical contributions from the All-Ireland award winning Mercy Convent School Choir, Roscommon, the local cross-community CórComáin, soloist Nicola Brown and traditional music group led by Revd. Sean Hanily, a Roscommon man now serving in Dublin. Our former Bishop, Ken Clarke, and a close friend of the McElhinneys, will compere the evening. Accompanist for event will be Carl McCambley, Musical Director of Shankill Parish, Lurgan.

Liz was widely known and greatly loved across the Diocese having grown up in it and ministered in three different parishes in the Diocese. Many of the older members of our Diocese remember Liz’s father, Canon Maguire who also was Rector of Roscommon and of Edgeworthstown. Liz’s first parish was Calry Parish in Sligo and while Rector there she was also Chaplain and RE teacher in Sligo Grammar School. Following retirement Liz spent three years ministering fortnightly in the Kildrumferton Group in Cavan before returning to Roscommon as Priest -in-charge.

It was while Liz was in Roscommon that she was diagnosed in May 2015 with MND (Motor Neurone Disease). Following her return to Lurgan she chose to focus her creative abilities on writing reflective and inspirational poems over a period of 15 months. These poems are a testimony to Liz’s ever deepening faith and attest to her love of God, of people and of nature. They form a core part of the concert. Twenty of them have been gathered together as a printed collection entitled Solid Joys Lasting Treasure complemented by beautiful illustrations by Liz’s artist son, David.   The booklet will be included in the admission charge of €10 for those attending the evening.

The proceeds from the evening will support the work of the Irish Motor Neurone Association in the Republic. At a similar, memorable, evening held in Lurgan in the late autumn £17,000 was raised for the MND Association of Northern Ireland. Extra copies of the booklet anda CD of the collection of the poems, read by Ian McElhinney, will also be on sale on the evening at a reduced rate.

In his preface to the collection, another of Liz’s sons, Revd Stephen McElhinney said: “My mother’s special ability was to notice; she had a unique ability to connect with people but also to notice the world in which she lived, which left her invigorated physically, mentally and spiritually”. The collection title is taken from the well-known 18^th century hymn John Newton, “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken”.

This special legacy evening of a truly remarkable woman is being organised largely by members of the Roscommon Group, incorporating Lanesborough and Ballinloughand under the guidance of Liz’s husband Cyril McElhinney.

This celebratory evening is definitely one not to be missed!

COMMUNITY TRACTOR SERVICE

Sunday 22nd April 2018

CARRIGALLEN MART 3pm

Special Music

Children invited to bring a toy tractor for the Children’s Corner ‘Farmers of the Future’ (adult must supervise)

BRING A TRACTOR, AS WE GIVE THANKS FOR OUR FARMERS AND PRAY FOR GOD’S BLESSING ON THEIR WORK IN THE YEAR AHEAD

After the service there will be a Tractor Run

EVERYONE WELCOME

Tea/coffee and light refreshments served

Voluntary collection for East Africa Famine Appeal.

At the end of each farming year we join together at the church in great celebration and give thanks to God for the year that has been, the crops we have yielded, the livestock we have raised and the food we have made. This year, as well as looking back and thanking God for the harvest that has been, we made the conscious decision that we would look ahead and thank God for the work that He does on our lands each and every day to create the harvest that will be. We wanted to capture the imagination of the people and bring a reminder to keep God in the centre of their work through the year ahead – this is how Plough Sunday came into being.

The idea began as a Sunday service of thanksgiving for the land and the work of God plus a blessing of the farming machinery after the service. From there the vision was caught, the excitement built, and the idea grew and flourished. The people of Saint Paul’s, Ballymachugh, joined forces with St Mary’s, Carrick Church and the wider farming and working community to create a spectacular day.

The morning of the 18th February, 2018 marked our Plough Sunday service. It may have been wet but the spirits were high and the scene was beautifully set. The car park was filling with tractors belonging to the adults, the walkway was filling with tractors belonging to the children, and a single vintage horse Plough with an old oil lantern stood in front of Saint Paul’s, Ballymachugh, lighting the way for the farming year ahead. The very plough worked the neighbouring fields to the church 40 years ago.

Post service tractors big and small gathered together for their tractor runs. It was hard to tell which faces (adults or children’s) showed the most joy over getting to take a ride on their tractors. The children went first with great speed, enthusiasm and screams of joy, making history as they rode for Ballymachugh’s first official junior tractor run. The big tractors went with just as much enthusiasm and a remarkable rumble of engines as they took off on their tour around Lough Sheelin.

The day as a whole had a great buzz about it. Smiling faces, heartfelt conversations, delicious food, beautiful machines, generous giving and a wonderful sense of community are only some of the things that this event gave. We are grateful to all who gave their time to the planning and decorating; to those who donated food or prizes; and to those who participated in the day. Mostly we are grateful to God who makes all things possible, and whom works in our lives every day so that we may reap the harvest.

We look forward to celebrating God’s blessings on our land at Plough Sunday next year. We hope that each year we can gather together with our wider community and share a day of fun and fellowship. We invite all who are interested to mark the date in their diaries and join us at Plough Sunday on the 17th February, 2019, at Saint Paul’s Ballymachugh.