On Sunday we reflected on Psalm 13, a roller coaster of a psalm filled with emotional complexity. It felt a bit odd to do so, as the first Sunday in July tends to be full of chats about holidays and beaches.
However, often such chats can hide deeper worries and concerns in our own lives, shadows of darkness sometimes lurking even on sunnier days. The psalms remind us that we are not alone. Even the mighty King David had dark days.
The gift in the Psalms, and perhaps the very reason for their longevity, is their honesty. Like David, we are invited to bring our emotions to God. God does not need us to bring our Sunday best to him, but the good, the bad and the ugly. As we bring them to God, we take up an invitation to heal.
Blessings
Rev Rob
Services this Sunday
Here is the list of Service for Sunday 9th July:
8:30am: Holy Communion.
11:00am: Morning Prayer.
Note that the 9:45am and 11am services merge over the summer. We do encourage families to come along at 11am. There will be activities / colour sheets etc. to keep they engaged in the pews.
Notes for this Week
Tuesday Midweek Service at 11:30
Let’s see how we do with our midweek service over the summer. It may well be that holidays start to reduce our numbers. We’ll keep going until we decide otherwise.
Wednesday Prayer Service
Note that the Wednesday prayer meeting on zoom takes a summer break. Back in September.
Holiday Reading for Klips
What are you reading over the summer?
Every edition of Klips has a book review section. We thought it might be interesting next edition to invite people to give a short summary of a book they read over the summer that they found interesting or helpful. Short reviews are invited – no more than 150 words. We would need to get them into the parish office by the 31st August.
Gathering Grounds Cafe
We are delighted to be able to keep going in the Gather Grounds Café until the 17th July. We will be opening at the slightly later time of 9am. Lunch is available Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
Update on the Youth Worker Position
I had mentioned previously that we had a youth worker lined up to start over the summer. Unfortunately, he let me know last week that he has decided not to take the role. Back to the drawing board, but we are still convinced the right person is out there for us.
Scam Warning!
I am aware that some parishioners continue to be spammed by someone pretending to the rector of Kilternan. This is a highly sophisticated scam and has made for an incredibly painful week.
I might ask you to do a few things.
- You will only receive communication from the parish from official email accounts, office@kilternanparish.ie or rector@kilternanparish.ie or from the rectors mobile 087 149 6605. Be careful of email addresses seeking to closely mimic these.
- If you receive any suspicious communication do not answer it. Check with me directly using official communication if unsure.
- Consider reporting and blocking the scammer.
On WhatsApp: When you report someone, WhatsApp will keep track of that user should they get reported numerous times after that. By reporting them, you contribute to a case against them that can ultimately result a user being banned, temporarily or, in extreme cases, permanently – https://faq.whatsapp.com/iphone/security-and-privacy/how-to-block-and-unblock-contacts/?lang=en
On Gmail. Please use the block sender function. You can report the person by sending the address of the fraudulent email here – https://support.google.com/mail/contact/abuse?hl=en
Sadly, this has become too common an experience for clergy and other persons of public confidence. For more general information on avoiding scams, have a look on the Church of Ireland website: https://www.ireland.anglican.org/about/information/website-hosting-email-information-software/stay-safe-online