Following the departure of Fr. Michael last Sunday, Saint Bartholomew’s Church is now officially under the care of the Rural Dean, Canon Neil McEndoo, Rector of Holy Trinity Rathmines.
Please pardon our appearance as necessary restoration work to the windows at the West end of the Church has now commenced, and scaffolding is in place both inside and outside the building. It must be noted that for the duration of these works, the pews at the back of the Church will remain closed off for safety reasons.
We welcomed our former Curate, Fr. Albert Ogle as Celebrant and Preacher at the Solemn Eucharist. In his sermon he shared his thoughts on how we, as a Nation “missed out” on several opportunities recently to show the World that we were an all-inclusive society. In the same context he likened the situation to that in Saint Bartholomew’s as we experienced our first Sunday of the inter-regnum, and as we face a period of uncertainty, it is also a good time for Parishoners and Vestry to become stronger, and face the future with an open mind.
The nomination process to find a new Vicar will begin shortly following an Audit of the Glebe, after which the Parochial Nominators meet the Archbishop, and the Vacancy is advertised. The Nominators have then a period of three months to interview and meet prospective applicants, at the end of this period, they meet with the Archbishop again, and should they fail to come to agreement, the appointment process passes to the Archbishop and four Clerical Nominators. Once an appointment is made, the successful candidate may be required to give notice to his/her current Parish and Diocese. The whole process from start to finish is a lengthy one, and requires a good deal of thought and discussion, in the meantime, the Parish will continue “business as usual”, with the exception of the 9:00am Sunday Eucharist service which will be suspended from the end of October until an appointment is made.
At the last Vestry meeting, it was decided to keep everyone informed of Parish events on a weekly basis, and this information will be included on the weekly service sheets until further notice, we will also update the Parish website regularly with news as it comes to hand. Full details of Choral services up to end of December can be found under “music lists” on this website.