‘I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God!
How pleasant and fitting to praise him!”
Psalm 122

It was such a joy to welcome a Congregation back to the churches on the 16th May. It is so true to say that “The Church is a people, not a building,” and in my mind’s eye I could imagine the stones of our ancient church structure, weeping with joy as God’s people worshipped in-person together.

A huge thank you to all those who helped to get the buildings ready for re-opening.

Interestingly there are still a significantly high number of views for the live streams on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube on Sundays at 11.00am along with school assemblies and announcements.

It’s very straightforward to find the Parish online presence – just search for Naas Union in your media platform of choice.

I anticipate that the Health restrictions on numbers in each church, hand washing and other safety measures will continue for the foreseeable future. The maximum numbers are 50 people in St. David’s and St. John’s and up to 30 in Rathmore. (This includes an allowance for household groups who can sit together).

The same numbers apply for Funerals and other Pastoral Services. At present, I’m conducting Baptisms outside of a Sunday to prevent any Congregation overflow. Sunday Club
will continue online until Government Regulations are clarified regarding indoor meetings.

Our sincere condolences to Alan Cole on the death of his father and also to the friends and family of Marianne Stephenson whose Funeral service was held at St. David’s on the 27th
May.

Mr. Keith Armstrong sadly died on the 23rd July. Keith was a very active member of Naas Union and his presence is sadly missed. Please continue to pray for Cherry and all of the family.

“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. They are blessed indeed says the Spirit, for they rest from their labours.”