The change in weather did not deter a large congregation from gathering in St Peter's Church for a wonderful celebratory Eucharist on Sunday 18th June.
It was in thanksgiving for 200 years of access to the scriptures in Ireland. The rector was assisted in the service by Parish Readers Ms Gloria Armitage and Ms Nicola Rowan, the lessons read by Mr Dick Allen and the organist was Mrs Rosemary Day. Churchwardens Mr Raymond Little and Mr David Clegg were on duty welcoming people, while Ms Sylvia and Ms Avril Jestin prepared the church and altar and provided beautiful lilies for the occasion.
After the service seven tables and chairs were quickly put in place at the top of the church, seven supervisors positioned themselves and handwriting our allotted portions of the Bible began.
There were five tables for adults, a special one for children and another for those whose first language is not English. Many thanks to supervisors Mrs R. Day, Ms G. Armitage, Ms S. Dennehy, Mrs S. Foyle, Ms K. Foyle, Mr D. Kerr, Mrs J. Rowan and Mr J. Culbert for doing an excellent job.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the church various human and animal characters emerged as a result of having their faces painted by Ms Clare Thompson and the GFS leaders. Great fun was had by all.
Outside the church a strawberry sign enticed people into the green and white marquee where Mrs Florence Rowan was dispensing delicious strawberries and velvet-smooth cream (kindly provided by Mr David Meredith), while in the large marquee we were spoilt for choice. There were finger savouries, sandwiches and rolls. There was African food which was so good it disappeared before some of us even knew it was there! There were tempting tray-bakes to go with tea or coffee and lots of orange and flavoured drinks. There was even a Father's Day cake - a chocolate melt-in-your-mouth creation by Mrs Sarah Foyle.
Thank you to everyone who put on such a mouth-watering spread. You did us proud!
At 1pm children dressed as characters from the Bible gathered in the big marquee. Mrs Kathleen O'Brien (Councillor) and Mrs Ann Smith talked to the children, saying how much they enjoyed hearing about each of them.
They then awarded the following prizes: 1 st - Luke Smullen dressed as David, 2 nd - Dylan Kerr dressed as Noah with animals, 3 rd - Joy Olubowale dressed as Ruth, and special prizes to Olwen Claxton as Moses' sister and to Elva Kerr as Moses' mummy.
There were also prizes for adults. The Bible Quiz yielded nine correct (out of a possible 100) answers. Very well done you nine.
From these were drawn:
1 st - Mrs Jayne Byrne, Portlaoise
2 nd - Mrs Bee Syms, Dublin
3 rd - Ms Sharon Rowan, Ballyfin
Congratulations to Joy for setting such an imaginative and accessible quiz. It made E200 profit which, with all other proceeds, will go towards the Bible Societies' Indian project.
Flowers with Biblical quotation
Prizes were awarded to Mrs Florence Rowan for a bouquet of roses with the quotation ‘I am a rose of Sharon. A lily of the valleys' Solomon 2:1; and to Sylvia and Avril Jestin for their lilies - ‘Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.' Matthew 6: 28-29
A final prize was given in view of the day that was in it - Father's Day. Ger Smullen was picked out by Mrs Kathleen O'Brien and Mrs Ann Smith as ‘ the most relaxed father!' His response was, ‘I won't be that in a month's time'. (His wife, Fiona, was expecting a baby in July)
This was a day when everyone - old, young and all in between, contributers and workers - came together in a spirit of joy, recognising the privilege given them by being invited to share firsthand in Handwriting the Bible.