Evangelisation:
The proclamation of the message of Christ is the fundamental mission of the Church and every parish. The last instruction of Jesus to his disciples before his Ascencion was to "make disciples". How each parish carries out its mission of evangelisation is unique and particular to that community of faith. None of us are fully made disciples. We need to realise that the purpose of church is to reach out to all and to "grow" disciples, both churchgoing and non churchgoing. Our Parish has been given a special help in "propagating the faith" ie "making or growing" disciples. Pope Pius 1X encouraged all who at any day (once a month) having taken confession, communion, visit the Statue of Our Lady of Banada and pray before it for the Propagation of the Catholic Faith and for the Pope’s intentions. He granted the image his Apostolic Blessing with a plenary indulgence attached.
Pastoral Activities:
We break down the pastoral activities into 4/5 areas.
Worship:
In the celebration of Sunday Eucharist and in other sacramental and liturgical rites, individuals gather together to manifest a communal proclamation of faith. In doing so, they carry out the mission of evangelisation by witnessing the Good News of Jesus Christ to one another and to all.
Sunday Eucharist:
Choirs, Servers, Altar Societies/Flowers, Readers, Eucharistic Ministers, Liturgy planners, Ushers, Prayers of the faithful, Sacristans
Word:
The spreading of the Word takes place in many formal and informal ways within the parish: adult, youth, and children’s education and spiritual formation: the rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA): sacramental preparation for the sacraments of initiation and marriage, family formation, renewal efforts; and Sunday homilies. These and other means of passing on the message of Jesus Christ are all aspects of “Word” within the community of faith.
Community:
A parish is a place where everyone belongs Inclusivity and mutuality are hallmarks of community. Without a deep and abiding sense of the unity which binds them together in faith, parishioners cannot begin to discern the ways that God is calling them collectively to experience the Kingdom more fully.
Service:
The mission to which Christ calls the Church clearly includes works of charity and justice. Throughout his public ministry, Jesus demonstrated the degree to which we are to be of service to others in need which working to change the social conditions that create such needs. The Church is called both to serve the needs of others and to eradicate the causes of injustice.
The Parish Pastoral Council:
The involvement of the various members of the Church, using their different gifts for the good of the Body of Christ and its task in the world, ought to take place in a co-ordinated way. There must be a ministry of co-ordination and leadership—there must be people whose service to the kingdom is that of co-ordinating the activities of its various members and exercising leadership in the community. It also means that there must be some people in the local church who have authority to co-ordinate and lead. In other words, there must be an office of co-ordination and leadership—there must be officially appointed leaders. Since these have to lead a community which lives by the Word of God and celebrates the sacraments, they must be suitably equipped and prepared for such leadership. They must be empowered in regard to the preaching of the word and the celebration of the sacraments.
Pastoral Council Meetings
05/03/2026, - Opening prayer Fr John.
Minutes of previous meeting approved by Fintan and seconded by Margaret.
Altar society in Kilmactigue Church very willing to assist in preparing Church for Sunday Mass. They have met with Fr John for guidance.
‘Why Sunday matters ‘ final video to be viewed on the Irish Bishops website.
Brendan thanked Fr John for all the Christmas ceremonies and all those who helped prepare the Churches and those who took part in the ceremonies.
Prayer time.
Clustering of the local parishes was discussed and Fr John read a letter from the Bishop re same. Fr John advised that the priests of our cluster are meeting on Tuesday March 10th, and then a further meeting will be arranged with representatives of the PPC and priests.
Fr John has put together an evaluation report of our work over the past three years. We each got a copy of same to read , together with a questionnaire re leadership in parish life , to be read and discussed at next meeting.
Next meeting on Monday 9th March.
Meeting ended with a prayer.
17/04/2026, : Minutes of our meeting held on 9th March. Present Elaine, Joe, Fintan, Cian,Enda,Fr John and Ger. Apologies received from Margaret, Geraldine, Mairead, Theresa and Brendan. Fr John welcomed everybody and in the absence of Brendan Fr John chaired the meeting.
Minutes of previous meeting were approved by Fintan and seconded by Cian.
A vote of sympathy was offered to Elaine and all the Marren family on the sad passing of Kathleen.
A discussion took place on the Re - valuation of our work so far, and it was agreed it should be put up on our web site and Fr John agreed to put a copy of same with the newsletter. Fr. John was complimented on all the work he put into putting the document together.
It was also agreed that the TY class should be asked to fill a paragraph on our website with their thoughts, under guidance from their Chaplain and Fr John.
Prayer time took place.
Easter ceremonies were then discussed .
Sacrament of Reconciliation .
A discussion took place re penance, general absolution etc. This was a very informative discussion, Fr John advised that general absolution is only permitted on specific occasions.
It was decided to return to this discussion at another meeting when we have a full attendance later in the year.
Parish clustering was then discussed and the question was asked ‘how open are parishes to the concept of clustering’.
Our cluster priests were meeting the following week after this meeting, so above question was deferred.
The meeting concluded with a prayer.
17/05/2026, : Minutes of previous meeting held on Monday night April 20th.
Apologies from Mairead, Theresa. Brendan welcomed all present. Fr John opened meeting with a prayer. Minutes of previous meeting approved by Elaine and seconded by Fintan.
Brendan thanked Fr John for all the Easter ceremonies . We all felt they were well attended. He expressed thanks to all involved in preparing all the churches…
Tubbercurry parish on behalf of our cluster hosted an evening of Reconciliation. This was led by Fr John and was very well attended.
Confirmation taking place in our parish on Friday 8th May. Fr John expressed a wish that a member of the PPC would welcome our Bishop to the parish and all the children bring Confirmed. It was proposed that Brendan our chairperson would welcome them and in the event he was not available Elaine would step in.
The position of a Parish secretary was then discussed and everybody felt the position was long over due. This would assist Fr John greatly in paper work etc.
Prayer time took place.
At the end of May a Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Banada is taking place. This is being organised by a John Lacken, association of Our Lady of Banada. This group was founded to rekindle devotion to Our lady. The feast day of Our Lady of Banada is October 8th. When the PPC resume after the summer break we will discuss how we may mark this day.
The priests in our cluster are meeting next week. Fr John will fill us in at our next meeting.
Our next meeting to commence at 8.30pm.
AOB.
This concluded the meeting.
25/06/2026, Meeting of Tourlestrane & Tubbercurry PPC’s in the Hilary Room
We had a very good, relaxed meeting last night. Apologies from Elaine,Fintan,Mairead and Geraldine Q. We had eight members and they had seven present.
Thank you to Brendan for chairing the meeting and thank you to Fr John for keeping the discussions flowing, also to Joe for having the hall ready for us. They were very thankful for the invitation. A second meeting will follow in autumn.
Enjoy the summer break.
The members of the Parish Pastoral Council:
Brendan Leonard (chairperson), Geraldine Gavaghan (secretary), Fr John Glynn (presider), Cian Deehan, Enda Gavaghan, Elaine Marren, Margaret Meers, Mairead Monaghan, Fintan Mullarkey, Geraldine Quinn, Theresia F Roddy, Joseph Scanlon
Mission statement of Parish Pastoral Council:
Kilmactigue Parish Pastoral Council endeavours to build and support a vibrant parish, inclusive of all ages. We hope to facilitate a structure of shared responsibility for the future, with active participation and which fosters a caring, welcoming and faithful community. It will assist in active listening, prayerful consideration, coordinating, planning and evaluation of parish needs, that centres around strengthening our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Method of Working:
We, the Parish Pastoral Council of Kilmactigue Parish, take responsibility to see that the aim and mission of the parish is being achieved. It will do so by listening to the people of the parish, by considering prayerfully on what they say, by deciding what to focus on in light of the gospel and what the people of the parish are saying, by formulating a plan for the people of the parish to carry out, and by evaluating on what is happening periodically. In doing so, we hope that the proclamation of the message of Christ by the people of God in our area will reach all people in a clearer and more tangible way, that is relevant to their lives and the present age.
Self Evaluation Report on our Pastoral Council
After 3 years in existence, it is appropriate to carry out an evaluation of the work of our parish pastoral council. It is fair to say that the council is still in its infancy and is still learning slowly what is involved in being a pastoral council. The Council was commissioned by Bishop Paul Dempsey in February 2022 in a ceremony in the Cathedral. Our initial sources of information were two books: “Becoming a Pastoral Council” by Patricia Carroll and “ Partnership in Parish” by Fr Enda Lyons. We spent many monthly meetings, especially in the first year, trying to get an understanding of what a parish is, and what a parish does and where a parish pastoral council fits in. We also attended training nights along with other parish pastoral councils. This was time well spent.. Monthly meetings took place about ten times each year. An Agenda meeting between the Presider, Chairperson and Secretary was held in preparation for each monthly meeting. All meetings were well attended.
Items that were discussed at the monthly meetings included
(A) Correspondence from the Diocese, feedback to the Diocese,
(B) Discussion regarding the proposed merger of the Diocese and the Diocese of Elphin and attendance at meetings regarding the merger.
(C) Choosing which parishes we should cluster with was also discussed and the result reported to the Diocese.
(D) The National Synod was reported on and meetings attended in connection with this.
(E) Correspondence regarding retreats for Readers and Eucharistic Ministers was also funnelled through the Pastoral council.
Much discussion took place about encouraging Young People in their faith..Contact was made with the local GAA club in the hope of setting time aside for them. In the end nothing transpired from this. There was also an opportunity for a youth leader to be trained that didn’t get any candidates from our parish.
Various opportunities were offered for young people to do activities together from the Diocese but again they were not taken up. However 4 young people from the parish did take part in the John Paul 11 awards in the Community School.They also attended the “Inspire” night in Tubbercurry. The “Light House”, programme for Confirmation candidates is being introduced this year, where TY
students in St Attracta’s Community School will befriend and mentor the candidates. They are being trained in St Attracta’s.The Pastoral Council are also heartened by the Children’s choir and Adult’s choir in Tourlestrane church, by the number of servers in the parish, and the children and adults in Lough Talt church choir. A support programme for parents of children making their first Communion is being run by two parishioners. A few nights for scripture reflection or Lectio Divina was offered to anyone who wanted to attend in Fr John ‘s house. Numbers were small.
There was a special blessing ceremony for parents of children baptised over the last three years. Bambinelli Sunday was celebrated during Advent. It should be noted that the Pastoral Council encouraged the formation of the parish baptismal team, the church committee in Kilmactigue, formed for the painting of the church, the choir in Kilmactigue, the introduction of emergency sacristans in the event of a visiting priest.
There was feedback regarding liturgies eg, Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Season of Creation ( blessing of animals) . The Pastoral Council was involved in the Masses celebrated by Bishop Paul Dempsey in the parish. It also took a hands-on approach to the Mass with Stephan Giblin as guest speaker, Youth DiocesanDirector.
Prayer During meetings: How and when we pray during the meetings has evolved over the years. We now open with an opening prayer and close with a blessing.Our main prayer time is at the centre of the meeting. It now consists of focus, scripture, reflection ( with music) , prayers of petition, Closing prayer. At the
moment Fr John is the person in charge.
Hospitality: We have the cup of tea as we arrive for the meeting, before we start. .We also have a meal together at Christmas.
A mission statement for the pastoral council.
After many monthly meetings in our first year we agreed on what is the mission statement of our pastoral council.
Kilmactigue Parish Pastoral Council endeavours to build and support a vibrant parish, inclusive of all ages. We hope to facilitate a structure of shared responsibility for the future, with active participation and which fosters a caring, welcoming and faithful community. It will assist in active listening, prayerful consideration, co-ordinating, planning and evaluation of parish needs, that centres around strengthening our relationship with Jesus Christ.
How we operate: We, the Parish Pastoral Council of Kilmactigue Parish, take responsibility to see that the aim and mission of the parish is being achieved. It will do by listening to the people of the parish, by considering prayerfully on what they say, by deciding what to focus on in light of the gospel and what the people of the parish are saying, by formulating a plan for the people of the parish to carry out, and by evaluating on what is happening periodically . In doing so, we hope that the proclamation of the message of Christ by the people of God in our area will reach all people in a clearer and more tangible way, that is relevant to their lives and the present age. ( Draft).
Steps to a Vision Statement for the Parish.
Our first step was to listen to the people of the parish. We circulated a letter to all households asking them what they would like to see happening over the next five years. We received some replies back. We arranged meetings in the three church areas where people could discuss what they though the parish needed to do..
Second step. We considered prayerfully at our meetings what we had heard.
Third step: We decided on what to focus on, in the light of the gospel and what the people had said. Our focus was to be on three items: To be a community united around the Lord. ,attractive to younger people who wish to become involved, and able through modern means of communication, as well as old fashioned talking, to reach out to bring the good news to all willing to listen.
Fourth Step: This is where we are in difficulty! We are to formulate a plan to bring about these goals with objectives along the way.
Fifth step: To evaluate what we have done (in written form)
Parish Vision Statement.
Kilmactigue/Tourlestrane Parish sees its overall purpose as evangelisation, that is, to make the invisible Christ more visible, and to help bring about the kingdom of God.. We see ourselves as a prayerful community with Christ at its centre, which welcomes, appreciates and reaches out to all people. We hope to be a parish marked by the joy, energy, strength, resilience and compassion which comes from our relationship with Christ.We hope to be united around the Lord, attractive to younger people who wish to become involved, and able through modern means of communication, as well as old-fashioned talking, to reach out to bring the Good News to all willing to listen.The parish priest, and parish pastoral council according to their appropriate roles share responsibility for visioning, planning, empowering, and evaluating.