CELEBRATIONS & RENOVATIONS:
As you are now aware our church, St Mochta’s, will celebrate 130 years of faith and worship in this year of 2020 . To preserve the church building we need to carry out Urgent restoration measures involving repairs to the structure of the building and various works around its environs. The heating system needs to be improved including a new boiler. The stained glass windows need to be secured for their preservation and more work will have to be done to secure the building. We hope to embark on major fundraising projects as our present income is contributed by a small number of parishioners who are registered and have committed to donate through standing orders and the parish envelope collection. This does not cover the annual running costs of the parish. The shortfall between income and expenditure is presently made up through our own fundraising for example Family Fun Day, Golf Classic, Panto, Winter Songs Concert, etc. The Finance Committee and Pastoral Council are currently examining ways to improve the finances including An Appeal encouraging more parishioners to contribute through standing orders and the envelope collection. During the year we will keep you informed of our plans and we also invite you to suggest ideas in support of the Parish and its funding. Our celebrations have to go ‘on hold’ because of the restrictions in place attempting to stop the spreading of the Covid 19 killer virus. We will keep you updated on the plans for the fundraising and celebrations.
WEBCAM
When we had to close the church our parishioners had to look elsewhere for the celebration of Mass (including myself). I decided, with the approval of the chairpersons of the Parish Council and the Finance Committees, to install our own WebCam which I proposed to pay for from voluntary sponsorship. I am very heartened by the generosity of the people who have donated to date. If you are in a position to contribute you can send your donation to the Presbytery, cheques payable to ‘St. Mochta’s Church’ marking ‘webcam’ on the envelope, or you can donate via our Donate Button at this link:
We would be very grateful of any support you can give and you are as always in our prayer and thoughts during this challenging time.
Every good wish and blessing,
Fr Paul.