Prayer around the cross in Glencullen. The Parish of Sandyford, Kilternan and Glencullen is a diverse community encompassing the almost polar opposites of the Sandyford Industrial Estate and a number of sheep farms in the mountains. “We have a population of over 25,000 people,” says parish moderator Fr Andrew O’Sullivan, “and it is an extraordinary vibrant mix.”
“The parish is growing and we have new people coming all the time so it’s very encouraging,” he says. “From a pastor’s point of view the biggest thing is that our congregations are completely full and they are made up of wonderful young families.
“There is a new vibrancy here, which is wonderful, and I can’t tell you why. But our main aim was to create an environment where people feel welcome, where they get good quality liturgy and a sense of community, and I think that is what we are giving as best as we can. People are picking up on the positivity and want to be part of it.”
The other members of the hard working parish team along with Fr Andrew are co-parish priest, Fr Gerry Moore and parish pastoral worker Grainne Prior and lots of parishioners of different ages and backgrounds who all play an important part in parish life.
Baptism
Grainne says the parish is lucky that it has “a great number of younger parents presenting for Baptism and we as a parish team said we will try to do our best in terms of our outreach for couples”.
One very successful outreach has been the Babytalk parent and toddler group which meets each Monday from 11am-1pm at Sandyford Community Centre for games, tea and a social chat.
“It’s kind of informal,” says Leanne Monks, the co-ordinator. “We have a little bit of free play and then we do a sing song, usually a little nursery rhyme. We might be introducing a little bit of a story time or starting specific activities with toddlers. But after that we have our tea and biscuits and it gives the mums a bit of a chance to have a chat and to get to know each other. It’s a very good point of contact for people and a support network.”
Leanne has been a member of the group from the beginning in 2014 when her son Noah was a baby. She was new to the parish and had found it difficult to get to Sunday Mass with a new baby and to integrate into parish life, when Grainne invited her and a number of other mums who recently had a child baptised to start the group. Now Noah is a toddler and Leanne has a nine-month-old too.
“It’s been a great way to get to know people,” she says. “It’s nice that the group is closely tied with the parish and we have received great support from the parish team. It’s been an amazing project and something that I hope to be involved with for a very long time.”
A project to reach out to the older generation in the parish came about from an open day when parishioners “expressed concern for people who may have become frail or housebound and are no longer able to engage as they did in the past,” according to Grainne.
“I was asked to take it on as a project and the best outreach I came across is one in Kilmacud called Simon of Cyrene. When we eventually gathered volunteers and got if off the ground it was the volunteers themselves who came up the name ‘Visiting the Wise’,” she explains.
“All the volunteers do a little preparation and are Garda vetted. The people we visit have to be referred to us and then we do our best to match people up in terms of interest. The volunteers commit to visit for one hour once a week. It’s a beautiful ministry and we are extending it now because one of the suggestions from parishioners for the Year of Mercy was to have an outreach into Leopardstown Park Hospital.”
Involved
Liz Donnelly started visiting a 78-year-old recently widowed lady last year. “She is just a lovely, lovely person, and straight away we clicked,” Liz says. “I go to her every Thursday and it’s supposed to be for an hour, but an hour is never long enough with her. She opens the door every week saying ‘Oh, you’re great for coming, thank you so much’ and I say ‘Put the kettle on’ and we have tea and talk.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I am involved in the parish in other ways as well, but I have to say, this would be one of my favourites. I get so much out of it because she’s just magic and it’s all down to having a very vibrant parish. We have a brilliant parish team in the both the clergy and Grainne.”
The parish also started a Bethany Bereavement Support Group in the last few years that meets once a month and a Rainbows group to support children through their grief. There is a Youth 2000 group for young people, a Confirmation club and a Children’s Liturgy of the Word at Sunday morning Mass. There is also a guided Holy Hour and Eucharistic Adoration all day on Tuesdays.
Social justice
Fr Andrew says the parish pastoral council is currently exploring different options for new initiatives in the autumn, including exploring social justice issues and more youth oriented projects. “We are not trying to reinvent the wheel, but we want to grow small things and see if they work,” he says.
Grainne emphasises that the “real stalwarts of the parish are our choirs, collectors, Minister of the Word and Eucharistic Ministers. They are almost the scaffolding of the parish.
“We try to build an invitation for new people to join. The key thing is to build a dynamic so that people know they are welcome and those in ministry shouldn’t be worn out. It is very important for new people to realise there is a space for them, they are welcome, and they enrich us.
“Everything is only possible because of the generosity of people,” she says.