New Parish Model

The Liturgy & Music Group

This group consists of the following teams:

  1. Liturgy Group: They co-ordinate and plan the liturgy for Christmas, Easter and other church
    events.
  2. Parish Choirs: There are 3 parish choirs.
    The Mixed Choir sing at our Saturday evening mass (7:30pm) from September
    to June in Tullow Church.
    The Male Choir sing at our 11 o’clock mass every Sunday from September to
    June in Tullow Church.
    Ardattin Choir sing at various times throughout the year.
  3. Readers: Training is provided if you would like to become a reader in any of our churches.
    It consists of 1 night a week for 3 weeks. Readers are on a rota and you would
    only be required to read every 4 – 6 weeks at a mass time of your choice.
  4. Eucharistic Ministers: If you would like to become a eucharistic minister we will provide training which is 1 night a week for 3 weeks. Following your training you will be placed on a rota
    to be a eucharistic minister at a mass time of your choice every 3 – 4 weeks.
  5. Adoration: This takes place every Tuesday and Wednesday from 10am to 8pm in St Brigid’s
    Oratory, Tullow Church. You would be required to give 1 hour of your day on one of these days.
  6. Altar Servers: Altar servers are an important part of our weekend masses, funerals & on
    occasions at weddings. If your child would like to become an altar server in any
    of our churches we will provide the relevant training. Altar Servers operate on a
    rota basis once a month.
  7. Church Flower Arranging: This team provide the beautiful flower arrangements in our churches every week. They work on a rota basis.
  8. Funeral Ministry: This ministry is to assist the priest and parish sister with funerals. This is a
    very specialised ministry where you would visit families during a family
    bereavement to offer help in planning readings and prayers for their loved one’s
    funeral mass. Training is provided for this ministry.
  9. Stewarding: This team look after traffic management and seating arrangements in the
    church during funerals and other large events in the parish.

The Finance & Property Group

This group consists of the following teams:

  1. Finance: This team plan and monitor the parish finances. They also advise and provide
    guidance to the parish priest.
  2. Property Maintenance: This team is responsible for the upkeep of the parish properties. They meet as required.
  3. Church Collectors: This team operate on a weekly rota basis.
  4. Counters: This team counts the money that is collected at the weekend masses.
  5. Parish Fundraising: This team includes the parish bingo and parish draw and organise other
    fundraising events as required.

The Communication Group

This is a new group that is being created and will consist of the following teams:

  1. Co-ordination of the weekly newsletter: This will continue to be co-ordinated by the parish office
  2. Parish Magazine: This team publish the parish magazine. The members collect articles throughout the year and meet in the months prior to publication of the magazine.
  3. Website: This team will keep the parish website up to date with all relevant information.
    The website will be utilised as a key communication platform going forward as we
    embrace new age technology.
  4. Envelope Distributors: This team distribute the annual parish envelopes in December of each year. Team members generally distribute the envelopes in their own area.
  5. Hospitality: This team organise and co-ordinate refreshments for key parish events.

The Faith Development Group

This group will be responsible for the preparations of the following sacraments; First Communion, Confirmation, Marriage and the ongoing faith development in our community. Our plan is to appoint a parish catechist to work with this group.

Baptism Team: Members of this team meet with the parents of children who are
preparing for baptism in our parish and help at the baptismal ceremony.

The Youth Development Group

Our young people bring great energy and enthusiasm to our parish which is vital for its life, now and in the future.

John Paul II Programme: Currently the John Paul II programme is our main youth development
programme in our parish which is run in conjunction with Tullow Community School.

We need to identify and develop further opportunities for our young
people to become more involved in our parish.

The Parish Collaborative Council

The Collaborative Council will be made up of the Priest, Parish Sister, a representative from each of the other 5 groups as outlined above and possibly 2 to 3 other people.

This group will co-ordinate all parish activities through collaboration with the other five groups. Some members will represent the Parish on the Deanery Pastoral Council.

A Deanery is made up of a cluster of parishes. The local Deanery is madeup of the following parishes: Tullow, Rathvilly, Clonmore, Ballon/Rathoe, As the new groups begins their work they will be assisted by the existing Parish Pastoral Council.