The Nail Man              by Steve Turner

Which one was it 
that held the nails
and then hammered them
into place?

Did he hit them
out of anger,
or a simple
sense of duty?

Was it a job
that had to be done,
or a good day's work
in the open air?

And when they
clawed past bone
and bit into wood,
was it like all the others,
or did history
shudder a little
beneath the head
of that hammer?

Was he still there,
packing away his tools,
when 'It is finished'
was uttered to the throng,
or was he at home
washing his hands
and getting ready 
for the night?

Will he be
among the forgiven
on that Day of Days,
his sin having been slain
by his own savage spike?

Newsletter in window below or available to view and download on this link.

Later this year, the bishops of the world will meet with the Holy Father in Rome to consider the challenges facing the family in the world today. In preparation for the meeting (of the Synod of Bishops), the Holy See has asked for the views and experiences of Catholics all over the world to be considered. These responses will assist those who gather in Rome in October to respond better to the difficulties which ordinary Catholics experience in living out the Church's teaching in the area of family life.

The following questionnaire has been compiled to summarise the discussion areas covered in the Vatican's preparatory document.

1. To which parish do you belong:

2. In which capacity(ies) are you completing this survey?

Lay person, Parent, Grandparent, Priest, Deacon, Parish volunteer, Professed Religious, Teacher/ Headteacher, Pastoral Assistant, Catechist, Lay Chaplain, Theologian, Church employee, Member of Lay Association or Movement (please give details below), Marriage Preparation Facilitator, Other (please give details below)

3. Is this a group response? If yes, please indicate the number of people involved in the conversation.

4. What is your marital status?

Married,Single, Engaged, Widowed, Separated, Divorced, Divorced and re-married, Cohabitee, Other (please state below)

5. How old are you?

6. What are your joys and hopes of marriage and family life today?

7. What are your struggles and fears of marriage and family life today?

8. How can we better understand marriage as a vocation?

9. How does your marriage enrich you?

10. How does your family life enrich those around you?

11. In what way, through the abiding presence of God, is your family “salt of the earth and light to the world,” and a place of and for handing on our faith?

12. Do you have any other comments?

If you wish, please enter your name and an email address, so that we may update you with our preparations for the Synod.  

Responses to be sent to info@rcag.org.uk  or by post to Chancellor, 196 Clyde Street, Glasgow, G1 4JY.

Document below

A combined 2013/14 St Andrew's Parish financial report for easy comparison with the previous year. The full set of financial returns are available to view on request.
Download below or read online further down this page

Diocesan Pastoral Future Provision

Tough choices and hard and difficult decisions will soon have to be made for the sake of the future of our archdiocese. Dwindling numbers at Masses, and a falling number of priests, present us all with challenges, which will inevitably lead to a reduction in the number of our parishes. A consultation is currently being carried out regarding future pastoral provision. Planning for a sustainable future for us will mean that some of the eleven parishes in our deanery will have to close or be amalgamated.  How do we best plan for a sustainable future? We want to hear your thoughts, and we welcome your comments. The six proposed options which will affect St Andrew’s are listed overleaf and are also on the parish website. What’s important is that everyone in the parish is given the opportunity to engage in this consultation. I sincerely hope that as many of you as possible will be free to attend one of the consultation open meetings next weekend.

Let us pray that in our thinking, talking, deciding and planning together for the future of our parishes, we may discern God’s will and be open to the guidance and help of the Holy Spirit.
St Andrew and St Mungo, pray for us.                                                                           
Fr Mackle

In light of these changes in society and in the diocese we need to reshape the diocese to meet future needs. With fewer priests in the near future we must decide where and how they can best be deployed so that the Gospel can continue to be known and the whole community of our local church be best served.

There are 11 parishes in this deanery

• St. Benedict's, Drumchapel
• St. Laurence's, Drumchapel
• St. Andrew's, Bearsden
• St. Eunan's, Clydebank
• St. Margaret's, Clydebank
• Our Holy Redeemer's, Clydebank
• St. Stephen's, Dalmuir
• St. Mary's, Duntocher
• Saint Joseph's, Faifley
• Saint Joseph's, Milngavie
• Saint Patrick's, Old Kilpatrick

There are currently 10 diocesan priests and 1 non-diocesan priest in active service in this deanery.
It is conservatively estimated that in 20 years time, in the whole Archdiocese, there will be 45 diocesan priests.
This means that in 20 years time we might expect that there will be roughly 5 diocesan priests in this deanery.

Other statistics have been updated at parish, deanery and diocesan level. These include:

• Catholic population
• Mass Attendance
• No of Baptisms 
• No of Confirmations
• No of First Communions
• Marriages
• Funerals
• Average parish income/costs
• Listed buildings

Closure and amalgamations will be unavoidable and we as a parish are being asked for our views. Our Parish Pastoral Council recently met to review 6 options for the future proposed by the Archdiocese and we would like to include wider parish views on the options.

We’d welcome you to join us for a cup of tea/coffee to hear more about the planned changes in the Upper Hall after mass on Saturday 15th March and after each mass on Sunday 16th March.

From these meetings our collective thoughts and views will be presented at the Strategic Meetings in deaneries and with the Archbishop in due course.

The six proposed options are listed below. We actively encourage you to take a short time out after attending mass to become involved in helping to shape the future of our parish.

There would appear to be 6 options for deploying the estimated number of priests across each deanery. When considering these questions the following should be borne in mind:

• The financial and statistical information of each parish 
• Are the current churches in the right places? Is there an argument for closing all the church buildings in an area and building a new one somewhere else? Is this financially realistic? 
• Public transport links, walking distance, and car-parking. 
• This exercise is based on the current deanery boundaries. Are there anomalies in your Deanery which would suggest involving a parish from a neighbouring deanery?
• Social and cultural factors which would affect movement of people in an area. 
• The realistic workload of a priest, especially the fact that he cannot say more than three Masses on any given Sunday.

Option A:
5 parishes with one priest and one church building. The other church buildings would close and the boundaries be redrawn.

Option B:
5 parishes with one priest. Some parishes would have two church buildings. The other church buildings would close and the boundaries be redrawn.

Option C:
3 parishes, each with one church building, but some with more than one priest. The other church buildings would close and the boundaries be redrawn.

Option D:
3 parishes, each with more than one church building, and some with more than one priest. The other church buildings would close and the boundaries be redrawn.

Option E:
1 big parish with one church building, but with 5 priests. The other church buildings would close and the boundaries be redrawn.

Option F:
1 big parish with more than one church building, but with 5 priests. The other church buildings would close and the boundaries be redrawn.

Other Options?

Power Point Presentation on this link and below

Heaven’s Road Catholic Radio Broadcasts Live Mass

New Catholic Internet Radio “Heavens Road” this week started live broadcasts of Daily Mass. Each week over 230 services, from over 16 different parishes here and in Ireland, will be broadcast for the housebound and those unable to attend Mass.  Not only can you hear the Mass but you can watch it too!  This must be a first - a RADIO station that broadcasts live pictures as well. You can join in the prayers, responses and even sing along with the hymns. 

The Holy Father has said “The internet offers immense possibilities … this is something truly good - a gift from God”.  We offer him our humble ministry to evangelise our faith.

I wonder if you, or anyone of your parish, might like to become more involved.  The Radio is always looking for enthusiastic people to help make programmes, techies to operate the Radio and administrators to hold it all together.  
You can get further information at http://www.heavensroadfm.com/vols/ .  We provide training and support so previous experience is not necessary. 

We’re new and feeling our way, so if you would care to give us any feedback, we’d love to hear from you so we can shape our programmes for our listeners.
We’re committed to providing a service reaching out to our Catholic audience to spread the word of Our Lord, so anything you can do to help is very much appreciated.

Thank you for your prayers and support

God Bless

Gerry Coates

Heaven’s Road fm Catholic Radio www.heavensroadfm.com is a new internet Radio broadcasting prayers, interviews and features to appeal to a Catholic audience.  They also webcast up to 40 Masses daily and have over 200+ podcasts available.  The Radio is run on a shoestring by unpaid volunteers, so any donation, however small, would be very welcome.  Cheques should be made payable to Heavens Road fm Catholic Radio and sent to them at St John’s Seminary, Wonersh, Guildford, GU5 0QX.

Heaven’s Road fm Catholic Radio www.heavensroadfm.com is a new internet Radio broadcasting prayers, interviews and features to appeal to a Catholic audience.  They also webcast up to 40 Masses daily and have over 200+ podcasts available.  The Radio, seeks enthusiastic people to help make programmes, techies to operate the Radio and administrators to hold it all together.  Much can be done over the internet – they have people in 10 different dioceses contributing.   Further info at http://www.heavensroadfm.com/vols/.  Listen onwww.heavensroadfm.com.