Retiring from Bellaghy Pastoral Council after two decades of service, Marie Kilpatrick urges others… Don’t be afraid to get involved in pastoral councils for the good of parish life

AFTER almost 20 years of service on the pastoral council for the parish of Bellaghy, serving as Chair for most of that time, dedicated parishioner, Marie Kilpatrick is taking well-earned retirement from this important service to the Church in her parish community. 

In appreciation of her unstinting service, there was a special night in Marie's honour before Christmas, with Fr Pat O'Hagan, PP Bellaghy, leading the tributes. Noting that the former teacher was also a parish Lector and the outgoing president of the local St Vincent de Paul, where she will continue to serve, Fr Pat remarked: "Service to the parish community is the hallmark of Marie, as it has been for many years." 

Chatting to 'The Net' about her lengthy experience of serving on the Pastoral Council for Bellaghy Parish, the native of Ballyscullion, which she quickly points out is the proper name for the parish, said that it was a privilege to be have been involved at the heart of parish life. 

This chapter in her life began back in 2008, after she had retired from her vice-principal post at St Joseph's School, in Plumbridge, Co Tyrone, after some 33 years as a teacher there and over 10 years as VP. "

All my years of teaching were in the one school, St Joseph's, and when it closed in June 2007, I took early retirement," recalled Marie, who had taught Maths, and Sports & Games. 

She added: "While teaching in Plumbridge, I would have stayed there during the week and went home at the weekends, when I would have helped in the church as a reader. So, when I retired, I came back to live in my home parish permanently. 

"Fr Dolan would have known me well enough and asked me to join the Parish Pastoral Council in 2008, when I also joined the local branch of St Vincent de Paul, which I am still part of." 

Marie was asked to become chairperson of the Pastoral Council shortly after joining it, and ended up being the Chair for about 12 years.

Commenting on the experience, she said: "The Parish Council was an excellent body, which was probably down to Fr Dolan being very good at asking for and taking advice. I enjoyed it immensely, working very closely with an excellent group of hard working people under Fr Dolan's inspiring leadership, until he retired in 2022. 

In-depth discussions
"We had in-depth discussions about whatever we were planning to do, and we organised many faith events, with special ceremonies to mark the Year of Mercy and, last year, the Year of Hope, as well as parish missions. We also had Lenten Talks, which were very successful, with some well-known guest speakers coming along to talk about their lives and faith on the Sundays of Lent. 

"Another very successful initiative was having Station Masses for the various townlands in the Church. The tradition of Station Masses in the homes of parishioners had more or less stopped, so we arranged for them to take place in the chapel instead, with the people coming along on whatever date their townland Station Mass was on, and there was a cup of tea afterwards. It took a couple of years to cover all the areas of the parish, but it was very successful and appreciated." 

With recent changes due to there being less priests on the ground, Bellaghy now share their current parish priest, Fr Pat, with the neighbouring parish of Greenlough. 

"Each parish still has its own pastoral council," explained Marie, "but have joined up thinking depending on what is happening, such as novenas or retreats etc." 

Considering advice that may be helpful to other parishes considering starting up pastoral councils, she said: "For me, it is important for pastoral council members to have the opportunity for good, extensive discussions on everything concerning the parish, as it is through this discussion time that ideas are shared. 

"I also think that it is important to have a broad spectrum of people on board, with a good mix of male and female. We might not have had enough young people on ours. At a recent meeting before I retired, we were discussing about bringing school-aged parishioners on board. 

"A parish definitely benefits from having a pastoral council, as its members are people on the ground talking to other parishioners, who are voicing opinions that they may not voice to the priest." 

She added: "With priests having to take on two or three parishes now, I feel that there is going to be a greater need for parish pastoral councils, and people should not be slow or afraid to get involved for the good of parish life. 

"For my own parish, I wish Fr Pat and the present members of the pastoral council every blessing in their future work, as there are challenging times ahead."