St. Augustine's Church

Limerick, Co. Limerick

Limerick Leader, Monday, April 18, 2005

City Church is the Heart of the DVD

by Mairéad Ní Chaoimh

The Augustinians have just launched a DVD celebrating the achievements of the city centre church over the past eight years.

"This film was made to show how different the approach of the Augustinians is," said J.P. McGlynn, one of the filmmakers.

The film was made by McGlynn Media, a company of brothers mark, Sam and J.P., and their father Joe.

The film catalogues the projects undertaken by the church over the years, including the creation of a peace garden in the church, an Omagh bombing memorial, the Easter Passion Walk and a replica Twin Towers to commemorate the deaths of those who died in New York's 9/11 disaster.

"When I arrived here eight years ago we had dwindling numbers, but over the years there has been a steady increase," said Rector Fr. Liam Ryan.

"We had to make changes. There is something unique happening here and it should be recorded. We decided a DVD rather than a book would be a good idea as it would reach more people," he said.

It is a possibility that clergy at the church could be moved in the coming months as the Provincial chapter of the order is taking place in two months time.

"We have no guarantee that we will be staying where we are," said Fr. Liam.

The active role lay people are taking in the church was also demonstrated in the DVD.

Joe McGlynn, Pastoral Co-Ordinator, said, "We must react to events as they happen; people need to grieve when there is a big tragedy. The church of the future needs to respond to what is happening in the world."

He also pointed out that if the world is using multi-media, music and drama to reach people then so must the church.

"It has been worth going thruogh this trauma of change," concluded Fr. Liam.

The DVD also contains old archived footage from Limerick City and special features.

It was launched in the Clarion Hotel by Mayor Michael Hourigan.