The Life of our Parish extends beyond the confines of the Church building and into the community via many of the organisations and groups which are associated with, and affiliated to us. A brief description of a few of these can be found below.

The Choir

Donaghadee Parish Church has currently 19 Choir Members - Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass - and has been a robed Choir since May 1991. The primary object of the Church Choir is to lead the Worship and Praise at Morning & Evening Prayer every Sunday throughout the year.

The Church Choir has been in existence for a long number of years, but the formation date is unknown.

The present Church Organist and Choir Mistress is Mrs May Watterson. The Choir meet every Wednesday evening, September until June, to practice the Hymns and Chants for the Canticles and Psalms, which are being used at the following Sunday services. New members are always welcome.

The Indoor Bowling Club

Donaghadee Parish Indoor Bowling Club commenced Indoor Bowling on the short mat in The Admiral Leslie Hall, which was situated on the Millisle Road in Donaghadee.

The enterprise by enthusiastic players of Outdoor Bowls began by inviting a team from St. Mary’s Church on the Crumlin Road in Belfast  to come along and “bring their 2 mats” with them to show us what was so interesting about the Indoor Game.  As a result a Club was formed in November 1957.

In 1989 a new suite of Church Halls situated in Church Lane was built and the Indoor Bowling Club were then able to provide short mat bowling on 4 Rinks. The Club has continued to attract a membership of Church Members and interested others all who enjoy playing Bowls on Tuesday and Friday evenings, and Wednesday afternoons. 

The club currently has 45 Members and has two teams playing in the Bangor Indoor League.  Club Competitions are also held annually and the members compete for 9 Cups/Shields. “Rinks” taking place on a weekly basis.

The Annual General Meeting and the Annual Prize Giving are held in April each year; both are well supported and the Club is able to contribute generously to various Charities each year by holding Open Bowling Tournaments on the first Friday of each month.

The Women’s Fellowship

The Women’s Fellowship was formed in 1961 catering for the Ladies of the Church; it continues today to meet on the 3rd Thursday afternoon of each month, September until April.  The Rector at the time the group was formed was the late Revd Canon Ian Swenarton. He and his wife Peggy organised the group, inviting interesting speakers and going on outings to various places of interest. When the 40th year Celebrations took place in 2001 we received personal good wishes from Canon Swenarton and his daughter Evelyn. They both had fond memories of life with Donaghadee Parish Church. He paid tribute to the list of very able “anchormen” and their abundance of talent enabling the Women’s Fellowship to survive into the 21st Century.

Current Membership is around 24 Senior Ladies, and  the elected Committee arrange a varied programme, from Armchair Aerobics, hands-on Flower Arranging sessions, Cookery demonstrations and sampling sessions. We also enjoy the invited company, at Christmas time or St Patrick’s Day, of other Ladies Groups in the Town

The W.F. support the Save the Children Fund and make generous donations each month.

The Seniors Drop-In Club

Since 2001 The Seniors Drop-in club has met most Mondays from 2.00 - 4.00pm in the Parish hall. This permits friends from the various churches in Donaghadee and the surrounding area to come together for Christian fellowship, fun and entertainment. This can take the form of reading and poetry, quiz’s, and games. Regularly we relax and enjoy the musical gifts of our own members.

We have played host to similar groups from other towns and enjoyed their hospitality by visiting them.

The members of the Drop-in support Tessa, a young 5-year-old Indonesian girl, in her schooling and spiritual upbringing. We keep in contact with her and the family through her teacher and the organisation Compassion.

Our aim? We try to provide comfort to those in distress and spiritual sustenance to those in need, lonely and seeking friendship.

Come and join us for a cup of tea and a chat.

The Beaver Scouts

Leaders.  Mary Dancklefsen, Flo Parker

Assistant Leaders.  Clara Walker, Joanne Robinson

Meeting time:  6.00pm - 7.00pm Mondays  September through to June.

The introduction of Beaver Scouts began in 1982 on a trial basis; it was so successful that in 1986 Beaver Scouts were officially launched. Now both boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 8 can become Beaver Scouts and can enjoy an action packed 60 minute programme of games, badge work, learning to play in teams and friendly competitiveness.. This is a uniformed organisation.

Beaver Scouts Promise

  I promise to do my best,

  To be kind and helpful

  And to love God.

 All new Beavers are given a Beaver Scout log book, the contents are,

• About me “ the beaver date he/she made there promise.
• About there colony - day and time they meet and friendship at beavers.
• About becoming a Beaver Scout – the promise, hand shake, Scout sign and motto “Be Prepared”.
• Badge work: “ to gain badge awards e.g. Faith badge, creativity, explorer, animal friend.
• The Beavers learn teamwork, keeping friendships, new games, how to work in small or large groups and Information on moving on to the Cubs. Each meeting starts with “The Promise” and ends in Prayer.

New boys and girls are always welcome as are volunteers to help. Please just come along and introduce yourself or child to one of the leaders or assistants at anytime of the evening.

Squirrels

Leader: Clara Walker

Assistant Leaders: Adrienne Campbell, Lisa Erskine

Meeting Time: 5.00 pm - 6.00 pm Mondays, September through to June

Boys between the ages of 4 and 6 can become Squirrels, their uniform is a navy top and trousers/jogging bottoms although this is not strictly enforced. Our emphasis is on having lots of fun including learning and playing new games, making new friends and preparing the boys for joining Beaver Scouts.

The Squirrels meeting starts with a promise and ends with a prayer.

Squirrels promise

I promise to be a good squirrel and to love God

New boys are always welcome. Please just come along and introduce yourself or your child to any of the adults at any time throughout the meeting.

You are more than welcome to stay with your child until they settle with the group, we do realise that young children may need the reassurance of a familiar person initially.