CHURCH OF IRELAND NOTES
For Saturday 11th May 2002
From: The RCB Library
Email: RCB Library
General Synod Meets in Dublin
Next week, from Tuesday until Thursday, the General Synod will meet in
the
Stillorgan Park Hotel, Dublin. On Monday evening there will be a
Pre-Synod
Evensong in St Patrick's Cathedral where the preacher will be the
Belfast
born Bishop of Southwell, the Rt Revd George Cassidy, and on Tuesday
evening
the preacher at the Synod Eucharist in Christ Church Cathedral will be
the
Bishop of Cork, the Rt Revd Paul Colton.
Most of the legislative business of this year's Synod will be liturgical
in
nature as the Church of Ireland prepares for the publication of a new
prayer
book in the year 2004. However, another bill revisits the vexed issue of
synodical reform which, if passed, is likely to increase the size of the
General Synod which at 660 members is already considered unwieldy by
many.
Among other issues to be discussed are the Church of Ireland-Methodist
Covenant which involves mutual recognition and sharing of ministries,
and
the Sectarian Education Project which will outline how the Church is
tackling this difficult subject through a scoping study of the whole
island.
As usual there will be reports to consider on the work of a variety of
committees and boards which provide a valuable overview of the scope of
the
Church's life - pensions, education, youth, mission, ministry, social
responsibility and so much more.
Tomorrow (Sunday) the Bishop of Kilmore, the Rt Revd Ken Clarke, will
continue his visit to Nairobi where he is representing the Church of
Ireland
at an Anglican Consultation on Mission and Evangelism. The Bishop of
Connor,
the Rt Revd Alan Harper, will preach at the Battle of the Atlantic
Memorial
Service in St George's Church, Belfast, while in St Multose's Church,
Kinsale, the Annual Mission to Seafarers Ecumenical Service will be
held.
In the Chapel of Trinity College, Dublin, the preacher at the final Sung
Eucharist of the academic year will be the Precentor of Westminster
Abbey,
the Revd Dominic Fenton.
After Evensong in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, the cathedral's
Assistant
Organist, David Leigh, will perform the first in a cycle of the six
organ
symphonies of Louis Vierne, while in Inistiogue parish church the Dean
of
Cashel, Dr Philip Knowles, will be the guest organist at the annual
Songs of
Praise Service.
On Tuesday the lunchtime history lecture in Christ Church Cathedral,
Dublin,
in the "2,000 Years of Christianity" series, will be given by
Dr James Kelly
from St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, who will speak on
"Ascendancy and the
Penal Laws".
The AGM of the Church Missionary Society Ireland will be held on
Wednesday
evening in Overseas House, Belgrave Road, Rathmines, Dublin, where there
will be an opportunity to meet new mission partners. Today (Saturday)
week
the Crosslinks AGM will be held in Kill o' the Grange parish hall, Co.
Dublin, where the speaker will be the Dean of Kildare, the Very Revd
Robert
Townley.
Next week sees a feast of music in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, In
addition to David Leigh's recital tomorrow (Sunday) there will be the
third
in the Henry Willis Organ Centenary recitals on Wednesday at 6.30 pm
when
the guest organist will be Timothy Noone from St David's Cathedral,
Wales.
On Friday there will be a Cathedral Choir Open Day beginning at 3.30 pm
which will provide an opportunity to meet the new organist, Peter
Barley,
and discover more about the musical possibilities of the cathedral. On
Friday evening the Cathedral Choir will give a concert to raise funds
for
their forthcoming tours to Worcester and Coventry in June and Paris in
July
Church of Ireland Notes appear in the Irish
Times whose web site may be found at
http://www.ireland.com/ |
