The Church of Ireland
News Briefing

CHURCH OF IRELAND NOTES
For Saturday 17th August 2002

From: The RCB Library
Email: RCB Library

History of the Laity

In October a history of the laity of the Church of Ireland will be launched and, no doubt in order to whet the appetite for the feast that is to follow, the publishers, Four Courts Press, have released some advance information.

The Laity and the Church of Ireland, 1000-2000. All Sorts and Conditions has been edited by Dr Raymond Gillepsie, NUI-Maynooth, and the Revd Dr W.G. Neely, Convenor of the Church of Ireland Historical Society, and those who remember the timeless elegance of the language of the Book of Common Prayer will recognise in the sub-title words from the Order for Morning Prayer. The volume is an initiative of the Church of Ireland Historical Society and is, by far, the Society's most ambitious venture.

Much of Irish ecclesiastical history has concentrated on institutions and individuals, especially those in holy orders, and little attention has been given to the laity - what they believed, how their belief was articulated, what influence they had. These are difficult issues and it is unlikely that this book will answer all the questions but it promises to be a valuable contribution to an area of the church's life which deserves specialist study. 

Challenging subjects such as this require a range of skills and the editors have assembled a distinguished team of experts. The Church of Ireland's medieval polymath, Professor Adrian Empey, covers the entire period from 1169 to 1536, while the years from the Reformation until the middle of the 18th century are in the capable hands of Colm Lennon (NUI-Maynooth), Toby Barnard (Oxford), David Hayton (QUB) and Raymond Gillespie. Jacqueline Hill (NUI-Maynooth), the Revd Patrick Comerford, Canon Neely and Dr Kenneth Milne (Church of Ireland Historiographer) bring the story up to the end of the 19th century and Martin Maguire (Dundalk IT) ventures into the world of Dublin since disestablishment. The Dean of Christ Church, John Paterson, discusses lay spirituality from 1750 until 1950 while the Archdeacon of Connor, Stephen McBride, and Paul Larmour (QUB) consider church building from medieval to modern times.

Although arranged chronologically these studies seek to move away from the old structures by asking not how the church worked but what it meant to be a member of the church. In this sense the editors have developed a model which transcends denominationalism for the issues which are addressed are applicable to most religious groupings in Ireland. This is a volume which should command the attention of all who are interested in the history of the church - search out your book tokens!

Today (Saturday) and tomorrow (Sunday) the services in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, will be sung by the Girls' Choir of St Paul's Cathedral, Buffalo, USA. Tomorrow (Sunday) RTE will broadcast a service of Sung Matins according to the Book of Common Prayer. The service will be conducted by the Revd Tom Gordon and the preacher will be the Rector of Mountmellick, the Revd Olive Donohoe.

Yesterday (Friday 16th August) Mr John Buttimore retired from his positions as Assistant Secretary of the Representative Church Body and the Church of Ireland Pensions Board and from the staff of Church of Ireland House where he served for over forty-eight years. It is often said, when people retire, that they are irreplaceable but rarely is it really so. However, in the case of Mr Buttimore it is certainly true for his accumulated knowledge of people, places and procedures in the Church of Ireland is unrivalled and no archives, filing system or reference book will fill the gap left by his retirement.