The Church of Ireland
News Briefing

CHURCH OF IRELAND NOTES
For Saturday 5th October 2002

From: The RCB Library
Email: RCB Library

Celebrations at St Canice's

This weekend there will be a programme of celebration in Kilkenny to mark the 800th anniversary of the foundation of St Canice's Cathedral. The building of the medieval cathedral is attributed to Bishop Hugh de Rous, the first Norman Bishop of Ossory, and work probably began soon after he acceded to the see in around 1202.

Today (Saturday) there will be a wide variety of activities from 11.00 am onwards including guided tours of the cathedral for children and adults and talks and information sessions on all aspects of cathedral life. There will be opportunities to learn about bell ringing and calligraphy as well as stone rubbing sessions. The day will be rounded off with a concert at 6.00 pm by the cathedral organist, Malcolm Proud and the mezzo soprano, Tanya Sewell.

Tomorrow (Sunday) there will be a Service of Celebration and Thanksgiving at 4.00 pm which will be the last occasion on which the Rt Revd John Neill will preside as Bishop of Cashel and Ossory. The preacher will be Bishop Christina Odenburg from the Diocese of Lund in the Church of Sweden, with which Cashel and Ossory are linked.

Tomorrow (Sunday) the Primate will preach in Belfast Cathedral at a Thanksgiving Service to mark the 50th anniversary of the Order of St John.

In Sandford Church, Dublin, there will be an Ecumenical Harvest Service at 7.00 pm when the parish choirs will be augmented by students from Gonzaga and Alexandra Colleges, the Cullenswood Singers and local church choirs. The preacher will be Fr Noel Barber SJ. The Harvest Thanksgiving Service in St Mary's Church, Tipperary, will be the concluding service of a National Festival of Flowers which has been organized by Association of Irish Flower Arrangers. The Dean of Cashel, Dr Philip Knowles, will conduct the service and the preacher will be the Revd Joyce Moore.

The parish of St Bartholomew, Dublin, will have a dedication festival. The preacher at the Solemn Eucharist will be Deacon Jan Rees from the Diocese of Sydney and at Evensong the parish choir will be joined by the Choir of St Patrick's Cathedral. At 5.00 pm the new organ will be inaugurated with a recital by Professor Gerard Gillen.

On Tuesday a new series of lunchtime history lectures which has been arranged by Christ Church Cathedral in association with Dublin City Council begins at 1.15 pm in the cathedral crypt. The first lecture, on "The Origins of the Prebendal Parishes", will be given by the Revd Professor Adrian Empey, Principal of the Church of Ireland Theological College.

The second in the "I Believe..." series of lunchtime talks in St St George and St Thomas' Church, Cathal Brugha Street, Dublin, will take place on Thursday when the speaker will be Lady Christine Eames, former World Wide President of the Mothers' Union. In the Chapel of Trinity College the first Choral Evensong of Michaelmas term will be sung while later in the evening, in St Mobhi's Church, Glasnevin, the Revd David Oxley will be instituted to the parishes of Santry and Glasnevin with Finglas.

In St George's Church, Belfast, the first session of a discussion group on "Are the Thirty Nine Articles Sectarian?" will begin with an historical introduction to the articles. Leading the discussions will be Professor Adrian Empey, the Revd Dr Eric Culbertson and Fr Tom Laydon.

A busy day of church activity will be rounded off at 10.10 pm when the "Would You Believe" programme on RTE television will feature the Archbishop-Elect of Dublin, the Rt Revd John Neill, who will be enthroned in Christ Church Cathedral on Saturday 12 October.