Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland notes from the Irish Times
Religious Broadcast Services Re-Jigged
One of the most vigorous commitments since the establishment of RTÉ radio has been its broadcasting of Sunday worship in which the Church of Ireland, and the other mainstream protestant traditions, have enjoyed a particularly generous profile. Sunday by Sunday those at home, in hospital or in their cars have been able to tune in to a rich spectrum of worship from churches and parishes around the country. It is commendable that despite the present financial difficulties in national broadcasting this commitment to broadcast worship is to be maintained.
Consistent with the evolving nature of religious broadcasting, however, new circumstances invite new ways of doing things. Drastically reduced choral and musical resources in many rural locations, combined with RTÉ's financial upheaval, have led to the establishment of a new pattern of Sunday worship. Under the liturgical direction of the Revd Tom Gordon a more "radio specific" type of worship will be the norm for Church of Ireland services. This will be resourced by a new group of liturgical musicians which will bring a standard of excellence to Sunday worship.
The new group, called Voces Anglicanae, is comprised of Helen Roycroft, Ruth O'Herlihy, Andrew McLellan and Michael Finlay, each well known and distinguished musicians in the liturgical and musical life of the Church of Ireland. The new type of Sunday broadcasting has also been made possible by the kind cooperation of the Church of Ireland College of Education in Rathmines from where the majority of broadcasts will be transmitted. However, where resources allow, a limited number of live broadcasts from parishes will be included in the schedule.
The new arrangement will give a greater scope for a much broader liturgical range of services from the BCP, APB and the new revised services which are coming on stream. The first of these services will be broadcast tommorrow (Sunday) morning and will be a service of Holy Communion from the APB at which the preacher will be the recently retired Principal of the Church of Ireland Theological College, Dr John Bartlett.
Today (Saturday) Crosslinks, the missionary organization, will hold a Family Gathering at Kill o' the Grange Church, Co. Dublin, beginning at 2.30 pm. The speaker will be Andy Lines, General Secretary of Crosslinks. Tonight, at 8.00 pm, in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, there will be a recital by Christ Church Baroque directed by the violin virtuoso, Andrew Manze, and featuring works by Handel, Pisendel and Vivaldi.
During Hilary term the Anglican Chaplaincy in Trinity College, Dublin, will be hosting a series of lecture sermons during the Sung Eucharist on Sunday mornings. Under the general title of "On Virtues and Vices" a number of distinguished speakers will address the theme of contemporary understandings of virtue and vice in modern society. Among the speakers will be Mr Ruiari Quinn TD, Professor Ann Loades from the theology department in Durham, the Revd Dr Liam Tracey OSM from Maynooth and Mr Denis Staunton, European Correspondent of The Irish Times. The series will begin tomorrow (Sunday) morning with an address from the Church of Ireland Chaplain, Dr Alan McCormack.
Tomorrow (Sunday) the Archbishop of Armagh will commission Captain Alan Barr of the Church Army for parish work in Drumcree. In the evening in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, the Epiphany Processions will be held. The service, with scripture readings, prayer and music, is based on the visit of the magi to the stable at Bethlehem. Gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh are brought in procession to the crib as symbols of homage to the Christ child - king, victim and priest.