Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland notes from the Irish Times
Reflections on Ministry in the Church of Ireland
One of the features of the Church of Ireland for much of the twentieth century was the reluctance of clergy to write openly about their experiences of ministry and such publications as did appear tended to be very circumspect. Much of this attitude, understandably perhaps, had been fostered by training and by society, both of which laid great emphasis on discretion, confidentiality and modesty and whilst these were, and are, admirable virtues, the absence of material to fuel a realistic debate on the state of ministry has been to the disadvantage of the church.
The recent publication of Fulfilment & Frustration. Ministry in Today's Church by the Rector of Ballyholme, the Revd Alan Abernethy, is a welcome contribution to an important debate which the forthcoming Summit on Ministry suggests is at last coming to the fore in Church of Ireland thinking.
Mr Abernethy' book is a series of reflections on key areas of ministry - the fostering of vocation, training, the demands of pastoral care, the relevance of worship, the value of collaborative ministry, the need for space away from the business of ministering. He writes from twenty years experience in the parochial ministry and is refreshingly honest about the many paradoxes of the priestly life. The book is free from simplistic prescriptions, although some of his own preferences are set out, and there are, where appropriate, clear admissions that there are no solutions. Most of all, however, this book is about a journey, a metaphor which the author repeatedly uses, and how on that journey one is faced with anger and frustration, delight and surprise, affirmation and inadequacy. Yet it is only by continuing to make the journey within the, at times suffocating, structures of the church that God's calling can be fulfilled.
Fulfilment & Frustration by Alan Abernethy is published by Columba Press, Dublin, at 8.99 euro & £5.99 and ought to be available through all good bookshops.
Today (Saturday) at the River Boyne, on the site of the battle at Oldbridge, there will be a festival of music, song, comedy and talk. This will be followed tomorrow (Sunday) by the annual ecumenical service for peace and reconciliation organized by Peace Pledge Ireland at which the speaker will be Fr Aidan Troy from Ardoyne in north Belfast.
Tomorrow (Sunday) morning the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Walton Empey, will visit St Paul's Church, Glenageary, where he began his ministry as a deacon and priest in the late 1950s, and on Tuesday the Archbishop will visit Áras an Uachtaráin. In St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, tomorrow (Sunday) the services will be sung by the Close Chorale and on Monday Evensong will be sung by the RSCM Atlanta Course from the USA.
In Co. Wexford on Wednesday evening the Ardamine union of parishes Summer Bazaar will begin at 7.00 pm in the Riverchapel Community Centre. Those travelling from Dublin may like to stop off in Kildare where St Brigid's Cathedral and its round tower are open to visitors from 10.00 am until 5.00 pm. In St Mary's Collegiate Church, Youghal, there will be a concert by the Nicholls family in aid of the church restoration fund
The second recital in the 22nd Festival of Classical Music in St Barrahane's Church, Castletownshend, Co. Cork, will be held on Thursday evening at 8.30 pm when there will be music for a summer evening from David Agnew (oboe), David Downes (keyboard and pipes) and Orlagh Fallon (voice). On Friday in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, there will be a lunchtime recital by the Skoyer'n Choir from Norway.