Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland notes from the Irish Times
Episcopal Visitation of Down and Dromore
The term "flying bishop" will take on a new meaning next month when the Bishop of Down and Dromore, the Rt Revd Harold Miller, tours his diocese during September. Bishop Miller will visit all seventy-nine parishes in his united diocese which stretches from the Ards Peninsula in the Diocese of Down to the former exempt jurisdiction of Newry and Mourne in the Diocese of Dromore and includes some 100,000 members of the Church of Ireland. The visitation will begin in the parish of Dundonald on 1 September.
This is intended as an informal "whistle stop" tour allowing about twenty-five minutes in each parish to meet the rector and representatives from the congregation. The Bishop will be personally delivering invitations to each parish to the forthcoming "Hearts of Fire" diocesan mission which will take place in St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast from 1 to 4 October.
Each evening during the mission Bishop Miller will deliver an address and each evening will include celebrity hosts such as Diane Louise Jordan (BBC) and Lynda Bryans (UTV) as well as faith stories by local people. Two substantial choirs from each diocese will assist in worship and music rehearsals will begin next month.
More details of Bishop Miller's itinerary and the "Hearts of Fire" diocesan mission may be had from the Diocesan Communications Officer, Mrs Betty McLaughlin, at 028-90471973 or email:Bishop of Down and Dromore or from the Diocesan Outreach Officer, the Revd Nigel Parker at 028-90322268 / 028-90323188.
Today (Saturday) and tomorrow (Sunday) the services in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, will be sung by the choir of Peterhouse College, Cambridge. Tomorrow morning RTE will televise a service organized by the Church Missionary Society, Ireland, which will include the commissioning of the Revd Patrick Comerford as Regional Coordinator. In St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, the services will be sung by the Charles Wood Summer School Choir while in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, the preacher at Evensong will be the Revd N.J.A. Scott, a son of the Church of Ireland, who serves in Zimbabwe.
Tomorrow (Sunday) is the patronal festival of St Bartholomew's Church, Ballsbridge. At the Festival Eucharist the preacher will be the Revd Ronald Graham from Wexford who will be accompanied by a group of ecumenical pilgrims. The patronal festival will also be the occasion for the launch of a parish website (http://www.stbartholomews.ie) which has been created by Richard Bannister who has been maintaining a site for the parish choir since 1998.