Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from 'The Irish Times'
Saturday 3 November 2007
Church of Ireland Historical Society Meets In Dublin
Next Saturday, 10 November, there will be a meeting of the Church of Ireland Historical Society in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, beginning with coffee and registration at 10.30 am.
There will be two presentations in the pre-lunch session. Dr Ian d’Alton, who is well known for his study of Cork protestants in the 19th century, will read a paper entitled ‘A letter from the archbishops: the Church of Ireland and the dogma of the Assumption, 1950’ and this will be followed by a research paper from the Revd Patricia Hanna on ‘James Henthorn Todd: the Oxford Movement and Irish Antiquities, 1830-45’. Todd was Professor of Hebrew and Librarian in TCD.
After lunch Professor David Hayton, Head of the Department of History in Queen’s University, will speak about the effect of Irish parliamentary legislation in the Church of Ireland in the 18th century. The final presentation will be from the Dean of St Patrick’s, Dr Robert MacCarthy who will give a research paper on J.H. Bernard, successively Dean of St Patrick’s, Bishop of Ossory, Archbishop of Dublin and finally Provost of Trinity College from 1919 until 1927.
Queries relating to the Church of Ireland Historical Society may be addressed to the Honorary Secretary, the Revd Professor Adrian Empey via email.
Today (Saturday) the second lecture to mark the pioneering work of Canon Dick McDonald in counselling, clerical formation and spiritual direction will be given in St George’s Church, Belfast at 3 pm. Canon Martyn Percy, principal of Ripon College, Cuddeston, will speak on ‘Strong feelings in a polite church: leadership and emotional intelligence in congregations’ and the lecture will be chaired by the Bishop of Connor.
Tomorrow (Sunday) the annual Dublin Citizenship Service, which now alternates between Christ Church and the Pro-Cathedral, will be held in Christ Church at 3.30 pm. The preacher will be Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.
On Monday the Tuam, Killala and Achonry Clerical Conference begins in Pontoon and continues until Wednesday, while in St Mary’s Cathedral, Tuam, there will be a concert by William Dowdall (flute), Andreja Malif (harp) and David Adams (piano).
A new theological initiative begins on Monday and continues on Tuesday when there will be the first theological lectures organized by the Church of Ireland at the University of Ulster (Jordanstown & Belfast). At 7.30 pm each evening in the University of Ulster, York Street, the Revd Professor Gerald Bray will speak on ‘The Authority of Scripture’. Dr Bray, who is Director of Research for the Latimer Trust, London, and Research Professor of Samford Universiry, Birmingham, Alabama, is well known for books such as The doctrine of God and Creeds, councils and Christ and for his seminal work on the Anglican canons and on the records of convocation.
A more familiar initiative re-surfaces next Tuesday with a new series of lunchtime history lectures in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. Organized by Stuart Kinsella this series will deal with priors, deans and bishops. The first lecture will be by Dr Barra Boydell, NUI_Maynooth, who will speak on Prior David Winchester and the foundation of the choir school.
The autumn session of the Centre for Christian Studies in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork, begins on Wednesday evening. The theme of the session is ‘New Ireland – Old Church’ and the initial lecture will be by Professor Joseph Ruane, from the Sociology Department in UCC, who will speak on ‘What is new – and what is old – in New Ireland?’.