Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from 'The Irish Times'
Saturday 9 February 2008
Changes in Religious Broadcasting
RTÉ has given advance notice of its intention to permanently close its medium wave transmitter on 24 March and it will relocate the Sunday morning broadcast religious services to its long wave frequency. RTÉ’s medium wave service has been broadcasting since 1926 and has become an established part of Irish life. However, the introduction of the more dynamic sound of FM, which was introduced in the 1970s, has led to a decline in the medium wave audience. Further details may be accessed in the Resources section of this website (www.ireland.anglican.org/resources )
Religious services from the different denominations are recorded live at various locations around the country and broadcast at 10 am on Sunday mornings. These broadcasts will be relocated to long wave 252. In addition RTÉ broadcasts a television service each Sunday morning, usually at 11.15 am, with Roman Catholic services on the first and third Sunday of the month and alternate Church of Ireland, Methodist and Presbyterian services on the other Sundays. The Revd Tom Gordon is the coordinator of religious programmes involving the protestant churches.
Diocesan Offices and Diocesan Communication Officers will have copies of RTÉ information sheets and laminated copies of the notice will be supplied to parishes this month.
Tomorrow (Sunday) RTÉ will broadcast a Parish Eucharist from St Mary’s Church, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, where the celebrant will be the curate of Lismore, the Revd Isobel Jackson, and the preacher the Very Revd Billy Beare, Dean of Lismore. Dungarvan is part of a group of parishes based on St Carthage’s Cathedral, Lismore.
Canon Patrick Comerford, Director of Spiritual Formation in the Church of Ireland Theological College, be the preacher in the Chapel of Trinity College, Dublin where at the Sung Eucharist at 10.45 am, he will speak on ‘Holy Irrelevant? Lent and Sin in an Age of Prosperity’. He is also to be interviewed by Martin O’Brien for a forthcoming Sunday Sequence, the popular BBC Radio Ulster programme which is broadcast each Sunday morning at 8.30. Canon Comerford will talk about his recent publication, Embracing difference. The Church of Ireland in a plural society which was produced under the auspices of the Social Justice and Theology Group (Republic of Ireland) of the Church in Society Committee. The booklet, which is being used in the Lenten study group in Whitechurch parish, Dublin, has been published by Church of Ireland Publishing and is available in the Resource Centre Bookshop, Holy Trinity Church, Church Avenue, Rathmines, Dublin 6 (email) and the Good Book Shop, 61-67 Donegall Street, Belfast BT1 2QH (email).
From Monday until Wednesday the Dublin and Glendalough Clergy Conference will be held. On Monday evening at 7.30 pm in the Comfort Inn, Antrim, the Bishop of Connor, the Rt Revd Alan Abernethy, will give another of his seminars on prayer in which he will pose the questions – How would you describe prayer? What is prayer? and Why pray?
On Tuesday there will be a lunchtime concert in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, by the choir and orchestra of St Benedict’s College, Colchester, while on Thursday Evensong at 6 pm will be sung by the Lichfield Cathedral Girls’ Choir.
An exhibition of silver from the Dublin city parishes continues in the Treasury in the crypt of Christ Church Cathedral. The work of some of Dublin’s leading silversmiths, such as Abel Ram, Thomas Bolton, David King and Joseph Walker, the pieces reflect the dynamic interaction of the liturgical life of the Church of Ireland with the vibrant cultural life of the city of Dublin. The Treasury is open from 10 am until 4.45 pm.