Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from 'The Irish Times'
Saturday 5 July 2008
Consecration of Bishop of Limerick
Last month Canon Trevor Williams was elected as Bishop of Limerick , Killaloe & Ardfert. Next Friday in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, he will be consecrated as a bishop by the Archbishop of Dublin and will subsequently be enthroned in the cathedrals of his diocese.
Canon Williams (59) was born in Dublin in 1948 and educated in St Andrew’s College, Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin and St John’s College Nottingham. He was ordained a deacon in 1974 and a priest the following year and first served as a curate in the Diocese of Oxford from 1974 to 1977. He moved to Ireland to become Assistant Chaplain to the Queen’s University of Belfast in 1978 before going on to work as Religious Broadcasting Producer with the BBC from 1981-1988. From 1988 to 1993 he served as Rector of Newcastle, Co Down. In 1993 he became leader of the Corrymeela Community, an ecumenical Christian group committed to promoting peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. He was appointed a Canon of St Patrick’s Cathedral in 2002. Since 2003 Canon Trevor Williams has been Rector of Holy Trinity and St Silas with Immanuel in North Belfast.
Canon Williams retains an active interest in working for reconciliation in Northern Ireland. He recently joined with four other protestant clergymen from North Belfast in urging the Northern Ireland Executive to put more resources into addressing sectarianism in its Programme for Government. In his spare time he enjoys sailing and car mechanics.
Today (Saturday) there will be a lunchtime recital by the choir of Christ’s College, Cambridge, in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, where tomorrow (Sunday) morning the Archbishop of Armagh will be the celebrant at the Eucharist which will be sung by the choir of Trinity College, Oxford.
Tomorrow (Sunday) morning during the Choral Eucharist in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork, the Revd John Ardis will be installed as Dean’s Vicar while in the afternoon in Templeconnor Church, Clonmacnoise, there will be a summer service at 4pm. A group from the Diocese of West Virginia will begin a visit to the Diocese of Tuam, Killala & Achonry which is its companion diocese.
On Tuesday and Wednesday Evensong in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, will be sung by the choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge.
The former Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, the Very Revd Desmond Harman will be remembered in a special memorial concert in the Cathedral on Thursday at 8pm. The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral and international tenor soloist James Gilchrist will join forces to perform the iconic twenty-first century oratorio, "A Cloud of Unknowing" by Francis Pott.
The piece uses a mosaic of texts in an expression of the human desire for war, juxtaposed with the image of the ultimate sacrifice of Christ on the cross. The centrepiece of the work is a setting of Psalm 23, which offers sanctuary from the rest of the composition. Grounded by double choir and intensified by the tenor soloist, against a thunderous and potent canvas of organ textures, this is a powerful work. Hailed by Classic FM Magazine as a “monumental, eloquent take on senseless violence and shameful hypocrisy [it] offers a shield to the spirit against those who would destroy it. Unmissable.”
To apply for a ticket, for which there is no charge, please contact the Administrative Assistant, Sarah Drumm: (Tel) 353 (0)1 677 8099, (Fax) 353 (0)1 679 8991, (email) Christ Church Cathedral.
For more information on “The Cloud of Unknowing” please see www.francispott.com/compositions