Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland notes from 'The Irish Times'
Saturday 22 November 2008
New Book on the Psalms
This morning at 11am in St Ann’s Church, Dawson Street, Dublin, the Bishop of Meath & Kildare, Dr Richard Clarke, will launch Singing the Psalms and at the launch some of the psalms will be sung by members of the choir of St Brigid’s church, Stillorgan. This new resource, which has been published for the Liturgical Advisory Committee of the General Synod by Columba Press for use within the worship in the Church of Ireland, includes all the psalms contained within the Revised Common Lectionary.
The response in each case is a verse (or part of a verse) chosen from within the psalm of the day, sung in unison and interspersed with pairs of verses set to simple chant - basically, a note which is held until the end of each line, when it changes to another note (hence slightly simpler than Anglican chant). The chant may be sung by a cantor, choir, or indeed congregation, with everyone joining in the response. Only the musicians need the music: the congregation follows the text of the Psalter in the Book of Common Prayer.
The composers are Alison Cadden and the Revd Peter Thompson who are both members of the Liturgical Advisory Committee. Alison is a music teacher in Portadown, while Peter is Rector of St Michael’s, Castlecaulfield, in the Diocese of Armagh. Their hope is that the passion expressed in the poetry of the Psalms will be enhanced by the music in Singing Psalms.
Today (Saturday) there will be an Arts & Crafts Exhibition in the St Ann’s Parish Centre, Schoolhouse Lane, Molesworth Street, Dublin, from 2.00 pm to 6.30 pm.
Tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon the Annual Church of Ireland Mens Society Service will be held in Cloughfern parish church, Belfast, at 3.30pm while in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, at Evensong, there will be a commemoration for those who lost their lives on Irish ships, 1939-45.
In Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, at 3.30pm there will be celebration of the Eucharist to mark the 175th anniversary of the Oxford Movement. The celebrant will be the Archbishop of Dublin and the preacher will be Canon Hugh Wybrew, former Vicar of St Mary Magdalene, Oxford. The Oxford Movement, which is deemed to have begun with John Keble’s sermon on ‘National Apostasy’ in Oxford in 1833, sought to restore the high church ideals of the seventeenth century. It is particularly associated with restoring the ceremonial elements of worship in the Church of England, emphasizing the dignity and responsibility of ministry especially among the most disadvantaged, and renewing an interest in religious community life. The classic account of these developments is S.L. Ollard’s A Short History of the Oxford Movement.
The Dublin Council of Churches has organized its annual Walk of Light for tomorrow (Sunday) beginning at 4.30pm at Adelaide Road Presbyterian Church and finishing at St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, Haddington Road. All are welcome to join local Dublin churches in this preparation for Advent. Among the participating congregations in this ecumenical event will be those of St Ann, St Stephen and St Bartholomew.
A series of Advent talks on the theme of ‘Rough Justice?’ organized by the parish of Drumcondra, North Strand and St Barnabas, Dublin, where the rector is the Revd Roy Byrne, begins nest Wednesday. The first speaker will be Alice Leahy from Trust who will consider the ministry to the homeless. The talks will be held in North Strand School which is behind North Strand Church.