Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from The Irish Times
Retirement of Dean of Christ Church
Tuesday is the Feast of the Epiphany when, as is customary, there will be a Sung Eucharist in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, at 6.00 pm. However, this will be a particularly special celebration for it will be the last time when the the Very Revd John Paterson will officiate as Dean of Christ Church. After the service he will retire from the stipendiary ministry.
John Paterson was ordained for his home diocese, Armagh, in 1963, and served as curate of Drumglass, Dungannon until 1965: thereafter his clerical career was in the Province of Dublin. He served a second curacy in St Bartholomew?s, Dublin and in 1968 became Assistant Dean of Residence in Trinity College, Dublin. This post he combined with being curate-in-charge of St Mark?s parish and he conducted the final service in the parish church in Pearse Street on 31 May 1971. The parish is memorialized in Saint Mark?s: the history of a Dublin parish which he wrote in collaboration with the now Dean of St Patrick?s, Dr Robert MacCarthy.
In 1972 John Paterson returned to St Bartholomew?s as incumbent. The parish had a strong tradition of catholic liturgy and good music both of which were central to the new incumbent?s ministry. Eight years in St Bart?s were followed by eleven as Dean of Kildare where, with fewer resources, he contrived to be innovative. During the Kildare years he began his annual pilgrimages to the deans and provosts conferences in Britain which broadened his range of contacts and extended his liturgical horizons. Time was found also to publish, in 1981, Meath and Kildare: an historical guide.
In 1989 Dean Paterson was appointed as Dean of Christ Church, Dublin, the area of responsibility for which he is best known and from which he has been prised away only through ill health. Under his leadership Christ Church has developed as the Church of Ireland?s centre of liturgical excellence: the Cathedral Choir has been augmented by a Girls? Choir and there are more sung services than before, feast days have become splendid occasions replete with high quality music and wonderful liturgical innovation, while civic and other major public events have been meticulously planned and expertly effected. For many it has been the great occasions when the vision, care and thoughtfulness of John Paterson have been on show, However, it has been the regular cathedral congregation who have experienced that other facet of his ministry - his peerlessness as a celebrant of the eucharist. His presence at the altar is characterised not by strangled vowels, over elocuted diction or theatricality but by his softly modulated northern accent, careful phrasing and perfect pace which invest the words of man with the spirit of God.
He is, of course, much more than a liturgist and celebrant. He has been a most active cathedral administrator under whose leadership much has happened - the restoration of the crypt and establishment of the Treasury exhibition, innovative use of space to create more office accommodation, the publication of a new cathedral history, the design and acquisition of stylish new chairs for the nave, and much, much more. He has been an Honorary Secretary of the General Synod and has served on many committees including the Liturgical Advisory Committee, and the Central Communication Board. He is, too, an accomplished organist, but with little time to play, and an inveterate collector of books with, perhaps, not enough time to read. And, lest we forget, he is the only Church of Ireland cleric who has had a heart transplant!
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