Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from 'The Irish Times'
Clogher Pilgrimage to the Holy Land
The Diocese of Clogher has developed a reputation for interesting and meaningful pilgrimages. There have been visits the Holy Land on three occasions in less than eighteen months and every pilgrimage has been over subscribed. The fourth pilgrimage, this time to Jordan, will begin tomorrow (Sunday) and continue until 8 November. It will offer an opportunity of a lifetime to explore the world of the Old Testament and of John the Baptist. Spiritually the desert will provide the personal and corporate space to prepare for Advent and Christmas.
Among the sites which the pilgrims will visit will be the city of Gardara, the location of the miracle of the Gadarene swine, the Old Testament Kingdom of the Ammonites, the rose red city of Petra and Lot’s Cave. It is hoped that through the good offices of the Revd Cameron MacDonald, from the Mission to Seafarers at the port of Aquaba, there will be a boat trip on the Red Sea. There will also be a visit to Mount Nebo from where Moses glimpsed the promised land and to Mukawir/Machaerus where John the Baptist was beheaded.
Christians comprise only six per cent of the population of Jordan and as well as Anglicans, under the Bishop of Jerusalem, there are Latin and Greek orthodox communities.
The pilgrimage will be led by the Bishop of Clogher, Dr Michael Jackson, and the Revd Glen West, Rector of Derryvullen North, and the Revd David Skuse, Rector of Maguiresbridge.
Monday is All Saints’ Day. In Dublin, All Saints’ Church, Grangegorman, will mark its patronal festival with a Choral Eucharist at 8pm. The celebrant will be the vicar, the Ven. David Pierpoint, and the preacher will be the Archbishop of Dublin.
On Tuesday congregations from the five denominations in the greater Leeson Street area have been invited to a short ecumenical midday prayer which will take place at 1pm in St. Finian's Lutheran Church in Adelaide Road. It is hoped that this will become a monthly event open to all who work in the area or happen to pass through at this time. There will be the opportunity to share lunch together afterwards in the adjoining "Lutherhaus" at 24, Adelaide Road. The prayer will be conducted by Sr. Nora Downey of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Haddington Road.
The next lunchtime lecture in St Bartholomew’s Church, Stranmillis Road, Belfast, will be given on Wednesday by the rector, the Dr Ron Elsdon. ‘Is there anyone there? Theological musings on the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence’ will review reasons for the assertions among astronomers, biologists and others that life does not exist elsewhere in the universe.The lecture will also consider how likely it is that contact can be made with other civilizations and what implications there might be for a belief in God.
Next Wednesday the Tuam, Killala and Achonry Clergy Conference will begin in Glenstal Abbey and continue until Friday. In Dublin the AGM of the APCK will be held in Church of Ireland House. The Archbishop of Dublin will, with other Christian Church leaders, visit the Islamic Cultural Centre and in the evening he will celebrate the Eucharist in the Chapel of the Church of Ireland Theological Institute and commission students.
On Friday the Archbishop of Dublin will officiate at the dedication and opening of a new extension to Castleknock National School. A service in St Brigid’s parish church will precede the opening.