Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from 'The Irish Times'
Saturday 22 January 2011
Retirement of the Archbishop of Dublin
Next Tuesday evening at 6pm the Archbishop of Dublin will celebrate the Eucharist in Christ Church Cathedral to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of his consecration, and this will be followed by a presentation to Dr Neill to mark his retirement which takes effect from 31 January.
Dr Neill has been Archbishop of Dublin since 2002 and his tenure has been marked by a cheerful willingness to accept the responsibilities of high office and the heavy workload which accompanies such a position. As the second most senior churchman in the Church of Ireland, the leading spokesman for the Church in the Republic of Ireland and a significant figure in the Anglican Communion there have been many calls on his time and talents. Yet the more particular needs of the diocese have always been a prominent part of his ministry and he is a familiar figure in the parishes, schools and colleges and on the committees and councils of the wide range of voluntary organizations which support the Church of Ireland communities in Dublin and Glendalough.
He will retire to familiar territory in Co. Kilkenny having previously been Bishop of Cashel and Ossory and at the beginning of his ministry, Bishop’s Vicar in Kilkenny. The fourth generation of his family to be ordained in the Church of Ireland, the line continues with his son, Canon Stephen Neill, who is Rector of Cloughjordan.
Just as the Archbishop of Dublin is retiring to a familiar rural setting so too the Bishop of Tuam, Dr Richard Henderson, is returning to home ground in England. His resignation as Bishop of Tuam also takes effect on the 31 January and thereafter he will be an Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Carlisle and Team Vicar of the heart of Eden Ministry in Cumbria. Dr Henderson’s ministry in the Church of Ireland has been largely rural, in west Cork, as a rector and dean, and in the west of Ireland as Bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry.
Tomorrow (Sunday) morning RTE will televise a Choral Eucharist sung by the Chapel Choir of Trinity College, Dublin, at which the preacher will be the Church of Ireland Chaplain, the Revd Darren McCallig. In Lisburn, Co. Antrim, the Archbishop of Armagh will preach at a Service of Rehallowing and Thanksgiving in St Mark’s Church, Ballymacash, which celebrates the completion of an extensive renovation of the church and parochial hall that began last July.
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity continues next week with a United Community Service in Christ Church, Taney, at 3.30pm, where the address will be given by Dr Margaret Daly-Denton. The Bishop of Down & Dromore will preach in First Bangor Presbyterian Church while in Monkstown parish church the Revd Professor Enda McDonagh will preach at a service of Evening Prayer at 7.30pm. On Monday evening at 8pm in the JM Synge Theatre in TCD there will be a lecture under the auspices of the ISE, Dublin Council of Chuches and the Lutheran Church in Ireland. Professor Martin Jung, University of Osnabrueck, will speak on on ‘Philip Melanchthon – Reformer between Humanism, Protestantism and Catholicism’.
On Tuesday the Standing Committee of the General Synod and the Executive Committee of the Representative Church Body will meet in Church of Ireland House, Dublin. Following the meeting of the Stranding Committee at 12.45pm there will be a Dublin launch for the recently published book, Edgar Turner at 90, a memoir by some friends, edited by Canon John Mann and published by Columba Press. Please click here for the Belfast launch.