Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’
Saturday 10 September 2001
Hymn Society Festival in Belfast
Today (Saturday) week, 17 September, St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast, will host a Festival of Hymns to mark the 75th anniversary of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland. The hymns will be introduced by the Revd Christopher Idle, the conductor will be John Barnard and the organist will be Donald Davison, Director of Music in St John’s Malone.
There will be other familiar figures from the Church of Ireland involved. Bishop Edward Darling is the Executive Director of the Hymn Society. One of his hymns Hear us, Heal us, Heal us will be sung during the festival which will also include compositions by Donald Davison and Harry Grindle. Among those leading the intercessions will be Canon John McKegney, Rector of St Mark’s, Armagh, Emma Gibbons, Director of Music in St George’s Belfast, and Michael McCracken, Director of Music in Down Cathedral.
The festival, which will begin at 4.30pm, will be preceded by a choral workshop for participating choirs – some 600 voices from 52 local choirs. The event is open to all who wish to attend.
The Hymn Society, founded in 1936, is an ecumenical, inter–denominational and fully inclusive organization. Membership is open to anyone who has an interest in hymns and there are currently some 500 members world wide. The Society encourages study and research in hymnody, promotes good standards in hymn singing, encourages the discerning use of hymns and songs in worship and sponsors relevant publications. It issues a quarterly Bulletin and publishes occasional papers while the annual three day conference each July provides an opportunity to meet leading figures in the world of hymnody.
The Belfast Festival is one of twenty–one local festivals in Britain and Ireland organized this year, in association with the Royal School of Church Music, to mark the Society’s 75h anniversary.
Tomorrow (Sunday), until Tuesday, the Archbishop of Armagh and the Bishop of Meath & Kildare will be in Germany for the Inter–Faith Meeting in Munich under the auspices of the Sant’ Egidio Community. This includes a pilgrimage to, and inter–faith ceremony within the Dachau Concentration Camp. In Castleventry the Bishop of Cork will preside and the Bishop of Derry & Raphoe will preach at a service to mark the 150th anniversary of the parish church. At 3.30pm in Farahy Church, Co. Cork, the annual Elizabeth Bowen Commemoration will be held. The service will be conducted by the Dean of St Patrick’s, Dr Robert MacCarthy, and the address will be given by Irish Times columnist, Mary Leland.
On Monday the Archbishop of Dublin will open the new ‘Jackson Building’ at Monaghan Collegiate School and on Wednesday he will be in the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin where, where, with Archbishop Martin, he will launch the St Patrick Confessio Hypertext Stack. On Thursday evening Archbishop Jackson will preach at the Diocesan Mothers’ Union Service in Zion Parish Church where, in 1986, he began his ministry as curate of the then Archdeacon of Dublin, the Ven. Roy Warke, later Bishop of Cork.
On Tuesday in Taney Parish Centre at the Dublin and Glendalough Retired Fellowship, the archbishop, the Most Revd Michael Jackson, will talk on the theme “My vision for the diocese.”
On Wednesday evening in St Macartin’s Cathedral Hall, Enniskillen, there will be a Church Missionary Society Ireland Diocesan Evening. The speaker will be the new CMSI Mission Director, Ronnie Briggs. The Bishop of Cork will take part in an ecumenical Service to mark the opening of the Annual Congress of the Irish Vocational Education Association in Cork and on Thursday he will give the presidential address at the Congress.