Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from The Irish Times
Saturday 22 October 2005
Search Celebrates Women Priests
The autumn edition of the Church of Ireland journal, Search, edited by the Revd Dr Ginnie Kennerley, has appeared. This is a special issue marking fifteen years of women?s priesthood in the Church of Ireland with most of the articles addressing aspects of the priestly ministry of women in the church worldwide.
There are now 87 women clergy in the Church of Ireland (not including five deacons ordained this year), 50 of whom are in the stipendiary ministry and they now account for one quarter of the clergy ordained in the Church of Ireland since 1987. Many are now rectors and one is a dean but a woman has yet to be elected as a bishop. In this, the Church of Ireland is midway between the USA, Canada and New Zealand, all of which have elected women as diocesan bishops, and the Church of England, which is still in conflict over the issue.
Articles from the Rt Revd Victoria Matthews, Bishop of Edmonton, and Canon Lucy Winkett, Precentor of St Paul?s, explain the situation in Canada and England; the Revd Jean Mayland, formerly of CTBI, provides a valuable historical and ecumenical perspective; and from the USA?s deep south, Katie Sherrod, show that not all parts of ECUSA are as progressive as we might imagine.
Nearer to home, articles by the Revd Bernie Daly, the Revd Grace Cluny and Canon Desmond McCreery consider aspects of women?s ministry in the Church of Ireland while the Revd Darren McCallig reflects on some of the continuing problems.
Full details of the contents of this and other issues of Search may be had at www.searchjournal.ireland.anglican.org.
Today (Saturday) and tomorrow (Sunday) the Bishop of Clogher will be participating in the second phase of consultation with the German Protestant Churches under the Leuenberg Agreement, and on his return on Monday he will institute the Revd Brian Kerr to the incumbency of Lisbellaw.
Tomorrow (Sunday) morning the Bishop of Cashel and Ossory will preside at the Wexford Festival Service in St Iberius? Church where the music will be provided by the Palestrina Choir. In the evening, at 5 pm, in St Maelruain?s Church, Tallaght, there will be a Discovery Service of African worship with an Indian flavour. The Discovery Gospel Choir will lead the music and there will be an opportunity to meet the new Nigerian curate, the Revd Obinna Ulogwara.
On Monday, at 7.45 pm, in the Theological College, there will be an evening of debate and discussion on the topic ?Christian and Homosexual? which has been organized by the Catalyst group. Mr Dermot O?Callaghan and Dr Linda Hogan will speak and all are welcome.
On Wednesday evening the Bishop of Cashel and Ossory will institute the Revd Olivia Williams to the incumbency of the Carlow group of parishes while on Friday evening, in Holy Trinity Church, Portrush, the Bishop of Connor will institute the Revd Peter McDowell as Rector of Ballywillan.
The final talk in the ?I Believe? lunchtime series will be held in St George and St Thomas, Church, Dublin, on Thursday when the speaker will be Jane McKenna from the Laura Lyn Hospice. In Church of Ireland House, Belfast, at lunchtime the Church in Society Committee will launch Go and Do Likewise a resource booklet on community outreach which has been produced by the Social Justice and Theology Group (NI) chaired by Canon David McClay. Published by Church of Ireland Publishing, the booklet will be available from the Good Bookshop in Belfast and the Resource Centre in Dublin.