Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from The Irish Times
Saturday 26 November 2005
Advent
Tomorrow (Sunday) is the beginning of the Church?s year when the season of Advent provides a four week period of preparation for the coming of Christ at Christmas. The Advent season is traditionally heralded by candlelight services of carols in parish churches and cathedrals throughout the country. In the Dublin cathedrals of Christ Church and St Patrick?s and in others such as St Anne?s Belfast, and St Fin Barre?s, Cork, Evensong is the favoured time for such services. By mid afternoon the light is fading and the atmosphere which candlelight and choral music creates in a large resonant building can be very special. In parish churches smaller and more intimate gatherings at 6 or 8 pm are more common. At 8 pm in St Mary?s Church, Athlone, Linda Chambers from USPG will speak at a Service of Hymns and Readings for Advent while in the Lady Chapel of St Patrick?s Cathedral, Dublin, at the same time, the Gaudette Singers will give a concert of seasonal music to celebrate Advent and St Cecilia?s Day.
Today (Saturday) the lunchtime recital, in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, will be given by Ashling Kenny (soprano) and Judith Gannon ((piano), both members of the Cathedral Choir. In St George?s Church, Belfast, the AGM of Affirming Catholicism Ireland will be held and will be followed by a public lecture at 2 pm when the Revd Timothy Kinahan, Rector of Gilnahirk, will speak on ?My Work in Ethiopia? In St John?s Church, Laragh, the Dublin and Glendalough lay readers will have a Quiet Day at which the Archbishop of Dublin will celebrate the Eucharist.
The 50th anniversary of the Church of the Resurrection, which is the Church of Ireland?s chaplaincy church in Queen?s University, Belfast, will be marked by a special service tomorrow (Sunday) morning . The preacher will be the Bishop of Down & Dromore who is a former Chaplain at the Church of Ireland Student Centre in Queen?s. In the Chapel of Trinity College, Dublin, the preacher at the Sung Eucharist will be the Roman Catholic Chaplain, the Revd Kieran Dunne.
On Monday the Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Revd David Stancliffe will begin a visit to the Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross where, on Tuesday, he will lead a continuing ministerial education day for the clergy on the subject of baptism.
On Tuesday the final lunchtime history lecture in the series on ?Aspects of Dublin Parish Life? will be given in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. The speaker will be Dr Martin Maguire from Dundalk IT and his topic will be ?Class and the Dynamics of Social Status in Dublin Parishes in the 20th Century?. In Bea House, Milltown Park, Dublin, the AGM of the Friends of Sabeel (Ireland), which supports Christian work in the Holy Land, will be held at 8 pm when the guest speaker will be Sr Celine Mangan OP.
A Christmas Flower Festival, entitled ?Jubilate? will begin in Rathfarnham parish church on Thursday and continue until the following Sunday and in association with the Flower Festival there will be an Art Exhibition and Craft Fair in Rathfarnham Castle. The proceeds will be divided between Our Lady?s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin and the Church Roof Fund.
The Parish Development Working Group, chaired by the Revd Paul Hoey, has begun work on a new project called ?Church 21? which will culminate in a three day seminar next September in Dublin. In pursuit of this they have launched a new website which may be viewed at www.church21.info.