Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’
Saturday 7 March 2015
Lenten Activity
The season of Lent continues and is marked in various and imaginative ways in different parts of the Church of Ireland.
In Belfast, St Anne’s cathedral is providing space each Wednesday for personal study and quiet reflection for serving and retired clergy and lay readers. The recently catalogued cathedral library provides a comfortable space for study, space for quiet and private prayer is available and for those who wish it spiritual direction will be available by arrangement. Visitors are invited to come for Holy Communion at 8.30am in the Chapel of Unity, and leave after Choral Evensong at 6.15pm. To register, contact Marie Devlin at 028 9032 8332 or at [email protected].
In St Patrick’s cathedral, Dublin, music is to the fore with a series of choral evensongs with ‘a sermon in music’ each Sunday afternoon at 3.15pm while in Christ Church cathedral, each Thursday evening the Dean is leading a Lent course on ‘Same Sex Issues and the Bible’.
The Dunboyne and Rathmoylan group of parishes in Co. Meath is hosting a series of Lenten talks on the Bible and justice led by Dr Andrew Pierce from the Irish School of Ecumenics – next Wednesday Dr Pierce will address them topical issue of ‘Christianity and Sexuality’. Some parishes are involved in ecumenical ventures with, for example, the Church of Ireland, Roman Catholic and Presbyterian communities in Malahide and Portmarnock coming together each Wednesday evening to hear speakers from different traditions talk about their Christian experiences – next Wedneday the speaker in St Anne’s church, Portmarnock, will be Fr Damien MvNeice, the first Roman Catholic Chairman of the Dublin Council of Churches.
This weekend in the Church of Ireland Theological Institute there will be a study weekend for the part time MTh students and intern deacons. Dr Andrew Pierce and Dr Phil Groves, of the Anglican Communion Office, will lead a module on reconciliation studies and Canon Patrick Comerford will lead a module on church history. Dr Katie Hefflefinger will faciliate sessions on biblical exegisis.
Today (Saturday) the Bishop of Cork will host a Confirmation Morning in Douglas for all the young people of his diocese who are to be confirmed in 2015. In St Flannan’s cathedral, Killaloe, at 2.30pm the Rt Revd Kenneth Kearon will be enthroned as Bishop of Killaloe, Kilfenora, Clonfert and Kilmacduagh. The Church’s Ministry of Healing in Dublin & Glendalough will have a Quiet Day, led by the Ven.Sue Watterson, in the Mageough, Cowper Road, Rathmines, beginning at 10am, while in Christ Church cathedral, Dublin, the Third Order of St Francis will hold a Quiet Day beginning at noon. In St Peter’s church, Derry, the Fellowship ,of Contemplative Prayer will have a Quiet Day at which the witness will be Susan Dawson.
Tomorrow (Sunday) at Evensong in St Fin Barre’s cathedral, Cork, two new members of the chapter will be installed – Canon Paul Willoughby as Canon Treasurer and the Revd Trevor Lester as Prebendary of Dromdaleague and Kilnaglory.
In St Anne’s cathedral, Belfast on Monday evening there will be a commissioning service for a team from the Divine Healing Ministries who are going to work in Bolivia. The preacher at the service will be the Very Revd Raymond Ferguson of the South American Missionary Society.
On Wednesday the lunchtime recital in St Mary’s cathedral, Limerick will be given by leaving certificate students from Villiers school.
Notice is given of the AGM of the Church Education Society which will be held on 25 March in the Church of Ireland College of Education.
Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’