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Archbishop Eames' tribute to Gazette at 150th anniversary service
The Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Revd Dr Robin Eames, today (Sunday 5 March) paid tribute to the Church of Ireland Gazette at a special anniversary service held in St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast.
The service, held to commemorate 150 years of the church newspaper, was attended by many people associated with the work of the Gazette from parishes and dioceses right across Ireland.
In his address Dr Eames talked of the ways in which the life of the Church of Ireland is communicated. He reflected on the depth of history that the Gazette has covered in words and pictures over the last 150 years including the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland, the Great War, the Irish Free State, the Province of Northern Ireland, World War II and ‘the troubles’. And more recently the ordination of women, the development of relations with other churches and the ongoing debate on human sexuality.
The Archbishop also made particular reference to the fact that through all the years of reporting in the newspaper ‘diocesan and parish life continued to be the focus of its pages … In word and photograph the life of the Church of Ireland made it to the pages of the Gazette.’
Dr Eames acknowledged the contribution made by members of Gazette staff past and present, editors, contributors and columnists as well as all those involved with printing and distributing it on a weekly basis.
The full text of the Archbishop’s address can be found below.
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Address by Archbishop Robin Eames
The Church of Ireland Gazette 150th Anniversary Service
St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast
This service recognises in the presence of God a truly remarkable part of Church of Ireland history – one hundred and fifty years of the publication of a Church paper.
Today the Church of God is constantly reminded of the importance of communication. Rarely does a conference meet, a forum analyse the life of the Church or Church leaders pronounce on the mission of the Church without someone drawing attention to the vital nature of the world of communication. Recently an Anglican Communion document put it tersely: “we must communicate or die.� Not only is this a question of communicating the Christian message to a world which is already confused by contradictory life-styles, but within the Church itself we are more and more aware of the need for what St Paul talks of as “parts of the body� maintaining communication between its various limbs. So it is in the context of those two elements of communication that we reflect today on what is affectionately termed ‘The Gazette’ – the spread of the Christian Gospel and the need to communicate within the Body of Christ itself.
At least one of those privileges and responsibilities is represented by this extract from the Memorandum of the Church of Ireland Press:
“The object for which the company is established is to advance the Christian religion among the people of Ireland in accordance with the doctrines of the Church of Ireland by publication and distribution of a weekly Christian newspaper …�
A sub-paragraph states that the Company
“may provide information on Church of Ireland subjects by lectures, discussions, books, correspondence with public bodies and individuals or otherwise …�
For one and a half centuries of change, challenge, joy and sorrow for the members of our Church those current principles have been manifested first by The Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette and now by the Church of Ireland Gazette.
Number one of volume one of the Gazette in 1856 published at 8 Suffolk Street, Dublin, makes interesting reading. There we find such notices as :
- “Curacy with nomination wanted by an M.A., T.C.D., (married) who will be ready for Orders in June. No objections to Tutor’s duties near Dublin.�
- a candidate for a curacy included the words: “His Rector will recommend him with the greatest confidence as a working man.�
- Fifteen original sermons are offered by “an Eminent Divine of the Church of England.�
- “Sermons on the Creed of Pope Pius the Fourth preached in St Thomas’s Church, Dublin, by the Rev John N Griffin, Minister of Harold’s-cross Church.�
Later the Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette was to claim in its Prospectus that “the want of some Paper solely devoted to the communication of Ecclesiastical Intelligence, has long been felt in this country.�
Those early issues provide a delightful glimpse of a Church of Ireland in an Ireland of respectability, establishment principles and on the surface at peace with itself. On 25 March 1856 the editorial had little doubt as to its purpose:
“We have long felt it desirable that there should be some means of making the Clergy in Ireland acquainted with all that is going on in the Ecclesiastical world…�
Today as we celebrate all those years of publication we find in the pages of the Gazette a colourful picture of a Church which together with the island people it has served passing through its own revolution.
The rising tensions of the great debate leading to what was termed the answer to ‘the Irish problem’, disestablishment in the 1870’s were covered in articles which when read today were a strange mixture of ‘conservative indignation.’ The consequences of the 1869 Irish Church Act and perhaps the greatest single act of faith in Church of Ireland history, the courageous decision to trust in their future through clergy support for what was to become the Representative Church Body, Synodical government and all the functions of a disestablished Church are reflected in articles. Early in disestablishment days the decision to move from a monthly to a weekly publication was taken. In 1900 the Church of Ireland Gazette replaced the Ecclesiastical Gazette of 1856 and since then each week it has sought to be that ‘weekly Christian newspaper’ that I mentioned at the beginning. It was that publication which was to record the Great War, the establishment of the Irish Free State, the Province of Northern Ireland, a troubled Ireland, a Church attempting to maintain its autonomy in those uneasy years of inter-Church relations and for the Church of Ireland the questions posed for Irish Anglican witness poised between the presence of Presbyterianism and Roman Catholicism, each coming to terms with independence which were not determined by ecclesiastical niceties alone. The second world war and years of a suffering Ireland through ‘the Troubles’ provided the Gazette with vivid Church and domestic word pictures. Yet through it all diocesan and parish life continued to be the focus of its pages. As one commentator has expressed it: “parish life was one of the most consistent indications of normality of Irish life.�
Within our lifetime other things were taking place in the Church and the Gazette portrayed the pros and cons: the ordination of women in the Church of Ireland and the on-going sexuality debate within world Anglicanism. In word and photograph the life of the Church of Ireland made it to the pages of the ‘Gazette’.
How well we remember the more recent Editors: Gilbert Wilson, Andy Willis, Houston McKelvey, Cecil Cooper, Ian Ellis. The backroom staff who devoted long hours to produce a weekly. The printers and the many distributors.
On 4 October another landmark was reached when the Gazette covered the ratification of the Church of Ireland – Methodist Church Covenant in full colour.
The contents of the paper have been a reflection of much which has produced the Church of Ireland of 2006. Its editorials are often quoted in the secular media, strong views are represented in its letter columns, part of it are now available on the internet, reasonably priced advertisements are widely used and clerical appointments appear alongside comment columns which encourage debate.
Then there are the regular contributors. No description of the Gazette would be complete without mention of Cromlyn who for over 50 years has chided us, complained to us, complimented us and shared memories of the parish ministry – all in equal amount. I know Canon Barry and ‘Flossie’ will forgive me when I say we all find his words thought-provoking even when they cause us to ponder. How he maintains such a standard of integrity each week is truly remarkable. Of recent years he has been joined by a team of regular writers who themselves reflect the diversity of this Church.
I know it continues to be a disappointment that the circulation figures of the Gazette leave much to be desired. There are many reasons for this not least the increasing number of parish and diocesan magazines. When we recall that the Gazette covers such a wide tapestry of Church life across Ireland each week there should not be a case for such substitution or competition. Reasonably costed and faithfully available I believe it should be for all of the Church of Ireland what it is for those who receive it at present – essential reading.
Undoubtedly there are immense demands on any editorial staff of a weekly production. We must admire and applaud the consistency of standard and wide coverage of our Church activities each week. Lately the series of articles on particular dioceses have been greatly welcomed. But the staff rely so heavily on the submission of information, photographs and details that I can well imagine the official response to complaints that something was omitted – “well, did you send anything in?�
There are many ways to categorise the life of the Church of Ireland. In my involvements in other parts of the Anglican Communion I have often been reminded of the inherent values of the Church of Ireland as ‘a family’. Our numerical size, our ethos and the nature of our relationships have underlined the family characteristic of this Church. As in any family we have our disagreements, our different opinions, our diversity of outlook. The parish remains the bedrock of our life. For 150 years that diversity and that consistency of the parish and the diocese shine out from the pages of our own paper. Long may it maintain its independent right to make us think, to make us face up to change – but above all, to keep us informed of what each other thinks and what each other is doing.
Left to right: Revd Clifford Skillen, Revd Canon Dr Ian Ellis, Revd Shane Forster, Most Revd Dr Robin Eames, Very Revd Houston McKelvey and Archdeacon Raymond Hoey at the Gazette 150th anniversary service in St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast.