Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from 'The Irish Times'
Saturday 30 September 2006
Festival Weekend in St Nicholas?, Galway
The Collegiate Church of St Nicholas, Galway, is hosting a weekend festival of music and liturgy, designed to celebrate the history of the church, its current role in both parish and city, and its future as a spiritual and cultural epicentre for Galway. In particular, seven liturgies which use the building in new ways and a series of lecture and discussions will explore the potential of this most venerable of buildings.
This ( Saturday) morning, Prof Adrian Empey will discuss the role of the church in the medieval community, and in the afternoon, Dr Margaret Daly-Denton will explore the origins of the church?s principal liturgy, the Eucharist, and how they speak to us today. An open forum will then provide the opportunity to discuss ways in which the church ? both people and building ? may more fully realise the potential both possess for declaring the presence of God in the community.
Throughout the day, the discussion sessions will be interspersed with short sung services which have their origins in the monastic-style offices that once would have been sung daily in this church until the reformation. The services will be sung by a variety of groups, including the parish choir, an Irish language group led by Maire Ni Duibhir, and the chamber choir Resurgam. The day will conclude with Compline by Candlelight, sung by Resurgam at 9 pm.
Tomorrow (Sunday) morning, the Parish Eucharist will explore the various spaces of the church and incorporated within the liturgy will be the anniversary celebrations of the Galway Grammar School, including the dedication of a commemorative plaque. Evensong will be sung by a massed choir consisting of St Nicholas? choir, Galway Cathedral choir, Galway Baroque Singers, Cois Claddaigh, and Sunus, together bringing the weekend to a resounding close.
Today (Saturday) the Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough will hold a Lay Ministry Enquirer?s Day in the Theological College. In the afternoon, as part of the Ranelagh Arts Festival, there will be a tour of Sandford parish church, for which booking is required, followed, at 8 pm, by ?An Evening of Mozart?.
Tomorrow (Sunday) the Archbishop of Armagh will address the National Police Conference in Belfast while in Tipperary there will be an ecumenical service in St Mary?s Church for the Tipperary Remembrance Trust, led by the Dean of Cashel. In St George & St Thomas? Church, Dublin, the Ambassador of Lesotho will give the address at an African style Harvest Festival Service.
The annual New Law Term Service will be held in St Michan?s Church, Dublin, on Monday morning when the Archbishop of Dublin and the Dean of Christ Church will officiate and the preacher will be the Revd Dudley Levistone Cooney. Afterwards, Archbishop Neill will join his fellow bishops at the Slieve Russell Hotel, Co. Cavan, for a meeting of the Celtic Bishops? Conference which will continue until Thursday.
On Thursday a new series of lunchtime talks entitled ?I Believe..? will begin in St George & St Thomas? Church, Dublin, where the speaker will be Pat Lane from the Alone organization.
The 150th celebrations of the Church of Ireland Gazette will continue in All Hallows College, Dublin, on Friday with a conference on ?The Church, Society and the Media? followed by a dinner. In Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, the Revd Obinna Ulogwara, curate of Whitechurch, will preach at the Diocesan Service for Primary and Junior Schools while in Marlay House, the broadcaster, Brian Dobson, will open an Art Exhibition in aid of Whitechurch Church Restoration Fund.