Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’
Ordinations to the Diaconate
Next week there will be ordinations to the diaconate in Belfast and Raphoe when six ordinands will be made deacons intern and assigned to parishes to combine their studies with practical experience.
Tomorrow (Sunday) in St Anne’s cathedral, Belfast, the Bishop of Connor will ordain Dannielle McCullagh to serve in the parish of Mallusk and Chris St John to serve in Woodburn. The Bishop of Derry & Raphoe will preside at an ordination service in St Eunan’s cathedral, Raphoe, where he will make four deacons – Nigel Cairns for the Raphoe Cathedral group of parishes, Liz Fitzgerald for Donagheady, Rhys Jones for Castledawson and Robert Wray for Londonderry.
Today (Saturday) the Music in Monkstown Festival continues in in John Semple’s idiosyncratic parish church with ‘Operatic Heroines’, presented by soprano Mairead Buckley at 3.30pm, and a recital by the Navarra Quartet at 7.30pm. Tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon at 3.30pm there will be baroque music from Conor Hastings and his group, Kitchen Zink.
Tomorrow (Sunday) the annual Elizabeth Bowen commemoration will take place in St Colman’s church, Farahy, near Mitchelstown at 3.30pm. The service of Evening Prayer will be conducted by the Revd Dr Robert MacCarthy and the preacher will be Bishop Richard Henderson. In Co. Tyrone the 200th anniversary of St Mark’s church, Newtownsaville, will be marked by a special service at 3pm at which the preacher will be the Bishop of Clogher. A series of chorale fantasies, to mark the centenary of the death of the German composer and organist, Max Reger, will begin in St Patrick’s cathedral, Dublin, at 8pm. The works will be played on the cathedral’s 1902 Willis organ by David Leigh, the assistant organist in St Patrick’s, and admission will be free.
The annual conference of the Irish College of Preachers begins in the Church of Ireland Theological Institute next Wednesday and continues until Friday. The guest speaker will be the Ven. David Huss who is Rector of the Donegal group of parishes and Archdeacon of Raphoe. In Templemartin, Co. Cork, ‘Music for St Martin’ will tell the story of the patron saint of the parish church through words and music with Colin Nicholls (organ), Eithne Willis (violin) and a vocal quartet. The performance will begin at 8pm and there will be a retiring collection in aid of parish funds.
On Thursday evening the Archbishop of Dublin will preside at at Mothers’ Union Service in Dunlavin where the preacher will be the Revd Neal O’Raw.
Friday brings the annual Culture Night extravaganza when Church of Ireland cathedrals and churches are routinely crammed with those who have passed by them on a regular basis but have never been sufficiently bold or curious to enter them, while in some there will be special events. For example in Christ Church cathedral, Dublin, from 6 until 9pm there will be guided tours, storytelling for children, recitals by the organ scholar and the cathedral choir, a silent movie screening with musical accompaniment and at 8.30pm a recital by New Dublin Voices – details at www.christchurchdublin.ie.
Meanwhile St Patrick’s cathedral will be open from 7 until 10pm with Choral Evensong sung by the Cathedral Choir at 5.30pm and a concert of sacred and secular songs by the Cathedral Choristers at 6.30pm – details at www.stpatrickscathedral.ie. There will also be a rare opportunity to visit St Werburgh’s church, beside Dublin Castle, where between 6 and 9pm there will be musical performances by the staff & students of the DIT Conservatory and the choir of the Christ Church Cathedral group of parishes.
Published in the Friday edition of The Irish Times