Irish Times Notes26 Nov 16

Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’

Archbishop of Jerusalem Visit

Next Thursday the Archbishop of Jerusalem, the Most Revd Suheil Dawani, his wife Shafeequa, and his chaplain, Canon David Long, will begin a visit to the dioceses of Dublin & Glendalough. This visit is part of the Jerusalem link partnership between the dioceses. A programme has been designed by the Diocesan Council for Mission and people from all over the dioceses are encouraged to attend.

One of the highlights of the week will be an ecumenical service in Christ Church Cathedral at 5.00 pm on Saturday 3 December. Bishop Hovakim Manukyan, Primate of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church of the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland will attend and both he and Archbishop Suheil will give reflections. This service is also supported by Dublin Council of Churches. The service will be followed by walk to Khachkar, a memorial to those who died in the Armenian Genocide which started in 1915, in the cathedral grounds.

One of the key events will be a seminar in the Church of St John the Baptist, Seafield Road, Clontarf, on Monday December 5 at 7.30 pm. ‘Christians in the Middle East: their plight, and the challenge for the West’ will feature a panel discussion followed by questions and comments from the floor. The panel members will be: Archbishop Suheil, Fr Canon Kieran O’Mahony (Roman Catholic, Ecumenical Canon of St Patrick’s Cathedral), Georgina Copty (a Palestinian Christian living in Belfast) and the Revd Dr John Parkin (Methodist, Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel). The moderators will be Philip McKinley and the Revd Dr William Olhausen.

This weekend in St Laserian’s cathedral, Old Leighlin, the Bishop of Cashel, Ferns & Ossory will preside at the Advent Eucharist which will also incorporate the commissioning of new lay readers for Cashel, Ferns and Ossory. The new Readers have recently completed the Certificate in Christian Studies which is run in conjunction with St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, under the direction of the Very Revd Tom Gordon, Diocesan Director of Education. The course is one of two training programmes recognised by the House of Bishops. This year’s graduates include participants from the dioceses of Limerick, Cork and Meath and Kildare in addition to those of Cashel, Ferns and Ossory. This week also sees the commencement of the new intake for the fourth cycle of the programme. The awards on Advent Sunday will be conferred by the Revd Dr Michael Shorthall, the Director of Affiliated Programmes at St Patrick’s College.

In St Patrick’s cathedral, Killala, tomorrow (Sunday) in the context of the Diocesan Advent Carol Service the Revd Andrea Willis and the Revd Stan Evans will be installed as canons and the Revd Jennifer McWhirter will be introduced as Priest–in–Charge of the Killala union of parishes. 

Elsewhere, among many services to mark the beginning of Advent, there will be Advent Processions in Christ Church and St Patrick’s cathedrals, Dublin, tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon, an Advent Carol Service in St George’s church, Belfast, at 5pm and a candlelight Advent Carol Service in St Mary’s cathedral, Limerick, at 7pm.

On Tuesday evening in the RCB Library the seventh booklet in the Braemor Studies series will be launched by the Bishop of Limerick, Killaloe & Ardfert. Let Us Celebrate the Feast: Holy Communion and Building the Community has been written by the Revd Abigail Sines who is Dean’s Vicar in Christ Church cathedral, Dublin. The Braemor Studies series is published by Church of Ireland Publishing (www.cip.ireland.anglican.org) in association with the Church of Ireland Theological Institute.