Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from 'The Irish Times'
Saturday 6 January 2007
Election of New Primate
Next Wednesday the House of Bishops will meet to elect a new Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland. The successful candidate, who will succeed Dr Robin Eames, will be the 66th Archbishop of Armagh following in that long line of succession begun by the election of Cellach (Celsus) on 23 September 1105.
The election process is governed by the Constitution of the Church of Ireland which requires that ?On the occurrence of a vacancy in the see of Armagh the House of Bishops shall meet and shall by a majority of the votes of those present and voting elect one of its members?. Rather like the papal election there is no provision for any eventuality other than an election by the bishops of one of their own number. Clearly, therefore, the next Archbishop of Armagh cannot be imported from elsewhere in the Anglican Communion and cannot be a woman.
The new Primate will also be, in effect, the Bishop of Armagh, but the election process deprives the Diocese of Armagh of a say in whom its new bishop will be. To some this is a valid criticism of the process and contrary to the proceedure in other parts of the Anglican Communion where the primacy is not linked to a particular bishopric. For others, however, the historic claims of Armagh to the primacy and the weight of tradition which accompanies them is an important part of the evolution of the Church of Ireland.
Tomorrow (Sunday) the Trinity College Chapel Choir will be in Riverstown as part of a short tour of Co. Roscommon. They will sing Matins in Riverstown parish church at the invitation of the rector, the Revd Arthur Barrett, and the College Chaplain, Dr Alan McCormack, will preach.
On Friday the Bishop of Cashel and Ossory will institute Canon Barbara Fryday to the Clonmel union of parishes in succession to Canon George Knowd who has retired. Canon Friday has been rector of Kilcooley, in the Diocese of Cashel, since 1996, Prebendary of Tascoffin in St Canice?s Cathedral, Kilkenny, since 2003, and is the co-ordinator of the diocesan link with the Diocese of Lund in Sweden.
Last Saturday in Lisburn Cathedral, the Revd Stephen Forde, Rector of Larne, was installed as Archdeacon of Dalriada in succession to the Very Revd Patrick Riooke who is now Dean of Armagh.
The Dublin and Glendalough Church Music Committee, which leads the way in providing training for musicians in the local church, has released details about its latest course in music, liturgy and worship, which will begin on 20 January. Entitled ?Living Worship? the course will run on four Saturday mornings. The first three sessions (20 & 27 January and 10 February) will be in the Church of Ireland Theological College, Braemor Park, and the final session (17 February) will be held in St Patrick?s Church, Greystones which has recently re-modelled its interior to reflect present day insights into how public worship should be presented.
The course is aimed at organists, singers, members of congregations and clergy ? anyone who is interested in the ?what? and ?why? of Christian worship. The workshop-style seminars will be led by the Director of the National Liturgy Centre, Maynooth College, Fr Patrick Jones; organist, David McConnell; the Revd Tom Gordon, Director in Pastoral Formation in CITC; and the Ven. Edgar Swann, Rector of Greystones.
The fee for the course is ?100 and bookings may be made on +353 (0)87-668 3998 or through the Church Music Committee website ? www.churchmusicdublin.org