Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from 'The Irish Times'
Saturday 14 April 2007
The Future of Ministerial Training
Two information evenings on the future of ministerial training in the Church of Ireland will be held next Wednesday and Thursday in Newlands Cross and in Templepatrick. Over 300 people have already booked for these events but places are still available and may be reserved through www.ministry.ie or by telephoning Andrew McNeile at +353-1-412 5608.
At the last General Synod the Bishops indicated their intention to make some far reaching changes to the way in which formation and training is provided. The initial emphasis will be on training for the ordained ministry but there is also a vision for mobilizing lay ministry.
The Ministry Formation Project Plan has as its central purpose the intention to equip all members of the Church to fulfill effectively the Church?s mission in the 21st century, to ensure that training methods effectively connect with learning and practice, and to make certain that training is an enriching experience for all traditions in the Church. The plan articulates the characteristics which should be developed during training and formation, identifies academic pathways, seeks to rationalize matters of governance and is committed to an infrastructure which will produce a high quality facility which will build up a sense of community and be an attractive place in which to reside.
The House of Bishop Planning Group has overall responsibility for the project and is composed of the Bishop of Meath and Kildare, the Bishop of Clogher, the Bishop of Kilmore, Canon Alan Abernethy and Andrew McNeile. In addition there is a Curriculum Team chaired by the Bishop of Clogher and a Building Team coordinated by Geoffrey Perrin.
Tomorrow (Sunday) morning RTE will broadcast a service of Sung Mattins conducted by the Revd Tom Gordon, at which Canon Ricky Rountree, Rector of Powerscourt, will preach. In St Patrick?s Cathedral, Dublin, the services will be sung by the choir of St Mark?s Church, Portadown.
On Tuesday the Executive Committee of the Representative Church Body will meet in Church of Ireland House, Dublin, as will the House of Bishops which will have as a principal item on its agenda the election of a Bishop of Connor.
The Archbishop of Hong Kong, the Rt Revd Paul Kwong, will be in Ireland next week as the guest of the Dublin University Far Eastern Mission. On Wednesday evening he will visit the Theological College and preach at the College Eucharist. He will speak at Choral Evensong in the Chapel of Trinity College on Thursday evening after which bursaries will be awarded by DUFEM to three TCD students who will travel to China this summer. Later, in the Walton Theatre, Archbishop Kwong will deliver the Godfrey Day Memorial Lecture which will be chaired by the Archbishop of Dublin.
On Thursday Evensong in St Patrick?s Cathedral, Dublin, will be sung by the choir of St George?s Anglican Church, Paris, while in St Patrick?s Cathedral, Trim, at 8pm there will be a concert by Solheim Choir and Loiten Sangforening Male Voice Choir, Norway, and the Meath Diocesan Choir in aid of St Patrick?s National School Building Fund.
The 2007 Handel Festival, organized by Temple Bar Cultural Trust, reaches its finale in Christ Church Cathedral on Friday evening with a performance of Messiah by the Cathedral Choir and the Orchestra of St Cecilia, directed by Judy Martin. The festival also includes a recital by Trio Quattro in St Audeon?s Church, tomorrow (Sunday) at 2.30pm and a lunchtime recital by the Opera Theatre Company Young Artists Associates in St Patrick?s Cathedral on Wednesday.