Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland notes from the Irish Times
Consecration in Christ Church Cathedral
This afternoon (Saturday) in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, the Very Revd Peter Barrett will be consecrated to the episcopate to serve as Bishop of Cashel and Ossory. The consecration will be presided over by the Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd John Neill, and the assisting bishops will be the Rt Revd Paul Colton, Bishop of Cork, and Dr Michael Jackson, Bishop of Clogher.
The Archbishop of Armagh will be present as will bishops representing other Anglican Churches and Lutheran and Old Catholic Churches from England, Scotland, Wales, Sweden, Spain and Holland. The preacher will be the Bishop of Portsmouth, Dr Kenneth Stevenson.
The bishop-elect is a graduate of Trinity and the Irish School of Ecumenics and was trained in the Church of Ireland Theological College. Ordained in 1981 for the curacy of Drumachose in the Diocese of Derry, he served a second curacy in St Ann's, Dublin, before returning to the northern province of the Church as Rector of Conwal in Co. Donegal and then Vicar of St George's, Belfast. In 1994 he was appointed Chaplain in Trinity College, Dublin, and in 1998 moved to the sunny south-east as Dean of Waterford.
He has a particular interest in Anglican spirituality, which he taught in Milltown Institute, and he was Irish consultant for the major publication on Anglican devotional and spiritual writing entitled Love's Redeeming Work. The new bishop's first book, a series of Lenten reflections entitled The Measure and the Pledge of Love, has recently been published under the joint imprint of Columba Press and APCK.
Tomorrow (Sunday) RTE will televise a service Christian Unity Week with the staff and students of the Irish School of Ecumenics. On RTE Radio there will be a Service of the Word with the Chaplain of Trinity College, Dublin, Dr Alan McCormack. In Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, the preacher at the Sung Eucharist will be the Revd Dr Naim Ateek, a former Dean of Jerusalem, while in St Patrick's the preacher will be the former Bishop of Repton, the Rt Revd Henry Richmond. In Trinity College Chapel the third in the current series of sermons on "What Makes Me Tick" will be delivered by Dr Patrick Mason, a former artistic director of the Abbey Theatre. At 6.00 pm in City Hall the Archbishop of Dublin will represent the Church of Ireland at Holocaust Memorial Day.
The 40th anniversary of the consecration of St Paul's Church, Lisburn, on 25 January 1964, will be marked by a special service at which the preacher will be the Dean of Connor, the Very Revd John Bond. The first Rector of St Paul's, Canon Kenneth Cochrane, appointed Dean Bond as the parish's first curate in 1967.
Students of church history will be interested in a forthcoming conference on "The Parish in Medieval and Early Modern Ireland. Community, Settlement and Pastoral Care" which will take place in All Hallow's College, Dublin, from 28 February to 2 March. This will be an opportunity to hear some of the leading scholars in the field including Donnchadh O Corrain, Colma Etchingham, Kenneth Nicholls, Raymond Gillespie and Toby Branard. Full details may be had from Niamh Crowley, 45 Orchard Drive, Ursuline Court, Waterford.
Parish history is also a theme in a new book, The Hidden Dublin, which reproduces Thomas Willis' report on the social and sanitary conditions of Dublin's working classes in 1845. Published by the Trinity History Workshop and edited by Dr David Dickson, the book includes studies of the parish of St Michan in 1845 and after 1845.