Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland notes from the Irish Times
General Synod Meets in Dublin
Next week, from Tuesday to Thursday the General Synod will meet in Dublin at the Stillorgan Park Hotel. This will be the first session of a new synod, there having been elections at the diocesan synods last year, and so there will be new faces and, perhaps, new perspectives.
The legislative agenda is dominated by liturgical reform as the the Church of Ireland moves closer to a new Book of Common Prayer which is to be published next year. Thirteen of the seventeen bills relate to liturgy while the others are concerned with amendments to the constitution, the provision of a severance fund for clergy, and the reform of the working of boards of nomination.
Among the other issues for discussion, the scoping study of attitudes and perceptions among members of the Church of Ireland to sectarian and living with difference ought to attract attention. Produced by the Sectarian Education Project Committee this 109 page study is the beginning of a process of dealing positively with sectarianism and difference and the General Synod will be asked to refer it to diocesan synods for study locally.
This will be the first year for a report from the Church in Society Committee, which replaced the Role of the Church Committee. The new committee has identified seven areas for future study and has provided comment on the environment, European affairs, legislation and political matters, medical ethics, social justice and theology. Included is a statement on the war in Iraq.
The Commission on Ministry will report on the Summit on Ministry held last September, the combined meeting of two Provincial Mediation Panels and a review of women in the ordained ministry. This may provide a welcome opportunity for the wider church to learn more about the commission's on-going work and how, if at all, it is to be involved in this vital aspect of the church's life.
Some issues, which are not novel but nonetheless important, can be expected to generate heat and perhaps even light. Among these are synodical reform, the funding of ordinands and the church's finances.
The General Synod Eucharist will be celebrated by the Archbishop of Dublin in St Patrick's Cathedral on Tuesday evening when the preacher will be the Rt Revd Michael Marshall, Incumbent of of Holy Trinity, Sloane Square, London. The entire collection will be given to the Bishops' Appeal Fund.
Also in association with the General Synod, CMS Ireland will host a Missionary Breakfast in the Stillorgan Park Hotel on Wednesday at 7.45 am when the Revd Patrick Comerford will speak on "Muslim-Christian Dialogue". The AGM of CMSI will be held on Wednesday evening in Overseas House, Belgrave Road, Rathmines at 8.00 pm.
Today (Saturday) in Dublin there will be parish fetes at All Saints Church, Blackrock, and in Whitechurch.
Tomorrow (Sunday) there will be a service of Choral Evensong in St Bartholomew's Church, Dublin, organized by CREDO, a new movement which seeks to celebrate fellowship in the life of daily common prayer. In St Mary's Church, Inistioge, there will be a Songs of Praise Service at 4.00 pm with members of the Kilkenny Musical Society.
A new series of organ recitals in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, is underway and on Wednesday the recitalist will be Robert Quinney, Assistant Master of the Music in Westminster cathedral and the Royal College of Organists Performer of the Year for 2003.
In St Patrick's Church, Greystones, on Friday evening there will be a concert by the Loras Choir and Chamber Singers form Dubuque in Iowa.