Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from 'The Irish Times'
Election of Bishop of Connor
Next Wednesday an Electoral College will meet to elect a new Bishop of Connor to succeed the Most Reverend Alan Harper, now Archbishop of Armagh. The College will take place in Church House, Armagh, following a service of Holy Communion in St Patrick's Cathedral.
The President of the College will be the Archbishop of Armagh as the vacant bishopric is in the Northern Province of the Church. The College will consist of 60 members including three members of the House of Bishops, 12 elected clergy and 12 elected lay persons from the Diocese of Connor and elected clergy and lay persons from each of the other Dioceses of the Northern Province.
Voting will take place on names brought forward by the College until one name receives two- thirds of the votes of both the lay and clerical members who will vote separately. If no person receives the requisite majority, the appointment will pass to the House of Bishops.
The Diocese of Connor which is roughly co-terminus with County Antrim is the largest diocese in the Church of Ireland and stretches from the city of Belfast to the north coast. There are some 115 parish churches arranged in seventy-seven groups or unions. The diocesan cathedral is Christ Church Cathedral, Lisburn, but the Bishop of Connor also has a throne in St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast, which is shared between the dioceses of Connor and Down & Dromore.
Today (Saturday) the Royal School of Church Music in Ireland will hold its annual Festival Day which will run simultaneously in Dublin and Belfast. In St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, Peter Barley, the Master of the Choristers, will be in charge while David Revels from St George’s parish, will lead the Belfast event in St Peter’s Cathedral. The day will conclude with Festival Services at 5 pm.
Tomorrow (Sunday) in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, there will be a special Evensong to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome at which the preacher will be Fr John Dardis SJ, Provincial of the Jesuit Order in Ireland, while in Belfast Cathedral the preacher at the Connor Mothers’ Union Diocesan Festival Service will be the Bishop of Derry & Raphoe. In Christ Church, Taney, at 7 pm, the Annual Sports Service will be held at which the address will be given by Mary Davis, CEO, Special Olympics, Ireland.
On Monday the Bishop of Cork will make a pastoral visit to Bandon Grammar School. In the evening in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, the final lecture in the current Lenten series, on contemporary medical ethics and Christian concerns, will be given by Canon Nigel Bigger, Professor of Theology and Ethics in TCD.
The lunchtime lecture in Christ Church on Tuesday will be given by Dr Raymond Refaussé who will speak on ‘Portraits in Christ Church’. In the evening, at 8 pm in the Church of Ireland College of Education, Rathmines, there will be a seminar on depression. The speakers will be Professor Patrick McKeown, Director of St Patrick’s Hospital, and the Revd Susan Watterson, Director of the Church’s Ministry of Healing. At the same time Alan Gillis will speak at the Monkstown Rural Deanery Lenten Meeting, in the Knox Hall, on health.
On Tuesday, in the Dromantine Centre, Newry, a three day conference on adolescence begins. Organized by the Church of Ireland Youth Department, and with the assistance of professional practitioners, the conference will explore mental health and its impact on young people. Details may be had from [email protected].