Anglican leaders from all over the world took part in a day–long Pilgrimage to Derry–Londonderry at the half–way point of their historic week–long Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) gathering in Northern Ireland.

Archbishops, Bishops, clergy and laity started their tour in Ebrington Square before walking the Peace Bridge from the Waterside to the Cityside. From there, they visited the Guildhall where they were formally welcomed by the Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council Cllr Grace Uí Niallais and the City of Londonderry Lord Lieutenant Ian Crowe MBE.

Following lunch in the Guildhall, the 140 guests walked the city’s famous walls and visited St Augustine’s Church – ‘the wee church on the Walls’ – where they met and heard from Richard Moore, founder of Children in Crossfire, who was blinded when he was hit by a rubber bullet fired by a soldier during the ‘Troubles’.

The afternoon was rounded off with a Service of reflection and prayer in St Columb’s Cathedral.

Here are some of the comments captured at the conclusion of the Pilgrimage.

At the invitation of Bishop Adrian Wilkinson, the Very Revd Dr David Monteith, Dean of Canterbury, will be a guest in the Diocese of Cashel, Ferns & Ossory for several days this month. On Sunday Dean Monteith will be the guest preacher at the morning Choral Eucharist at St Canice’s cathedral, Kilkenny, at which the Bishop will preside. That afternoon there will be a special service to mark the shared life and witness of the diocese at 3.30pm in St Canice’s cathedral at which Dean Monteith will also preach.

From Monday until Wednesday, Dr Monteith will be the guest speaker at the annual Clergy Conference in the Park Hotel, Dungarvan.

Dean Monteith was installed in December 2022 as the 40th Dean of Canterbury (post–Reformation) heading up a staff of 250 and over 500 volunteers and  leading the mother church of the Anglican Communion. Prior to this he was Dean of Leicester where he was responsible for the re–interment of King Richard III after the discovery of his remains in a ‘car–park’, and the redevelopment of the cathedral in one of Britain’s most diverse cities where he also chaired the inter–faith ministry of the diocese.

He also served as Associate Vicar of St Martin–in–the–Fields, London, and as an Area Dean in Wimbledon first being ordained in the Diocese of Birmingham in 1993. His interests focus on faith in the public realm, change, culture and the arts. A native of Enniskillen, Dr Monteith was educated at Portora Royal School and Durham University.

At Evensong on Sunday in St Patrick’s cathedral, Armagh, the Rector of Ballymore, the Revd Colin Darling, will be installed as Prebendary of Tynan and Ms Janet Maxwell, Head of Synod Services and Communications in Church of Ireland House, as a Lay Canon. In Dublin, at Evensong in Christ Church cathedral, the Revd Alan Breen, Rector of Kill o’ the Grange, and the Revd Garth Bunting, Rector of Drumcondra & North Strand, will be installed as members of the cathedral chapter.

On Monday at 10.15am the Archbishop of Dublin will preside at Morning Service in St Michan’s church, Church Street, Dublin 7, on the occasion of the commencement of Michaelmas Law Term. The address will be given by the Rt Revd Trevor Gribben, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.

On Thursday evening at 8pm author Amy Jeffs and musician Natalie Brice will be in Christ Church cathedral, Dublin, for a performance of original songs exploring the world of medieval saints.  The music celebrates Amy’s latest book Saints: Medieval Legends of Heroes, Humans and Magic. Each engaging contemporary folksong follows historical introductions and readings by Amy. The evening will shine a light on the poignancy, politics, violence, beauty and pilgrim–driven power of the medieval cult of saints, as well as its cast of hermits, giants and dragon–slaying virgins, still enthralling to this day. Entrance is free but booking is required.

Published in the Friday edition of The Irish Times

Black Santa is back on the steps of Belfast Cathedral, with the 48th annual sit–out for charities getting underway at 10am on Monday December 16. Check out our photo gallery here!

The launch of Dean Stephen’s Forde’s seventh sit–out was as always well supported by local media and by the Mayor of Belfast – Councillor Micky Murray joining the Dean at the famous barrel soon after the event got underway and even donning a black Anglican cloak for a time as he made a donation.

A new Black Santa has joined Dean Forde and the Canons and clergy of the Cathedral – the as yet unnamed Teddy dressed in the familiar Black Santa attire was presented to the Dean by Mildred Irvine who had not only knit cuddly Black Santa’s clothes, but had included a barrel complete with rattling coins!

The Dean will stand on the steps of St Anne’s morning and afternoon every day until the afternoon of Christmas Eve, with the exception of Sunday December 22 when he will be busy with the annual Carols in the City service.

The Black Santa Appeal was established by Dean Sammy Crooks in December 1976 – its name coined by the media on account of the warm black Anglican cloak worn by the Dean and his successors.

This year’s appeal is making the most of new technology – passers–by can make a donation simply with a tap of a card or phone!

For those who cannot make it to Donegall Street, there is also the opportunity to donate online at https://www.belfastblacksanta.org

In addition to raising funds to support small charities across Northern Ireland with the usual portion going to Christian Aid as is has done since the beginning, the Appeal this year will focus on families who have a member with autism and also on charities working to prevent young people, and in particular young people with a lived experience of care, from finding themselves homeless as they move to independent living.

For further details on the impact of the Black Santa Appeal, 10 short videos have been prepared from a selection of the charities supported last year. These can be viewed at www.belfastblacksanta.org/charities

The Spring meeting of the Church of Ireland Historical Society will be held in the Armagh Robinson Library on Saturday on 27 April beginning with teas and coffee in 9 Vicars’ Hill and registration in the Library at 10.30am

In the morning session at 11.00am Dr Brendan Twomey, whose current research interests are centred on the financial and legal affairs of Dean Johnathan Swift will speak on ‘Printing for power: Irish Protestant and Catholic controversies in the world of print, 1690 – 1732’ and at 12 noon Professor  Peter Grey, a history professor in Queen’s University, Belfast, will give a paper on  ‘Sharman Crawford and Disestablishment’.

Lunch will be available in Number 9 Vicars’ Hill at a cost of £10/€10.

After lunch at 2.00 pm the former Archbishop of Armagh Dr Richard Clarke will talk about ‘The Enigmatic Lord Plunket’ and the conference will conclude with a paper by Dr  David Hayton, Emeritus Professor of History in QUB, on  ‘The Leeper family: from Dublin to Australia, and back’.at 3pm.

Attendance is free to all paid–up members. Non–members can purchase a one–day membership for €10/£10.

The annual subscription is fixed at €40/£40 (student rate £15/€15). This includes admission to the bi–annual conferences, book discounts, and exclusive access to the Society’s recordings of papers delivered at previous conferences. Subscriptions for 2024 may be paid on the membership section of the Society’s website: churchofirelandhist.org

Queries may be addressed to the honorary secretaries, Professor Alan Ford or Dr Miriam Moffitt,by email (secretary.coihs@gmail.com). Alternatively, you can visit the society’s website.

Tomorrow (Sunday) on the occasion of his silver jubilee the Bishop of Cork, Cloyne & Ross, Dr Paul, Colton, has invited all parishes, chaplaincies and organisations in the Diocese to join him in 7 p.m. in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral  for ‘An Easter Celebration of Faith and our Life together in Cork, Cloyne and Ross.’

From tomorrow (Sunday) until Tuesday the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Michael Jackson, will lead a retreat for the Glendalough Clergy in Ballyvaloo Retreat Centre, Co. Wexford.

On Thursday the Friends of Christ Church cathedral, Dublin, will have an outing to the National Gallery of Ireland, meeting at 10.45 in the Clare Street foyer. Intending participants should reply to the Assistant Secretary of the Friends by Monday 15 April.

The Bishop of Meath & Kildare, the Most Revd Pat storey, has appointed the Revd William Steacy, Rector of Athlone, as the new canon of the  two cathedrals in Meath and Kildare. The first installation will take place on Wednesday 8 May, 2024 at 7.30pm in St Patrick’s cathedral, Trim.  The Dean of Kildare, the Very Revd Isobel Jackson, will also be installed to St Patrick’s Cathedral Chapter on that evening. The second installation will take place on Wednesday 22 May, 2024 at 7.30pm in St Brigid’s cathedral, Kildare.

St Patrick’s cathedral, Dublin, is currently carrying out an oral history research project and is inviting potential interviewees, particularly those who have a substantial connection with the cathedral community, through volunteering, the Grammar or Choir School, music, the clergy, service provision or family connections of long standing, to take part.

The research, which will become part of the UNESCO recognised National Folklore Collection at UCD, will assist with a better understanding of the cathedral community in the past as well as its role in wider Irish society and in the local area.

More information may be had by contacting the St Patrick’s Education & Safeguarding Officer, Clark Bryson, at education@stpatrickscathedral.ie

Published in the Friday edition of The Irish Times

Please click here for historic news items from the following:

• Bishops’ Advisory Commission on Doctrine
• Bishops’ Selection Conference
• Broadcasting Committee
• Disability Working Group
• Disestablishment 150
• Hard Gospel Committee
• Parish Development Working Group
• Synodical Reform Committee

Enquiries for the Press Office can be made through the contact details below or through the online contact form at the following link: www.churchofireland.org/contact

Church of Ireland Press Office

Tel: (028/048) 9082 8880
Duty mobile: +353 87 9484412

A series of free lunchtime lectures will be held at Christ Church cathedral, Dublin, this month on Tuesdays at 1.10pm. ‘Of the Cloth’, which will examine all manner of ecclesiastical fabrics, from the dressing of altars to the robing of monks and clergy.

Speakers will include the art historian and textile conservator, Rachel Phelan, who, next Tuesday, will speak about the Myerscough altar frontals at Kilternan and Christ Church cathedral and the links with the school of embroidery at St John’s Sandymount. The following Tuesday 13 February, Brother Colmán Ó Clabaigh, a Benedictine monk of Glenstal Abbey and a medievalist specialising in Irish monastic and religious history, will discuss medieval Irish ecclesiastical and liturgical vesture, and will be followed on Tuesday 20 February by the Dean of Limerick, the Very Revd Niall Sloane, who will talk about post–Reformation clerical garb ranging from ruffs to gaiters. The archdeacon of Armagh,  Dr Peter Thompson, will discuss the convergence of ecclesiastical and academic dress on Tuesday 27 February.

Admission is free, and all are welcome. For further information, email the cathedral research advisor, Stuart Kinsella at archives@christchurch.ie

The lecture series is generously supported by the Friends of Christ Church, and is the 33rd in a series which has run with some regularity for 27 years since the first on the Augustinian canons regular in October 1997. It followed on from a series of memorial lectures for former Dean’s Verger, Joe Coady, which ran from 1987–2003, and which in turn recalled the annual St Stephen’s Day lectures begun in 1891 by the cathedral architect, Sir Thomas Drew, which ran well into the 20th century.

Tomorrow (Sunday) the Bishop of Cork, Cloyne & Ross, Dr Paul Colton, will institute the Revd Elise Hanley to the incumbency of Cobh & Glanmire union of parishes.  The preacher will be the Revd Meghan Farr, Rector of St Anne’s, Shandon.

On Tuesday the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Michael Jackson, will be in Sweden to attend the North European Cathedral Conference in Lund which continues until Friday.

On Wednesday the Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Revd John McDowell, will be in Cork. He will visit St Fin Barre’s cathedral and Midleton College which is celebrating its Silver Jubilee. In the evening he will be in St Mary’s church, Carrigaline, which is celebrating its 200th anniversary. There, Choral Evensong will be sung by the Choir of Saint Fin Barre’s cathedral The Bishop of Cork will preside and dedicate a reredos which has been relocated, with consent, from the closed church of St Paul, Ballymoney. The Archbishop of Armagh will preach.

In St Ann’s church, Dublin, a new series of lunchtime recitals will begin on Thursday at 1.20pm when Yue Tang will perform Bach’s Cello Suite No.6 in D major.

Applications for displays stands at the 2024 General Synod are now invited from interested groups. The Synod takes place in the Armagh City Hotel on Friday 10 & Saturday 11 May.  Please apply to Aisling.Sheridan@rcbcoi.org on or before Monday, 12February. It may not be possible to provide a stand to all groups who apply; applicants will be contacted in March once the final arrangements for the available space have been made.

The Bishops’ Appeal has announced that two hundred and fifty wood–burning stoves have been distributed in the Kharkiv region by Habitat for Humanity Ukraine in recent months.  Many arrived just in time for Christmas, and all will keep families warm and allow them to cook simple meals.

Published in the Friday edition of The Irish Times

Archbishop Michael Jackson and Caoimhe Leppard, co–ordinator for D150, were interviewed by Susan Kim, from the World Council of Churches, in December, on their reflections on D150, marking 150 years since the Church of Ireland’s Disestablishment.

Introduction

As the national three–year programme “Disestablishment 150” drew to a close, the Church of Ireland is looking back on highlights from a commemoration of the historic milestone in which the Church of Ireland was made wholly independent of the Church of England, and was no longer the official state church.

The tagline for the commemoration was “Free to Shape Our Future,” and below, Most Rev. Dr Michael Jackson, Archbishop of Dublin, and Caoimhe Leppard, who coordinated the Disestablishment 150 initiative, reflect on how the Church of Ireland can move from commemoration to celebration – and what valuable insights the church can share with the global ecumenical movement.

As the Church of Ireland moves from commemoration toward celebration, how does this resonate with the theme of the upcoming World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly in 2022 – “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity?” Can we talk about the importance of moving together?

Archbishop Jackson: That question takes us to heart of what we were trying to do. The disestablishment of the Church of Ireland in 1869 left people who felt they had an identity reeling because suddenly the identity changed. And so the first thing I’d be looking at would be the way in which churches may be slow to make up their mind and at factors which are external to the way in which they understand themselves but which can influence their identity.

Disestablishment itself was a movement, a movement toward new self–understanding in a primary context for people who then became full and independently Anglicans in the Irish tradition. The thing which matters to me is that being an Anglican is an expression of the kind of theological method of believing and living: a way of being liturgical, socially engaged, a way of being pastoral and a way of being theological which is now lived out in so many different contexts worldwide.

We had one of the early opportunities to do this and to become this. And as historical events have developed, declined, risen, dissipated – whatever historical events do – the Church of Ireland was in a way identified as part of Ireland itself, rather than looking as if it had a double identity that it couldn’t sustain. I would argue that continuity of identity in Ireland is very dependent on this particular type of disestablishment.

Now of course in other countries worldwide, there never has been an Anglican establishment. But there are countries where religion and politics, church and state are almost identical. The advantage for us in Ireland is that future events have enabled us to remain a church of the totality of Ireland even though Ireland is now two separate political and in many way social entities.

Caoimhe Leppard: I always really think of disestablishment as a quiet revolution within the church. Disestablishment allowed space for ordinary of men and women in the pews to ask the true purpose of the church. Very few at the time did relish their newfound freedom but we commemorate disestablishment by recognizing the benefits of it. It did allow the church to focus on its own personal and spiritual mission, and move to focus on the church as a spiritual community with a degree of democratic governance.

The theme of our whole programme was “Free To Shape Your Own Future.” When we were researching the actual event, we came across one of the early architects and strategists who wrote quite brightly and hopefully that the Church of Ireland was free to shape its own future independent of state control or any political alignments.

Did disestablishment, in some ways, take great courage on the part of the church at that time?

Archbishop Jackson: I think stability is always attractive by virtue of its inertia. “Have you got the heart for adventure?” That’s the sort of question that the disestablishment through which this church went can ask wider Christian communities.

If you have to engage not only with yourself but the context in which you live, that will present to you or throw into your path questions which are rightly described as ecumenical. But they’re also human, personal, social and political.

It always remains, of course, experimental because any democratic situation hasn’t got a prescription of agreement for how a thing might turn out. But if you can accept that elasticity or that hope within it, I still think you can be the richer for being part of your own democratic journey.

As you describe the Church of Ireland as a “church without borders,” what does that mean within the context of the global ecumenical movement, as we seek visible unity?

Archbishop Jackson: We owe that phrase to the Archbishop of Canterbury who came to preach a service at St Patrick’s Cathedral. We didn’t know what he was going to say, but when he said it, it actually gathered together something that ought, in many ways, to have been blindingly obvious to us.

The first thing is that Ireland is a comprehensively bordered country. You have what people call “The Border,” which actually identifies and divides people with the aspiration that a certain number of people have to remain British, and the aspiration that a certain number of people have to be totally and comprehensively Irish, and the idea that putting people on either side of geographical border is not going to divide their hearts.

Throughout the upheavals of Irish history, throughout disestablishment, the Church of Ireland has remained an “all–Ireland” church. That hasn’t been all that easy.

If a church, for example, like the Church of Ireland, 25, 30, 40, 50 years ago has a reputation for being liberal and forward–thinking, what’s happened now is that the society is doing that liberal, revolutionary, forward thinking for itself.

That’s why we need to push out and develop a self–understanding which is, again, beyond borders. That’s why we always need partners who are beyond our own island.

It’s a question of what you do with your island status. Does it mean you’re going to collapse into the Atlantic? Or does it mean you can become a strategic island? What we’re talking about is not necessarily strategic in a military sense but actually strategic in a spiritual, religious and ecumenical sense. Where we are pushed again and again, simply by events themselves, you have all of this experience – you make something of it. Not only what can you share but what can you learn that can bring you forward from the places where you get stuck. That’s why we need global ecumenical movements.

Caoimhe Leppard: As an all–Ireland church without borders, part of our vision for success for Disestablishment 150 was to build an Ireland–wide programme and encourage individual dioceses to contribute to it.

We did this enable people to have an all–Ireland framework that they could take, flesh out the story and their history, and enable them to bring it to life. There really were some fantastic and creative initiatives and contributions across the whole of the Church of Ireland. We were so happy that people wanted to get involved.

Can you explain why you chose the word “commemoration” and not, say, “celebration?”

Archbishop Jackson: The word commemoration may sound very sober but in fact there has been a ten–year programme in Ireland called the Decade of Commemorations going from 2012 to 2023, incorporating 2016 which is the centenary of 1916 – obviously iconic and a real marker of Ireland then and Ireland today, leading right through a period of Civil War and the Anglo–Irish Treaty and a whole host of things. We felt that if we wanted to enable the Church of Ireland to be part of the weave of the society, we would adopt the term commemoration, rather than what maybe sounded like a bouncy castle.

We managed to get the grant of a stamp for Disestablishment 150. That was the first grant of a stamp for use across the country specifically to a religious body such as ours.

Caoimhe Leppard: It was amazing to get the state’s recognition and engagement through the commemorative stamp. It’s a really social way of engaging with the general public who might not be Church of Ireland, that this disestablishment programme was happening, and it was significant not only in Church of Ireland history but in Irish political and social history as the very, very first reform to try and solve the Irish question in the late 19th century. It’s so nice because at Christmas I plan to send out my cards with the Disestablishment 150 stamp on them.

It isn’t just a Church of Ireland historic commemoration. It really was particularly significant in Irish history. Throughout the 10–year decade of commemoration, this was really the first one in that long line of reforms and revolutionary political movements.

Archbishop Jackson: In a context like this of self–understanding and ecumenical generosity, no minority is too small to take an initiative. Our numbers are genuinely small. As a minority, however small you are, you can give it a try.

You deeply engaged young people in Disestablishment 150. What were some of the key messages that you believe reached young people at the grassroots level?

Caoimhe Leppard: We are very fortunate to have a wonderful organization in the Church of Ireland Youth Department. So the CIYD Church of Ireland Youth Forum was the very first event at which we wanted to launch our programme.. It was really, really important to us to include young people. It was at this event that we shared the theme “Free to Shape our Own Future.” We can see today in Ireland and everywhere that young people are actively engaged in public issues more than ever, and we felt it was really important to empower them as stakeholders in the life and community of the Church of Ireland.

We were able to hear from them, what they wanted to contribute.

Archbishop Jackson: My stubborn conviction is that young people are the present of the church, rather than simply the future of the church. Part of the reason I’d say that is that I think young people have a very particular voice that can and does read culture in A way that’s quite different from people who through their lives have accumulated more and more heavy and different priorities. There can be a lightness of touch. There also I think can be an ease with social media which enables people to get into different ways of voicing and hearing voices. I think some the things that motivate and sustain young people are issues of justice, issues of climate and also friendship, loyalty. Those are to be treasured and not as some people have said in the past, “Oh, they’ll grow out of that.”

From a global perspective, I think one of the really important things is to track the energy of the lesser public responsibility that young people have, and to take it into and through the institutions. Very often young people sit light to the institutions of their day. But the day is fast approaching when those young people will have responsibility for those same institutions—or what’s left of them. There’s no point in looking in shock and awe at young people; that energy needs to be not harnessed, but directed toward revitalizing the institutions here and now so that when these people come to positions of service and leadership, there’s a continuity of integrity from who they are today and who they will be tomorrow. Our programme intended to lift up that voice with a theme “Free to Shape Your Own Future.”

Watch this video to find more about Disestablishment 150:

A National Programme of initiatives to mark the 150th anniversary of the Disestablishment of the Church of Ireland through the Irish Church Act 1869.

This lecture is open to members and non–members of the Society and is free of charge although booking will close at 5.30pm today (Tuesday, 15th March 2022).

Please visit this link in order to make a booking.  Zoom invitations will then be sent out by email to those who have booked.

A National Programme of initiatives to mark the 150th anniversary of the Disestablishment of the Church of Ireland through the Irish Church Act 1869.

The special stamp was issued in January 2021 by An Post to mark the milestone anniversary and was the first time that the state had recognised the Church of Ireland in such a way.

The  €1 ‘N’ rate stamp, by Dublin’s Vermillion Design, features an image of the Sun, Moon and Stars stained–glass panel in the Cathedral of Saint Fin Barre in Cork City.

Making the presentation to Librarian and Archivist Dr Susan Hood, Archbishop Michael Jackson said the stamp, which now occupies a prominent position in the Library would act as a reminder of the gift of Disestablishment.

“The Library plays a pivotal role in the life of the Church of Ireland and in our connection with the wider scholarly world,” he stated. “The Stamp represents a unique recognition of the role played by the Church of Ireland through its Disestablishment in the life of Ireland over a century and a half.

“The RCB Library is the right place for the stamp to be and I hope that future generations will be reminded of the responsibility and the opportunity given us by Disestablishment in being free to shape our future in the societies in which we live.”

Dr Hood added: “The RCB Library is honoured to receive this significant presentation from the Archbishop of Dublin, at the conclusion of the 150th anniversary year. It brightens our small display area, where it can be viewed by visitors in the short–term, and thereafter will be kept safe in the context of other Disestablishment anniversary archives for future generations.”

The Stamp is based on the West Window in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork, itself built in 1870, the year the Church of Ireland was disestablished. It depicts creation through images of the sun, the moon and the stars along with water, taking us back to Genesis chapter 1.

It is part of the work of William Burges whose design and execution of the cathedral are internationally renowned.

(If you would like to contribute to the RCB Library Conservation Fund, please click here.)

Dr Susan Hood

Librarian and Archivist
RCB Library
Braemor Park
Churchtown
Dublin 14
D14 N735
01 492 3979

library@rcbcoi.org