CHURCH OF IRELAND NOTES
For Saturday 3rd February 2001
From: The RCB Library
Email: RCB Library
Trends in Broadcasting
Broadcasting is in a state of flux. The main tendencies are towards a
huge increase in the number of radio and television channels and an
increasingly competitive commercial climate. These factors are likely to
drive down quality and variety, especially as regulation of broadcasting
standards is seen as less and less acceptable by "the market".
Governments are addressing these issues and this must be of concern to the
churches who have a particular interest in public service broadcasting to
which they have been accustomed. A broadcasting bill is going through the
houses of the Oireachtas while in Britain the government has just issued a
white paper.
The Church of England's Archbishop's Council convened a meeting last
month to address the changing broadcasting environment and invited
representatives from the Church of Ireland's Broadcasting Committee - the
chairman, Dr Kenneth Milne, and the honorary secretary, the Revd Dr Alan
McCormack. The proceedings of that meeting are of considerable relevance to
all who have the interests of public service broadcasting, north and south,
at heart. Arising out of this meeting the Broadcasting Committee, which
represents the interests of the Church of Ireland in both Northern Ireland
and the Republic, is making a submission to the authorities in London.
This evening (Saturday) the dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross will hold a
youth initiative event called Ybother in St Fin
Barre's Cathedral. Some 240 young people, aged between 10 and 15, all of
whom have been confirmed by Bishop Paul Colton, will gather with guests,
including Brian Crowley MEP, a Christian rock group from England and the
conjurer and ventriloquist, Bertie Pearce.
Tomorrow (Sunday) the preacher at the Sung Eucharist in the Chapel of
Trinity College, Dublin, will be the writer and commentator, Mr Eoghan
Harris, who will speak "On Courage". In St Patrick's Cathedral,
Dublin, the collections at both Eucharists will be donated to the Irish Red
Cross to aid the victims of the earthquake in India. In the evening, at 6.00
pm in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, there will be a concert by Christ
Church Baroque and the Cathedral Choir. The programme will consist of
Cantatas for Christmas by J.S. Bach and the soloists will include the
internationally renowned baroque oboe player, Anthony Robinson, and the
flautist, Rachel Beckett.
On Tuesday evening there will be a Service of Thanksgiving for the
restoration of St Christopher's parish church, Belfast, at which the
preacher will be the Bishop of Down and Dromore, the Rt Revd Harold Miller.
The church was flooded twice during the summer with over a foot of water in
the chancel.
The annual conference for the clergy of the dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and
Ross begins on Wednesday and continues until Friday, while on Thursday the
"Would You Believe" programme on RTE 1 will feature the Rector of
Carrigaline, the Revd David Armstrong, who was formerly a Presbyterian
minister in Limavady.
At its January meeting the Bishops' Appeal
approved six grants. An emergency grant of £15,000 was made to Christian
Aid to help with earthquake relief in El Salvador, and a similar grant was
made to Christian Aid towards the provision of prefabricated accommodation
for homeless families in Bosnia.
Support was also provided for the work of the Church Missionary Society
Ireland in the Republic of the Congo, where they are involved in community
projects in the Dioceses of North Kivu and Bukavu, and in Kenya where they
have an on-going involvement with a Masai Rural Training Centre in the
Diocese of Kajiado.
A grant was also given to the Crosslinks missionary society to support
the work of the Emmanuel Health Association in India.
Church of Ireland Notes appear in the Irish
Times whose web site may be found at
http://www.ireland.com/ |
