Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’
A new chapter in the Church of Ireland’s mission to reach people with little or no connection to church opened earlier this month when Pioneer Ministry was formally launched in St Patrick’s cathedral, Dublin. As part of this special service of Choral Evensong, the Pioneer Ministry’s leadership team was commissioned by the Archbishops of Armagh and Dublin before a full congregation.
Pioneer Ministry will encourage, support and release volunteer and paid pioneers and new ministries to share the good news of Jesus Christ in new places and in different ways. With the endorsement of the House of Bishops and generous funding secured from the Representative Body, the initiative is being led by a National Director, the Revd Rob Jones, assisted by Archdeacon Barry Forde and Ingrid Brennan.
As the service commenced, a representative of each of the Church’s 11 dioceses lit a candle of hope which will be presented to every diocesan bishop over the coming months.
Bishop David McClay, who will chair the Pioneer Ministry Council, thanked in particular, Bishop Patrick Rooke, Bishop Alan Abernethy, Trevor Douglas and Canon Phil Potter who “took the lead in really laying a foundation”.
A new website – www.pioneerministry.org – has been created and the leadership team will be in touch as soon as everything begins.
BBC Radio Ulster’s Sunday Service tomorrow (Sunday) at 10.15am will come from St Bartholomew’s parish church, Stranmillis, Belfast, where the rector is Canon Kevin Graham.
On Monday the Archbishop of Dublin will travel to Jordan to lead a retreat with Archbishop Hosam for clergy of Dublin & Glendalough and The Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East as part of the Diocesan Link.
A Lenten series, ‘Mundatum Talks’ based on St John’s Gospel 13 v.14 will begin in St Flannan’s cathedral, Killaloe, on Tuesday evening at 7.30pm and can be viewed on the webcam at www.cathedral.killaloe.anglican.org. The first speaker will be Joe Slattery, an addiction counsellor and coordinator of the North Star Family Project in Limerick.
‘Under the Tree’ is a nature focused Lent course which offers time and space to reconnect with yourself, God and creation. It has been organized by the Church’s Ministry of Healing: Ireland and the National Bible Society of Ireland. The course takes place over four Mondays in Lent (6, 13, 27 March and 2 April) from 11am to 12.30pm, in the garden space behind the buildings currently used by the Atlas Language School, in Rathmines.
Sessions will include reflection; interactive Bible Study; a selection of options to support nature connection and response including working with clay, nature story boards, sketching with charcoal, and mindful wandering; and journaling.
To book/for more information, go to this link on Eventbrite or contact Lydia at lydia@ministryofhealing.ie
Choral Compline, a short service of evening prayer, will be sung in Sandford parish church, Ranelagh, on Friday evenings at 6pm. All are welcome to this beautiful meditative service, which provides a welcome respite from the busy Friday rush–hour.
The Archbishop of Armagh has appointed the Ven Dr Stephen McBride as the All Ireland Chaplain to the Mothers’ Union. Dr Stephen McBride is Vicar of Antrim Parish, Archdeacon of Connor and the current Connor Diocesan MU Chaplain. He has had a long association with the Mothers’ Union.
The Rector of Dun Laoghaire, the Revd Asa Bjork Olafsdottir, has announced that she accepted an invitation to take a post in Iceland in the parish where her great–grandfather was the incumbent. She has been Rector of Dun Laoghaire since 2013.
Published in the Saturday edition of The Irish Times