Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’
Black Santa in Dublin & Belfast
On Monday the Archbishop of Dublin will preside at the launch of the annual Black Santa Appeal at St Ann’s church, Dawson Street where, until Christmas, the Rector of St Ann’s Canon Paul Arbuthnot, assisted by lay and clerical colleagues, will solicit contributions for local charities.
The original of the species, the Belfast Black Santa Appeal, is underway at St Anne’s cathedral, led by the Dean of Belfast, the Very Revd Stephen Forde. Now in its 47th year, the Black Santa Appeal began in 1976 when Dean Sammy Crooks started to sit out on the steps of Belfast Cathedral to raise money for charity in the days leading up to Christmas. His clerical cloak and the time of year earned him the nickname, ‘Black Santa’ from Belfast’s media. Since then, Black Santa and his helpers have raised many hundreds of thousands of pounds for local charities.
Today (Saturday) in Christ Church cathedral, Dublin, there will be a Christmas Organ Concert at 1.30pm. A Community Chorus Concert will be held tomorrow (Sunday) at 8pm and there will be Shoppers’ Carols on Tuesday at 1.30pm. A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols will be held in the cathedral on Thursday at 6pm.
Tomorrow afternoon (Saturday) at 3.00pm, Ireland’s leading intercultural choir, Discovery Gospel Choir, will perform a Christmas concert, ‘Make a Joyful Noise’ in their home church of St George & St Thomas on Cathal Brugha Street, Dublin 1. The church and the choir have long been recognised for championing ethnic diversity and racial justice. Tickets can be purchased on ticketstop.ie and on the door. At 4pm St John’s Church, Park Avenue, Sandymount, will host their annual Carols by Candlelight service when a collection will be taken for the Capuchin Day Centre.
Tomorrow (Sunday) at 3.15pm there will be a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in St Patrick’s cathedral, Dublin, and at 7pm the Archbishop of Dublin will preside at the Dublin Civic Carol Service in St Ann’s church, Dawson Street.
The Church’s Ministry of Healing: Ireland and the National Bible Society of Ireland will host a lunchtime Zoom Mindful Advent Reflection on Tuesday at 1pm for 45 minutes sessions to bring pause, reflection and restoration. The sessions will combine mindfulness practice and scriptural reflection. The gift of a pause is the gift of perspective.
The series of Ecumenical Advent Reflections in Ranelagh, jointly hosted by Sandford parish and the Church of the Holy Name, Beechwood parish will conclude on Wednesday at 11am in Sandford parish church. Participants meet at 11am for refreshments, followed by a time of Bible reading, discussion and reflection. The Carol Service by candlelight in Calary church, organised by Music in Calary, will be held at 7 pm on Wednesday and will be followed by mulled wine and mince pies in the Church Room.
The Representative Church Body Library at Braemor Park, Churchtown, Dublin, is again open on all weekdays, Monday to Friday, from 10.00am to 12.30pm and from 1.30pm to 4.15pm. However, to avoid disappointment, visitors viewing archives and manuscripts are advised to pre–book. Slots will be released on a quarterly basis from January 2024. Further assistance may be had at library@rcbcoi.org
The Library will close for Christmas at 12.30pm on Friday and re–open on Tuesday, 2 January 2024.
Church of Ireland House in Rathmines will also close on Friday and re–open on 2 January.
Published in the Friday edition of The Irish Times