Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’
Ordinations to the Diaconate
Last Sunday in Willowfield parish church, Belfast, the Bishop of Down & Dromore, the Rt Revd David McClay, ordained five men as intern deacons. Kyle Flanigan will serve in the parish of Ballybeen, Ryan Hawk in Drumbo, Reuben Johnston in Willowfield, Colin Morris in Dundrum and Jonny Watson in Knockbreda.
On Sunday evening at 7pm in St Macartin’s cathedral, Enniskillen, the Bishop of Clogher, Dr Ian Ellis, will ordain Peter Booth as an intern deacon.
Under the current ministerial training programme in CITI, third year ordinands are ordained as deacon interns and divide their time between their studies in CITI and working in a parish.
Ordination to the priesthood usually takes place in the following year.
The new academic term at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute starts thus weekend with an introductory weekend for all new students entering either residential or non–residential training. This weekend will also see the return of the continuing non–residential students and interns. In addition to preparing students for the M Th course and community life, the weekend programme will include other sessions concerning safeguarding trust, academic writing and church governance.
The annual Elizabeth Bowen Commemoration will be held at 3,30pm on Sunday in Farahy church, near Mitchelstown, Co. Cork. The service will be led by the Very Revd Dr Robert MacCarthy and the address will be given by the former Secretary General of the Anglican Communion and former Bishop of Limerick & Killaloe, Dr Kenneth Kearon. The music will be directed by Dr Ian Sexton.
Holy Trinity church, Killiney, on Killiney Hill Road, Co. Dublin, will be open for visitors between 2 and 4 pm on each Thursday in September.
As the Season of Creation begins, Eco Congregation Ireland (ECI) has announced that they have awarded grants to 27 different churches across the island of Ireland. From Ballymena to Killarney, from Westport to Dublin, churches will benefit with funding towards biodiversity projects and energy use reduction schemes.
Grant winners include Kilternan (Diocese of Dublin) for keep cups with ECI logo, Kilcronaghan (Derry) for pollinator beds, Westport (Tuam) for bird and bat boxes, Lisburn Cathedral (Connor) for pollinators and keep cups, Dunshauglin (Meath) for bird and bat boxes, Cloyne (Cloyne) for a pocket forest, Rathkeale (Limerick) for insulation in a community house, Donagheady (Derry) for pollinator plants for the parish, Sandford (Dublin) for pollinator shrubs, Killiney (Dublin) for the removal of invasive species and for new shrubs, Aughrim (Clonfert) for fruit bushes, and Fethard (Ferns) for solar panels on the church.
The Chair of ECI, the Ven Andrew Orr, who is Priest–in–Charge of Youghal, said, “We have been amazed by the number of applications for grants. It has been a huge success, far beyond what we expected. It is so wonderful to see the churches across the island taking the lead in caring for God’s creation in so many diverse ways.”
Published in the Friday edition of The Irish Times