Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’
Bishops’ Appeal Supports Haiti
Bishops’ Appeal is partnering with Christian Aid to respond to Hurricane Matthew, following the destruction which it has caused in Haiti. Hurricane Matthew swept through the south–west of the country on Tuesday 4 October but the effects of the storm are only now becoming clear.
The Bishop of Tuam, Chairman of Bishops’ Appeal, stated: ‘We are encouraging parishes to consider having a special collection to support the people of Haiti. More than 1,000 people are known to have lost their lives and it is expected that this figure may increase. Sixty thousand people are living in temporary shelters, crops have been destroyed and livestock swept away, and there are growing fears of a cholera outbreak.’
Having worked in Haiti for over 20 years, Christian Aid has been on the ground since the hurricane’s landfall, assessing the damage and working out how to best help the people of Haiti to get back on their feet as soon as possible. Christian Aid’s initial response has involved providing the basics: food, clothing and shelter. For example: £17 / €19.29 could help to provide bedding required to accommodate people sleeping in emergency shelters; £28 / €31.77 could provide the hygiene essentials that a family needs in an emergency; £60 / €68.08 could supply the materials needed to rebuild someone’s home.
In the coming weeks and months, the response will involve helping people to rebuild sustainable livelihoods. Parish and individual donations can be sent to Bishops’ Appeal, Church of Ireland House, Church Avenue, Rathmines, Dublin 6.
Bishops’ Appeal is the Church of Ireland’s World Aid and Development Programme. For more information, please contact Pip McCracken at bishopsappeal@ireland.anglican.org
Tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon at 3.30pm the Dublin & Glendalough Committee of the Church’s Ministry of Healing will host its Annual Service of Wholeness and Healing in Glenealy parish church, Co. Wicklow. Canon Roly Heaney will preach and there will be an opportunity for prayer with the laying on of hands and anointing with oil. In St Patrick’s cathedral, Dublin, at 8pm David Leigh will give the last in the series of organ recitals to mark the centenary of the death of Max Reger.
The Bishop of Cork will be in Dublin on Monday for the launch in TCD of a book in memory of the late Senator Trevor West who was a palpable Church of Ireland presence in the academy, in the church and in the worlds of sport and politics.
The Season of Advent begins on Sunday 27th November, and so starts a new liturgical year and a fresh cycle of daily Scripture readings. Church of Ireland Publishing has announced that Sunday and Weekday Readings 2017 is now available. This annual booklet is compiled by the Revd Ken Rue, and it may be obtained from Richard Ryan at the Book Well, Belfast (email: info@thebookwell.co.uk; mobile: 07581 143596), or from Heather Jestin, Church House, Rathmines (email: heather.jestin@rcbcoi.org; telephone: +353 (0)1 412 5621) at £3/€4 per booklet. For further information on Church of Ireland Publishing, visit www.cip.ireland.anglican.org
Another new publication is Nun’s Cross Church, Co. Wicklow and its Treasures, 1817–2017 which was recently launched by the Archbishop of Dublin. Written by Patricia Butler and lavishly illustrated with photographs by Mark Boland, the book was commissioned by the select vestry of Killiskey parish to mark the 200th anniversary of their church. It is available from the Hub in Ashford, Bridge Street Books in Wicklow and from Lesley Rue at +353 (0) 87 2810478 or by email at lesleyrue@gmail.com at €25.
Published in the Saturday edition of The Irish Times