Irish Times Notes30 Sep 17

Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’

New Canons for Christ Church

Last May legislation allowing for the appointment of honorary canons in Christ Church cathedral, Dublin, was passed at the General Synod. The move reflected the desire to honour lay people who had given particular and distinguished service to cathedral or public life. The appointment of Ecumenical Canons reflects the cathedral’s mission and ministry in the city amid a changing ecumenical culture. Each will serve for five years.

So, tomorrow (Sunday), for the first time, Christ Church cathedral, Dublin, will admit honorary Lay and Ecumenical Canons to its Chapter. Former President of Ireland Dr Mary McAleese and Professor Jim Lucey, Medical Director of St Patrick’s Mental Health Services and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin, will be installed as Lay Canons. The Revd Lorraine Kennedy–Ritchie, of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, and Dr David Tuohy SJ will be installed as Ecumenical Canons.

The installations take place during a Service of Choral Evensong in the cathedral at 3.30 pm. During the service, Dublin & Glendalough’s new Youth Ministry Coordinator, Susie Keegan, will be commissioned. The Archbishop of Dublin will be the preacher.

Tomorrow (Sunday) morning the Archbishop of Dublin will preach at the Harvest Thanksgiving and 75th Anniversary service in St Mary’s church, Crumlin, while the Bishop of Derry & Raphoe will be in Moira where he will preach at the Harvest Festival in St John’s parish church. In the evening, at 6pm Dr Jackson will preach at Choral Evensong in St. Bartholomew’s church, Clyde Road, Dublin, as part of the 150th Anniversary celebrations.

On Monday morning at 10.15am the Michaelmas New Law Term Service will be held in St Michan’s church, Dublin. The preacher will be the Revd Dr Laurence Graham, President of the Methodist Church in Ireland, and the singing will be led by the Choir of The King’s Hospital. The congregation will include visiting judges from Northern Ireland, Scotland and England and Wales, political leaders, members of the Irish judiciary, An Garda Siochana, the Defence Forces and the Diplomatic Corps.

On Wednesday evening in St Columb’s cathedral, the Bishop of Derry & Raphoe will preside at the installation of the Revd Paul Whittaker as a canon. Mr Whittaker has been Rector of Errigal and Desertoghill since 2005. In the Church of Ireland Theological Institute the Archbishop of Dublin will commission the new students.

The last concert in this year’s ‘Music in Calary’ series will be held in Calary parish church, Co. Wicklow, at 8 pm on Friday, when the wonderful classical guitarist Redmond O’Toole will play Bach’s Cello Suite No 1 (arranged for guitar) together with works by Mertz, Albeniz, Tedesco, Ian Wilson and Domeniconi. Tickets can be booked by ringing John at (01) 2818146 or emailing derekneilson@eircom.net

Those who have been feeling bereft by the disappearance from the schedules of Lyric FM of Tim Thurston’s Sunday morning Gloria programme will be glad to know that he will be presenting two lectures series. In the National Concert Hall, beginning on Tuesday, at 6.15pm, he will begin a five week series of talks on ‘Delights of Early Music. Dance, Dalliance and Devotion’ – details from nch.ie / 01 417 0000. Next month, beginning on 6 November in the Studio Theatre of the DLR Lexicon in Dun Laoghaire, he will present a series of Monday morning talks which will begin at 11am. ‘From Darkness into Light – a Millennium of Church Music from All Souls, through Advent to Christmas’ will continue until 11 December – details from dlrlexiconlib@dircoco.ie / 01 280 1147.