Irish Times Notes04 Jan 20

Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’

Forthcoming

The beginning of a new year is, of course, a time for opening a new diary: for blocking in holidays and short breaks, for recording birthdays and anniversaries, and for noting significant forthcoming events.

On 21 January the Biblical Association of the Church of Ireland will launch its 2020 Lent Bible Studies. Given the climate–change crisis facing the world today, BACI has invited the noted scripture scholar Dr Margaret Daly–Denton to present a series of Bible Studies for on the theme of ‘Caring for Creation’.

In response, she will introduce readers to creation–centred scriptures which would have been familiar to Jesus and which she sees as underlying the Gospel of John. In this gospel, she points out: ‘We find the story of Jesus doing the work of God in the world and inviting his disciples to share in that work’. Her book John: an Earth Bible Commentary (Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2017) will be helpful to those who wish to go into further detail.

The Bible Studies will be launched at Church of Ireland House, Dublin, at lunchtime on Tuesday 21 January, when multiple copies will be available at a special price. Further copies can be purchased at €3.00 or £2.50 from BACI treasurer Barbara Bergin, but these will incur a postage charge. It is expected that the Bible Studies will also be available for download from the BACI website (bibliahibernica.wordpress.com) in due course, when a new webmaster takes over the site.

Looking further ahead, the Royal Irish Academy will host a half–day conference on ‘The Church of Ireland, ‘Disestablishment and Beyond’ in Academy House, on Dublin’s Dawson Street on 27 February. The conference will commence with an introduction to and discussion of the concepts of ‘Establishment’ and ‘Disestablishment’ and the transition between the two, to contextualise the subject and the subsequent panel discussions. The panel chairs will be Professor Raymond Gillespie, MRIA, Ms Áine Lawlor, and the Revd Trevor Sargent, while the panellists will include Senator Ivana Bacik, Dr Ian d’Alton (TCD), Professor Alan Ford (Nottingham University), Professor Jacqueline Hill, MRIA (Maynooth University), Professor Alvin Jackson, MRIA (Edinburgh University), the Revd Professor Anne Lodge (Dublin City University), Dr Martin Mansergh, MRIA, and Dr Andrew Pierce (TCD). More details of the programme and registration information may be had at info@ria.ie

More immediately, tomorrow (Sunday) is the Feast of the Epiphany. In Christ Church cathedral, Dublin, at 11am the Cathedral Choir will sing the Epiphany Eucharist, while in the afternoon in St Patrick’s cathedral, the Cathedral Consort will sing at the Epiphany Carol Service at 3.15pm.

On Friday, a new series of lunchtime lectures will begin in Christ Church cathedral, Dublin, at 1.10pm. ‘Disestablishment: An Historical Perspective’, which has been organized by the cathedral’s Research Officer, Dr Stuart Kinsella, will begin with a lecture by by Professor Mary Daly on ‘A Governmental Perspective’. Dr Daly was Professor of Modern Irish History in UCD and is a former President of the Royal Irish Academy. On the following Fridays there will be lectures by Professor Alan Ford, Dr Colin Barr, and Archbishop Richard Clarke.

Finally, for those who read and are curious about the life of the Church both at home and beyond, don’t forget to renew your subscription to the Church of Ireland journal, Search. At €21/£19 (€11/£9 for students) for three issues each year, it remains remarkable value. Subscriptions may be sent to the Hon. Treasurer, Michael Denton at 10 Dun Emer Drive, Dublin, D16 F78.