Autumn ordinations begin

 There has been a long tradition, from at least the 5th century, in the western church of holding ordinations at Embertide, those days around the Feast of St Lucy (13 December), Ash Wednesday, Whit Sunday and Holy Cross Day (14 September) although in more modern times there has been a tendency to follow the pattern of the Church of England and ordain priests at Petertide, around the Feast of St Peter on 29 June. In recent years the Church of Ireland has abandoned this tradition to facilitate a new model of training. In this model final year ordinands are ordained as deacons intern and assigned to a parish. They combine this practical parish work with academic study in the Church of Ireland Theological Institute in Dublin, and, following the completion of a dissertation, they are appointed to curacies and ordained to the priesthood in the autumn.

The first round of these autumn ordinations will be held tomorrow in Downpatrick and Kilkenny. In Down cathedral the Bishop of Down & Dromore, the Rt Revd Harold Miller, will ordain the Revds Scott McDonald, Peter Munce, Robert Smyth and Raymond Kettyle to the priesthood. Mr Kettyle will be curate in the parish of Cregagh and Mr Munce will serve as curate in the parish of Moira. Mr McDonald and Mr Smyth will be diocesan curates serving in the Lecale Mission Area, which is part of a group of parishes based on Down cathedral, and in Annalong respectively. In St Canice’s cathedral, Kilkenny, the Bishop of Cashel, Ferns & Ossory, the Rt Revd Michael Burrows, will raise the Revd David Compton the priesthood. Mr Compton will serve as a curate in the Kilkenny union of parishes which is composed of St Canice’s and St John’s, Kilkenny, Aghour and Kilmanagh.

Tomorrow (Sunday) the services in Christ Church cathedral, Dublin, will be sung by the Past Choristers, while in St Patrick’s cathedral the Close Chorale will sing the services. In St Patrick’s cathedral, Armagh, as part of the Charles Wood Festival and Summer School, the Charles Wood Singers will sing at the Eucharist and at the Festal Evensong. In St John’s church, Sandymount, at 3pm there will be a recital of music from World War I and the 1916 Rising featuring organist, Eoin Ward, and piper, Fionn O hAlmhain.

In St Mary’s church, Carlow, tomorrow (Sunday) evening the Bishop of Cashel, Ferns & Ossory will institute the Revd David White as Rector of Carlow, Urglin & Staplestown in succession to the Revd Olivia Williams who has retired from the stipendiary ministry. Mr White was ordained in 2012 and since 2013 has been curate in Bandon.

On Thursday evening in St Peter’s church, Drogheda, the Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Richard Clarke, will institute the Revd Iain Jamieson as rector of the Drogheda and Ardee and Kilsaran unions of parishes in Co. Louth. Mr Jamieson was ordained in 2011 and has been curate in Ballymena, Co. Antrim, since 2012. He succeeds the Revd Michael Graham who has retired from the stipendiary ministry.

In Fintona, Co. Tyrone, on Friday evening the Bishop of Clogher, the Rt Revd John McDowell, will institute the Revd John Woods to the incumbency of Donacavey and Barr. Mr Woods was ordained in 2012 and since 2013 he has been bishop’s curate in the Kildallon and Swanlinbar group of parishes in Co. Cavan. Mr Woods will join his wife, the Revd Stephanie Woods, in the Diocese of Clogher. Mrs Woods is Rector of Lisbellaw.

Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’
www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs

Statement by the Archdeacon of Belfast, The Ven. George Davison:

‘The recent vandalism and destruction of graves at the Jewish plot at Belfast City Cemetery is both appalling and disgraceful and I join with others in condemning such an anti–social, racist and sacrilegious act. 

‘I also extend my sincere sympathies to those in the Jewish community in Belfast who feel the effects of this heartless attack on this significant and historic site most at this time.’

(Archdeacon Davison is the Bishop of Connor’s Commissary – the Bishop of Connor is away)

For further information please contact:
Church of Ireland Press Office Church of Ireland House 61–67 Donegall Street Belfast, BT1 2QH Tel: (028) 9082 8880 (from NI) Tel: (048) 9082 8880 (from RoI) Fax (028) 9032 3554 Email: Press Office
Paul Harron: (duty phone) +44 (0)7787 881582  Peter Cheney (duty phone) +44 (0)7774295369 Janet Maxwell: (duty phone) +353 (0)87 948 4412  www.ireland.anglican.org/news

This year’s Service of Ordination of Presbyters/Priests took place in Down Cathedral on Sunday 28 August. Bishop Harold ordained six presbyters (pictured below) for curacies in the diocese and the cathedral was filled with their families, supporters and sponsors.

The preacher was Bishop Michael Nazir–Ali, the current President of OXTRAD (Oxford Centre for Training, Research, Advocacy and Dialogue) and former Bishop of Rochester.

Bishop Michael said he felt privileged to speak at a service of ordination in Down Cathedral, which has such close associations with the beginnings of Christian faith in this land.

He said: “I’m very conscious of the contribution that the church in Ireland has made down the centuries in the cause of mission and ministry throughout the world, and we thank God for that and for the continuation of that story as it is represented in the ordination of these people this afternoon.”

Bishop Michael preached from Isaiah 61 and from the gospel reading in John 19 when the risen Christ appears to the fearful disciples in the upper room. As he does so he brings a new, transformative order into the midst of the old.

The Bishop said that those being ordained would be representatives of this new order of peace – peace with God and peace with one another, and called to: reconcile people to God and one another; to restoration of the poor into that image which God has for them; to the recovery of sight to those who have lost that very sense of their own destiny; to the release of those who are bound by chains they cannot see; to the renewal of the church to its first love and to the rebuilding of what has been destroyed.

He reminded the ordinands that: “None of this can be done in our own strength but in utter dependence on God’s grace, on daily living with Christ; on the work of the Spirit in our lives and in the lives of those who meet us and see us and hear us. It has to do with a life of prayer, reliance on the means of grace that God has provided for us in the sacraments; on the fellowship of Christians where we are placed; on the teaching of the church. All of that we need to have and to use if our ministry is to be effective. No one can undertake this task lightly and without due prompt.”

Click on the links below to find out more about each of the presbyters:

• Revd Bill Donoghue for the curacy of Willowfield
• Revd Raymond Kettyle for the curacy of Cregagh
• Revd Scott McDonald to serve as Diocesan Curate with the Lecale Area Mission Partnership (LAMP) Ministry Team 
• Revd Peter Munce for the curacy of Moira
• Revd Robert Smyth to serve as Diocesan Curate with special responsibility for the Parish of Annalong
• Revd Colin Taylor to serve as Diocesan Curate with special responsibility for the Parish of Dromara and Garvaghy

View a photo gallery of the ordination service here.

For further information, please contact

Annette McGrath
Down & Dromore Diocesan Communications Officer
Church of Ireland House
61–67 Donegall Street
Belfast
BT1 2QH

Tel: (028) 9032 2268
Fax:(028) 9023 1902
Mob: 07595 231958
Email: DCO
Web: www.down.anglican.org
www.facebook.com/downanddromore

The new organ recital series, in memory of Mr Theo Saunders, the former organist of St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Cathedral, Armagh, will begin on Sunday 4 September 2016 at 4.15pm in the Cathedral.

The recitalist will be the Cathedral’s Assistant Organist, the Revd Dr Peter Thompson, who said, “It is a particular privilege to give the inaugural recital in memory of Theo, because it was Theo who encouraged me to return to the organ bench after almost a decade of not playing at all. In 2010 he asked me to play for two weeks while he was unwell, and after much coaxing and encouraging I reluctantly agreed. Two weeks became four, four became eight, and the rest, as they say, is history!”

Peter has chosen works to reflect the significant anniversaries which occur this year, including the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the birth of the composer Charles Wood, the one hundredth anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, and the ninetieth birthday of the Queen. Each of these events has inspired the programme, which will open with Elgar’s ‘Imperial March’ and conclude with his famous ‘Pomp and Circumstance March No.1’, also known as ‘Land of Hope and Glory’. Between these two ever–popular marches there will be a selection of pieces by Charles Wood, by his teachers Hubert Parry and Charles Villiers Stanford, and by his pupils Herbert Howells and Ralph Vaughan Williams, each relating to one or more of the anniversaries.

The Dean of Armagh, the Very Revd Gregory Dunstan, said, “It is fitting that this new series of organ recitals is given in Theo’s memory.   His thirteen years of service at this Cathedral marked the summit of his musical career, and he found great happiness among the people of Armagh.  His work endures especially in those whom he taught, and it is particularly appropriate that many of the recitals in these Cathedral series are given by people towards the beginning of their musical careers.”

As with all the recitals in this series, admission is free. The retiring collection will go towards the cost of a new piano for the Cathedral Choir’s rehearsal room.

For further information, please contact:
St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh
Tel. 028 3752 3142

The Chief Officer and Secretary General of the RCB, David Ritchie, has announced that Bryan Whelan will commence work on 12 September as Assistant Librarian at the RCB Library.

Bryan (pictured right) holds a BA in Biblical and Theological Studies from Trinity College, and an MA in Library and Information Studies from University College Dublin. He has been working in libraries since 2011, completing projects on digital libraries, social media, web design, and information literacy, and with detailed knowledge of library management systems.

He comes to the RCB Library from the Norma Smurfit Library at the National College of Ireland, where his responsibilities included serial management, implementing the library’s first use of user–testing a new website, and online cataloguing. His previous work experience includes the Library and Archives of the Royal Dublin Society in Ballsbridge, Dublin, and also retail management in a branch of the book company Waterstone’s. 

Particular interests include the nature and role of information literacy in libraries today, how users interact with their library, and how the library reaches out to users.  He is a member of the Library Association of Ireland.

For further information please contact:
Church of Ireland Press Office Church of Ireland House 61–67 Donegall Street Belfast, BT1 2QH Tel: (028) 9082 8880 (from NI) Tel: (048) 9082 8880 (from RoI) Fax (028) 9032 3554 Email: Press Office
Paul Harron: (duty phone) +44 (0)7787 881582  Peter Cheney (duty phone) +44 (0)7774295369 Janet Maxwell: (duty phone) +353 (0)87 948 4412  www.ireland.anglican.org/news

The Church of Ireland Priorities Fund is now open for applications.  The fund provides resources for growth within the Church of Ireland and the wider community.

Contributions to the fund come directly from Church of Ireland parishes and since its establishment in 1980, over €17 million (£14 million) has been distributed in grants.  Seven categories are currently supported by the fund:

• Ministry;
• Retirement;
• Education;
• Community;
• Areas of need;
• Outreach initiatives; and
• Innovative ministry in a rural context.

Application forms for grants to parishes or organisations within the Church of Ireland are now available. Please note that the fund is not open to applications from individuals.  Forms can be downloaded at www.priorities.ireland.anglican.org and are also available by contacting Mrs Sylvia Simpson, Priorities Fund Office, Church of Ireland House, Church Avenue, Rathmines, Dublin 6, D06 CF47.  Tel: 00 353 1 4125 607. Email: priorities@ireland.anglican.org

The closing date for the receipt of completed application forms is Monday, 31st October 2016.

David Ritchie, the recently appointed Chief Officer & Secretary General of the Representative Church Body of the Church of Ireland, talks to Peter Cheney about his plans for the role.

David, can you describe your career to date?

I have had a varied career. After studying Civil Engineering at Trinity College in Dublin I joined Concern, the Irish relief and development agency, designing and building refugee settlement centres in Cambodia. And then I went to Rwanda during the 1994 genocide developing refugee camps, sanitation and water programmes. Following my overseas experience I trained as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG before joining ESB Internal Audit and then finally moving to DLL Group, part of Rabobank, where I worked for fourteen years leading the investment side of the business.

Do you see your previous background as relevant to your new role?

I was asked a similar question doing my interview for the RCB position. I have always had an interest in finance and engineering, and also an interest in faith and church. This role in the RCB allows me bring together both these interests. I have being discussing and thinking a lot about the strategy and role of the RCB, and the recurring challenge as I currently see it is how can the RCB best facilitate and support the Church of Ireland, in the South and North, for new churches and established churches, for the present and also for the future.

Based on your first four months in your new role, how would you describe the role of Chief Officer & Secretary General?

It is a very broad role. I am very thankful for having three months’ overlap with Adrian Clements, the outgoing Chief Officer, who was very patient with all my questions. In summary, the RCB has a responsibility for the investments, finance, property, legal advice, trusts, clergy payroll and Synod services as well as supporting various organisational projects. The Chief Officer & Secretary General is responsible for setting the vision, direction and strategy, as well as managing and establishing the control structures of the RCB.

You mentioned ‘vision’ as one of your roles. How do you currently see the RCB and where do you see it going?

The RCB has an excellent team of people. As I reflect on your question, I am reminded of a leadership book ‘Good to Great’ by Jim Collins where he uses the analogy of a bus arguing that the first stage to building great organisations is to get the right people on board, the next stage is to begin the journey.  I look forward to this journey with the team at the RCB. So over the next year one of my key objectives will be to articulate this vision for the RCB. But I am also aware the vision is built on values and the values that I hope to develop would include accessibility, efficiency, reliability and a passion for what we stand for and what we do.

For further information please contact:
Church of Ireland Press Office Church of Ireland House 61–67 Donegall Street Belfast, BT1 2QH Tel: (028) 9082 8880 (from NI) Tel: (048) 9082 8880 (from RoI) Fax (028) 9032 3554 Email: Press Office
Paul Harron: (duty phone) +44 (0)7787 881582  Peter Cheney (duty phone) +44 (0)7774295369 Janet Maxwell: (duty phone) +353 (0)87 948 4412  www.ireland.anglican.org/news

Revd Dr Iain Provan has opened the Down and Dromore 10th annual Bible Week, teaching to a packed church in Willowfield, East Belfast.

Iain is taking as his theme: The Big Picture: Reading the Bible for All That’s There, and will be drawing a map of the territory of the Bible, helping us get more out of our reading and perhaps to delve into parts of the Bible that we’ve hitherto avoided.

In his first address, Iain introduced ‘The Big Picture’, starting with the idea that all human beings inhabit narratives; indeed from the moment we’re born we’re “thrown into a world whose nature we have no initial way of comprehending.”

Gradually, by virtue of being given a story by our family and culture, we start to make sense of the world. However, as we grow and question that story, many of us begin a search for truth.

“Unless we know in which story we find ourselves, it is difficult to live effective and meaningful lives,” said Iain. ”And so one of the most important questions a human being can ask is this one: ‘Of which story do I find myself truly a part?’” 

He continued: “Christian faith provides a unique answer to this question: There IS a big story, about life, the universe, and everything that is TRUE, with a capital T. It begins in the books of Moses, in Genesis, and Exodus, and so on, and it runs on to the end of time; and at its heart lies Jesus Christ.”

Iain explored the nature of the world as found in Genesis, contrasting this with the ideas held by western philosophy and eastern religion.

“Holy Scripture presents us with a story that tells it like it really is,” he concluded. “Where else should we go to gain our fundamental ideas about the narrative we are all caught up in?  Where else should we go for a trustworthy map for our journey through life? ‘You, O Lord, have the words of eternal life’ – about the world in which we find ourselves, and about other important matters besides.”

‘Hear, understand and act’ – read Bishop Harold’s very helpful reflection on Iain’s first talk.

Listen again.

Diocesan Development Officer, Andrew Brannigan, also presented a video of the highly successful Kilbroney Adventure Camps, just one of the many youth and children’s activities in our diocese this summer. Watch it on YouTube here.

Please join us on Wednesday 1 September as we continue with, “Of Covenants and Promises: God Commits” (2 Samuel 7:4–16). 

The Bible Week is four nights of Bible teaching, worship, ministry and encouragement for the Diocese of Down and Dromore but anyone is welcome to come along.

For further information, please contact

Annette McGrath
Down & Dromore Diocesan Communications Officer
Church of Ireland House
61–67 Donegall Street
Belfast
BT1 2QH

Tel: (028) 9032 2268
Fax:(028) 9023 1902
Mob: 07595 231958
Email: DCO
Web: www.down.anglican.org
www.facebook.com/downanddromore

Statement by Dr Peter Hamill, Secretary to the Transferor Representatives’ Council (TRC), issued on behalf of the TRC:

‘The Transferor Representatives’ Council (TRC) welcomes the launch of the Controlled Schools’ Support Council (CSSC) and looks forward to working closely with Mr Barry Mulholland, Director, and his team in the future.

‘The TRC has strongly lobbied for the CSSC and is delighted that the Controlled Sector will now have greater representation and a stronger voice for children in the Controlled Schools.’

For further information please contact:
Church of Ireland Press Office Church of Ireland House 61–67 Donegall Street Belfast, BT1 2QH Tel: (028) 9082 8880 (from NI) Tel: (048) 9082 8880 (from RoI) Fax (028) 9032 3554 Email: Press Office
Paul Harron: (duty phone) +44 (0)7787 881582  Peter Cheney (duty phone) +44 (0)7774295369 Janet Maxwell: (duty phone) +353 (0)87 948 4412  www.ireland.anglican.org/news

Autumn ordinations continue

The autumn season of ordinations to the priesthood continues next week and the series of ordinations of deacons intern begins.

Tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon, at 3.30pm, in St Patrick’s church, Ballymena, the Bishop of Connor, the Rt Revd Alan Abernethy, will ordain the Revd Dennis Christie to serve as curate in Ballymena and the Revd Aaron McAlister to be curate in the parish of Antrim. In St Columb’s cathedral, Derry, at 4pm, the Bishop of Derry & Raphoe, the Rt Revd Ken Good, will ordain the Revd Suzanne Cousins for the curacy of Moville in Co. Donegal, which is the principal parish in a group that includes Greencastle, Donagh, Cloncha and Culdaff. On Wednesday evening at 7.30pm in St Macartin’s cathedral, Enniskillen, the Bishop of Clogher, the Rt Revd John McDowell, will ordain the Revd Chris McBruithin for the curacy of Enniskillen and the Revd Philip Bryson to serve as curate of Magheraculmoney parish which is based on Kesh in Co. Fermanagh.

In St Gobhan’s church, Seagoe, tomorrow (Sunday) evening at 7pm the Bishop of Down & Dromore, the Rt Revd Harold Miller, will raise three third year ordinands in the Church of Ireland Theological Institute to the status of deacons intern. Lucy Burden, Geoff Hamilton and Johnny McFarland will serve in the parishes of Mount Merrion, Seagoe and Carnalea respectively. On Thursday evening in St Mark’s parish church, Armagh, the Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Richard Clarke, will ordain Graham Hare as a deacon intern to serve in St Mark’s and in Trim the Bishop of Meath and Kildare, the Most Revd Pat Storey, will similarly ordain Simon Scott in St Patrick’s cathedral, to be a deacon intern in the cathedral group of parishes which comprises St Patrick’s cathedral and Athboy parish.

Today (Saturday) at 3.30pm the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Michael Jackson, will officiate at the commissioning of diocesan lay readers and a parish reader in Christ Church cathedral. The preacher will be Ms Sylvia Armstrong and the prayers will be led by Ms Joan Forsdyke.

Tomorrow (Sunday) following Evensong in St Patrick’s cathedral, Armagh, the cathedral’s assistant organist, the Revd Dr Peter Thompson, who is also Rector of Donaghmore, will give a recital in memory of the former cathedral organist, Theo Saunders. The programme will include pieces by Elgar, Charles Wood, Stanford and Parry, Herbert Howells and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

In Christ Church cathedral, Lisburn, on Thursday evening there will be four installations to the chapter of St Saviour, Connor. Canon George Graham will be installed as Chancellor, Canon John Budd as Precentor, Canon Jim Carson as Treasurer and the Revd Derek Kerr as Prebendary of Cairncastle. Meanwhile in St Columb’s cathedral, Derry, the Revd Malcolm Ferry will be installed as a canon. Mr Ferry has been Rector of the Derry city parish of St Augustine since 2014, before which he was Rector of Clooney & Strathfoyle also in Derry. In Calary parish church, Co. Wicklow, there will be a recital by Musici Ireland (Helena Wood – violin, Beth McNinch – viola, Grainne Hope – cello) of works by Boccherini, Dohnanyi and Schubert – ticket details from Derek Neilson at derekneilson@eircom.net

On Friday the Archbishop of Dublin will be in London for the British Irish Association Conference while in Cork the Lord Mayor, Des Cahill, who is a Fine Gael councillor for Cork City South East, will pay a courtesy visit to the Palace to meet the Bishop of Cork, Cloyne & Ross, Dr Paul Colton.

Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’
www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs

The Diocese of Down and Dromore has come to the end of four nights of superb and stretching Bible teaching from Dr Iain Provan, Marshall Sheppard Professor of Biblical Studies at Regent College, Vancouver.

Bishop Harold thanked Iain (pictured above right) for his challenging talks which prompted many of us to critically re–examine some of the assumptions we hold about Scripture. 

Taking as his theme “The Big Picture: Reading the Bible for All That’s There”, Iain shared, as promised, one of his passions – “to get all of God’s people reading all of God’s Word and understanding it as one Great Story in which we are supposed to live our lives.”  

His final exhortation to us was: “Grasp a hold of that Big Picture!! Read your Scriptures within its frame!! For if it is really true that I can only answer the question “What am I to do?” if I can answer the prior question “Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?” – well then, here in Holy Scripture is the Story of all stories. Read yourself into it!! And then you will know who you are, and you will know what you are here to do.”

We were also delighted to have the Kerygma Good News Choir with us, led by Musical Director, Lorna Palmer. Saturday 19 November is a date for your diary when the cross–community choir will have another Celebration Praise Concert in Newry Cathedral.

It was also the night to announce next year’s Bible Week speaker as Bishop Greg Venables. Bishop Greg is much in demand as a Bible teacher and is a leading theological conservative in global Anglicanism. He and his wife Sylvia have been missionaries in South America for almost 40 years and he has been bishop of Southern Argentina since 2002. Read more here

View some Bible Week photos in our galleries

For further information, please contact

Annette McGrath
Down & Dromore Diocesan Communications Officer
Church of Ireland House
61–67 Donegall Street
Belfast
BT1 2QH

Tel: (028) 9032 2268
Fax:(028) 9023 1902
Mob: 07595 231958
Email: DCO
Web: www.down.anglican.org
www.facebook.com/downanddromore

The institution of the Rev Andrew Campbell as rector of the Parish of Skerry, Rathcavan and Newtowncrommelin took place in Broughshane on August 24.

At the institution of the Rev Andrew Campbell in Broughshane are, from left: The Rev David Ferguson, Canon Ronnie Nesbitt, Archdeacon Stephen McBride, the Rev Andrew Campbell, the Rev Dr Alan McCann, Cllr Audrey Wales MBE, Mayor of Ballymena, Bishop Alan Abernethy and the Rev Adrian Halligan. Photo: Ivan Connor. 

A large congregation gathered at St Patrick’s Parish Church to welcome 33–year–old Andrew and his wife Allison.

The Bishop of Connor, the Rt Rev Alan Abernethy, who originally sent Andrew for training before presiding over his ordination as a Deacon in 2012, conducted the Act of Institution. 

Canon Ronnie Nesbitt, who was rector throughout Andrew’s curacy at Bangor Abbey, preached a challenging message while the readings were conveyed by Sally Stewart, Honorary Secretary to the Select Vestry at Bangor Abbey; Andrew’s wife, Allison and Richard Reade, a parishioner from Broughshane.

Andrew was curate assistant of Bangor Abbey, Diocese of Down and Dromore, for almost three years, and before that was curate in St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast.

A native of Carrickfergus, he was educated at Belfast High School and read Ancient History and Byzantine Studies at Queen’s University. He went on to read Theology at Union Theological College.

Prior to his ordination, Andrew worked with the Church of Ireland as student worker in the chaplaincy team in both the Jordanstown and Belfast campuses and as a youth worker in St Nicholas, Carrickfergus.

Andrew, who is working on the final stages of a PhD thesis on the ethical impact of Jesus’ death, described his move to Skerry, Rathcavan and Newtowncrommelin as ‘a new and exciting phase in his ministry.’

“Broughshane is a wonderful village and we are very much looking forward to serving there.  I was sad to leave Bangor but now I am itching to get started in this new parish,” he said.

For further information contact Karen Bushby, Connor Diocesan Communications Officer, on 028 9082 8874 or 07766 103880 or email dco@connor.anglican.org

For further information please contact:

Karen Bushby
Connor Diocesan Communications Officer

Tel: 028 4066 0798
Mob: 07766103880
Email: Connor DCO
Web: www.connor.anglican.org

Throughout the autumn of 1916, 20 million people flocked to see a silent film, The Battle of the Somme. This was nearly half the population of Britain at the time. The film remains one of the most watched in British cinema history – even bigger than Star Wars.

For a special commemorative screening on 15th September, Belfast Film Festival will be showing the film as a large–scale projection in St Anne’s Cathedral where there are several war memorials for those who served in and survived World War I.

Somme100 FILM is an international project to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. Composer Laura Rossi’s acclaimed score, commissioned by the Imperial War Museum, has been added to the film.

Smiling awkwardly at the new–fangled cameras, troops move towards the Front in the Great War. Their actions are far removed from the swagger and march of war films, but then this is real. The Battle of the Somme was different from the newsreels of the day. It took footage of actual events and turned it into a main feature with mass appeal.

The film gave its 1916 audience an unprecedented insight into the realities of trench warfare, controversially including the depiction of dead and wounded soldiers. It shows scenes of the build–up to the infantry offensive including the massive preliminary bombardment, coverage of the first day of the battle (the bloodiest single day in Britain’s military history) and depictions of the small gains and massive costs of the attack.

The film was distributed world–wide to demonstrate to allies and neutrals Britain’s commitment to the First World War, and is the source of many of that conflict’s most iconic images. It was made by British official cinematographers Geoffrey Malins and John McDowell. Though it was not intended as a feature film, once the volume and quality of their footage had been seen in London, the British Topical Committee for War Films decided to compile a full–length film.

Belfast Film Festival director Michele Devlin said: “We are thrilled to be taking part in this UK–wide commemoration of the battle of the Somme’s centenary. Cinema was at the height of its popularity in 1916, but The Battle of the Somme very much pushed the boundaries of silent film at that time.  St. Anne’s will provide a poignant backdrop to our screening, and I’m particularly looking forward to hearing the film’s acclaimed score reverberating around the cathedral.”  

Laura Rossi’s score was commissioned in 2006 to mark the 90th anniversary of The Battle of the Somme as a soundtrack for the digitally restored film. When embarking on her research on the film and the battle in preparation for her composition, Laura discovered that her great uncle, Fred Ainge, (whom she knew as he survived the war) was a stretcher–bearer attached to the 29th Division on 1st July 1916. In preparation for composing the new score she visited the Somme battlefields, using Fred’s diaries to locate the areas in which he served.

The Battle of the Somme screens at St. Anne’s Cathedral on Thursday 15th September at 7.30pm. Tickets priced £7 can be booked online at www.belfastfilmfestival.org, by phoning 028 9024 6609 or in person at Visit Belfast Welcome Centre in Donegall Square North.

Belfast Film Festival is funded by Northern Ireland Screen, Department for Culture, Arts & Leisure, BFI, Belfast City Council, Northern Ireland Screen Digital Film Archive, Tourism Northern Ireland and supported by Peroni Italy, Europa Belfast and Translink. Its media partner is the Belfast Telegraph.

Press contact: Richard Gaston, Belfast Film Festival
Email: press@belfastfilmfestival.org
Mobile: +44 (0)7903 085533

It’s back to school season in schools around the country.  In the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross there are 20 primary schools and 3 second level schools.

For one granny – Elsie Gash from Nohoval Parish – it was an exciting and busy day as she was on hand to be with her 10 grandchildren, all of whom were starting the school year at St Multose National School, Kinsale, County Cork.  With one starting and one going to sixth class it will be the one year all Elsie’s grandchildren will be together in the same primary school.

Elsie Gash (left) with her ten grandchildren, all of whom will be pupils at St Multose National School, Kinsale, for the coming year.

Cork, Cloyne & Ross Diocesan news website: www.churchofirelandcork.com

The institution of the Revd Iain Jamieson took place in St Peter’s, Drogheda, on Thursday 1st September.

Pictured (left to right) are Canon Shane Forster, Canon Joyce Moore, Canon Colin Moore, Archbishop Richard Clarke, the Revd Iain Jamieson, the Revd Brian Stewart (Rector of St George’s, Belfast, and preacher at the service) and Archdeacon Andrew Forster.

For further information please contact:

Mr Jonathan Hull
Armagh DCO

Email: Armagh DCO
Web: www.armagh.anglican.org

On 3rd September Bishop Harold Miller joined former and prospective pilgrims in St Molua’s, Stormont, for the launch of the 2017 Holy Land Pilgrimage and an accompanying brochure. The bishop, a former pilgrim, described his trip as “undoubtedly one of the most wonderful experiences of my life”.

The rector of Stormont, Canon David Humphries, has been leading an annual pilgrimage for around 20 years and the Hamilton Hall was set up with an exhibition of books, artefacts and photos. Guests were also treated to a beautiful Mediterranean–style lunch prepared by ladies from the parish.

Ms Rosemary Nutt, a working Director of McCabe Travel which facilitates the pilgrimages, flew over especially for the launch. Rosemary has been with McCabe for 20 years and as well as being responsible for Operations and Accounts, is an expert on Pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  She showed a short film of the McCabe pilgrimage experience and described how the company works mainly with Christians in the Holy Land and, where possible, with family–run businesses.

The McCabe Educational Trust also partners three organisations in the Holy Land, one of which is Jeel Al Amal Boys Home in Bethany. Every McCabe pilgrim will visit at least one of these remarkable projects as part of their itinerary. 

David outlined the workings of a spiritual journey and how the Holy Land pilgrimage has impacted the lives of so many Irish Christians. He also talked about some of the practicalities of the trip and answered questions from prospective pilgrims.

Bishop Harold related his own very positive, ‘incarnational’ experience of Holy Land pilgrimage led by David and McCabe Travel and officially launched the new colour brochure. 

The brochure explores the nature of pilgrimage and Holy Land pilgrimage in particular and it is hoped that it will encourage readers to prayerfully consider joining in the next spiritual journey.

The leaders of the pilgrimage, Canon David Humphries and the Revd Amanda Adams, are available to talk to church groups at their weekday meetings, by arrangement. Please make contact on 028 9048 2292.

Click here to view a photo gallery of the launch

Download the brochure here

For further information, please contact

Annette McGrath
Down & Dromore Diocesan Communications Officer
Church of Ireland House
61–67 Donegall Street
Belfast
BT1 2QH

Tel: (028) 9032 2268
Fax:(028) 9023 1902
Mob: 07595 231958
Email: DCO
Web: www.down.anglican.org
www.facebook.com/downanddromore

This year’s Service of Ordination of Deacons, took place in Seagoe Church, Portadown, on Sunday 4 September. The ordination retreat leader and preacher was Revd John Scott who is a member of the Lecale Area Mission Partnership (LAMP) ministry team. Bishop Ken Clarke also took part in the service.

Bishop Miller, the Revds Lucy Burden, Geoff Hamilton and Johnny McFarland, and the Revd John Scott.

Bishop Harold ordained 3 deacons who will serve internships in the diocese. Click on the links below to find out more about each of them:

– Lucy Burden to serve an internship in Mount Merrion Parish

– Geoff Hamilton to serve an internship in Seagoe Parish

– Johnny McFarland to serve an internship in St Gall’s Carnalea 

View a photo gallery here.

For further information, please contact

Annette McGrath
Down & Dromore Diocesan Communications Officer
Church of Ireland House
61–67 Donegall Street
Belfast
BT1 2QH

Tel: (028) 9032 2268
Fax:(028) 9023 1902
Mob: 07595 231958
Email: DCO
Web: www.down.anglican.org
www.facebook.com/downanddromore

St Patrick’s Parish Church, Ballymena, was packed for a Service of Ordination of Priests in Connor Diocese on Sunday September 4.

At the Ordination Service are, from left: the Rev Isobel Hawthorne–Steele, Bishop Alan Abernethy, the Rev Dennis Christie and the Rev Aaron McAlister.

At the service, the Rev Dennis Christie was ordained to serve as curate in the Parish of Ballymena; the Rev Aaron McAlister to serve as curate in All Saints’, Antrim; and the Rev Isobel Hawthorne–Steel to serve as curate in St Paul and St Barnabas, Belfast.

They were ordained on Sunday by the Bishop of Connor, the Rt Rev Alan Abernethy, who also preached.

For further information contact Karen Bushby, Connor Diocesan Communications Officer, on 028 9082 8874 or 07766 103880 or email dco@connor.anglican.org

For further information please contact:

Karen Bushby
Connor Diocesan Communications Officer

Tel: 028 4066 0798
Mob: 07766103880
Email: Connor DCO
Web: www.connor.anglican.org

Scores of parishioners made the long journey from Newtownards to Londonderry on Sunday for the Ordination into the Priesthood of the Reverend Suzanne Cousins.

The new curate’s husband Alan was in the congregation in St Columb’s Cathedral along with their daughter Rachel (one of the couple’s three grown–up children). They were joined by members of the United Parishes of Moville, Donagh, Culdaff and Cloncha, where Rev Cousins will serve her curacy.

The Dean of Derry, Very Rev. William Morton; Mr Alan Cousins; Rev Suzanne Cousins; Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, Rt Rev Ken Good, are pictured outside St Columb’s Cathedral, where Rev Cousins was ordained on Sunday.

The former primary school teacher, who grew up near Comber, in County Down, lived with her family in Newcastle. The local Rector there, Canon Ian Ellis, was one of Rev Cousins’ sponsors. Prior to her ordination, Rev Suzanne served as Deacon Intern at St Mark’s, Newtownards, while completing her full–time training and formation for the priesthood.

The Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, Rt Rev Ken Good, led the worship at Sunday’s Ordination Service. Among those who performed readings were the Minister of Glacknadrummond and Whitecastle Methodist Churches in Inishowen, the Reverend Alison Gallagher, and the Parish Priest of Moville, Fr Pat O’Hagan.

The Preacher, the Rector of Newtownards, Reverend Christopher Matchett, told the congregation that as they were preparing to process into the Service, Rev Cousins had turned to him and said she wasn’t quite sure she was in the right place. Rev Matchett told her, though, that she was very much in the right place. “From years before the Church of Ireland or ordained ministry was even mentioned, God had His hand upon you. And your obedience and patience in searching, and testing and asserting that call, has brought us here today.”

The Preacher said the greatest gift God gives us is Himself. That gift of His presence is received in the ministry and responsibility of preaching.

“We are here to celebrate the gift of God in ordination. God gives as we ordain, for we read that God gave and gives to the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers to equip God’s people and build up the body of Christ. Those functions, those ministries of the ordained, are God’s gift to His church, given in His wisdom.”

Rev Matchett said while Rev Cousins was in our thoughts and in our prayers, the day was not about her. “It’s not about any of us. One of the best words of advice I have been given in my ministry is ‘It’s not about you’ – and to remember that, and to realise that, saves a whole lot of anxiety and frustration and needless disappointment – that we might be like John the Baptist: the more that Jesus is seen, the more the knowledge of Jesus increases and his love increases, the more we his servants decrease.”

After the Service, Rev Cousins, other clergy and members of the congregation went to nearby St Augustine’s Parish Hall for refreshments. Rev Cousins thanked all those who had prepared her for priesthood – including the Church of Ireland Theological Institute – and those who had taken part in Sunday’s Service. She thanked those who had travelled from St Mark’s and St John’s (Newcastle) to attend her ordination. She thanked family and friends, and parishioners from Moville, Greencastle, Donagh, Culdaff and Malin who had made her and her family feel very welcome.

For further information please contact:
	Mr Paul McFadden Diocesan Communications Officer Tel. 028 7126 2440 Email:  press@derryandraphoe.org Website: www.derry.anglican.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/DerryAndRaphoe Twitter: www.twitter.com/DerryAndRaphoe

The Rector of Drumholm, Kilbarron and Rossknowlagh, the Rev Brian Russell, has been installed as a Canon of St Eunan’s Cathedral, Raphoe, at a service conducted by the Dean of Raphoe, the Very Reverend Arthur Barrett.

Members of Canon Russell’s family and parishioners from south Donegal were in St Eunan’s to see him take the stall of the prebendary of Drumholm, which had become vacant following the retirement of Canon John Deane.

Canon David Crooks (Diocesan Registrar); Rev Christopher Pierce (Preacher); Canon Brian Russell; Rt Rev Ken Good (Bishop of Derry and Raphoe); Ven. David Huss (Archdeacon of Raphoe); and Very Rev Arthur Barrett (Dean of Raphoe).

The preacher at the Service was the Rector of Ballymore, Reverend Christopher Pierce, who has known Canon Russell for a number of years, having relieved him of the honour of being the youngest clergyman in the Diocese. 

In his sermon, Rev Pierce asked the congregation to pray for Canon Russell and for all the Canons of the Cathedral and all the clergy of the Diocese.

The Preacher said we were living in a time of great fluidity but that there was also the reality that the word of God had not changed. Rev Pierce drew attention to the Epistle Reading from the Letter of Jude (Jude 1–4) in which Christians were urged to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. Jude warned about those who had secretly slipped in among them and perverted the grace of God. “That sounds exactly like what we read in the newspaper,” Rev Pierce said, “people who profess the Christian faith and yet want us to change the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ”.

“When Jesus was sending the disciples out at Galilee he didn’t give them a general power of attorney and say ‘Go and in my name teach whatever you wish to teach’. He told them to teach everything that he had commanded them. He called them to do exactly what he said, not to freelance.

“The members of the Chapter, the clergy of the Diocese are given that responsibility of contending for the faith, and maintaining the faith,” Rev Pierce said. “To say that something isn’t sinful when the Lord calls it sinful is one of the highest forms of idolatry. Because what a person does when they say such is that they’re saying ‘I know better than God’. That’s a dodgy place to be at best and it certainly isn’t faithful.

“Here at this ancient building, on this ancient Christian site, we are gathered together to be present for the Installation of a new Canon and a member of the Cathedral Chapter. These men are charged with being faithful. We should pray for them that they will be faithful. We should encourage them to contend for the faith.”

Following the Service – in which the Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, Ken Good, also participated – the congregation moved to the nearby Cathedral Hall for refreshments which had been prepared by ladies from Canon Russell’s parish group. There, Bishop Good revealed that he had known the new Canon since he was a member of the Youth Group in Willowfield Parish in East Belfast, when the Bishop was a curate there.

“He was a talented musician. He played the organ in church. He worked hard (he was a student at university at that time) and we could see the potential that he had as a youth leader at that time. I have followed his progress with interest – all the more so since coming to this Diocese as Bishop – and I am delighted now that he is a Canon of the Cathedral of St Eunan’s.”

For further information please contact:
	Mr Paul McFadden Diocesan Communications Officer Tel. 028 7126 2440 Email:  press@derryandraphoe.org Website: www.derry.anglican.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/DerryAndRaphoe Twitter: www.twitter.com/DerryAndRaphoe