| Friday 29th February, 2008 You are here: Home - 29th February 2008 Index Page |
UN report expresses concern over sectarianism in Northern Ireland
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| The UN Special Rapporteur, Asma Jahangir, with her assistant, Michael Wiener in Belfast last year |
A United Nations report on Northern Ireland asks "hard questions about religion and sectarianism", the Evangelical Alliance Northern Ireland has said. The report was produced by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Asma Jahangir, following a visit to Northern Ireland in June last year. She raises concerns about "deep-rooted" sectarianism and religious prejudice in the province, highlighting inequalities in labour, housing, education, policing and the criminal justice agencies.
New Dean of Christ Church, Dublin
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The Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr John Neill, has appointed the Ven. Dermot Dunne, rector of Crosspatrick and Carnew Union and Archdeacon of Ferns, as the new Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, in succession to the late Very Revd Desmond Harman
Editorial
WCC LOOKS FORWARD
The 13th - 20th February meeting of the World Council of Churches’ Central Committee was an opportunity to celebrate the ecumenical body’s 60th anniversary. Preaching at a special service to mark the occasion, His All Holiness Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, told the congregation at Geneva’s St Pierre Cathedral that the WCC had accomplished much in its six decades. "The Council has provided an ideal platform where Churches with different outlooks and belonging to a great variety of theological and ecclesiological traditions have been able to engage in dialogue and promote Christian unity, while all the time responding to the manifold needs of contemporary society," the Orthodox leader said. Full Text
Bishop Mayes retires from NSM committee
The Bishop of Limerick and Killaloe, the Rt Revd Michael Mayes, has retired from the Non- Stipendiary Ministry (NSM) Co-ordinating Committee which oversees the training programme for the NSM at the Church of Ireland Theological College.
International youth team visits Londonderry
By Earl Storey
A fifteen-strong team of young people from YWAM (Youth With A Mission), one of the largest Christian charitable organisations in the world, recently visited Londonderry, staying at St Augustine’s Church of Ireland halls on the city walls.
Music for the feet
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Philip Stopford (extreme left) and Nigel McClintock (back row, second right) are pictured with Brian McAlea (back row, extreme right) and Cristabel Bleakley and Declan Kennedy (seated, front row, from left respectively), at the pedal seminar in St Martin’s church. |
St Martin’s parish church East Belfast, Diocese of Down, was the venue for the latest seminar of the Ulster Society of Organists and Choirmasters (USOC).
Dublin’s ‘Black Santa’ distributes Sitout donations to ten charities
By Valerie Jones
The last few weeks have been among both the busiest and the most enjoyable in the long ministry of Canon Tom Haskins, vicar of St Ann’s, Dawson Street, Dublin, who has come to be known as Dublin’s ‘Black Santa’.
Church’s Ministry of Healing hosts deliverance ministry training day
Bishop Dominic Walker, Bishop of Monmouth, the Revd Dr Pat Mollan and Canon Billy Lendrum recently led a training day on deliverance ministry at the Church’s Ministry of Healing’s premises in Belfast.
Irish Mothers’ Union members go ‘down under’
Three members of Mothers’ Union from Ireland will shortly be going to Toowoomba in the Diocese of Brisbane, Australia, to take part in the first of a series of Regional Meetings spread over the next three years, at which members from a number of countries will come together to share experiences, build relationships, identify goals and plan for the work of Mothers’ Union during the next decade.
Co. Down interdenominational group welcomes Taizé visitors
By Betty McLaughlin
The Sanctus Boscus Reconciliation Group (SBRG) recently welcomed over 140 representatives from churches in Holywood, Co. Down, and the surrounding area to its Taizé service held in St Colmcille’s Roman Catholic Church, Holywood.
Discovery Gospel Choir performs with Sinead O’Connor
Sinead O’Connor, in performance with the Discovery Gospel Choir, an offshoot of the Discovery Committee working with the international community in the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough, has recorded a new, anti-racism single called We people (who are darker than blue). The song was premiered at the recent Meteor Music Awards, held in the RDS, Dublin
World News
GAFCON rearranges conference
Organizers of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) have announced changes to the meeting’s dates and venue, bowing to strong criticism from Anglican Church leaders in Jerusalem who have repeatedly called for the gathering to be moved.
Six parishes leave Anglican Church of Canada
Six parishes in five dioceses, voting at their general meetings on the weekend of 16th- 17th February, decided to leave the Anglican Church of Canada due to disputes over theological issues, including homosexuality, and to join a South American Anglican province.
No hope for results from Zimbabwe talks
The Zimbabwe Christian Alliance (ZCA), a network of Church and civic bodies, says it no longer has any hope that inter-party peace talks brokered by South African President Thabo Mbeki will achieve results before Zimbabwean elections scheduled for 29th March.
Dr Kobia not to seek second term as WCC General Secretary
The General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Revd Samuel Kobia, has announced that he will not seek a second term at the head of the world’s largest Christian grouping.
Africa’s Lutheran Churches increase in membership
Africa’s Lutheran Churches saw their total membership increase over the past year by nearly two million, boosting the total number of members of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) worldwide to more than 68.3 million.
Primatial births...
With the Primate of the Southern Cone, Archbishop Gregory Venables, having declared that he will not attend the forthcoming Lambeth Conference (Gazette report, last week), we have learned that the only English-born primate who will be attending Lambeth will be the Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Alan Harper.
Letters to the Editor
Tuam, Killala and Achonry
Canon Aean Ferguson, Diocesan Communications Officer for Tuam, Killala and Achonry,
contributes this month’s Diocesan Focus article
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Mothers’ Union (MU) members at work at the MU stand at the Tuppercurry Fair, Co. Sligo, helping to promote Fair Trade. Tuppercurry is a Fair Trade town. |
This May, all eyes will be turned towards the southern end of the United Dioceses of Tuam, Killala and Achrony, when the General Synod will be held at the Radisson SAS Hotel, Galway.
ST NICHOLAS’ COLLEGIATE CHURCH, GALWAY
Synod members will have the treat of seeing the magnificent St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, where the Synod Service will be held. The Collegiate Church, as with all cathedrals and large churches, historically was often used, and still is used, for concerts and other public events, for which it is a superb location. St Nicholas’ has been at the heart of Galway city’s life for hundreds of years – since around 1320 AD. Another chapel adjoined the site, but was demolished in 1324. The building has a rich and fascinating history and is the largest medieval parish church still in use in Ireland.
Drafting an Anglican Covenant
By the Most Revd John Neill, Archbishop of Dublin
As the Anglican Communion has developed into a worldwide communion of Churches, it has embraced a rich variety of cultures, languages and local identity. Each Church has usually expressed, as a vital part of that identity, its communion with either the Church of England or the See of Canterbury. Full Text
The succession narrative - obsession
By the Very Revd Norman Lynas
Privileged, spoiled, ungrateful and the firstborn, the hopes of a dynasty rested with him. David indulged Amnon precisely because he was his first-born son. Amnon grew up with all the gifts and advantages of being the son of a mighty warrior king. However, his development meant that, for comfort, he did not look beyond the court and, in particular, he viewed with an obsessive jealousy his beautiful sister, Tamar, whose full brother is Absalom.
Soap
"Do they never shut up?", muttered Steve to Jonathan. "You’d think they hadn’t seen each other for weeks rather than hours!" Confirmation class. Trying to get started. They were into their fourth week and the novelty, if there had been any, had worn off. Facing Steve and Jonathan were fourteen unruly, precocious fourteen- year-olds. "Will you please quieten down so that we can start?", appealed Steve, clapping his hands. In vain.
Yours Faithfully
Problems with monkeys and archbishop
With the Professor’s leg crocked, I’m now his chauffeur and have to hang round the city waiting for him to finish a lecture or push back frontiers of human knowledge. The plan was to use the time productively in the library and coffee shops, tome open, pencil poised, notebook at the ready, but that was before Rowan William’s lecture in the Royal Courts of Justice. Between the genesis of a profound insight of dazzling brilliance and its journey to the page, someone would sit down uninvited and kindly explain to me what the archbishop had really said and discuss its implications for western civilization.
Gay rights campaigner says ‘We are a gift to the Church’
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| The Revd Colin Coward of Changing Attitude speaking in Trinity College Dublin Chapel |
The Revd Colin Coward of Changing Attitude, a group which works to promote equality for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender (LGBT) within the Church of England, speaking in Dublin recently, told a service that LGBT people represented "a gift to the Church"
Magazine, website and IT competition details announced
The Church of Ireland Central Co m m u n i c a t i o n s Board has launched this year’s Magazine, Website and the Most Innovative Use of Newer Technologies competition. Design, layout, editorial content and outreach potential are once again to be the standards of excellence.