| Friday 19th October, 2007 You are here: Home - 19th October2007 Index Page |
Front Page
Four Church Leaders to have talks with Bill of Rights Forum Chair
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| Chris Sidoti |
The Gazette has learned that the Four Church Leaders’ Meeting (Church of Ireland, Methodist, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic) will be engaging with the Chair of the Northern Ireland Bill of Rights Forum, Chris Sidoti, at a meeting on 29th October. The Forum was appointed by the Northern Ireland Office last year to inform the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission on the scope for defining, in Westminster legislation, rights supplementary to those in the European Convention on Human Rights, reflecting the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland.
Editorial
THE FOUR CHURCH LEADERS’ MEETING
The fact that the Four Church Leaders’ Meeting obviously has considerable business to conduct, being jointly serviced by the Clerk of the Presbyterian General Assembly and the Secretary of the Methodist Conference, and the fact that it clearly is engaging with political issues surely make it reasonable for the Churches to expect that information about the Meeting should be freely available. But that is simply not the case, and the problem is a continuing one. Full Text
Clogher Synod
Remembrance Sunday Enniskillen bombing a ‘dastardly and cynical’ act
– Bishop Jackson
Clogher Diocesan Synod met on Thursday 4th October in Clabby parish hall, Co. Fermanagh. Proceedings started with a service of Holy Communion in St Margaret’s parish church, Clabby, at 4.30pm, thus making this the first year in which the Synod had been held in the evening, as opposed to commencing in the morning. In his Presidential Address, the Bishop of Clogher, the Rt Revd Michael Jackson, touched on the future provision of educational needs in Northern Ireland, stating that "we have reached the point where real and lasting decisions have to be made and nobody seems to want to make them".
Connor Synod
Society can see Church as past ‘sell-by date’ – Bishop of Connor tells Synod
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| Bishop Alan Abernethy (left) and David Cromie, Connor Diocesan Accountant, enjoy a break at Connor Synod. (Photo: Paul Faith, PA) |
The Bishop of Connor, the Rt Revd Alan Abernethy, chaired his first diocesan Synod which was held in the Royal Court Hotel, Portrush, Co. Antrim, on Thursday 11th October. At the start of his Presidential Address, which was a wideranging and personal survey of diocesan life and work, Bishop Abernethy confessed that he spoke to members "with joy and trepidation", having "felt bewildered at times" since his consecration in June.
Home News
Church21 finds ‘spirit filling the sails’
By Garrett Casey
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| Pictured at the Church21 seminar in Dublin are the Parish Facilitators (left side of table, from front) the Revd Ted Woods (Dublin), Peter Hamill (Connor), Bishop Ken Clarke (right side of table, from front) Ruth Hendy (Glendalough), Chris Hollis (Down), the Revd Des Bain (Sligo Methodist), John Tyrell (Cork). |
Welcoming participants to a one-day seminar following up the progress made by several parishes throughout Ireland as part of the Church21 programme, the Revd Paul Hoey said: "When we launched the good ship Parish Development, we had no idea where she might sail ... for a maiden voyage, we’ve been greatly encouraged ... most have been able to measure fair progress and have a sense of the wind of the spirit filling the sails."
Bishop’s wife becomes Roman Catholic
Anita Henderson, wife of the Rt Revd Richard Henderson, Bishop of Tuam, has been received into the Roman Catholic Church.
Inaugural theology lectures at University of Ulster
The Revd Prof. Gerald Bray, Director of Research for the Latimer Trust, London, and Research Professor of Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama, will give the inaugural theology lectures, organised by the Church of Ireland chaplaincy at the University of Ulster (Jordanstown and Belfast), on the authority of Scripture.
Women’s evening to focus on forgiveness and reconciliation
The charity, Care for the Family, which has been seeking to support, encourage and strengthen family life in the UK since 1988, is sponsoring an evening for women which will focus on the freedom found through forgiveness. Reality: the challenge of forgiveness will be held in the Craigavon Civic Centre, Craigavon; the White Horse Hotel, Londonderry; and Tullyglass House Hotel, Ballymena, on 6th, 7th and 8th November respectively, from 7.30pm to 10.00pm, cost £6.
World News
African Anglican leaders want Lambeth Conference postponed
A communiqué issued from this month’s meeting of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA), held at Quatre Bornes, Mauritius, and chaired by the Primate of Nigeria, the Most Revd Peter Akinola, indicated that the leaders present had found the recent report of the Joint Standing Committee of the Primates and the Anglican Consultative Council on the position of The Episcopal Church in the United States, regarding the current inter- Anglican same-sex controversy, to be "unsatisfactory".
Moscow Patriarch’s visit to France may pave way to a meeting with the Pope
A visit by Moscow’s Patriarch Alexei II to predominantly Roman Catholic France will help promote links with the Vatican, and may pave the way to a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI, say some hopeful leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Church of Norway move on same-sex clergy partnerships
Proposals going before next month’s General Synod of the Church of Norway, with which the Church of Ireland is in full communion, show concern at allowing people in samesex registered partnerships to serve as bishops, priests, deacons or catechists. The proposals have been supported by six of the 11 bishops.
Communiqué from Anglican Peace and Justice Network
The international Anglican Peace and Justice Network (APJN) has issued a communiqué from its recently-concluded triennial meeting in Kigali, Rwanda and Bujumbura, Burundi, which focused on conflict transformation and exploring the role of violence in societies throughout the world.
Warning over clerical collars
Clergy in Britain have been warned not to wear clerical collars when they are not working, because of the danger of being attacked.
Letters to the Editor
Focus on Anglican Identity
Anglicanism and Protestantism
A Gazette exclusive by Alister McGrath
In a remarkable article in the London-based Church Times (13th April), Canon Gregory Cameron, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Anglican Communion, publicly distanced Anglicanism from Protestantism. Canon Cameron spoke of an Anglican "dialogue with the Protestant traditions," making it clear that he regarded Anglicanism as lying beyond the pale of Protestantism. Many in Ireland will regard his views with puzzlement, and perhaps not a little concern. So will many historians. Full Text
Popular Culture
Making a living, making a life
I’ve been in several places this week, some of my own making, some not; beginning in the home town of some good friends, then moving on to another place of community and fellowship, but right now interrupted with an unscheduled stop in a place I never expected to visit along the way. Travellers’ angst reached fever pitch when the flight I was taking to New Zealand stopped off in Tahiti, only for the passengers to be told that we would be stuck there indefinitely while the airline resolved a strike by its ground staff.
Life Lines
‘I will refresh you’
Every Sunday morning, at a few minutes before nine o’clock, I say - or listen to - the ‘comfortable words’ of Jesus: Come unto me all that travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you (Matthew 11:28, BCP2004, p.185). Here I have to let you into a little secret. I use these words so often that I have to concentrate hard on saying them carefully, rather than letting them spew out without thinking.
Yours Faithfully
The sign above the desk
A friend’s getting a tattoo. She says it’s going to be her ‘wearing of purple’, her symbolic defiance of encroaching age. Had I ever given one a thought? Well, no, not apart from ‘ouch!’. What did I think of them, then? Didn’t much. They don’t offend me. I’m all for celebrating the beauty of the human body at all ages, but I prefer lipstick and statement specs. Oh, and shoes - naturally! She sniffed.
Soap
"Hi Steve! This is Jeremy Alkins. You may remember Dot and me from St Patrick’s? In fact, you were at our wedding. You very kindly let Dot’s Aunt Kay tie the knot!" Yes, Steve remembered them. One of those who were more on paper than in the pews! Not so much pillars of the Church as buttresses – they support the Church from outside!
News Extra
Connor rector completes marathon anti-global warming march
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| The Revd Neil Cutcliffe (2nd right) is pictured handing in a petition at No.10 Downing Street following the end of the ‘Cut the Carbon’ march with (from left) Simon White, London; Cassia Bechara, Brazil; a No. 10 Downing Street security guard; Elisée Ouedraogo, Burkina Faso, West Africa; and Geanis Cosme dos Santos, Brazil. (Photo: Christian Aid) |
The Revd Neil Cutcliffe, rector of Mossley, Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim, Diocese of Connor, recently arrived in London, having taken part in the longest protest march in UK history – a 1,000 mile trek from Northern Ireland to London – to highlight the impact which global warming was having on millions of poor people in developing countries and to call on the British government to ‘Cut the Carbon’.
Memorial dedicated to MU chaplain and treasurer
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| Bishop Richard Henderson is pictured with Margaret Crawford, All-Ireland Mothers’ Union President (2nd left), and members of the extended Commiskey family following the dedication service in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. |
In 1939, the Council of the Mothers’ Union in Ireland gratefully accepted the offer of a chapel in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. The Dean, E. H. Lewis-Crosby, and Chapter set apart the Chapel of St Lawrence O’Toole, in the south transept of the cathedral.