| Friday 25th July, 2008 You are here: Home - 25th July 2008 Index Page |
Bishop Trevor Williams consecrated in time for Lambeth Conference
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| Bishop Trevor and Joyce Williams with their three sons, from left, Mark, Andrew and Michael before the service of consecration (Photo: Garrett Casey) |
On Friday 11th July, at a service in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, the Rt Revd Trevor Williams was consecrated as the Bishop of Limerick and Killaloe, succeeding the Rt Revd Michael Mayes who retired last March. In becoming the new Bishop of Limerick and Killaloe, Dublin-born Bishop Williams leaves behind many years of ministry in Northern Ireland, where he has worked as a university chaplain, a broadcaster, the leader of the Corrymeela Community, and as a rector in Newcastle, Co. Down, and North Belfast.
Editorial
THE LAMBETH CONFERENCE
With the Lambeth Conference in mid-session, it is salutary to read the ‘Lambeth essays’ in the recent book edited by Kenneth Stevenson, Bishop of Portsmouth, A Fallible Church (DLT, 2008). In his own contribution to the book, he recalls how communion has been impaired on different occasions in the history of the Church, right from the beginning. Indeed, he points out that communion has been impaired since the Last Supper itself: "Impaired communion - communion in conflict - began at the Last Supper, with the presence of the betrayer (Luke 22: 21ff) and the dispute among the disciples as to who was the greatest (Luke 22: 24ff). On that score, communion must always live the paradox of a divine originator - and very human participants." So, where the Anglican Communion finds itself today in that sense is nothing new, although certainly broken or impaired communion is not what God wants for us. Full Text
Home News
The Fellowship of Contemplative Prayer annual retreats
St Columban’s House, Dalgan Park, Navan, with its lovely grounds - including a bird sanctuary and river walk - was the venue for the Fellowship of Contemplative Prayers’s two recent annual silent retreats. There were 15 retreatants at the weekend retreat and 12 at the midweek one.
Cork ordination
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The Revd Damien Keane (left) is seen following his being made deacon by Bishop Paul Colton (2nd left) in St Peter’s church, Bandon, with Canon Patrick Hewitt and the Revd Gillian Wharton.
Christ Church Cathedral Visit
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The Dean of Armagh, the Very Revd Patrick Rooke, Church of Ireland Men’s Society (CIMS) Clerical Secretary; Dr Kenneth Milne; and Bishop Samuel Poyntz at the recent CIMS visit to Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.
Belfast institution
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The Revd Gary Millar (front row, left) is pictured at his recent institution as rector of St Paul and St Barnabas, Belfast, with (front row) Bishop Alan Abernethy, Kate Crothers (People’s Churchwarden) and George Browne (Rector’s Churchwarden) (back row, from left) the Revd William Taggart ( Registrar) , Archdeacon Barry Dodds, Canon David McClay (Preacher) and the Revd Paul Jack (Bishop’s Chaplain).
Feature Church
Aughadown, Co. Cork
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Today, St Matthew’s church at Aughadown is parochially linked to nearby Ballydehob, both in the Diocese of Cork. The river Ilen borders the south towards the Celtic sea, where a number of islands are encompassed by the parish.
Mothers’ Union Sligo outing
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Members of the Mothers’ Union of Drung and Cootehill parishes (Diocese of Kilmore) are seen at Gurteen, Ballintrillick, on their annual outing to North Sligo. The Revd Noel Regan (seated, centre) acted as historical guide to the Gleniff Horse Shoe and Mullaghmore areas.
Parish Profile
Kill o’ the Grange Parish, Diocese of Dublin
By Gazette journalist, Harry Allen
Kill o’ the Grange is the unusual name for an area near Blackrock in South County Dublin. The name is taken from the Irish language, meaning Church (‘Kill’) of the Granary, as the area was noted for its grain farms which supplied food for the great monastic foundation of Christ Church Cathedral, around which the city of Dublin was built. There has been a Christian community in Kill o’ the Grange for over 1,000 years and the present-day church is a lively and growing Christian community, housed in a beautiful 19th century church building.
The Lambeth Conference
No alternative to loving one another, Archbishop Williams tells bishops
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Rowan Williams, opened the Lambeth Conference on Wednesday 16th July with an address in which he stressed that the conference had a very strong emphasis on drawing together round the Bible and had been designed as a place "in which every voice can be heard and in which we build Christian relationship". Dr Williams said that his own prayer and hope for the conference "is not that after two weeks we will find a solution to all our problems but we shall, as I have written more than once, in some sense find the trust in God and one another that will give us the energy to change in the way God wants us to change. That is the most important thing we can pray for - the energy to change as God wants us to change individually and as a Communion."
Letters to the Editor
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Archbishop Harper’s USPG address Full Text
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Hooker information Full Text
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Homosexuality Full Text
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Listening process Full Text
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‘Senior Royal’ visit to General Synod proposed Full Text
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Lisbon Treaty referendum Full Text
The Revd Earl Storey, Diocesan Communications Officer for Derry and Raphoe, contributes this month’s Diocesan Focus article
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| The Revd Geoffrey Wilson (left) and the Revd Paul Whittaker (right) are pictured with a visitor from the Diocese of Bristol at the Derry and Raphoe clergy conference at Gweedore. |
Hopefulness and looking outwards express the life of Derry and Raphoe Diocese. Bishop Ken Good expressed this when he commented that "Church is called to be outwardly focused and not just concerned with its own internal workings". Looking outwards expresses some of what has been happening in various parts of diocesan life over the past few months. Planning for the Future As part of the commitment to look outwards, Derry and Raphoe Diocese is conducting a Strategic Review. This is being facilitated by Malcolm Duncan from Faithworks and a small team from the Diocese. The hope for the Strategic Review is to ask how parishes can grow and how the Diocese can help in that growth process. The purpose of growth is so that parishes can have the maximum impact on the communities within which they are situated.
Book Review
CONFIRMATION BOOK FOR ADULTS
Author: Sharon Swain
Publisher: SPCK
C. of E. General Synod
Gazette editor, Canon Ian Ellis, reports on this
month’s Church of England General Synod in York
Of course, the subject of the consecration of women bishops dominated this month’s meeting of the Church of England General synod in York. In the end, the synod voted by more than two to one to bring forward legislation to allow the consecration of women as bishops. (Bishops voted 28 for, 12 against, with 1 abstention; Clergy voted 124 for, 44 against, with 4 abstentions; Laity voted 111 for, 68 against, with 2 abstentions.)
Mixed views on Lisbon Treaty at York
Four senior Church of England figures all told the Gazette during the recent General Synod in York that if there were a UK referendum on the EU Lisbon Treaty, the English would vote against it. The Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham, Ulsterman the Rt Revd George Cassidy, nonetheless said that he supported the treaty and voiced strong opposition to having a referendum in the UK, on political principle.
Soap
By Ted Woods
"I can’t put up with this any longer! First, it was Arthur Evans, and now it’s Priscilla Barker! I’m sick of it!" Marjorie Strong’s face, usually genial and smiling, was pale and taut. "You’ve become obsessive about not being elected bishop. You’re poisoning yourself. Your ambition is ruining you! And it’s ruining our marriage as well. I can’t take much more of it, so I’m going to Dorrie’s for a few days."
By the Book
Reaping and sowing
Edward Vaughan
Let me share with you two Australian sayings. The first is: ‘It takes a brave man to shoot a dead horse!’ It’s a proverb that makes a lot of sense to leaders. If you’ve ever tried to end a ministry that was past its ‘use by’ date, you will understand. The fact that an activity has run its course and really should end doesn’t prevent people from being resistant to its inevitable demise.
Musings
En vacances
Alison Rooke
What does a clergy wife take with her on holiday? No, this is not the opening line of some risqué joke, for, after all, readers, this is the Church of Ireland. The clergy wife brings with her, just as the male spouse of the female clergy (at all costs, we must avoid stereotypical gendering, especially after the deliberations at the Church of England General Synod), she brings with her - wait for it - her husband (or wife, if you’re the male spouse - so shall we now take that as read?!).
News Extra
Bishop Jackson addresses Modern Churchpeople’s Union
By Mary Taylor
"Tradition is the Church interpreting, not the Church reminiscing," the Rt Revd Michael Jackson, Bishop of Clogher, said at this month’s annual conference of the Modern Churchpeople’s Union, which was held in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire and which took the theme ‘Saving the Soul of Anglicanism’. Chaired by the Most Revd Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales, the conference was also addressed by the Rt Revd Trevor Mwamba, Bishop of Botswana, and the Rt Revd Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire.
Appointments