Reports include : Limerick Changing Leadership Conference; Titanic people – New Irish Arts; World Harmony run stops off at Belfast Cathedral; Sober Reflections – Ulster Covenant Conference reminder; Drama – 1912: A Hundred Years On
Limerick Changing Leadership Conference
“A lot of the material on leadership responds to the signs of the times. It’s not enough to be a leader you have to be in tune with the age. It is good that leadership is contextually rooted but it is also important that leaders have enduring values which they can use to critique their context and so avoid mission drift in the organisation they lead.”(Helen Cameron)
Limerick diocese has organised a conference on changing leadership which will be held on Saturday 21st April from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. At Limerick Enterprise Development Partnership, Roxboro Rd. Cost €10
The Guest Speakers, Helen Cameron, Tom Gordon and Alan Hilliard will be joined on the day by local people from a variety of contexts giving snapshots of their own experiences of leadership.
Helen Cameron is a Practical Theologian interested in how what people believe affects what they do. Her academic base is at the Oxford Centre for Ecclesiology and Practical Theology which studies the contemporary life of the church. Her day job is Head of Public Affairs for The Salvation Army which involves lobbying politicians in the interests of the marginalised people the organisation serves. She lives outside Oxford on a farm where her husband is employed as the shepherd. Her most recent publication (with colleagues) is Theological Reflection for Human Flourishing published by SCM Press.
Tom Gordon is Dean of Saint Laserian’s Cathedral, Old Leighlin and Adult Education Advisor in the diocese of Cashel and Ossory. He has been involved in theological education for over twenty years and has contributed to degree programmes at Maynooth, The Church of Ireland Theological College, St John’s Nottingham and the Irish College of Humanities and Applied Science, as well as directing many courses for parish and diocesan groups. He is a qualified Counsellor and counselling supervisor with a private practice in Dublin and also works in Religious Broadcasting as part of the Religious Programmes Department in Radio Teilifis É:ireann.
Alan Hilliard has a long and varied association with migration. In 2000 he set up a pastoral centre for Irish Backpackers in Sydney. He was later appointed Director of the Irish Bishop’s Commission for Emigrants and the Irish Commission for Prisoner’s Overseas. He led campaigns to highlight the plight of the ‘Forgotten Irish’ in Britain and canvassed for immigration reform in the United States on behalf of the ‘Undocumented Irish’. Alan coordinated the NOSTRA adult education programme in theology at Mary immaculate College, Limerick. He has co-founded the Mid-West Interfaith Network. He is currently a chaplain to the Dublin Institute of Technology.
Titanic people
New Irish Arts are participating in this presentation in Westbourne Presbyterian Church, Newtownards R, Belfast on Saturday 31st March at 8.pm. This is a one-off event to commemorate the sinking of the Titanic, and will be very different from typical New Irish concerts. Through stories from the local community, readings and music associated with the ship, the event will celebrate the achievements of the local community and remember the lives lost. Presented very much from a Christian perspective, there will also be an opportunity to reflect on lessons we can now learn from the tragedy.
The music will feature members of the New Irish Choir and Orchestra, with soloist Julia Clarke. It will include pieces from the era of the ship, items actually performed on the voyage and some songs which have been inspired by the story. The script will be presented by Etta Halliday and will feature actor Dan Gordon.
Tickets available – phone 07801 347090
World Harmony run stops off at Belfast Cathedral
The World Harmony Run passed through Belfast on March 18, calling at St Anne’s Cathedral where the runners were met by the Dean.
The Run is a global relay that seeks to promote international friendship and understanding.
As a symbol of harmony, runners carry a flaming torch, passing it from hand to hand travelling through over 100 nations around the globe.
The World Harmony Run does not seek to raise money or highlight any political cause, but strives to create goodwill among peoples of all nations.
Welcoming the runners and their supporters to St Anne’s, the Dean of Belfast, the Very Rev John Mann, said: “You have brought the sunshine with you to this City, but more importantly you have brought your message of hope for a divided world – the message that we in Belfast never tire of hearing, that the people of the world may be united in a common purpose; that difference is something that can strengthen and unite us, if we will shed the urge to dominate others and seek, sincerely and with humility, the healing for the wrongs of the past.
“As you hold the torch that you have carried from country to country, from people to people, and have shared its light with those you don’t know and yet seek to know, you offer that torch symbolically to us to hold at this Cathedral for a short time.”
The Dean continued: “As a Christian community, this whole vision rings joyfully with us, for the Prince of Peace has taught us the very message of compassion and unity that you show forth through the energy of your running, the happiness that you are spreading – but above all for the hope that you capture and hold for us all.”
Sober Reflections – Ulster Covenant Conference reminder
The Church of Ireland is hosting a conference focusing on the Ulster Solemn League and Covenant of 1912, looking at the historical detail and context of the Covenant and also trying to reflect theologically on the how the Covenant might be addressed by the contemporary Christian conscience. The one–day event will take place on Saturday 24 March 2012, 9.30–4.30, at Moira Parish Centre, Co. Down.
Professor Paul Bew (Lord Bew of Donegore) will give an overview of historical forces which gave rise to the Covenant and its significance to the political and social development of Ireland, north and south; Dr Andrew Scholes will examine the particular role and reaction of the Church of Ireland in the making and signing of the Covenant; Dr Andrew Pierce, Director of the Irish School of Ecumenics (ISE), will consider theological methods of addressing a divisive historical event in a more ecumenical age; and Dr Johnston McMaster of the ISE based in Northern Ireland will share his recent work of theological reflection on The Covenant and of how modern Christians might engage positively with it. The Conference will be chaired by Professor David Hayton of QUB.
1912: A Hundred Years On
This play, exploring the events during the year the Ulster Covenant was signed, had a very successful run of shows last week.
Future performances –
8.00pm – Sean Holywood Arts Centre, Bank Parade, Newry
Thursday 22 March, 7.30pm – Westbourne Presbyterian Church, East Belfast
Friday 23 March, 7.30pm – Down County Museum, Downpatrick
The play has been arranged by the Centenaries Cluster Group of Contemporary Christianity.
Clogher Institution
A large congregation filled Colaghty Parish Church near Lack in County Fermanagh to capacity with a substantial overflow to the Parish Hall on the eve of St Patrick’s Day, Friday 16th March 2012, to mark an important milestone in the life of the parish. The parish, which is in the Church of Ireland Diocese of Clogher, welcomed their new rector, the Revd Alan Irwin, who was instituted by the Bishop of Clogher, the Rt Revd John McDowell.
Prior to taking up the position in Colaghty, Mr Irwin served as curate for almost three years in the Grouped Parishes of Kilconriola and Ballyclug, Ballymena, in the Diocese of Connor. The preacher at the service of institution was the rector of Ballymena, the Revd Chancellor Stuart Lloyd.
Prior to his curacy at Ballymena, Mr Irwin spent three years studying at the Church of Ireland Theological College, Dublin. A native of Sixmilecross in County Tyrone, Mr Irwin was ordained deacon in June 2009. Looking forward to settling into life in County Fermanagh as he takes up his first incumbency, he said “I am looking forward to sharing in the ministry with the parishioners of Colaghty as we begin to write a new chapter in the history of the parish.”
Assisting the bishop at the service were the Revd Canon John Stewart, Diocesan Registrar, and the Revd Canon Glenn West, Rural Dean of Kesh. The Bishop’s Chaplain was the Revd Stephanie Woods, an Intern Deacon who is currently serving in Rossorry Parish. The Organist was Mrs Anne Keys and the singing was led by Colaghty Parish Choir together with the parish’s praise band.