‘Change Makers’ training days from CPAS; Rural Issues to be Highlighted at Glendalough Meetings; Christian Aid – Count your blessings in Lent; Signposts to funding for churches; Book Featuring Vestry Records to be Launched in St Audoen’s; Dublin Black Santa Funds to be Handed Out; Schedule Changes for RTÉ Services; Cork hospital service; Clogher sale; Media review – Lay minister jailed for having ‘severe’ child porn images
‘Change Makers’ training days from CPAS
CPAS is holding two training days on Thursday 7 March and Thursday 16 May entitled ‘Change Makers’.
Whether your hopes and aspirations in ministry involve large or small scale change for your parish, it is inevitable that we will all be involved in leading change of some sort or another. And whatever the change(s) in which we are involved there are certain things we can do to help (or hinder!) such progress.
These two days will equip and enable you to facilitate and lead change in your local church, exploring issues and principals that are transferable across church size and in whatever initiatives, issues or projects you may be facing in your context/situation.
Both events will be held at Christ Church, Lisburn and facilitated by the Rev John Dunnett (CPAS General Director). They will involve biblical and other input and be of a participatory nature.
The days run from 10.30 am (coffee and scones served from 10.00 am) to 3.30 pm and are designed to build on each other (however, each day is also a ‘stand alone’ event so it is possible to attend one day only).
Each day costs £20 (with a reduction to £30 for the two dates if booked together) and can be booked via the CPAS website: www.cpas.org.uk/ireland
All refreshments including coffee/tea, scones and a sandwich lunch will be provided.
The event is aimed at ministers but suitable for vestry members and others in recognised positions of leadership in the church.
Rural Issues to be Highlighted at Glendalough Meetings
The Dublin and Glendalough Social Action Committee has organised two meetings – one in East Glendalough and one in West Glendalough – aimed at bringing people from rural communities together to identify issues affecting people living in rural areas.
The East Glendalough meeting takes place on Thursday February 7 in East Glendalough School in Wicklow town at 8.00 pm. The West Glendalough meeting takes place on February 28 in the Jonathan Swift National School in Dunlavin at 8.00 pm. Alan Gillis will introduce both meetings and they will be facilitated by Ruth Handy.
Each rector has been invited to attend the meetings and they have been asked to nominate two people to come with them but there is also an open invitation to anyone interested in highlighting rural issues to attend. A report will be presented to Diocesan Councils afterwards.
“This will be an exercise in listening on the part of the Church and will provide opportunities for round table discussion where people can identify the issues affecting them in their communities and consider how the Church might address these issues,” the chairman of the Social Action Committee, the Revd Isaac Delamere says. “We hope to address the disconnect that exists between rural parts of the dioceses and Dublin and provide a broad understanding of rural issues. The different issues from each side of Glendalough will be reflected by the people attending the meetings.”
Christian Aid – Count your blessings in Lent
Christian Aid invites you to give thanks and celebrate the good things in your life this Lent using its thought–provoking Count Your Blessings calendar.
Each day from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, forty bite–sized reflections will inspire you to give thanks for the blessings in your life, and enable you to step out in prayer and action to help change the lives of the world’s poorest communities.
The Rt. Revd, The Lord Eames of Armagh, commends it, stating, ‘Count Your Blessings reminds us of the comforts and privileges we enjoy and so often take for granted – but also confronts us with the suffering of the millions in a world of need.’
Download your adults or children’s Lenten calendar from the Christian Aid Ireland website below or order from the Belfast Office (028 9064 8133).
http://www.christianaid.ie/getinvolved/lent-2013/count-your-blessings/index.aspx
Signposts to funding for churches
A new publication on funding has been produced by Diane Dodds MEP entitled ‘Signposts to Funding for Churches and Faith–Based Organisations’. It contains over 30 sources of funding, the majority of which are Christian Trusts and Foundations.
These funds offer assistance with projects for buildings, refurbishments, equipment, core costs, youth work and Christian education, whilst prioritising the most vulnerable groups in our society.
This directory also recognises the international dimension of the work carried out by churches and faith–based organisations that advances the Christian faith through mission, health and welfare, education, training and relief. Over 20 Trust and Foundations are included which support such initiatives.
For example, The Barleycorn Trust supports projects and activities that advance the Christian faith through mission, welfare and relief throughout the world. Grants range from £500 – £70,000. Furthermore, The Christian Response to Eastern Europe offers grants of between £1000–£20,000 to support families, churches and medical organisations that work in Romania and Moldova. It is important to recognise the skills of older people who may wish to contribute to countries outside Northern Ireland. To this end, The European Union’s Grundtvig Programme offers funding for between 2 and 6 people over the age of 50 from Northern Ireland to travel to another EU country to share their skills, knowledge and experience for a period of 3 – 8 weeks. The grant covers hotel accommodation, food and travel. Many churches and faith–based organisations need support for maintenance costs. The Owen Family Trust offers grants of between £100 and £1500 for this purpose. In addition, The Laing Family Foundations may assist with larger building projects. Diane states that, “It is my ultimate hope that this funding directory offers direction and encouragement to churches and faith based organisations in Northern Ireland in their endeavours to extend God’s Kingdom both at home and throughout the world.” During February and March, a number of funding workshops will be held throughout Northern Ireland during which the directory will be available free of charge.
Further advice will be give at the workshops on trusts and foundations. Guidance about how to apply for funding will also be provided.
For further information, contact the office of Diane Dodds MEP, Lisburn
Tel: 028 92 667733.
Book Featuring Vestry Records to be Launched in St Audoen’s
A new book entitled The Vestry Records of the Parish of St Audoen, Dublin, 1636–1702 is being launched on Monday February 11 at 6.00 pm in the Visitor Centre of St Audoen’s Church, Cornmarket, Dublin 2.
Located on a prominent site in Cornmarket, St Audoen’s, is one of the most distinctive churches in the city of Dublin. A medieval foundation dedicated to the seventh century French saint, St Ouen, patron saint of Normandy, the spiritual home of the Guild of St Anne which was a bulwark of the counter Reformation in the sixteenth century, and the church of the Lord Mayor and Corporation, St Audoen’s has played a prominent part in the life of the city.
Although the parish registers are extant from the late seventeenth century, the vestry minute books have not survived. This volume, edited by Maighréad Ní Mhurchadha, is a partial reconstruction of the vestry records based largely on printed extracts from the originals which were published in the Irish Builder and previously unpublished transcripts in Marsh’s Library made by the Revd Christopher McCready. It provides valuable insights into the life of the parish and the city of Dublin in the seventeenth century.
Dr Maighréad Ní Mhuchada is the author of Fingal, 1603–60: contending neighbours in north Dublin (2005) and editor of The vestry records of the united parishes of Finglas, St Margaret’s, Artane and the Ward, 1657–1758 (2007).
The launch is being organised by the RCB Library and publishers, Four Courts Press. Professor Raymond Gillespie will speak on the evening.
The hardback book costs €55.00 and is available now. For additional details see: http://www.fourcourtspress.ie/product.php?intProductID=1119
Dublin Black Santa Funds to be Handed Out
Over €30,000 was raised at the 2012 Black Santa Sit Out at St Ann’s Church on Dawson Street. The funds will be distributed among 16 charities – the largest number ever to receive money from the appeal – on Sunday February 10 at 11.00 am when the preacher will be the Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, the Very Revd Victor Stacey. Among those to benefit are Bishops’ Appeal, Protestant Aid, Society of St Vincent de Paul, Salvation Army, Trust, Laura Lynn Foundation, Samaritans, PACT, Barnardos, CoI Discovery Committee, Dublin Simon, Merchant’s Quay Ireland, Tirzah, Solas Project (St Catherine’s Church), The Bridge Cafe (Crinken Church) and Sharing Point. It is hoped that some of the school children who sang during the sit out will also attend the service
Cork hospital service
The Chaplaincy Team at the Bon Secours Hospital, Cork celebrated the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity with a Prayer Service recently in the Hospital Chapel. Among those present were : Sr Bernadette Eames, Sr Margaret O’Keeffe, the Rev. Geraldine Gracie, the Rev. Daniel Nuzum, Ms Anne Bermingham (Director of Pastoral Care), Ms Mary Egan, Archdeacon Robin Bantry White, Sr Claire O’Driscoll, and Fr Sean Donoghue.
Schedule Changes for RTÉ Services
RTÉ has announced the following changes to its programme of broadcasts of Christian worship:
From Sunday 27 January 2013, regular worship output on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra and RTÉ Radio 1 on LW 252 will, wherever possible, be aligned with worship on RTÉ One television through live simulcasting and shared broadcasting of recorded output. Radio masses will therefore move to a new regular time of 11am, followed by weekly Protestant Services at 11.45am.
On RTÉ Radio 1 (LW252 or RTÉ Radio 1 Extra on digital radio) at 11.45am on Sunday 27 January there will be a service to mark the end of Epiphanytide, in which the Revd Daniel Nuzum, Chaplain of Cork University Hospital, will explore themes of joy, life, illness, death and hope. All services are available to hear again on the RTÉ Radio Player and watch on RTÉ Player.
Slavin Christmas Sale
A successful sale was held in the Wark Hall Belleek (Clogher). It was well supported by Parishoners from the Group and by the local Belleek Community and further afield. A large variety of Cakes, mince pies, Jams and Chutneys quickly sold out and our other items on the Clothes and Bric-a- Brac stall also sold very well. To date £860 has been raised. This includes donations.
Media review –
Lay minister jailed for having ‘severe’ child porn images
Independent – A CHURCH of Ireland lay minister who had severe child pornography images in a computer folder marked ‘Papist Humour’ has been sentenced to five months’ imprisonment.
Passing sentence at Limerick District Court, Judge Eugene O’Kelly said it was a concerning factor that Ger Fitzgerald (62) sought out work as a primary school caretaker in Limerick when he had an appetite for child pornography.
He was charged with possessing 13 child pornography images on March 19, 2010.
Journalist criticises church leaders for providing gospels in Year of Culture
Eamon McCann in Belfast Telegraph – Some people try to drag religion into everything. Morality, Christmas, even Londonderry’s year as UK City of Culture – nothing’s sacred.
It was revealed on Monday that the four main churches have gotten together to distribute 40,000 copies of St Luke’s Gospel around the city – their contribution to the dizzying cultural extravaganza which has become the awe of the world.
On my reckoning, that’s a gospel for every Derry household, plus a couple of thousand extra to be handed out to heathens on the outskirts.
Monsignor Eamon Martin (Catholic), Bishop Ken Good (Church of Ireland), the Rev Peter Murray (Methodist) and the Rev Stewart Jones (Presbyterian) stood shoulder-to-shoulder to unveil the “free gift for all”.
Imbalance in equality staff: Too few Protestants in anti-bias commission, says DUP
Belfast Telegraph – The DUP has hit out at the Equality Commission for having too few Protestants in its workforce, and the proportion is actually falling.
The commission is responsible for promoting religious, gender and racial equality in its workforce but it employs almost twice as many Catholics as Protestants and the disparity is drifting up by about half a per cent a year.
The commission says it has been unable to address the disparity because it has been cutting staff rather than recruiting.
Keith Brown, its head of corporate services and a Protestant, said that it was trying to redress the balance.
Ireland praised for its record on low road deaths
Journal.ie – Deaths on Irish roads have dropped to record low levels over the past six years.http://www.thejournal.ie/road-safety-ireland-767571-Jan2013/