Irish news digest June 6

##RTE service for Trinity Sunday

A Service of Morning Prayer will be broadcast on RTÉ One television and RTÉ Radio 1 Extra on Trinity Sunday, 7th June, between 11.00am and 11.45am. The service will be led by the Revd Abigail Sines, Dean’s Vicar at Christ Church Cathedral, and the Revd Dr Anne–Marie O’Farrell (harpist) assisted by a small group of musicians.

## BBC Radio4 and Radio Ulster service

A number of recordings from members of New Irish are featuring in the services on BBC Radio this Sunday morning. Though not currently working for New Irish due to being on furlough, Jonathan Rea is leading and speaking at the service while working for the BBC. There are also contributions from other New Irish members, Sharon Jones and Susan McKay. Some of the pieces of music are from recordings done almost 20 years ago, while others come from more recent albums. You can catch the broadcasts on Radio 4 at 8:10 – or if you prefer to lie in a little longer, it’s on Radio Ulster at around 10:15.

##‘Be brave and rejoice in your achievements’ – Archbishop writes to 6th Class Pupils

Archbishop Michael Jackson has written to pupils in Sixth Class in primary schools in Dublin & Glendalough urging them to be brave and rejoice in their achievements. His letter comes as the class of 2020 are entering their final weeks in primary school. Under normal circumstances the pupils would be preparing for graduation ceremonies but they are currently continuing schooling at home.

“This is an extraordinary time for you. You, your parents and your teachers will have looked forward to the end of this very special year for every one of you. From the day you first entered school you have had so many different experiences, you have done so many different things, you have met so many different people,” the Archbishop writes.

He shared the children’s disappointment at not being able to show their talents at graduation but urged them to be brave and explore other ways to celebrate them.

“Nothing in the current crisis takes away from your uniqueness and your specialness as individuals and as graduating pupils from your National School. I wish you everything that is best for the autumn when you continue your education in secondary school,” he says.

The letter has been sent to the principals of schools of which the Archbishop is patron.

##Four Down & Dromore parishes offering Drive–in Church this Sunday

All will be observing the regulations around hygiene and social distancing, with cars parked at a minimum of 2m intervals, only single households in each car, parishioners asked to remain in their cars and so on. Please check with the individual parishes before attending.

Services on Sunday 7 June

St Columbanus, Ballyholme Car Park Family Church at 10.00 am

Bangor Abbey Car Park at 10.30 am

Magheralin (28 Dromore Road, BT66 7LD) at 3.00 pm

Dromore Cathedral Halls Car Park at 3.30 pm
Parish contacts at –
[[] https://www.downanddromore.org/find-a-church/list ]

##On the web

## Glencraig toddlers go ‘Zoom’!
Unable to meet and go on their normal outing, the Parent and Toddler Group at Holy Trinity Glencraig decided to have a virtual Teddy Bears Picnic.

“It was amazing to see parents and children so pleased to see each other on Zoom,” said the rector, Revd Catherine Simpson.

“We sang some of our favourite songs together, learned a new one using a shared video and some boys and girls sang a song for us all. Everyone got to show off their teddy bears (including me) and even a few pets.

“We then said farewell to those boys and girls who are moving on to preschool and I prayed for all of us. It was lovely to connect again!”

## Front line stories

Carol Sweeney, a nurse in Rowan Sexual Assault Referral Centre, shares on the privilege of working with clients at their most vulnerable and asks for prayer for the spiritual darkness of the experiences they’ve endured. Front line stories – is the latest video series from the Methodist Church in Ireland as Key Workers share their challenges, joys and how the church has been supporting them through this time!
[[] https://vimeo.com/425934843 ]

## The Virtual Voices of St Nicholas Schola Cantorum mark Pentecost

The Virtual Voices of St Nicholas Schola Cantorum, in Galway, have celebrated the feast of Pentecost with Grayston Ives’ lambent setting of a text from George Herbert’s poem Whitsunday – Listen Sweet Dove (1973).

St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church is in the centre of Galway in the west of Ireland and marks its 700th anniversary in 2020. It is the church at the heart of the city with the city and the people at its heart. An Anglican church, the Rector is currently the Very Rev Lynda Peilow, the first woman appointed to the role.

St Nicholas’, which is the largest medieval parish church in Ireland in continuous use as a place of worship, is dedicated to St Nicholas of Myra, patron saint of children, and of mariners. There is some disagreement about when it was built, but it was certainly finished by 1320 – and so we celebrate our momentous birthday in 2020.

St Nicholas’ Schola Cantorum was founded in 2012, a modern reimagining of the ancient college of singers, established in 1486 and which gives the church its special title. In 2012, the Rector, Select Vestry and Parish decided to revive the ancient college, honouring the church’s musical heritage, and intending a dynamic community–involved future.

Enjoy the Schola Cantorum Eastertide video and others –
[[] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72q9B9b2Dcc ]

##Worship from churches in Dublin & Glendalough
[[] https://dublin.anglican.org/news/2020/05/01/online-worship ]

## Food for thought

“The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.” – Abraham Lincoln

Points for Prayer

God in Creation