IRISH NEWS BULLETIN

 The C of I Gazette is free online this month. See report below

C of I General Synod annual meeting cancelled

The holding of the Church of Ireland General Synod from 7th–9th May 2020 in the Croke Park Conference Centre, Dublin, has been cancelled due to the Covid–19 pandemic. The change was proposed by the Honorary Secretaries of the General Synod and passed unanimously by resolution of the Standing Committee.

The booking with Croke Park Conference Centre has been transferred to 5th–7th May 2022.

The Honorary Secretaries and the Standing Committee are considering a possible rescheduling of the General Synod to take place later in 2020, and will be guided by the latest advice from public health authorities, with the safety of Synod members as their priority.

The General Synod of 2021 will, as mentioned in the General Synod Book of Reports in 2019, be held in the Armagh City Hotel.

The Methodist Council for the UK has agreed that the Conference cannot meet as planned in Telford in June and will look at ways for the Conference to meet in an alternative form. Full statement is here: [ ow.ly/z0j850z33Sk ]

Prayer Walk becomes online Prayer Talk

A prayer walk that doesn’t involve any walking! That might sound attractive to some, but it is in fact the North Belfast Prayer Walk’s way of keeping going during the coronavirus crisis.

Organiser Stephen Whitten, Evangelist with the North Belfast Centre of Mission, explained that the April Prayer Walk on Monday April 6 was due to get underway after prayers at St Peter’s Cathedral, Falls Road.

“For obvious reasons that isn’t going to happen,” Stephen said. “However, I thought it might be a good idea to try and meet together anyway to spend some time in prayer for the area and the wider situation.”

Stephen has proposed that anyone interested in taking part in this prayer (talk!) should join the conversation online via the ‘Zoom’ programme.

“Once you have downloaded Zoom all you need to do is to copy this URL into your browser [ https://zoom.us/j/444948318 ] to join the meeting,” Stephen said.

“It is at our usual time of 7.30pm and will last for 40 minutes. You will need a computer or laptop, etc with a webcam to join and we will spend some time chatting and praying together. It will be very informal and there may well be some technical issues but let’s give it a go anyway!”

Stephen added: “Unfortunately they haven’t invented a way to send cups of tea over the internet yet so you will have to provide your own!”

Rector’s first school assembly on Zoom

Canon Adrian Wilkinson tweeted – “ I enjoyed my first school assembly on Zoom with the pupils and staff of St MiichaelsNational School. I wish them a good Easter break and hope to be back soon for our normal Friday assemblies in St Michael’s Church.

Family resources for Easter

“Families need to take time out and celebrate Easter,” says Down & Dromore’s Children’s Officer, Julie Currie. “I’d love them to celebrate being family together, change their schedule, recharge and relax, laugh together, pray together and not think of school!”

To help families do just that, Julie has put together an Easter Activity Pack for Families which can be downloaded at this link in PDF format (18 pages).
[[] https://www.downanddromore.org/news/2020/04/family-resources-for-easter ]

Ahead of Holy Week, Julie has been busy filming a Palm Sunday children’s talk which is available on YouTube here, and filling the Jigsaw DDYC Facebook page full of ideas here.

Tim Burns is busy too! Don’t miss the DDYC Facebook page for youth and children.

[[] https://www.facebook.com/downanddromoreyouthandchildren/ ]

Taking ministry to the children

St Michael, Stephen and St Luke’s Parish, Belfast, has put together lots of ‘THRIVE Youth & Children’s Ministry’ Fun Activity Packs.

These are crammed with all sorts of jokes, puzzles, scavenger hunt, Bible challenges, an Easter competition, crafts, experiments, a story from ‘Play it by Ear’ drama group and more!

The packs are being distributed to children who normally attend the parish afterschool clubs, Church Lads’ & Church Girls’ Brigade and Sunday School.

The local PSNI neighbourhood team has been helping with the distribution of the activity packs.

Heather Carson, parish development officer, said: “We work closely with the neighbourhood team, and John and Jenny from the team are out and about in the community checking that people are safe and well and at the same time dropping off some of our kids’ activity packs.”

Church of Ireland Gazette’s April issue free online

In a gesture of support for everyone during the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the Board of the Church of Ireland Gazette has decided to make the April issue available free online. A PDF can be downloaded from the Gazette website. The printed magazine and the e–paper are out as normal, but distribution of the printed copies may be difficult and the Board does not want any readers or parish distributors to feel they have to leave their homes at this time.

The April issue includes reports on the impacts of Covid–19 on church life, an interview with Archbishop–elect of Armagh, the Rt Rev John McDowell; the Rev Colin Darling’s visit to Sierra Leone; a re–enactment of an historic day in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork; the Rev Canon David Humphries on his love of the Holy Land; stories from our young people and Mothers’ Union, music, environment, comment and much more. The April Gazette is free to view and/or download at [ bit.ly/2yyNx1r ]

Book spot

Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford and Archbishop of York elect comments, “In other news, the book I’ve been writing on priesthood was published this week. It’s been nearly nine years in the writing and is dedicated to the clergy I have served in the Reading Episcopal area of the Oxford diocese and the wonderful Chemsford diocesan area”

Holy Week at Home

The Catholic Bishops are providing faith podcasts to offer reflections for Holy Week
[ https://catholicbishops.ie/2020/04/03/faith-podcasts-to-offer-reflections-for-holy-week ]

Prayer points

Pray for everyone who is suffering with coronavirus and cannot have their loved ones by their side. Loving God, into that loneliness and fear, bring your presence and your comfort.

Pray for everyone working on the frontlines of the health service, and for health workers around the world. May God protect and strengthen them. May they be safe and well. May they have moments of rest and renewal.

Pray for those who give a lead in church life at this time. Pray for those who speak into this unprecedented situation and are called upon to respond to changing circumstances

God in creation

Young Common Seal