Parishes participate in newArea Food Bank; Final Connor Strategy deanery meeting; “Soul Sisters” series at TCD Chapel; Presbyterian Church calls for a ‘no’ vote on gay marriage; Abuse inquiry begins first phase; Reacton to Methodist Church on Ulster Covenant. See also Music this site – Tomorrow’s Choral Evensong on BBC Radio3, media, events and releases.
Parishes participate in newArea Food Bank
A Food Bank distribution point has been setup in Craigavon with more meet and greet centres planned very soon for Portadown and Lurgan. The Food Bank, part of the Trussell Trust network, works with statutory bodies and charities to make sure that food gets to people in genuine need but also that those people get appropriate support depending on their circumstances.
This is a church driven initiative and the Parish of Seagoe is one of the participants. Shankill Parish, St John’s and Magheralin are also involved. Seagoe rector, Canon Terence Cadden, said, “Right across the Craigavon Area churches of various denominations are joining us in this exciting Kingdom venture. It is fantastic today that there is one co–ordinated message going out to our statutory bodies and charities that the church is here to help people in a time of crisis. This project is a powerful witness to the love of God and we are happy to give it our support.”
In the middle of a recession that shows little sign of ending, today in the Craigavon Area there are families struggling to put food on the table. In our modern society, this may seem hard to believe, but there are a variety of reasons why this happens.
For many people, a sudden crisis such as redundancy, benefit delay or even an unexpected bill can mean going hungry. Every day parents skip meals to feed their children and people are forced to choose between paying bills and eating.
Craigavon Area Foodbank will provide emergency food and support to local people at these times of crisis. Churches will play their part by encouraging parishioners to donate food items and to take up some of the many practical volunteering initiatives available.
The Trussell Trust operates over 250 food banks spread throughout the UK and this year they expect to feed around ½ a million people.
Final Connor Strategy deanery meeting
The ninth and final Vision Strategy Rural Deanery meeting took place in St Nicholas Parish Hall, Belfast, on September 26 and was attended by representatives of parishes from the South Belfast Rural Deanery.
The Bishop of Connor, the Rt Rev Alan Abernethy, spoke about the importance of engaging with the communities in which parishes are based, and explored the many and dramatic changes in culture over just a few decades.
Roy Totten of the Connor Vision Strategy group outlined the background to the strategy, and highlighted some of the key findings of a survey of parishes in the diocese.
The Ven Barry Dodds, Archdeacon of Belfast, gave a presentation of some examples of best practice already happening in parishes across Connor. All parishes had an opportunity to break up into workshops to discuss some questions raised by the Vision Strategy group.
Meetings for clergy have also been held on an archdeaconry basis – in Agherton on September 13 (Dalriada) and Antrim on September 20 (Connor) with the final archdeaconry meeting in St Peter’s, Antrim Road (Belfast) taking place on October 2. These have been addressed by Connor’s parish development officer Trevor Douglas.
“Soul Sisters” series at TCD Chapel
The “Soul Sisters” series gets underway in Trinity College Chapel on Sunday October 7 when Alice Leahy, co–founder and director of the homelessness charity, Trust, will deliver the address. The series aims to celebrate inspiring women and runs until early December in the context of Sunday morning Choral Eucharist at 10.45 am. All are welcome. Full details of the series and recordings of the addresses are available on the TCD Chaplaincy website: www.tcd.ie/chaplaincy.
October Archive of the Month
The October ‘Archive of the Month‘ is an introduction to the collections of architectural drawings of churches and glebe houses, mostly dating from the 19th century, which are held in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin.
Architectural drawings, some of which also include specifications, are of obvious value to the architectural profession and especially those who are engaged as diocesan architects in the Church of Ireland. As many of the churches are listed buildings the availability of primary sources concerning them is an important part of documenting the Church’s built heritage.
Furthermore, in recent times, with the sale of redundant churches and of period houses which were used as rectories, there has been an upsurge in interest in the history of these buildings as new owners seek to learn more about their new homes.
The RCB Library’s collections include sets of drawings by the iconic Dublin architect John Semple, best known perhaps for the idiosyncratic Monkstown parish church, as well surveys of churches in the ecclesiastical province of Cashel by James Pain and similar surveys of churches in the ecclesiastical province of Tuam by Joseph Welland. Lists of these drawings are available on the RCB Library website.
By far the largest collection is 27 portfolios of drawings of churches from every diocese in the Church of Ireland. These are the subject of a major project to provide an on–line catalogue of digitized images of the drawings. The work of architectural historian, Dr Michael O’Neill FSA, the first phase of this catalogue has been completed and is available at www.archdrawing.ireland.anglican.org
In addition there is a collection of miscellaneous drawings, with some specifications, of glebe houses and a list of these is available on the RCB Library website.
www.ireland.anglican.org/library/archive
Presbyterian Church calls for a ‘no’ vote on gay marriage
The church has written to all MLAs outlining its opposition to any changes to marriage legislation in Northern Ireland following the motion tabled by Sinn Fein. Since 2005 it has been possible to enter into a civil partnership in Northern Ireland. But …
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/presbyterian-church-calls-for-a-no-vote-on-gay-marriage-16218177.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-19780261
Abuse inquiry begins first phase
Victims of abuse in care homes and other institutions in Northern Ireland are being invited to register to take part in a Stormont inquiry on Monday.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-19777667
Reacton to Methodist Church on Ulster Covenant
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/local/backlash-to-methodist-covenant-apology-1-4318138