Award to Cork Chaplain; Dublin – Inspiring Diocesan Growth; Harp Concert; Christian Aid challenges government on corporate tax-dodging; Seven suicides in east Belfast in 10 days
Award to Cork Chaplain
The Reverend Daniel Nuzum, whole-time chaplain at Cork University Hospital/Cork University Maternity Hospital, as well as Marymount Hospice in Cork, recently travelled as part of a team to make presentations at, and participate, in the 2012 International Conference on Stillbirth, SIDS and Infant Survival in Baltimore, USA.
Daniel travelled with Dr. Keelin O’Donoghue and members of the Pregnancy Loss team from CUH/CUMH. The group presented seven posters, and gave three oral presentations. Daniel was awarded the Best Oral Presentation of the meeting for his talk entitled: Spiritual and Pastoral Care following Stillbirth: A Review of Services in Ireland.
Dublin – Inspiring Diocesan Growth
Parishes do not have to take a giant leap into the unknown to explore fresh expressions of how they ‘do church’, the Dublin and Glendalough Diocesan Growth Forum was told last weekend. Rather than rushing back to their churches and ripping out all the pews, they can take small steps – find one thing the parish can do well and focus on that to begin with.
Over 250 clergy and lay people attended the forum in The High School, Rathgar, on Saturday October 6. Organised by the Diocesan Growth Team, the forum aimed to address the challenges faced by the church and examine opportunities for fresh expressions of church within the dioceses.
Delegates came away brimming with ideas having listened to Revd George Lings of the Church Army Centre in Sheffield and heard stories of how other parishes are doing things from Canon Neil McEndoo and Revd Rob Jones in Rathmines, Dublin, Canon Roly Heaney from Redcross, Glendalough, Revd Adrian McCartney of Boring Wells in Belfast and Revd Jackie Bellfield, a Medthodist minister in Warrington.
Speaking at the event, the Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson, described the forum as “an engine room for change”. He acknowledged that for many, change was a difficult thing but hoped that they would leave the forum with a broader, deeper expression of “who we are”.
Having heard the inspirational stories of fresh expressions, Archbishop Jackson warned against simply putting other people’s ideas in the copier and hoping they worked out. He said it was important to examine what would work in the context of individual parishes and start from there. However, he said he was keen to support and facilitate people’s ideas and added that some of the initiatives suggested were already in the pipeline.
Participants broke up into smaller groups in the afternoon to discuss what they had heard and then brought their ideas back to the main forum. There was a sense that the discussion that had taken place during the day needed to continue in the parishes.
Clergy were urged to be leaders and enablers while an appeal went out to select vestries to have growth on their agendas rather than just fabric and buildings. Many people felt that there were a lot of positive things happening in parishes but they just needed to be tweaked. Some suggested the possibility of developing groups outside church for fellowship while others proposed changing the liturgy occasionally to make it more accessible.
The welcome provided by a church was deemed important and, in an age where many bemoan the absence of community spirit, it was pointed out that the church could help create a sense of community where shopping centres could not.
The Diocesan Growth Team is in the process of putting a website together which will feature videos from the day, slides used by the speakers and other resources which can be used throughout the United Dioceses in parishes or rural deaneries. The web address will be published as soon as the site is up and running.
Porvoo input
The Fourth Theological Conference under the Porvoo Agreement is being held in Copenhagen. Among the contributors will be the Archbishop of Dublin who will speak on the Eucharist as a sacrament of unity and mission.
Harp Concert
Anne–Marie O’Farrell and Cormac De Barra will perform on the Irish Harp and Pedal Harp in a concert which takes place on Tuesday October 23 at 8.00 pm in the Unitarian Church on St Stephen’s Green. Tickets cost €12 or €8 with concession and can be purchased on the door on the night or booked online at www.dublinunitarianchurch.org/events/
The concert will feature works by Mozart, Albeniz, Tarrega, O’Farrell, Carolan along with traditional Irish music, old and new.
Christian Aid challenges government on corporate tax-dodging
Christian Aid has welcomed the government’s aid targets while urging action on corporate secrecy and tax havens.
The comments came in Senior UK Political Adviser Sol Oyuela’s response to International Development Secretary Justine Greening’s speech to the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham on 9 October 2012.
Christian Aid and other development agencies have been running a vigorous and well researched campaign on global tax avoidance and its consequences for the poorest.
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/17152
Seven suicides in east Belfast in 10 days
BBC – An east Belfast support group calls for more help for the community as it says seven people have taken their own lives there in the last 10 days. Churches and politicians need to be more involved in prevention…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-19909974