Ballymacarrett churches share a food ministry; Narnia Festival Launched in Bray; Willowfield Year Out Team; Ministry of Healing Lenten Quiet Day; Join the JIMS Crew for a year; Archbishop visits Salvation Army’s Dublin Centre; Retired Bishop denies abuse cover-up; Belfast BB President appointed; Powerful Holocaust exhibition; Lenten Study Groups
Ballymacarrett churches share a food ministry
Adrian McCartney writes – Can you imagine living on a very limited budget but you can just about get by every week? Then an emergency comes out of the blue.
It could be a rise in fuel costs, or a kitchen appliance breaks down, or a benefits mistake has occurred and one week you get nothing, or a child comes home with information about an activity in school that is going to cost money. It could be any number of things and you just don’t have the extra. Can you imagine having to choose between fixing the washing machine and heating the house or buying food, especially if you have children? Perhaps there are other circumstances that make your life very difficult and you just don’t know where to turn.
Down in Ballymacarrett a number of churches have agreed to start collecting food. It is then delivered to St Christopher’s church buildings in Mersey Street, at the entrance to the Oval. Distribution is by referral only. No one can just call in to get food instead of going shopping.
Boring Wells, a Church of Ireland missional community, working now in the Mersey Street area alongside Ballymacarrett Parish has organised this, but realises that the need is too great to be met by any one church. We anticipate that business will grow as agencies beyond the churches become aware of the possibilities. In the first four weeks eleven adults and thirteen children were given food for up to three days each. We even had some selection boxes and chocolates donated by January dieters (!!) so we were able to give some surprises as well. Just this week someone gave us their winter fuel allowance, which allows us to give some electricity/gas to some who buy it on cards.
If you are collecting food or would like to, all the usual stuff is very much appreciated. The things that most of us would not think of are breakfast cereals, and basic washing and cleaning materials like shower gel, toothpaste, washing–up liquid, kitchen rolls…as we work our way from month to month we can keep everyone up to date with need and facts and figures.
Narnia Festival Launched in Bray
Christ Church Bray has been transformed into the Land of Narnia for Lent. The Narnia Festival was launched in the church on Ash Wednesday.
Inspired by CS Lewis’s The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the festival continues until Easter Sunday and aims to teach about temptation and Lent which are the central themes of the book.
Over the next six and a half weeks it is expected that thousands of children and adults will pass through the church to walk through the Dawn Treader ship and visit the islands that King Caspian, Lucy, Edmund, Eustace, Reepicheep the mouse and Aslan visited. They will also see Aslan, the icy Queen of Narnia who sits in her sleigh, a real waterfall which has been created in the chancel of the church and a menacing dragon. The festival forms part of the church’s 150th anniversary celebrations.
The launch took place following a service of Holy Communion which was attended by Archbishop Michael Jackson who praised the rector and all who had helped to transform the church to give Ash Wednesday and Lent a whole new light and creativity. The exhibition was launched by Douglas Gresham, stepson of CS Lewis, who had travelled from Malta with his wife, Marie, to be present. The choristers of St Patrick’s Cathedral joined the parish choir and Stuart Nicholson, played the organ.
Welcoming the congregation, the Revd Baden Stanley thanked everyone who had worked so hard to bring the exhibition together. Youth pastor, Kirsty Lynch, and the youth team also took part in the service.
Officially opening the festival Douglas Gresham said it had been a great honour and a pleasure to be in Bray for the event. “It is a great wonder to see what has been done in the church and a great surprise to see the Dawn Treader and Aslan recreated here,” he said.
The festival concludes on Easter Sunday when the President of the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Revd Kenneth Lindsay will lead a service of Holy Communion involving the local Methodist congregation in the church. During the festival there will be a number of other exciting events including a concert on February 23. 3Rock Youth will be organising an event on March 25.
Admission to the festival for a child costs €3 with the accompanying adult going free), a family ticket with up to five children costs €10, an adult ticket without a child costs €5 while an entry fee of €2 per child applies for school tours (accompanying adults free).
For more information contact Christ Church Bray on: email (christchurchbray@gmail.com); telephone (01–2862968); website (www.christchurchbray.org); and Facebook (Christ Church Bray or Narnia Festival 2013–Feb 13–March 31st).
Willowfield Year Out Team
Each year Willowfield Church takes on a team of people committed to a year of service, training and discipleship.
Joining the Year Out Team provides opportunity to: intern as you joins taff team in the daily and ongoing work of the church, train with the team as you broaden your perspective, sharpen skills and discover gifts, and continually put what you learn into practice.
The cost per person is £1500, excluding travel costs and any visa costs incurred.
Contact: George Newell, email: george@wpcabelfast.co.uk
“Willowfield Parish Community Association and Willowfield Parish Church of Ireland operate side by side under common leadership with the purpose to realise God’s kingdom in our lives, the church, this community and the world. We exist to build congregations, teams and individuals who will encourage and support one another in taking God’s Kingdom of grace into our community and city. Our greatest interest is to see lives changed by the redeeming love and power of Jesus Christ.”
For more about Willowfield Parish Church www.willowfieldchurch.co.uk
Ministry of Healing Lenten Quiet Day
The Dublin and Glendalough Diocesan Committee of The Church’s Ministry of Healing: Ireland is organising a Lenten Quiet Day on Saturday March 9.
Led by Bishop Patrick Rooke, the event will take place at the Mageough Home, Rathmines, from 10.00 am to 3.00 pm. As the organisers, the Dublin & Glendalough Diocesan Committee will provide soup, tea and coffee. They suggest attendees bring a sandwich to complete their lunch. All are welcome to attend. To enquire further or to register your attendance, contact the central office by phoning (01) 8727876 or emailing hello@ministryofhealing.ie.
Join the JIMS Crew for a year
The Crew is a program started by the JIMS Project to give young adults an opportunity to volunteer for a year, serving God by serving the community of Kilkeel.
The Crew members play a vital role in nurturing the young people of Kilkeel towards a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. This is youth work at it’s best: staying up late to talk, having cups of tea with a young person, staffing JIMS programs and activities, and encouraging fellow youth workers.
Crew members are nurtured with weekly group Bible Studies, a two week training course at the beginning of the year, one–on–one time with their supervisor, and on–going training throughout the year.
Who is it for?
The Crew is for any young adult (18–25) ready and eager to give up one year of his/her life and be committed to the work of God through Jims Youth Centre.
The Crew programme corresponds with most university school years. The start date is in late August, and the year finishes early the next August.
The Crew programme costs £1000 and covers the following living expenses: house, internet, heat, and training for the entire year.
Contact: Ivan Henderson, email: ivan@thejimsproject.org.uk
Website: www.thejimsproject.org.uk
Archbishop visits Salvation Army’s Dublin Centre
The annual Service of Remembrance on Tuesday (12th February 2013) at The Salvation Army’s Granby Centre in Dublin provided an opportunity for staff, service users and their families to give thanks for blessings and good things which have happened in the past year; pray for strength to overcome future challenges and opportunities; and remember all those who have attended the centre in previous years.
Archbishop Michael Jackson was this year’s special guest. He delivered a short address during the service before speaking to staff and those staying at the centre.
Following the service the Archbishop was presented with The Salvation Army’s book, Portraits – A Month in the Life of The Salvation Army. There was then the opportunity for all those present to place handwritten messages of personal hopes for the future as well as remembering those that had passed away on the centre’s memorial tree.
Margaret Doyle, Centre Manager, Granby Centre, said:”We were delighted to welcome families and friends once again to this annual occasion. The Remembrance Service is a fantastic tradition which offers a message of hope and love to those who live both in the Granby Centre and their families. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed having the Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson with us this morning and thank him for taking such an interest in our work.”
Retired Bishop denies abuse cover-up
A former C of E bishop with Irish links is said to have failed to tell police about a paedophile priest. Bishop Wallace Benn has said there was no cover-up.
Retired priest Robert Coles was jailed on Thursday for sexually abusing three boys aged from 10 to 16.
It was said in court Coles told senior clergy, including former Bishop of Lewes the Rt Rev Wallace Benn, he had abused one of the children but the information was not given to police.
Bishop Benn said there was no ineptitude or cover-up on his part. More at –
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-21481328
Belfast BB President appointed
Former Ulster Unionist Lord Mayor of Belfast Alderman Jim Rodgers has just been appointed honorary president of the Belfast Battalion of the Boys’ Brigade.
Mr Rodgers, for the last eight years BB honorary vice-president, succeeds the late Colonel Jimmy Hughes, a very senior member of the Royal British Legion, who died eight months ago, aged 93.
The East Belfast councillor, a Methodist and a former director of Glentoran Football Club, was a member of the 39th Belfast company of the BB which was connected to the Pitt Street Methodist Mission in the Ballymacarrett area.
The 39th and Pitt Street produced some great footballers over the years, some of whom played in the Irish League, English and Scottish leagues and also for Northern Ireland.
Mr Rodgers is one of Belfast’s longest-serving councillors and serves on a wide range of boards and committees in the public, private and community/voluntary sector.
He is looking forward to his new role and will endeavour to give positive leadership to an organisation, which is more than 125 years old.
Powerful Holocaust exhibition
There is still time to catch Leslie Nicholl’s exhibition entitled Gedanken sind Frei/Thoughts are Free (Hans Litten) at North Down Museum.
The exhibition, to mark World Holocaust Memorial Day last month, runs until February 24, and is dedicated to the artist’s great friend Helen Lewis, an Auschwitz survivor.
Gedanken sind Frei/Thoughts are Free is taken from the title of a poem written by Hans Litten, a German barrister who attempted to show the German people how corrupt Hitler was by bringing him to trial.
When Hitler was made chancellor he had Hans Litten arrested and tortured to death. Gedanken sind Frei was written by Litten shortly before his death and is now regarded as a brave act by a brave man.
The exhibition takes the form of 60 portraits of concentration camp prisoners, painted on handkerchiefs and suspended in such a way that they move in the air, creating a ghostly effect which makes the exhibition all the more powerful.
The exhibition is dedicated to Nicholl’s great friend Helen Lewis, who survived Auschwitz and subsequently married a Northern Irishman and came to live in Belfast. It was because of Helen that Nicholl visited a number of concentration camps in which she had been interned, and also because of her that this exhibition was chosen to represent Northern Ireland when the country hosted World Holocaust Memorial Day in 2004.
The exhibition will be free to visit during museum opening hours (Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 4.30pm, Sunday 12 noon – 4.30pm).
For more information about this exhibition, contact North Down Museum, Town Hall, The Castle, Bangor BT20 4BT. Tel: 028 9127 1200, email museum@northdown.gov.uk or visit
www.northdownmuseum.com
Lenten Study Groups
In Christ Church cathedral, Dublin, the Revd Dr John Bartlett, former Principal of the Church of Ireland Theological College and noted Old Testament scholar, and Dr Margaret Daly–Denton, author of Psalm–shaped Prayerfulness (Columba Press, 2010), will host a course based on the psalms. This will begin on Tuesday evening at 7.30pm.
On Wednesday evening an ecumenical series of Lenten meetings organized by the churches of Malahide and Portmarnock begins. The first meeting will be in the Church of the Sacred Heart, Malahide, where the speaker, at 8pm, will be the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin.
On the same evening in the Church of St John the Baptist, Drumcondra, a series of ‘Services of Compline with Reflections for Lent’ begins at 7.45pm. The theme will be ‘Ministry in Diversity’ and the first reflection on ‘Ministry of Lay Pastoral Worker’ will be given by Ms Siobhan Tighe, a pastoral worker in Marino parish.
The series of Lenten Talks on the theme of the Ministry of Healing by the Bishop of Connor, the Rt Revd Alan Abernethy, continues on Wednesday in Jordanstown parish centre and on Thursday evening at 8pm in the Cassandra Hand Hotel, Clones, Dr Ursula O’Donovan will speak on Deitrich Bonhoeffer’s book, ‘The Cost of the Discipleship’, in the ‘Meeting God in Books’ Lenten series of talks. – C of I notes, Irish Times