Annual Diocesan Service for Primary Schools in Cork, Cloyne and Ross

St Peter’s Church, Bandon, County Cork was full to capacity on Thursday, 1st October for the Annual Diocesan Service for Primary Schools in the United Dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross. Schoolchildren from every school in the Diocese, teachers, board members, and representatives of the Diocesan Education Committee had all accepted the invitation to be present from the Bishop, Dr Paul Colton, who is patron of all but one of the schools in the Diocese.

Arriving for the Annual Diocesan Service for Primary Schools. (Photo: Sam Wynn)

With the assistance of some of the children, the Reverend Sarah Marry preaches at the Annual Diocesan Service for Primary Schools in St Peter’s Church, Bandon (Photo: Sam Wynn)

The children themselves led all the parts of the Service. They had made banners for their schools and each brought a school bell ‘to signal’ themselves to all the others present. The Bishop had a bell too and there was a joyous cacophony of sound at the end of the Service as all the bells were rung at the same time. The organist was Colin Nicholls and the sermon was preached by the Reverend Sarah Marry. Collections in the schools, for the third year running, raised a lot of money for the Diocesan Project in partnership with the Bishops’ Appeal and Christian Aid to build houses in Haiti in the wake of the earthquake there.

Our Diocesan Media Officer, Sam Wynn, was on hand to take the photos. Here are some of them:

This year, the Church of Ireland Education Officer, Dr Ken Fennelly and Assistant Secretary Eimear Ryan travelled from Dublin to be at the Service.

At the Annual Diocesan Service for Primary Schools were (l-r) the Reverend Denis MacCarthy, Rector of Bandon, Eimear Ryan (Assistant Secretary, General Synod Board of Education), the Bishop, Dr Ken Fennelly (Church of Ireland Education Officer), and the Very Reverend Alan Marley, Dean of Cloyne. (Photo: Sam Wynn)