Latest News from the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross

Readers Licensed and new Precentor Installed in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork

Posted on May 13, 2019 by Latest News and Photos from the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross

On Sunday afternoon, 12th May, two new Diocesan Readers – Lynn McAdam O’Connell and Michael Kenning – having completed the required training, were licensed by the Bishop, the Right Reverend Dr Paul Colton, during Evensong at St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork.

In the presence of family and friends, readers from throughout the Diocese, and clergy of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, they were presented to the Bishop by the Chaplain to the Guild of Lay Ministry, the Reverend Paul Arbuthnot.

Pictured following the licensing of Readers were (l-r) the Very Reverend Nigel Dunne (Dean of Cork), Michael Kenning (Reader), the Bishop, Lynn McAdam O’Connell (reader), the Ven Adrian Wilkinson (Archdeacon of Cork), and the Very Reverend Tom Gordon (Dean of Leighlin and Preacher)

Prior to the licensing the Bishop paid tribute to all the Readers in the Diocese for their ministry and thanked them. In particular, he singled out Mrs Joan Hales who had recently retired as a Reader after 35 years of service. A presentation was made to Joan along with flowers.

Mrs Joan Hales, who has served for 35 years as a Diocesan Reader with the Bishop, and the Reverend Paul Arbuthnot (Chaplain to the Guild of Lay Ministry in the Diocese).

The Sermon was preached by the Very Reverend Tom Gordon, Dean of Leighlin. Until now, reader training in Cork, Cloyne and Ross has been delivered via the Certificate in Christian Studies in the United Dioceses of Cashel, Ferns and Ossory. That same Certificate Course, approved by the House of Bishops as one of the routes for Reader training in the Church of Ireland, is now offered in Cork, Cloyne and Ross, in partnership with the Pontifical University at Maynooth.

Pictured following the installation of the Precentor were (l-r) Mr John Jermyn (Assistant Diocesan Registrar), the Very Reverend Nigel Dunne (Dean of Cork), the Very Reverend Susan Green (Precentor, and Dean of Cloyne(, the Bishop, the Ven Adrian Wilkinson (Archdeacon of Cork), and the Very Reverend Tom Gordon (Dean of Leighlin and Preacher)

Following the licensing of the new Readers, on foot of a mandate of the Bishop, the Dean of Cork, the Very Reverend Nigel Dunne, installed the Very Reverend Susan Green as Precentor of Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork.

The new Precentor, the Very Revered Susan Green, Dean of Cloyne with her husband, the Reverend Andrew Orr and some of their family.

Bishop Colton said:

Having confirmed five young people in Monkstown this morning, and now celebrating these events this afternoon, I am conscious how they all speak to us of discipleship and service continuing faithfully within the Church here in Cork, Cloyne and Ross into the future.

Michael Kenning and Lynn McAdam O’Connell with the Bishop.

Posted in Cathedral, Certificate in Christian Studies, Church Services, Diocese, Lay Ministry, LIcensing, People from the Diocese, Readers | Comments Off

Retirement of Faithful Cork Charity Worker

Posted on May 10, 2019 by Latest News and Photos from the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross

Miss Barbara Veitch, who has served until recently as grants administrator of the St Stephen’s Protestant Orphan Society in the United Dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross was entertained to lunch on Tuesday 7th May to mark her retirement. The lunch was hosted jointly by the Bishop of Cork, Dr Paul Colton, as President of the Charity, and by the Dean of Cork, the Very Reverend Nigel Dunne, who chairs the Grants Committee.

Barbara Veitch started work with the Charity when it was the Protestant Orphan Society for the City of Cork and County in 1989. In 1992 it was amalgamated with the St Stephen’s Society. In addition Barbara has been administrator of the Cork Indigent Roomkeepers’ Society since 1991.

Paying tribute to Barbara, and making a small presentation to her, following the lunch, the Bishop of Cork, Dr Paul Colton said:

As Bishop over the last 2o years, I have seen Barbara’s gentle and compassionate contribution to meeting human need in our name and on behalf of the Church in this Diocese.

I know from my pastoral contact with some of those who have been assisted over the years that often these gifts to them have been the difference between fear and hope, distress and comfort, getting an opportunity or not, and feeling supported and affirmed.

I know now many of the young adults whose careers have been supported and shaped by the education grants they received; opportunities they might not otherwise have been able to take up. Barbara’s pastoral work as a lay person has brought solidarity to many people in their hour of need. We are all indebted to her and we thank her.

Miss Barbara Veitch receiving a presentation from the Bishop of Cork, and flowers from the Dean fo Cork, following a lunch to mark her retirement.

Posted in Bishop, Charities in the Diocese, Charity Work, Church in Society, Community Involvement, Five Marks of Mission, People from Cork, People from the Diocese, People in Need | Comments Off

St Anne’s Church, Shandon to host Cork IDAHOT Service on Sunday 12th May

Posted on May 9, 2019 by Latest News and Photos from the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross

Once again this year, IDAHOT (International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia) will be marked at the 10.15am service in St. Anne’s Church, Shandon in Cork on Sunday next (12th May). The Service will be led by the Rector, the Reverend Sarah Marry, and all are welcome to attend.

Choral Con Fusion Choir from Cork will be present to sing.

Choral Con Fusion Cork on a previous visit to Shandon.

The theme this year is ‘Allies for Inclusion’ and is borrowed from this year’s Cork City LGBTI+ Awareness Week which will be launched on Monday 13th May at Cork City Hall and run until 19th May.

The speaker at the Service, Sara-Jane Cromwell, will tell something of her story reflecting on what it has been like for her with and without allies. Sara-Jane was diagnosed with Gender Dysphoria and completed gender reassignment in 2015. She is the co-founder and Chair of TENI (Transgender Equality Network Ireland), CEO of GIDI (Gender Identity Disorder Ireland) and author of ‘Becoming Myself’ and ‘Wrong Body, Wrong Life’.

Saint Anne’s Church, Shandon, Cork.

Posted in Church in Society, Church Services, Churches in Cork, Five Marks of Mission, LGBT | Comments Off

St Fin Barre’s Cathedral Cork, Choir Tour to Hamburg and Lübeck, April 2019

Posted on May 7, 2019 by Latest News and Photos from the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross

The choir of St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork travelled to Germany in Easter week. At 4.30am on Thursday, 25th April the coach to Dublin Airport departed from the Cathedral. On board were 30 young choristers, 9 adults singers, 6 supervisors, a priest, an organist and a conductor. Some were more bleary-eyed than others at that time in the morning but all had woken up sufficiently to negotiate their way through airport security and Ryanair check-in. By 2pm local time all had arrived at the accommodation in Lübeck and were ready for an ice cream.

Lübeck is geographically not unlike Cork, as the group kept trying to tell the guide the following day whilst doing a walking tour of the ancient city. The Altstadt is built on a marshy island and the river flows into the nearby Baltic Sea. It was of course a major trading port and seafaring plays a major part in the history of the city. The main features of the city, unlike Cork perhaps, are the seven spires of five enormous churches, all made from brick and which have dominated the skyline for centuries.

The choir’s first service was in the largest of these, the St Marien Kirche, where the composer Buxtehude was famously the organist in the late seventeenth century. Every Friday a service for peace is held at 12.05pm, just after the famous astronomical clock has struck its noon bells. The service follows the Coventry Litany in recognition of the Second World War bombs which fell on English and German churches. Canon Daniel Nuzum led the short service in partnership with their Lutheran Pastor and fittingly it was effectively bilingual. The choir sang appropriate music including Charles Wood’s Nunc dimittis in B flat for six voices.