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

Death of Much Loved Retired Priest in Cork, Cloyne and Ross

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Latest News and Photos from the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross

The Reverend Avril Kingston (1934 – 2014)

We, in Cork, Cloyne and Ross, are very sad to learn of the death on Sunday, 18th May, of the Reverend Avril Dawson Kingston, of Glencairn, County Waterford.

Following her retirement from the auxiliary ministry, Avril continued to hold the Bishop’s Permission to Officiate in the United Dioceses.

The Reverend Avril Kingston (born in 1934) was made deacon in 1994 and ordained priest in 1995. She served in the auxiliary ministry, mainly in the south city parish of Douglas Union with Frankfield. This involved lots of travel, willingly undertaken, from her home on the Cork – Waterford border at the north-eastern extremity of the Diocese.

Avril also helped in other parishes when needed, including notably in the Parishes of Fermoy Union.

Bishop Colton, paying tribute to Avril, said:

Avril’s ministry was faithful, committed and generous. It was hugely appreciated by the people of Douglas Union with Frankfield, as well as in the other parishes where she assisted from time to time, including Fermoy Union, and in the Cathedral parish of the neighbouring Diocese of Lismore, close to her home. I give thanks personally for her prayerful and thoughtful ministry, and her unfailing gentleness and kindness to those she met.

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Annual IDAHOT Service in St Anne’s Church, Shandon, Cork

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Latest News and Photos from the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross

The Reverend Brian O’Rourke (third from left – Rector of St Anne’s, Shandon) and Mr Stephen Spillane (who gave the address) and visitors present at the 2014 IDAHOT Service at St Anne’s Church, Shandon, Cork on Sunday, 18th May.

As part of the local listening process to GBT voices, Stephen Spillane was invited to give the address.

The music at the Service was provided by Choral Con Fusion, Cork’s LGBT Choir.

Posted in Church in Society, Church Services, Community Involvement, Diocese, LGBT, People from the Diocese | Comments Off

St Anne’s Church, Shandon, Cork ~ Annual Service to mark International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Latest News and Photos from the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross

The annual Church Service in Saint Anne’s Church, Shandon, Cork, to mark IDAHOT – International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia – will take place on Sunday, 18th May at 10.30 a.m. The Service, at which the rector, the Reverend Brian O’Rourke, will preside, is the concluding event of Cork LGBT Awareness Week. Cork’s LGBT Choir – Choral Con Fusion – will sing at the Service. All are invited and welcome to attend.

As part of the listening process in which the Church of Ireland is currently engaged, a member of the Parish, and recently elected member of the Cork, Cloyne and Ross Diocesan Synod, Stephen Spillane, will give an address.

Stephen Spillane is a parishioner of St Anne’s, Shandon and is an LGBT activist. In recent days Junior Chamber International named him as 2014 recipient of the ‘Most Outstanding Young Person’ (TOYP) award.

Stephen says:

What makes this day and the events in Newry, Dublin, Waterford, Limerick, Belfast and Derry/Londonderry so important, is not that these Services happen, but that they keep happening. This is what gives me hope. The work of Changing Attitude Ireland and many individual LGBT Christians in Ireland constantly challenge and remind the wider Church of their responsibility to the LGBT Community.

Posted in Church in Society, Church Services, Community Involvement, Contemporary Issues, Cork, Diocese, LGBT, People from the Diocese | Comments Off

Retirement of Mr David Bird from Synods and Diocesan Council in Cork, Cloyne and Ross

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Latest News and Photos from the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross

J.A. David Bird

At the meeting of the Diocesan Council of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, Mr David Bird, from Cobh, Co. Cork in the Diocese of Cloyne, announced that he would not be standing for re-election to the Diocesan Synod or General Synod.

This will be the first time in more than 100 years that a member of the Bird family has not been a member of Diocesan Synod and General Synod.

The Bishop, Dr Paul Colton, paid tribute to Mr Bird and presented him with the first of the plaques (featuring the Diocesan Coat of Arms) recently commissioned by the Bishop to acknowledge long and committed voluntary service by lay people to the Diocese.

Bishop Colton said:

I checked this morning, and a member of the Bird family is recorded as having first attended a meeting of the General Synod of the Church of Ireland in 1910. David Bird himself has been on General Synod since 1964.

During his half-century on Diocesan Synod, Diocesan Council and General Synod, Mr Bird has also represented the Dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross on the Standing Committee, on the Role of the Church Committee, as well as being for many years a member of his own local parish Select Vestry, a Diocesan Trustee and chairing the Diocesan Property Committee in recent years. He is currently a member of the Church of Ireland’s Committee on Human Sexuality in the Context of Christian Belief.

Posted in Diocesan Synod, Diocese, Lay Ministry, People from the Diocese | Comments Off