Once again this year, St Anne’s Church hosted its annual service for Cork LGBTI+ Awareness Week on Sunday 22nd May. The service takes place around International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) each year.
The Rev. Steven Foster, Alan Howe and Stephen Spillane in front of St Anne’s Church, Shandon.
The service was lead by Diocesan Reader Alan Howe and the Rev. Steven Foster of the North Tipperary Methodist Circuit and Amach le Dia gave the address.
Reader Alan Howe
The Rev. Steven Foster
Stephen Spillane, churchwarden at St Anne’s Church, commented:
St Anne’s was once again delighted to host our Annual Service for LGBTI+ Awareness Week. This year the address from Rev Steven Foster was timely and spoke about how the courage and partnership needed for us to be advocates for inclusion in the church. This is something we take very seriously in St Anne’s and we firmly believe that whoever you are and where ever you are on your faith journey, you are welcome here.
The Rev. Steven Foster, Alan Howe and Stephen Spillane in front of St Anne’s Church, Shandon.
Earlier that week, on Monday 16th May, Bishop Paul Colton joined the Lord Mayor of Cork, Councillor Colm Kelleher, at the launch of the annual Cork LGBT Awareness Week.
Photo from the Lord Mayor of Cork, Colm Kelleher’s social media. For original click here.
Posted inCork Pride, LGBT, LGBTI+|Comments Off on Annual Service for Cork LGBTI+ Awareness Week held in St Anne’s Church, Shandon
On Tuesday, 17th May 2022, the Mayor of Clonakilty Mr Anthony McDermott and the members of the Clonakilty Mayoral Council presented the Rev. Kingsley Sutton with a community award for his outstanding community spirit in his many video productions over the Covid-19 Pandemic.
The awards are given to various people/groups each year by the Mayor of Clonakilty to highlight their many outstanding achievements.
‘Mayor Anthony McDermott said that he is delighted to be able to honour outstanding people and said it just goes to show what a fantastic community we live in. There is something for all, young and old, in our town and it is so important that we honour the outstanding achievements of these people and groups.’
Mayoral Council of Clonakilty
The Rev. Kingsley Sutton commented:
I am really humbled and yet honoured to accept this award. I am so glad that my videos have helped to give people a lift in life, especially in the darkest days of the pandemic. There is so much community spirit in Clonakilty, it has been a joy to record it and broadcast it to the world!
The Rev. Kingsley Sutton, his wife Daphne and three of their children.
On Sunday 8th May, the Rector of Cobh & Glanmire Union of Parishes, the Rev. Canon Paul Arbuthnot, led the prayers at the 107th commemoration of the Lusitania tragedy. Fr Aquin Casey of Cobh Cathedral was also in attendance and the liturgy included a wreath laying and the names of all the victims being read by civic dignitaries.
The Rev. Canon Paul Arbuthnot with Fr Aquin Casey of Cobh Cathedral
The commemoration took place at the Old Cemetery in Cobh and concluded at the Lusitania memorial in the town centre.
Canon Arbuthnot commented:
This important annual event reminds us starkly of the human cost of war and how civilian populations so often bear the brunt of such evil. We remember before God all those who perished as a consequence of this tragedy. As we remember the victims of the Lusitania tragedy, we continue to pray for peace throughout the world, and especially in Ukraine.
One of the graves at the Old Cemetery in Cobh of the victims of the Lusitania Tragedy
Posted inCommemoration|Comments Off on Rector of Cobh & Glanmire attends commemoration of the Lusitania Tragedy
The Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, the Right Reverend Dr Paul Colton, has announced that, on foot of a nomination from the Diocesan Board of Patronage, he has appointed the Reverend Cliff Jeffers, currently Incumbent of Fanlobbus Union of Parishes in the Diocese, as Incumbent of Ross Union of Parishes. Ross Union of parishes encompasses the ancient parishes of Ross (Rosscarbery), Kilmacabea (Leap), Myross (Union Hall), Kilfaughnabeg (Glandore) and Castleventry in West Cork.
The Reverend Cliff Jeffers, new Incumbent of Ross Union of Parishes, who has also been appointed by the Bishop as Dean of Ross.
In addition, the Reverend Cliff Jeffers has been appointed by the Bishop (with whom rests, independently, the right of appointment to the dignity) to the Deanery of Ross. The Dean of Ross is one of the senior clergy of the United Dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross. In accordance with the Statutes of the Cathedrals of the Diocese, the Dean of Ross is also Chancellor of the Cathedral Church of Saint Fin Barre, Cork. The latter is an honorary position. The Cathedral Church of Saint Fachtna stands on a site where Christian worship has been offered for over 1400 years. Here St. Fachtna developed a monastic settlement in AD 590. Pilgrims and scholars came from near and far and gained for Ross the title ‘‘Ross Ailithir’’- the wooded headland of the pilgrims.The earliest mention of a church building on the site is in the 10th century and reference is made to a Cathedral at the end of the 12th. century.
Announcing the appointment, Bishop Colton said:
The Reverend Cliff Jeffers has had a faithful and creative ministry in West Cork, in the Parish of Fanlobbus Union, for the last eight years . He has been an encourager, pastor and energetic facilitator of the participation of others in the life of the Church. He has undertaken and completed a number of significant parish initiatives ecumenically and in partnership with the whole community, notably the commissioning and installation of the Sam Maguire Bells, as well as developing the partnership the parish has had over the years with the Gaelic Athletic Association. Most recently, he has had an important role in the implementation in Dunmanway of the Cork, Cloyne and Ross Centenaries Commemoration and Reconciliation Project, including supporting the parish, local community and many people further afield in the recent commemoration of the Bandon Valley killings in 1922.
I know that the people of Fanlobbus Union will be devastated to lose him, but will also wish him every joy and blessing in this new calling. The people of Ross Union will, I am sure, welcome him to their parish over the hills to the south as he and Eunice move to their new home on the coast of West Cork.
Responding to his appointment, the Reverend Cliff Jeffers said:
I am honoured to have been nominated as Rector of Ross Union of Parishes and to have been appointed by the Bishop as Dean of Ross. I’m looking forward to getting to know the parishioners and local community. However, it also comes with a sadness of having to leave the people of Fanlobbus whom I have ministered happily alongside for the last eight years.
Cliff, a native of Bandon, has served as rector of Fanlobbus Union of Parishes (Dunmanway) for the last eight years. In 1998 he was ordained and started his curacy in St. Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick. Following his time in Limerick City Parish, he served as rector of the Clonenagh Group of Parishes in the diocese of Cashel, Ferns & Ossory and afterwards the parish of Athy in the diocese of Dublin & Glendalough. Before moving back to Cork in 2014, he worked for a year as a chaplain in Dublin Institute of Technology.
The Reverend Cliff Jeffers on a visit to Holy Island, Lough Derg, River Shannon.
Having studied Electronic & Industrial Engineering in Cork Institute of Technology, Cliff worked in the computer industry in Cork for seven years before being accepted for ordination and studying for his Bachelor in Theology at Trinity College Dublin. In 2019 he completed a Masters in Transformational Leadership, awarded by York St. John University.
Among Cliff’s priorities in ministry are: Christian teaching and faith development, youth and children’s ministry, outreach and development of community connections as well as getting to know people and providing pastoral care. The recent lockdowns also allowed him to draw on his technical background in developing online church services and bible studies. His other interests include sailing, bell ringing, DIY, table tennis, croquet and walking his dog.
Harnessing technology in response to the pandemic
Cliff is married to Eunice and they have two adult sons, Andy and Simon, both now living and working in Cork. Eunice is involved in parish ministry, using her skills as a listener, an organist and her interest in local history and genealogy.
Eunice and Cliff Jeffers
The date of the Institution of the Reverend Cliff Jeffers as Incumbent and of his Installation as Dean will be announced in due course.
On the afternoon of Saturday, 7th May the Confirmation Class and youth leaders of Moviddy Union of Parishes went Ziplining in Zippit in Farran Woods, Cork.
The Rev. David Bowles with the Moviddy Confirmation Class
The Rev. David Bowles commented:
It was a great opportunity to bond together in advance of the confirmation on Sunday, 29th May in St Andrew’s Church, Kilmurry. You definitely get a different view of things from up in the trees, enjoying fellowship and God’s creation. I certainly have aches in places where I didn’t even know that I have places! On of our leaders came down to earth rather unexpectedly but we all survived unscathed!
Posted inConfirmation, Youth Work|Comments Off on Day out for Moviddy Confirmation Class
RSS - Posts