Peter is our new reader for the cathedral and for the cathedral grouped parishes. He is the bearded young man you will have seen on a couple of recent Sunday mornings. The agreed schedule with the Theological College is that he serves the cathedral on the first Sunday of the month and the three parish churches on the other three Sundays. This provides him with a variation in types of service probably not to be found elsewhere in the Church of Ireland! Before beginning his training for ordination Peter for some years worked in Switzerland and had strong connections with the Diocese of Europe. Peter is married to Lesley and they presently have two children - soon to be joined by a third in early February. Students are required by the college to preach occasional sermons in the churches of their parish placements. Peter will preach his first in the cathedral on the feast of the Purification - also known as the Presentation of Christ or Candlemas. We look forward to it.
Nick-names carry on long after their origination has been forgotten. The annual clergy conference, certainly by the older clergy, is still known as "The Bicycle Rally". During the 1973 middle eastern war and the consequent oil crisis some of the clergy questioned the late Archbishop Buchanan as to how they might get there without petrol - to which he gave the famous one-word answer "Bicycles"! The name has stuck, to the great disbelief of the younger clergy. The 1997 "rally" is to be held on Monday and Tuesday 3/4 February when the principal speaker is to be the bishop of Bristol, the Rt Revd Barry Rogerson. Bishop Rogerson is deeply committed to ecumenical affairs having served on various international committees and was foremost among the English bishops in the movement for the ordination of women. The dioceses rely heavily on retired clergy to answer emergency calls at this time and we are all most grateful to them.
The Heritage Act passed by the Oireachtas in 1995 established a heritage council to carry out the many functions described in the act. Part of this is our ecclesiastical heritage for which a working group was set up in December 1995. Through this group the council hopes to be able to facilitate an exchange of views on different matters that affect our ecclesiastical heritage and to take whatever initiatives are possible for their continued conservation. In a seminar to be held in Kilkenny Castle on Wednesday 5 February a large number of people, well-known experts in their fields of study, will give introductions (mostly of about 30 minutes duration) on the care and maintenance of the fabric and stained glass and contents of our historic cathedrals and churches. Much controversy rages at present in the correspondence columns of the national papers about the re-ordering of a number of churches and, in some instances, the methods of pointing stonework. Kilkenny is noteworthy not just for its castle but also for its great medieval cathedral of Saint Canice and other fine buildings.
Harry Carroll is the master of many such events for us over the years. The Friends Committee has again asked him to prepare one for Tuesday 18 February in the Concert Hall of the Royal Hospital, Donnybrook: £12 per table, including supper. May we encourage you to join the fun of the evening. There is ample free parking for cars in the grounds of the hospital? Do come.
"Like a Seed which grows into a Tree" is the title of the order of service prepared for the 1997 Women's World Day of Prayer". It has been prepared by the women of Korea and will be held on Friday 7 March in a multitude of venues throughout the city and countrywide. The venue nearest to the cathedral will be All Saints', Grangegorman, where the service will be held at 3.30 p.m. Damer House, is another venue.
Most of you by now will have heard the news that the dean is to be hospitalised. None of us knows when the operation - a heart transplant - will take place. It could be weeks or even months. When the bleeper sounds he will simply head directly to the Mater hospital and will be off duty for some four months. Your prayers would be appreciated - for him and for the family of the heart donor.
The Christmas and New Year periods in the cathedral proved to be among the most active for many years. The cathedral choirs and bellringers had busy sessions and proved themselves to be among the hardest workers who serve Dublin's oldest building. Each group had its Christmas party, for which the cathedral Board gives a subsidy. It is little enough for us to do for two groups whose hard work enables the cathedral to function as a living centre of worship daily throughout the year.
The annual charity carol service was held at lunchtime on Thursday 19 December when some £750 was raised for the work of The Liberty Crèche. A generous private benefactor added a further cheque to this amount so that the organisers went away well satisfied. Mrs Sue Pedlow, in brief form, gave a moving account of the history and the present-day work of the crèche. The other Christmas services were fully reported on in last months' newsletter.
New Year's eve was bitterly cold and the numbers who braved the cold was well down on last year's crowds. At a guess some 1200 people braved the icy wind in Christchurch Place to hear the bells ring in the new year. After a few minutes they all quickly dispersed with little of the dancing and revelry which those of us on the cathedral roof usually see. The bellringers followed their ringing session with carols and refreshments. The dean did not wait for the party to end!
