A new series of the I Believe lunchtimes talks begins in the church of St George & St Thomas, Cathal Brugha Street, Dublin 1, on Thursday.
The talks, originally thought up by the former Church of Ireland adult education officer, the Rev Patrick Semple, when bishop's curate in St George & St Thomas' in the late 1990s, have been most successfully continued by his successor in the parish, the Rev Katherine Poulton. They are a facet of inner city ministry, for long a part of the Church of England, especially in London, which is increasingly being seen by the Church of Ireland as a valuable form of outreach to those who are in the locality during working hours.
The first of this series of talks will be given by Ms Mary Hanafin TD, recently promoted from the position of Government Chief Whip to Minister for Education. On the following three Thursdays the speakers will be charismatic Paddy Monaghan, broadcaster David McWilliams, and Sgt Dave McInerney from the Garda Racial Unit.
Each talk begins at 1 p.m. A soup and cheese lunch will be available and the proceeds will be divided between the ISPCA and the ISPCC.
This evening in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, the third recital in the series to celebrate the refurbishment of the organ will be given by David Leigh, assistant-organist in St Patrick's Cathedral, and tomorrow evening the final concert in this series will be given by the Christ Church Choir, directed by Judy Martin with Andrew Johnstone and Tristan Russcher at the organ.
Tomorrow, the Dean of Cashel, Dr Philip Knowles, will preach at the Harvest Festival in St Columb's Cathedral, Derry, while in Belfast Cathedral there will be a Centenary Thanksgiving Service for members of the emergency services. In the Diocese of Clogher there will be special services to mark 150 years of Lisnaskea parish church and 275 years of Dartry parish church and the preacher on both of these occasions will be the Bishop of Clogher. St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, will hold a choir open day with auditions for potential boy choristers, while in the evening there will be a reunion of past choristers who are invited to join the Cathedral Choir to sing Evensong. Details may be had from Peter Barley (01-453 0776 or at peter.barley@stpatrickscathedral.ie.
The annual service to mark the start of the new law term will be held in St Michan's Church, Dublin, on Monday morning at 10.15 a.m. The Archbishop of Dublin and Canon David Pierpoint will officiate and the preacher will be the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Dr Kenneth Newell. Later that day, the Archbishop of Dublin will travel to Scotland for the Celtic Bishops Conference.
On Wednesday evening, at 7 p.m., the agm of the Church Education Society will be held in the boardroom of the Church of Ireland College of Education. At 8 pm in St Brigid's parish hall, Stillorgan, the Rev Garth Hewitt, an Anglican priest with a strong interest in the Middle East, will speak at a meeting of the Friends of Sabeel - an ecumenical centre of theology in Jerusalem which seeks to develop a biblical spirituality for all national and faith communities in the Holy Land
Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, has announced the appointment of Mr Michael Denton as cathedral administrator. Mr Denton, who is currently European regional sales director for a US multinational electronics company will begin work in Christ Church in November.