Susan Howatch, the best-selling novelist, whose portrayal of the Church of England in her Starbridge books has entertained and intrigued many, is the "big name" contributor to the spring issue of Search, A Church of Ireland Journal. Her essay explores both her own religious standpoint and that of several characters in her books.
From the real, rather than the fictional church, the Bishop of Cashel and Ossory, the Rt Rev John Neill, gives his impressions of the Lambeth Conference and the World Council of Churches meeting in Harare, while Bishop Michael Marshall reflects on the Decade of Evangelism. The Rev Gregory Dunstan offers an interpretation of the place of symbol in St John's Passion narrative while Canon Dick McDonald relates body and spirit in an essay which reflects his dual ministry as a priest and counsellor.
Finally, Canon Kenneth Kearon, director of the Irish School of Ecumenics, provides an appreciation of the late Canon John Brown, an enigmatic figure who presided over the old Divinity Hostel with his own distinctive style and who exercised a profound influence on generations of ordinands.
Search is available from the Religious Education Resource Centre, Holy Trinity Church, Church Avenue, Rathmines, Dublin 6.
Today Dr Kenneth Milne will be representing the Irish Council of Churches at the first meeting of the Church and Society Commission of the Conference of European Churches. The meeting in Finland continues until Tuesday.
Tomorrow RTE will broadcast a Rogationtide service from the Chapel of Trinity College, Dublin, with the Bishop of Meath and Kildare, Dr Richard Clarke, the chaplain of Trinity, Dr Alan McCormack, and the Chapel Choir. In Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, at Evensong, the Rev Tom Haskins, rector of Clontarf, will be installed as a canon. Following the service, as part of the Cathedral Arts "Sundays at Seven" series, there will be a recital by Hakan Lewin (alto saxophone) and Peter Sweeney (organ) of sacred music by Duke Ellington. In St Patrick's Church, Grey stones, there will be a concert at 8.00 p.m. by the Vasterleds Choir from Stockholm.
On Monday and Tuesday, in Bellinter, the Very Rev Maurice Carey, priest in St John's Church, Sandymount, will conduct a retreat for the clergy of Meath and Kildare.
The second in the Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, lunch-time lectures on "Irish Cathedrals in the Middle Ages" will be held on Tuesday when Canon Adrian Empey, one of the intellectual ornaments of the Church of Ireland, will speak about St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny. In Kinneigh, the Bishop of Cork, the Rt Rev Paul Colton, will institute the Rev Stuart Burns, from Cape Town, to the incumbency.
On Wednesday the Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Robin Eames, will institute the Rev Paul Whittaker to the incumbency of Annagh more, and on Thursday he will institute the Rev David Pierce as rector of Donaghmore. Mr Whittaker has been curate in Killowen, Coleraine, and Mr Pierce has been curate in St Donard's Parish, Belfast.
Thursday is Ascension Day when in St Colman's Cathedral, Cloyne, the Rt Rev Paul Colton will be enthroned. In St Ann's Church, Dublin, the Ascension Day Eucharist at lunch-time will be sung by the parish choir of Nederlulea from northern Sweden. Christian Aid will hold a fund-raising concert in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, with the Southern Adventist Orchestra (US) and the Lassus Scholars.
On Friday, in Dublin, there will be a lunch-time organ recital in Christ Church Cathedral by Antoinette Baker. In the evening the choir of St Patrick's Cathedral will give a concert which will include Faure's Requiem and Britten's Hymn to St Cecilia. Proceeds of the concert will go towards the choir's forthcoming engagements in Manchester Cathedral and Liverpool Roman Catholic Cathedral.