The General Synod of the Church of Ireland will meet from Monday to Wednesday in Belfast, the third occasion it has been held in the city. Moving from City Hall, the Waterfront Hall will provide a contemporary venue for a traditional event. Another break with tradition will be the absence of a pre-synod service. Instead there will be a service on Monday evening in St Anne's Cathedral where the preacher will be the Bishop of Down and Dromore, the Right Rev Harold Miller.
Much of the legislation to come before the synod relates to liturgical revision. Three of the Bills are part of the process of revising the Prayer Book, due to be completed in 2004. Orders of service for morning prayer, evening prayer, the litany, the late evening office, compline and a service of the Word will be considered. There will also be resolutions, in preparation for Bills next year, relating to holy communion, the calendar and collects, post-communion prayers and canticles.
The reports of the Standing Committee and the Representative Church Body will inspire comment and debate. Reports on synodical reform, provision for married students in the theological college, and proposals for legislation on pastoral breakdown will all attract the attention of their own constituencies. Inevitably, long-running issues such as mission, education and church unity will be debated.
Today, the former Bishop of Connor, Dr Samuel Poyntz, will be at the consultation in Toronto between Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops. This will be chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, and Cardinal Edward Cassidy, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, who will give a millennium address in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, in October.
Tomorrow, RTE will broadcast Morning Prayer from St Patrick's Church, Broughshane, Co Antrim, where the rector is Canon John Bond. The Bishop of Cork, the Right Rev Paul Colton, will return to Lisburn where he was curate in St Paul's church from 1984 to 1987, to preach in Christ Church Cathedral, while the preacher in the chapel of Trinity College, Dublin, will be the Dean of Ossory, the Very Rev Norman Lynas.
On Monday, the Church of Ireland Chaplain in Trinity College, Dublin, Dr Alan McCormack, will preside at the Trinity Monday Service of Thanksgiving in the College Chapel. The preacher will be the Rev Dr Sean Healy, from the department of justice and peace.
On Friday, the Bishop of Cashel and Ossory, the Right Rev John Neill, will institute the Rev Nancy Gillespie to the incumbency of the Stradbally group of parishes. Mrs Gillespie, who was ordained in 1997, has been curate in Kilkenny. As part of the celebrations of the 1400th anniversary of St Aidan, a "Celebration of Creation" runs in St Edan's Cathedral, Ferns, from Friday until Sunday, May 21st.
The Dean of St Patrick's, Dublin, Dr Robert MacCarthy, will open the Skerries Festival on Friday, while in St Patrick's Cathedral, the annual choir concert, featuring music by Tavener, Allegri, Britten and Bach, will begin at 8 p.m.
Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, is offering 10 choral scholarships worth £2,000 each for the academic year 2000-2001, along with a post as tutor, worth £4,200, which may be held in conjunction with a scholarship. Auditions will be held from 9th to 11th June and the closing date for applications is 19th May. Details from the music secretary (tele: 01-677 8099; fax: 01-679 8991; e-mail: musicsec@indigo.ie).