One of the great privileges which the Church of Ireland enjoys, and one which it is able to share with others, is the stewardship of many church buildings with a fine acoustic
Music, as part of the liturgy, or in the form of concerts and recitals, is increasingly part of the Church of Ireland scene and particularly during the summer months when visiting choirs and instrumental ensembles perform in churches and cathedrals throughout the country. During the coming week, the Church of Ireland will host an interesting variety of such events.
Today (Saturday) in Co Dublin the Cecelia Choir from Houston, US will give a concert in All Saints Church, Blackrock, in aid of the organ and church funds while in St Mary's Church, Howth, Chetham's School of Music Chamber Choir and Ensemble, from Manchester, will give a recital to support church funds and a health-care project in southern Malawi.
The visitors from Manchester will also give concerts in St Barrahane's Church, Castletownshend, Co Cork tomorrow (Sunday) in aid of the church restoration fund and in St Mary's Church, Killarney, on Tuesday, when the proceeds will go to the Kerry Hospice Foundation.
Tomorrow morning (Sunday), Christ Church Baroque, conducted by Mark Duley and led by Therese Timoney, will combine with the Christ Church Cathedral Choir to perform Marc Charpenter's Missa Assmupta est Maria in the context of the cathedral's Sung Eucharist. In St Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork the Choral Eucharist will be sung by Cantamus.
In St Mary's Church, Killarney, there will be a recital on Wednesday evening by the French ensemble Les Rossignolets Petit Chanteur from Dunkerque, and at the same venue on Thursday the Lakeview Singers and Band from Indianapolis will give a concert of sacred music, including classical soul, up-beat contemporary and praise music. Retiring collections from these concerts will be donated to local charities.
In Dublin, the lunchtime recital in St Patrick's Cathedral on Wednesday will be given by Paul Collins and on Friday the Edinburgh University Singers will perform in Christ Church Cathedral, at 1.15 p.m. as part of the Cathedral Arts Summer Concerts series.
This morning, there will be an Interdenominational Service of Reconcilation on Arthur's Hill, Mountainview, near Navan, which has been organised by the 1798 Commemoration Service Committee, of which the secretary is the Rector of Kells, the Rev William Ritchie. The service will be followed by an historical lecture at Mountainstown House by Liam Chambers.
In Belfast, there will be a guided tour of the C.S. Lewis Trail as part of the celebrations to mark the centenary of the birth of the famous Christian apologist.
Tomorrow (Sunday), is the National Day of Commemoration when the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Walton Empey, will join the other church leaders at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham. later in the day, the archbishop will be in Finglas to re-dedicate St Canice's Church which was the object of an arson attack earlier this year.
The Bishop of Cork, the Right Rev Roy Warke, will visit Crookhaven and Fanlobbus where he will dedicate a side chapel. In Co Tipperary, the Church of Ireland Youth Council's New Beginnings camp for 12- to 15-year-olds will conclude in Gurteen Agricultural College.
In York, at a fringe meeting of the General Synod of the Church of England, which has been organised by Affirming Catholicism, Canon Kenneth Kearon, the Church of Ireland's leading figure in the increasingly confusing area of Christian ethics, will speak on "Singing in a Strange Land - Articulating the Church's Voice in Moral Issues."