As the official introduction of the new Book of Common Prayer draws near, another publication to assist with its use has appeared.
The Desire of Our Soul, sub-titled "A User's Guide to the Book of Common Prayer" has been published by Columba Press, the publisher of the BCP. The author is the Bishop of Down and Dromore, the Rt Rev Harold Miller, who is also chairman of the Liturgical Advisory Committee which has been the driving force behind the new prayer book, and there is a forward by the Archbishop of Armagh.
This user's guide seeks to introduce the different services, especially the newer ones, to explain something of the meaning of the liturgies and to show how they can be used to deepen both public and private devotion.
The guide also includes a series of charts which lay out the structures of the services, and a set of questions at the end of each chapter which may be used for group discussion or personal reflection.
This is, at 255 pages, a substantial work which, in the words of Archbishop Eames, "contains the liturgical agenda for the lives of those who find their relationship to God in and through membership and worship of the Church of Ireland".
On Thursday, Ascension Day, the Book of Common Prayer will be launched in the dioceses. Among the events will be a service in St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, at which the Primate will preach, and a service in St Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork, where the writer and liturgist, the Rev Gilli Myers, Succentor of Durham, will be the preacher.
In Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Archbishop John Neill will preside at a service at which the preacher will be the Dean of Durham, the Very Rev Michael Sadgrove.
Today St John's Church, Sandymount, will hold a summer sale.
Tomorrow in St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast, as part of the centenary celebrations, there will be a Service of Thanksgiving for the nursing and medical professions.
The address will be given by Mrs Sarah Mullally, chief
nursing officer at the Department of Health in
London, who is also a priest in the Church of England Diocese of Southwark.
In Clogher Cathedral, the annual Service of the Friends of St Macartan's will be held at which the preacher will be Dr Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales.
The Archbishop of Armagh will be in New York on Tuesday where he will speak to the Church Club on "The Crisis in Anglicanism".
On Wednesday evening the organ recital in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, will be given by Christopher Jacobson, from the Eastman Conservatory, USA, and at lunchtime on Friday in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, there will be a free concert by Chorus Cantorum.
A new initiative is being launched in the Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough, entitled "Discovery", as part of an outreach to immigrants in the city of Dublin, and particularly, though not exclusively, those who are Anglicans.
"Discovery" will be held in St George and St Thomas Church, Cathal Brugha Street, from June 9th-13th. There will be an exhibition, information stalls and lunchtime speakers.
On Sunday, June 13th, "Discovery" will end with a service which has been devised for African worship and at which the speaker will be the Rev Dr Sahr Yambusu, Methodist Minister in Galway.
Volunteers from the Dublin and Glendalough dioceses are needed to assist with this initiative.
Details may be had from the Rev Katherine Poulton (tel: 2856180; e-mail: poulton@oceanfree.net) and Canon Horace McKinley (tel: 4933953; e-mail: whitechurchparish@ireland.com