Last month the Church of Ireland press officer, Mrs Elizabeth Gibson-Harries, announced her intention to take early retirement. This will take effect on Wednesday when she leaves the post which she has held for 14 years.
Ms Liz Harries, as she was when appointed, was the third Church of Ireland press officer. She succeeded the late Bobby Byers, who in turn had succeeded Alan Johnston. During her period of office, the job expanded considerably.
This was due in part to Ms Gibson-Harries's perception of communication which involved being constantly available and ensuring that the Church of Ireland view, where appropriate, was always heard.
The expansion of the job was due also to the escalation of the Northern troubles. The seemingly endless torrent of tragedy, political and personal, demanded a constant response from the church, and the press officer was to the fore in advising bishops and clergy on how to respond. Heart-rending funerals, controversial political developments and the protracted problem of Drumcree were all part of the daily fare at the press office.
Elsewhere, the press officer was a diligent and energetic secretary of the Central Communications Board, a valued member of the Literature Committee, and much more. She will be a hard act to follow.
Tomorrow the Feast of St Brigid will be celebrated in St Brigid's Cathedral, Kildare, where the preacher at the festival Eucharist will be the Rector of Kill o' the Grange, the Rev Ferran Glenfield.
In the Chapel of Trinity College Dublin the preacher at the Sung Eucharist will be the Rev Dr Oliver Rafferty SJ, professor of ecclesiastical history at St Patrick's College, Maynooth. Dr Rafferty will give the third in the current series of addresses on the theme of "Community".
The Annual Service of Rededication of the Church of Ireland Men's Society will be held in Lisburn Cathedral tomorrow afternoon. The service will be conducted by the rector, the Rev W.S. Wright, and the Act of Rededication will be led by the chairman of the society, the Very Rev Herbert Cassidy, Dean of Armagh. The preacher will be the former bishop of Connor, Dr Samuel Poyntz, who is also a former chairman of the society.
Meanwhile in Dublin the third in the Bach Festival 2000 series of concerts will be given in St Ann's Church, Dawson Street, where the recitalist will be the harpsichordist Malcolm Proud.
On Wednesday evening the Bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry, Dr Richard Henderson, will institute the Rev Sean Ferguson as Vicar of Killala and Kilmorey union of parishes. Mr Ferguson, who has been a priest in the auxiliary ministry since 1990, has been curate in Killala since 1997, and previously served in the Dioceses of Limerick and Killaloe.
Wednesday is the Feast of Candlemas, which brings the season of Christmas to an end. In St John's Church, Sandymount, the Rev Dermot Dunne, Dean's Vicar in Christ Church Cathedral, will preach at a celebration of the Eucharist by candlelight, while in the Chapel of Trinity College there will be a Sung Eucharist and Processions, at which the preacher will be the Rev Dr Christopher Halliday.
On Friday evening the Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Robin Eames, will be the guest speaker at a meeting of the Tyrone Historical Society.