A new video, Profiles of Faith, has been produced under the auspices of the General Synod's Central Communications Board, chaired by the Bishop of Meath and Kildare, Dr Richard Clarke. It will be launched by the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Walton Empey, in St Patrick's Cathedral on Tuesday, and by the Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Robin Eames, in St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast on Friday.
The video consists of four short programmes, in which four members of the Church of Ireland discuss, frankly and openly, their belief and the challenges which have confronted it. Participating are the Bishop of Derry and Rahpoe, Dr James Mehaffey, the Irish Times journalist, Patrick Comerford; Mrs Violet Thorburn, a teacher and foster parent in Donegal; and Daniel Nuzum, an ordinand who has since been ordained.
The video is intended to be a contribution to the life and mission of the Church of Ireland and it is hoped it will appeal to those in the wider Christian community who are struggling with issues of faith. Profiles of Faith will be distributed to the rectors of all Church of Ireland parishes. Tomorrow the former Dean of Vancouver, Dr Herbert O'Driscoll, will preach at the Sung Eucharist in St Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork, where in the evening the Bishop of Cork, the Right Rev Paul Colton, will be the preacher at the 75th anniversary service of the 2nd Cork Scout Group.
In Belfast, the Bishop of Limerick, the Right Rev Edward Darling, will preach in St John's Church, Malone, while the former Bishop of Connor, Dr Samuel Poyntz, will preach in St Anne's Cathedral, where he will dedicate processional candlesticks in memory of Mrs Morag Shearer, wife of the Dean of Belfast.
In Cambridge, the Dean of St Patrick's, Dr Robert MacCarthy, will preach in the Chapel of Magdalen College, where the Dean of Chapel is Dr Heuston Finlay, a former Bishop's Vicar in Kilkenny, while in the Chapel of Trinity College, Dublin, Senator Mary Henry will give the sermon on "Community" at the Sung Eucharist. The Irish Federation of Women's Clubs will hold its millennium service at Evensong in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the Archbishop of Armagh will preside at a series of rural deanery meetings which will consider the findings of a diocesan team which has visited Bishop Allison College in Uganda. The team of seven clergy and laity, led by Canon W.G. Neely, Rector of Keady and diocesan co-ordinator for the Decade of Evangelism, visited Uganda for a week last month.
The second in the current series of lunchtime lectures in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, will be held on Tuesday at 1.15 p.m. The speaker will be Dr Colm Lennon, NUI Maynooth, whose subject will be "Secular Cathedral & Renaissance City".
In Trinity College, Dublin, on Wednesday, the third in the chaplaincy spring lecture series will be held at 8 p.m. in the Arts Building where the president of the Milltown Institute, Dr Patrick Riordan SJ, will speak on "Politics and Christianity". On Thursday the chaplaincy will host a "Festival of Faiths" evening.