A conference on cathedrals and adult learning was held recently in Leicester as a joint initiative between the Church of England Archbishop's Council, the General Synod board of education and the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education.
It was attended by Dr Kenneth Milne from Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.
In Christ Church, the lunch- time lecture series in association with Dublin City Council, the meetings of the cathedral discussion group and the treasury exhibition have provided a potential springboard for examining the feasibility of a more extensive adult education programme.
While state-sponsored adult education is at a more advanced stage in Britain than in Ireland, the principles underlying the process are the same. Also, while statutory provision exists in Britain to facilitate and fund co-operation between various institutions, including cathedrals, non-statutory provision may well exist in Ireland to assist in the formation of similar partnerships.
Two principal points emerged from the conference. First that many British cathedrals have a sophisticated approach to adult education and provide courses which are seen as part of life- long learning and personal development. Secondly, that partnerships between agencies, whether local authorities, universities, local broadcasters or otherwise, enables the individual partners to achieve more than they could do alone.
Cathedrals are regarded as having a special advantage because they usually occupy city centre sites and have an aesthetic appeal. Moreover, because they are not seen as educational institutions in the conventional sense they attract people whose experience of formal education may have been negative.
Above all, cathedrals should bring to the work of adult education a concern for the whole person, the spiritual included, which may otherwise be overlooked and yet may be the key to personal fulfilment.
Today, the Church of Ireland Historical Society meets in the Robinson Library, Armagh.
Ms Susan Parkes, former senior lecturer in education in TCD, will speak on the education of Protestant women, the Rev Peter McDowell will discuss the career of the 18th century Bishop of Clogher, Robert Clayton, and Mr Ronnie Wallace will talk about the Erasmus Trust schools.
Tomorrow, the preacher at the sung eucharist in the chapel of Trinity College Dublin, will be the Rev Charles McCollum, rector of St Peter's, Belfast. At 4 p.m. there will be a service of thanksgiving in Monkstown parish church, Dublin, to mark the completion of more than 18 years of service by the diocesan employment bureau under its administrator, Mr R.H.V. Osborne.
At the same time in the church of St John the Evangelist, Sandymount, the preacher at the patronal festival service will be the Rev Sandra Hales, curate of Leixlip.
On Tuesday, the Clogher clergy will begin their annual residential conference in Dunfanaghy. The conference topic will be "Mission in Today's World" and the principal speaker will be the Rev Patrick Comerford, southern co-ordinator of CMS Ireland.
In St Patrick's cathedral, Dublin, on Wednesday at 6.45 p.m. there will be an organ recital by the cathedral's assistant organist, David Leigh.
On Thursday, the dean of Cashel, Dr Philip Knowles, will attend the annual meeting of the Cathedral Libraries and Archives Association in St Alban's.
The Archbishop of Dublin will celebrate the eucharist and preach in the chapel of Trinity College Dublin and on Friday he will be the speaker at the meeting of the Fingal Clerical Society.
The Bishop of Derry and Raphoe will institute Canon Raymond Stewart to the incumbency of Tamlaght O'Crilly on Friday evening. Canon Stewart has been rector of Castledawson since 1987.