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MARCH 2010 - NEWS

THIS MONTH
Mission to Seafarers 150th Anniversary and Commissioning Service
- Sunday 14th March, at 3.30 pm.

Connor Diocesan Mothers Union Festival Service
- Sunday 21st March, at 3.30 pm.

Service of welcome for Ecumenical Canons
- Palm Sunday 28th March, at 3.30 pm.

NEXT MONTH
In Holy Week from Monday to Thursday there will be a eucharist each day at 1.00 pm. The customary “Service of The Three Hours” will be held on Good Friday, April 2nd,  from 12 noon - 3.00 pm. The theme will be “The Titles of Jesus”. The addresses will be given by the Dean and Chapter. The service of Renewal of Baptism Promises will be on Easter Eve, April 3.

On Thursday 22nd April at 7.45 pm, The Celtic Tenors supported by the Loughside Chamber Choir will give a concert in the Cathedral. Tickets are £20 and are available from Jenny Heaney Tel: 02893 341781 or from The Belfast Welcome Centre Tel: 028 90246609. All the proceeds are for Fields of Life Projects in Uganda with whom Jenny will be volunteering this summer.

LAST MONTH
The Good Samaritans’ Service was held on 7th February when 167 charities, and community groups received donations from last year’s pre-Christmas Sitout which raised over £255,000. The presentations to groups working with children, youth, and the elderly were made by Margaret Murray; Canon Douglas Goddard, one of the Black Santas and former chaplain of the Mission to Seafarers in Belfast Harbour made the presentations to community, family and international groups. Lillian Patterson made the presentation to medical research and support groups.

Taking part in the service was also another member of the Black Santa team Canon Ronnie Nesbitt, rector of Bangor Abbey, and Bill Blair, Parish Reader.

The Dean said, “This is a quite unique congregation. Every one present is involved in making our community a better place to live in. They are the Good Samaritans of Ulster. They come from all over - including Derry, Fermanagh, North Antrim and Newry. Its not just Belfast based initiatives which are recognised.”

“The Barrel for Haiti” placed in the Cathedral in the wake of the disaster received over £140,000 which is somewhat amazing. In the current difficult times economically, not only did businesses, schools, churches, clubs and individuals maintain the level of giving for the annual appeal, this additional amount was raised. The Dean said, “Once again a wide spectrum of the community has supported this effort in a variety of ways.

“I was once more a guest at Fleming Fulton School where each day the pupils face individually more challenges than most people face in their lifetime. The P6 pupils had taken the lead and organised a sale which raised over £1,400.

“George didn’t get his birthday present this year. His wife put the money in the barrel, and I signed his birthday card to that effect!

“A wee girl who had been saving up to go to Disneyworld brought in her jar of coins and gave it all to help the children of Haiti.

“The staff at Newtownabbey Borough Council not only held a collection but organised every donor to sign a gift aid form to enable tax to be recovered on their donation.

“Our neighbours in the Streat Coffee Shop at the University of Ulster organised a collection. Shankill Parish Caring Association, Lurgan, raised over £8,000 for this effort.

“I would wish yet again to thanks everyone who has responded to this tragic situation”.

RELATIONSHIP NOT RULES
“Relationship not Rules” is the current theme being explored by the Mothers’ Union. It will be upheld in the Diocesan Festival Service  on Sunday 21st March.

The introduction to the service gives the Biblical background to the theme: “Jesus was very clear that relationships are the most important reason for living and for the living out of our faith:
 
“Our relationship with God; with our families; with our friends; with our neighbours; with our churches, workplaces, schools, communities; with our governments and all those in power;  with the wider world.

“Through and in all these different relationships we have both an identity and a purpose. As Christians, our identity and purpose are entirely defined by our values as given to us by God, through the Bible, in the history and traditions of our churches and in the societies in which we live daily.

“Through and in all these different relationships we learn how to recognise and experience God’s presence – right now, every moment, wherever we are. We believe that God is always present and active in our lives, whether or not we can see him. We also believe that God’s presence is a positive good even if we do not always understand how or why, especially when life gives us many difficulties and tragedies.”

The service will also include an Act of Commissioning of new diocesan trustees. They are: Linda  Cunningham - Diocesan  Prayer  Representative, Barbara  Turkington - Diocesan  Projects  Rep, Alison  Skillen - In  Touch  Editor  and  Diocesan  PR  Rep, Maud  Ryan - Diocesan  Marketing  Co-ordinator, and Gwen  Lavery - Diocesan  Members  Rep.

The Dean will give the address.

SEAFARERS’ MISSION ANNIVERSARY
A service on March 14 on the actual 150th anniversary of the commencement of the ministry of the Mission to Seafarers in Northern Ireland will give thanks to Almighty God for its witness and service.

The preacher at the service will be the Reverend Tom Heffer, the London based Secretary General of the Mission. Tom took part in the Worldwide Consultation of the Mission which was held at the Cathedral last May. He was born in 1969. He was educated at Aylesbury Grammar School and went on to study at King's College, London. He graduated with an Honours degree in Divinity in 1990 and spent three years working for The Mission to Seafarers in New Orleans and Singapore as a Chaplain's Assistant.

On returning to the UK he tested his vocation to the priesthood with the Church of England during which time he also drove a bus for a company in Buckinghamshire and in 1994 began his training at Ripon College, Cuddesdon Theological College (Oxford).  He was ordained deacon (1996) and priest (1997) in Norwich Cathedral and served his Curacy in Sprowston, a suburb of the city.

In 1998 he was asked to become the Bishop of Norwich's Chaplain and Press Officer and worked successively for the Rt Revd Peter Nott and the Rt Revd Graham James in this capacity. During this time he was also a Priest Vicar of Norwich Cathedral and Honorary Chaplain to the Norwich Traffic Club, the Sea Cadets, and The Mission to Seafarers. In 2001 he was invited to become the Ministry Secretary of The Mission to Seafarers, succeeding the Revd Canon Bill Christianson who became Secretary General.

In 2003 he graduated from Cardiff with a Master of Laws degree. In 2005 he was appointed honorary chaplain of the Worshipful Company of Carmen and was admitted as a Freeman of the City of London in 2006. In July 2009 he was appointed Secretary General of The Mission to Seafarers, succeeding the Revd Canon Bill Christianson who retired at the end of June. In October 2009 he was appointed honorary chaplain of the Little Ship Club. He is married to Rosalind (Roz) and has a fourteen year old daughter, Abigail. His interests are: theatre, gym, gardening and motor cars.

The service will also include the commissioning by the Bishop of Connor of the Reverend Colin Hall-Thompson as Port Chaplain, Mission to Seafarers, Belfast.

A feature in this issue of “The Cathedral Digest” tells the story of the development of the Mission in Belfast.

WELCOME FOR ECUMENICAL CANONS
On Palm Sunday at 3.30 pm history will be made in the Cathedral when the Rev. Wilfred Orr, Minister of St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Ballynafeigh and the Rev. Ivan McElhinney, Minister of Joanmount Methodist Church, are formally welcomed by the Dean and Chapter as the first Ecumenical Canons to be appointed to the Cathedral Chapter. Both have exemplary records of inter-church dialogue and practice.

Rev. Wilfred Orr is married to Jennifer, a school teacher, whom he met in Scotland. They have four children: the older two now involved with music in the Church of England and Scottish Episcopal Church.

An Old Campbellian, he completed an Arts Degree from Q.U.B. and theological training at Union College, then graduating from St Andrew’s University and Princeton Theological Seminary in the USA.

After a brief time in administration in Church House, Rev Orr served for six years in the linked congregations of Hyde Park and Lylehill, County Antrim, before being installed in Newtownbreda (St John’s) in 1983. He has held a number of General Assembly appointments, and currently serves on the executive committee of the Trustees of the Presbyterian Church. His ministry in the Ballynafeigh area has always had an enthusiastic inter-church element; active in membership of the Ballynafeigh Clergy Fellowship and helping to establish ‘Ormeau Churches Together’.  He served for twelve years on the management committee of Holy Rosary Primary School, part of that time as vice-chairman. Beyond the local area, he has represented the wider Church with Monsignor Tom Toner in a short tour in the USA. and attended an Ulster Project Conference more recently in St Louis. He has been guest preacher at the Ecumenical Service for Pentecost in St Patrick’s Church, Donegall Street, in Clonard during the novena and in the University of St Andrew’s. He has served for some time as a chaplain to the SE area Belfast Scouts, and as a chaplain in the Order of St John.  Wilfred’s interests include hill walking, sailing and cars of a certain vintage.

The Rev. R. Ivan McElhinney was born on a farm in the hills of Donegal near Donegal Town. He attended Drumnahoul National School and Donegal Vocational School. For a few years he managed his own sheep on the family farm and later worked in Magees Tweed Factory, Donegal Town.

He studied Theology in Sheffield, Belfast and Birmingham and completed his training for the Ministry in the West Indies. He was ordained by the Conference of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas in 1976. Returning to Ireland in 1980 he has held pastoral appointments in West Fermanagh, Ballynahinch, Glengormley, Mountpottinger and currently at Joanmount in North Belfast.

Appointments he has held include:  General Secretary of the Methodist Missionary Society (Ireland), District Superintendent of the Down and Belfast Districts of the Methodist Church, currently co-chair of the Council of Christians and Jews (Northern Ireland), Lord Mayor’s Chaplain of Belfast on three occasions and President of the Methodist Church in Ireland 2006/07.

His wife Phyllis (a nurse) was baptised and confirmed in St. Jude’s Parish Church, Belfast. They have three sons and five granddaughters. Ivan is proud to have attended a Church of Ireland Sunday School in Copany Barnnear the home farm where he learnt the Prayer Book Catechism.

He has always been keen on ecumenical activities both in the Caribbean and in  Ireland, has preached in St. Peter’s Cathedral, Belfast and is a member of the BT14 Clerical Group in North Belfast. He has had a long association with the Ulster Project and has spoken at an Ulster Project Conference in the USA.

DAILY PRAYER READERS
Each day the Cathedral’s walls are washed with prayer. This would be virtually impossible without the co-operation and service of the laity who conduct the Daily Prayers at 1.00 pm in The Chapel of Unity. New members of the team are sought and especially needed are some who would commit to a Saturday. Offer [please to the Dean via the Cathedral Office.

CURRENT CHALLENGES
In the ongoing mission of the Cathedral, challenges are never in short supply and particularly in the area of finance and maintenance. Financially, the Cathedral’s investment income has been effected by the current economic situation. As a trust-body the Cathedral cannot pursue a risk-taking investment policy. Legally it must act with prudence. Whilst the value of the portfolio has increased, the income created has dropped.

Bad news never comes alone. The opening of extensive car park space adjacent to the Cathedral has impacted. To obtain clients the rates on offer undercut those at the Cathedral. The car parking income is vital to the Cathedral’s financial survival.

However, the Cathedral has to live with market-driven financial reality and has had to drop its rental charge or face loosing many of its clients.

The outcome is that the Board of the Cathedral which is responsible for “furnishings, fabric and finance” will have difficult budgetary problems to cope with and decide upon.

The second major concern at present is the recent fall of masonry from one of the arches on the south aisle. An initial necessary safeguard is the cordoning off of areas below the pillars. An architect and specialist on stonework have completed a basic survey and their recommendations for an initial survey of all the stones in all the archways is taking place.

This will involve the hire of a “scissors” platform similar to that used on the recent work on the lighting system. When the results of that survey are known, then further action based on those insights may be required.

One of the more probable reasons for this occurrence is that the Cathedral is built on “Belfast sleech” which is mud rather than rock and older buildings erected on it can be affected by drops in the water-table, or construction in the neighbourhood. At various times in the history of the Cathedral initiatives have had to be taken in an attempt to counteract such earth movements.

There are existing cracks in the structure which require monitoring at the best of times - and the dip in the aisle is an effective reminder of the nature of the ground on which the Cathedral is located.

BUILDINGS - THE GOOD NEWS
And now for the good news regarding the building! The floor in the Royal Irish Regimental Chapel was re-sanded and sealed - the cost being met by the Regimental Chapel Committee. The floor in the ambulatory has also been similarly treated.

ENSURING THE FUTURE
This Cathedral could not have been built and sustained in ministry and maintenance without those who kindly and generously in their wills left gifts large and small to the Dean and the Cathedral Board. With this copy of “The Cathedral Digest” there is a copy of a leaflet which is offered for serious consideration. Please consider leaving a bequest to ensure the future ministry of this Cathedral - what can be achieved on behalf of the Kingdom of God and the society this Cathedral seeks to serve. Please don’t put off taking action. Time and again when things have been very tight financially, the gift of someone who had made arrangements years before, has been providential. A virtual Godsend.

DOREEN ROBINSON
A Service of Thanksgiving for Doreen was held in the Cathedral on Monday, February 15. The service was conducted by the Dean and the Reverend Ronnie Lawrenson.

The Dean in his address said, ”Doreen was a member of this Cathedral Community from the time Richard first became a chorister here. She was a supportive member of the choir parents’ group, often going on the annual residential tours with the choir. She was a member of our Mothers’ Union branch, and a member of the Tapestry Guild which created the kneelers in the Cathedral. Latterly she served as a Cathedral Steward, welcoming visitors here, and she organised the duty rotas for the team. She was a first class reader of the scriptures at services. She caught the message and the cadences. Most importantly of all she was a regular weekly communicant. On behalf of the Cathedral I recognise her witness and work for this place which came to mean so much to her and of which she was a vibrant member.”

Doreen who had been educated at Methodist College and Stranmillis College had been a teacher. The Dean said, “Doreen never stopped teaching - that was the nature of the excellent product which Stranmillis produced, and I say that as one who all my ministry has been in and out of schools - and for twenty of those years on a full time professional basis. This community doesn’t fully appreciate the contribution of people like Doreen to our society. For many years in certain parts of our community - and even yet - our schools have provided the only constant source of normality in many children’s lives. The catchment area of the school Doreen taught in had its challenges and only God knows how many young folk were saved from themselves and from those who would have exploited them, by the concern, the professionalism, and the values expressed by teachers like Doreen.”

She was also a traveller - tours and cruises - and to places others didn’t tend to go. She was in Russia a couple of times in the 50’s and 60’s well before glasnost was ever heard of and she was there again in the 70’s. She visited Bethlehem, and cruised the fjords of Norway and other places. She was a serious reader of serious literature - Trollope, Dickens and Austen - that sort of stuff. Literature lite she wasn’t.

Local history and the National Trust also were among her interests, but dominating them all was music. She had been a member of the Belfast Girl Singers with whom she made her first trip to Russia. She was a founding member of the Ormiston Choir and the subsequent Ormiston Phoenix Choir. She sang with the late Ronnie Porter’s choir and the Philharmonic.

The Dean referred to the friendship of 46 years which he and Mrs McKelvey had with Doreen. He acknowledged the manner in which Doreen had cared for her late husband Dick who had died after illness twenty years ago. She kept the promises she had made before God at her marriage, and at Richard’s baptism. He concluded, “Today Doreen’s voice resounds in praise in the heavenly places.”
Doreen Robinson (23 Feb 1925 – 11 Feb 2010)

DERMOT McCONNELL
Dermot’s Remembrance and Thanksgiving Service was in Saint Mark’s, Dundela on Tuesday 2 February.  The Service was conducted by the Rector, John McDowell, assisted by Rev John Gowan.  Several past choristers could be seen (and heard) in the congregational singing of the hymns ‘Praise, my soul, the King of heaven’, ‘Amazing grace’ and ‘Hark! Hark, my soul!’  The organ was sympathetically played by fellow past chorister Brian Hunter.  Among the congregation were several who had made music with Dermot including Harry Grindle and Leonard Pugh, writes Vernon Clegg.

Some of Dermot’s early childhood was spent in Kilkeel where the family moved during the bombing phase of World War 2.  This period was eloquently recalled by Heather McClelland.  As she put it:  “His early years in Kilkeel saw him attend Miss Doran’s private day school where the experiences were set for his love of learning and a thirst for knowledge. Later, the time came for the McConnell family to return to Belfast.  Here music filled the air and it quickly became clear that Dermot was gifted with an extraordinary singing talent. His gift greatly enhanced Belfast Cathedral’s choir and we were all ecstatic when at the age of 15, he was chosen as one of two treble choristers from Northern Ireland to sing at Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation [the other treble was Eddie Officer].  Dermot was not only one of the head boys but later became a leading tenor, contributing significant richness to the cathedral’s music. During the 6-week preparation period for the Coronation Dermot exhibited his fastidiousness by recording every minute detail in a diary, which today is preciously loved by his wife Rae and his girls. This exceptional experience was not only an honour for his family but also for his country.

“Dermot’s adventurous spirit feasted on action and thrills as with Rae he explored a variety of memorable cruises and was exhilarated by his sail on a submarine. Although having lost his sight, Dermot with Rae, flew on the last Concorde flight. Yet again, his appreciation of life was remarked on by one of the hostesses who felt humbled that this very special blind person could show such delight. Dermot lived his life to the full and never felt curtailed.”

In his homily, the Rector described Dermot as a gentleman - he would never knowingly cause pain or embarrassment to anyone and he treated everyone, even in the most difficult circumstances as though they were his friend.  In the Rector’s words:  “for his education Dermot was sent to Inst and therefore grew through adolescence and early manhood with the conviction that he was a member of the master race!  Now that does not always make for amiability but in Dermot’s case it provided  a secure educational background and a sense of confidence in his own abilities which made him a match for any man, if he was convinced of his case.

“As a civil servant Dermot played his part in the public life of this Province at a time when public money and public sector initiatives were holding the place together and there were times when it took courage to warn of the shortcomings of some very high profile projects as Dermot fearlessly did. He enjoyed his work and, of course, he more than enjoyed his family; fathers and daughters are a pretty potent combination. And there can be no doubt that Dermot’s tumour and loss of sight were just such experiences.

“Blindness caused him many difficulties but never one doubt. Not only did he not feel any self-pity, he was also determined that the loss of sight would not mean loss of vision, and he remained alive to all around him right up to the end.”

After the Service Dermot was buried in the family grave at Dundonald.  He married Rae Graham in 1964 and is survived by her and their three daughters, Fiona, Christine and Nicola.

He lost his sight but not his vision.
Dermot McConnell (19 Feb 1938 – 27 Jan 2010)

The cloud of witnesses
God, you who never abandon us, we give you thanks for the experience of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus with the risen Christ. Grant that we may feel Christ’s presence with us on our journey. Warm our hearts and open our understanding, that we may bear witness to your active presence in the power of his resurrection.
Kyrie eleison

God, from whom every perfect gift comes, we give you thanks that from the dawn of time from generation to generation you have never ceased to awaken that cloud of witnesses which transmitted the faith of the apostles and to your servants Doreen and Dermot. We pray that we may be faithful to this faith we have been entrusted with, and creative, so as to together we may open up new paths of the gospel.
Kyrie eleison

God of compassion, we give you thanks because you have reconciled the world through the cross of your Son.Increase our faith, that it may give each of us, with Christ and following his example, the strength to always to stand more effectively alongside people in their lives, suffering and death.

Kyrie eleison
God, we put our hope in you and praise you for Jesus’ promise, “See, I am with you always even untothe end of time.”

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