Pew Sheet – 13th November 2022

The Rector writes ‘ As part of the ongoing link between the Diocese of Lichfield, UK and the United Dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, I joined a group from our Diocese who travelled to Lichfield from Monday 7th to Wednesday 9th November, to attend two services at Lichfield Cathedral. This was at the

invitation of the Right Rev. Michael Ipgrave, Bishop of Lichfield, and the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral of Saint Mary and Saint Chad, Lichfield. On Monday afternoon, there was a Solemn Eucharist with the Consecration of a Shrine Altar for the Shrine of Saint Chad, Patron Saint of Lichfield Cathedral, and then on Tuesday there was an Ecumenical Vespers at which a relic of Saint Chad was translated by the Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham into the new Shrine.

The photo is of the Diocesan Youth Officer Hilda Connolly, myself, our new Archdeacon the Venerable Andrew Orr, the Revd Canon Paul Willoughby and the Revd John Ardis who is the diocesan Co-ordinator for the Lichfield Link.

From left to right: Hilda Connolly, the Rev. Elaine Murray, the Ven. Andrew Orr, the Rev. Paul Willoughby, and the Rev. John Ardis.

Music Notes 13-11-2022

Hymns at St Mary’s

370 Stand up and bless the Lord

327 Christ is our cornerstone

52 Christ whose glory fills the skies

677 Shall we gather at the river?

Both the words and music of our final hymn today were written by Robert Lowry (1826-1899), an American Baptist minister. The hymn was written at a time when a very severe epidemic was raging in Brooklyn, New York. While meditating one day, dark thoughts of a Biblical ‘river of death’ were replaced by a shining vision of Christians gathering at the ‘pure water of life’ and he was inspired to compose the poem.

The hymn quickly became popular and was often used at outdoor baptisms in the nineteenth century. Although associated with a rural setting, it was written in a distinctly urban environment.

The compilers of the fifth edition of the Church Hymnal received strong protests when they proposed omitting the hymn. It has been in the Church of Ireland hymnal since 1873.

If you enjoy singing why not try coming to the new Parish Choir rehearsals? We meet on the third and fourth Thursdays of each month 7.30-8.30 p.m.

Bébhinn 087 228 5965

bebhinnmuire@gmail.com

Random Notes CDXXXVIII

COP27 takes place this week in Sharm-El-Sheikh in Egypt, the first time the conference has been in Africa for five years. Which is ironic, considering that Africa feels the effects of climate change far more than countries in Europe, for example.

As I sit in a hotel room here in Moshi, Kilimanjaro (again), it is hard to escape the reality of climate change. The rains here, near the border with Kenya, are over two weeks late. When we arrived it was incredibly hot and dusty. Last night an electrical storm did bring local heavy showers and more rain is forecast later this week. Nevertheless, there has been talk of the much needed prolonged rains being delayed for another month. This is especially worrying given the drought in the Horn of Africa, which is only a couple of hundred km north of here. We’ll know soon enough whether the drought effect is spreading southwards.

It’s not all bad news. Thanks to the generosity of John Andrew, I was able to bring two solar panels with me to Kilimanjaro. These will be installed shortly in two rural dispensaries to provide backup electricity for our ULTRA birth registry project in the event of a power cut. Power cuts have become more frequent in the region – as I write this, the hotel is running on a generator. Solar power, which is clean, safe and plentiful (even in Ireland!), is more than sufficient to charge the small amount of electronics our project needs.

Greta Thunberg, in her latest book, advocates for more climate action by governments, world bodies and corporations. She is of course correct but small changes matter too. Solar panels won’t bring back the rain but they add resilience to an increasingly fragile system and reduce dependency on fossil fuels. What else can we change?