Pew Sheet – 16th May 2021

The Revd Tony Murphy writes ‘Can I thank Canon Elaine for the opportunity to explain why I am walking through each Parish in the Diocese to raise funds for the Diocesan Project in Burundi.   In 2017 the Diocese embarked on an  ambitious project for a diocese of our size.  At the request of Christian Aid and in conjunction with the Anglican Church in Burundi it offered to support the development of three agricultural cooperatives in the south of the country. Burundi is 90% dependent on Agriculture but with families with an average of 5 children they try to survive on farms of less than 2 acres.  

The objective of the project was to provide the finance and supports that would allow these groups to be self sufficient in a six year period.  The overall objectives of the project were to establish three cooperatives ; to enable land to be purchased through finance and credit support; to provide support and training to move from the cassava crop  to more nutritional crops e.g maize and potatoes ; to provide equipment to allow maize to be processed into added value flour products and finally to obtain  quality accreditation to allow seed to be sold and products marketed beyond their region. With the lockdowns since March 2020 funding at local level here has obviously dried up. However , despite our local difficulties we believe that we must not forget our commitment to a country ranked in the world poverty index 185th  out of 189 countries.   For this reason we have embarked on an awareness exercise to walk through every union of Parishes in the Diocese during the month of May > this will include a walk from Carrigaline to Crosshaven beginning at the car park on the Carrigaline- Crosshaven Road at 11.00AM on Saturday 22nd May. ‘

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Music Notes 16-05-2021

Hymns

461      For all thy saints

383     Lord, be thy word my rule

318      Father, Lord of all creation

The melody for our first hymn today (Carlisle) was written by Charles Lockhart (1738-1815). Lockhart was a blind organist based in London who pursued a busy career during his life, frequently holding several  organist positions at once. In the heyday of organ-playing in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries blindness was common amongst organists.

In France, blind children were often sent to a special school outside Paris,  ‘l’Institution Nationale des Jeunes Aveugles’, to train as organists. Two of the most notable of these were Louis Vierne and Jean Langlais who pursued active careers as professional church and recital organists into the twentieth century.

The text for the second hymn was written by Christopher Wordsworth. He was a nephew of the poet William, becoming his literary executor and biographer. Christopher had strong views about the content of hymns. He believed they should be based on scripture, be inspired by the writings of Christian antiquity, and have a directness and simplicity of language. This hymn is one of the shortest in the hymn book but has been described as ‘one of the most perfect’ by Erik Routley, a noted hymnologist (Darling and Davis, Companion to Church Hymnal).

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Random Notes CCCLXXX

In the hall at Mount Rivers stand two Holy Tables, the first, dating from c.1717, and formerly in the delightful little Church of Mourne Abbey, near Mallow, co. Cork, which closed, and was de-consecrated in 1979; the second, dating it is presumed from 1888, formerly in Christ Church, Killanully, near Ballygarvan, co. Cork, which closed some eleven years later, the last service before de-consecration being held there on the morning of Sunday, 25th February, 1990. Christ Church, Killanully was originally built in 1865, to designs of William Henry Hill (1837-1911), architect, of Cork. In late 1887 or early 1888 it was ravaged by fire, but within a short period of time, was restored at a cost of £421, again under the instruction of Mr, Hill, and re-opened for Divine Service on Sunday, 18th December, 1888.

The Holy Table, which is of massive construction (some three planks, each measuring ten by two and a quarter inches form the top) is thought to date from the 1888 re-building, but could, and very possibly does, date from the initial building.

After the closure of the Church in 1990 the table was transferred to Holy Trinity, Christ Church, Cork, where it remained for some years until that Church also closed, whereupon shortly afterwards the table was sold.

                                                                                                                                                                                                 K.L.R.