30 April 2010

The end of an era at CITI

In Fellows Square, Trinity College Dublin, this morning (from left): Peter Ferguson, Katie Heffelfinger, Paul Arbuthnot, Lorraine Capper, Jason Kernohan, Jack Kinkead, Lynne Gibson, Paul Bogle, Maurice Elliott and Patrick Comerford. Missing from the photograph is Brian Lacey

Patrick Comerford

It was the end of an era today.

Students from the Church of Ireland Theological College sat the last-ever exam paper on the Bachelor in Theology (BTh) course.

The eight BTh students, who are in their third year, have been sitting exams each morning in Trinity College Dublin. The final exam this morning was a two-hour paper on Contemporary Ethical Problems.

The exams earlier this week were: Systematic Theology (Ecclesiology, theology and cosmology), Old Testament (Prophecy in Israel and Old Testament Theology), New Testament (Literary and historical approaches to the Gospel, and the Johannine writings), and Anglicanism (Anglican historical theology and formularies).

Apart from this morning’s paper, the other four exams were three-hour papers. All exams were sat in the Arts Block in Trinity College Dublin.

We began the week celebrating the Eucharist in the chapel on Sunday evening, with chapel services each evening throughout the week, including Evening Prayer on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and the Mid-Week Eucharist on Wednesday. A small group also read the Litany in the chapel on Friday morning.

With two other staff members – the Revd Dr Maurice Elliott, Director of the institute, and Dr Katie Heffelfinger, Lecturer in Biblical Studies and Hermeneutics – we all gathered for group photographs outside the Arts Block in Fellows’ Square before heading off to Porterhouse in Nassau Street to pop a few corks.

We were joined for lunch by the former Principal of the Church of Ireland Theological College, the Revd Canon Professor Adrian Empey, and his wife, June.

The eight students are: Paul Arbuthnot (Dublin and Glendalough), Paul Bogle (Dublin and Glendalough), Lorraine Capper (Clogher), Peter Ferguson (Armagh), Lynne Gibson (Down and Dromore), Jason Kernohan (Connor), Jack Kinkead (Dublin and Glendalough), and Brian Lacey (Connor).

Afterwards, the students headed off for some fun on the “Viking Splash” and dinner in the Glenside.

The next stages include waiting for the exam results. But the most important stage now is their ordination to the diaconate in the coming weeks. They have been a great year, and they were the last intake on the BTh course. It has been great working with them for the past three years.

No comments: