04 November 2021

Rathkeale and Kilnaughtin
Group parish notes in
‘Newslink’ November 2021

Harvest Thanksgiving decorations in Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton, and Saint Brendan’s Church, Tarbert

Rathkeale and Kilnaughtin Group of Parishes

Rathkeale, Askeaton, Castletown and Kilnaughtin

Priest-in-Charge: Revd Canon Patrick Comerford,
The Rectory, Askeaton, Co Limerick.

Parish Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RathkealeGroup/

Harvest services:

Harvest was the theme for the two Sunday Services on successive Sundays, 3 and 10 October. The guest preacher in Castletown and Rathkeale on 10 October was the Revd Dr Leonard Madden, Dean’s Vicar and curate in the cathedral group of parishes, Limerick. Canon Patrick Comerford preached at the Harvest services in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick, and Saint Michael’s Church, Pery Square, on that Sunday.

The Harvest collection and sale in Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton, on 3 October raised over €500. This is being shared with the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) and with the Church of Ireland Bishops’ Appeal for work with women and girls Afghanistan.

The Harvest collection in Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale, was €338, and is being donated to the Butterfly Club, which provides leisure activities in a safe, fun-filled environment for children with special needs and respite for parents and guardians. The Harvest collection in Castletown was over €200.

Thursdays in Black – Resistance and Resilience:

The ‘Thursdays in Black’ campaign, which is being supported in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, is simple but profound. Wear black on Thursdays – declare you are part of the global movement resisting attitudes and practices that permit rape and violence. Show your respect for women who are resilient in the face of injustice and violence. Encourage others to join you. Often black has been used with negative racial connotations. In this campaign, Black is used as a colour of resistance and resilience.

Parish services in November 2021:

7 November (Third Sunday before Advent): 9.30, Parish Eucharist, Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton; 11.30, Morning Prayer, Tarbert.

14 November (2 before Advent, Remembrance Sunday): 9.30, the Parish Eucharist, Castletown Church; 11.30, Morning Prayer, Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale (Remembrance Sunday).

21 November (The Kingship of Christ): 9.30, Morning Prayer, Askeaton; 11.30, the Parish Eucharist, Tarbert.

28 November (Advent Sunday): 9.30, Morning Prayer, Castletown; 11.30, the Parish Eucharist, Rathkeale.

Looking forward to Advent and Christmas:

An ecumenical carol service, organised with the support of the Rathkeale Pre-Social Cohesion Project, takes place in Ballingrane Methodist Church at 7 p.m. on Wednesday 1 December. All are welcome.

Three short Advent reflections on prayer are planned for the Rectory on Monday evenings this Advent: ‘Why do we Pray?’ (29 November) ‘Where do we Pray?’ (6 December) and ‘How do we Pray? (13 December).

As part of this year’s Advent Study programme in Saint Flannan’s Cathedral, Killaloe – ‘The Church of Ireland – who are we?’ – Canon Patrick Comerford is speaking on Wednesday 24 November on the theme, ‘Apostolic and Catholic, Protestant and Reformed.’

Staying online:

The Sunday morning sermons and the Monday morning school assembly talks are available online through Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Canon Patrick Comerford’s blog (www.patrickcomerford.com). They attract more viewers than Sunday attendances. Links to the sermons are sent out in a weekly email. Please ask Patrick if you would like to receive this weekly email.

Harvest Thanksgiving decorations in Castletown Church and Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale

This is an edited version of the Rathkeale and Kilnaughtin Group parish notes in the November 2021 edition of ‘Newslink’, the Limerick and Killaloe diocesan magazine (pp 22-23)

In addition, the Limerick city parish notes (pp 20-21) include this paragraph and photograph:

Choir News:

On Sunday 10the October the Precenor (Canon Comerford) admitted Grace Stewart to the Choir. Welcome Grace!

New Choir Member (Photo Canon P Comerford)

Praying in Ordinary Time 2021:
159, former Edgehill Theological College

The interior of the Chapel in Edgehill Theological College, Belfast, designed by Adam Bunyan Dobson in 1937 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2011)

Patrick Comerford

Before the day gets busy, I am taking a little time this morning for prayer, reflection and reading. Each morning in the time in the Church Calendar known as Ordinary Time, I am reflecting in these ways:

1, photographs of a church or place of worship;

2, the day’s Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

My theme this week is Methodist churches, and my choice of church this morning (4 November 2021) is the chapel in the former Edgehill Theological College in Belfast.

I spent two days at Edgehill Theological College, off the Malone Road in Belfast, ten years ago (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Ten years ago, I spent some time at the former Edgehill Theological College off the Malone Road in Belfast. The Edgehill campus at Lennoxvale is near the main buildings of the Queen's University of Belfast and the university halls of residence, and, at the time, the college provided ministerial formation, university education, adult education and training is a ministry of the Methodist Church in Ireland.

At the time, Edgehill Theological College had close links with the Church of Ireland Theological Institute and had a partnership with Saint John’s College, Nottingham.

During that visit in 2011, I was a guest of the then principal, the Revd Dr Richard Clutterbuck, and the Revd Diane Clutterbuck, former Methodist missionaries in Tonga. I spoke at the beginning of term retreat, delivered some lectures as a guest lecturer, and presided at the Eucharist.

Methodist ministerial training was located at the Methodist College, Belfast, from 1868. But it soon became clear that a separate centre was necessary. The site and premises at Lennoxvale were bought in 1919 to establish a residential and training centre for students preparing for ordained ministry.

After the 3.5 acre site and the main house at Lennoxvale were bought, other buildings were added and the separation of the Theological Department from the Methodist College was approved by the Methodist Conference in 1926, a process that was completed by Act of Parliament in 1928, and Edgehill Theological College became a legal entity in its own right.

At the heart of the small Edgehill campus is a large, two-storey Italianate house with a triple arcaded entrance porch, stables and conservatory that were added in 1891. This main house was designed by Young and Mackenzie, a Belfast architectural partnership formed by Robert Young and his former pupil, John Mackenzie, in 1867 or 1868. The partnership was joined by Young’s only son, Robert Magill Young, in 1880.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the Youngs and Mackenzie had developed the most successful architectural practice in Belfast. They had become the leading architects for the Presbyterian Church in the north-east and their commercial commissions in Belfast included the Scottish Provident and Ocean Buildings in Donegall Square and the Presbyterian Assembly’s Hall.

The former stables and conservatory behind the house were replaced in 1926 by a hall and classrooms, with cubicle rooms above them, designed by Munce and Kennedy.

The Belfast architect Adam Bunyan Dobson designed the Principal’s House in 1932, which stands on the south side of the main house. This was completed in 1933, and there I was a guest of the Clutterbuck.

Dobson also designed the chapel at Edgehill in 1937. The Revd Robin Roddie, who I had a placement with as a theology student in the 1980s, once described the chapel at Edgehill as ‘the spiritual home of one of the most transient congregations in Irish Methodism.’

Because of the slope on the site, the chapel was built beath the Principal’s residence. It was a gift to the college by Dr High Turtle and was opened on 31 August 1937. It was a beautiful little chapel, with pinewood panelling and concealed lighting. Over the entrance door of the chapel was a Greek inscription that translated: ‘My peace I give unto you.’

Dobson, who was born in Belfast in 1870, was a pupil of William John Gilliland, and had set up his own practice in Belfast by 1923. He was mainly involved in designing houses for developers and, during the 1930s, in work for the Methodist Church, of which he was a member. He retired to live in Whitehead, Co Antrim, around 1947.

Bright new premises were built at Edgehill in 2001-2002, and the college received a new library, lecture rooms – that also served as a Conference Centre – a spacious dining area, a Resource Centre (‘No 9’), a Methodist Study Centre, a renovated worship centre and offices.

Most of the buildings on Lennoxvale are owned by Queen’s University Belfast, and the main university building – within a short walk – is one of the great architectural set pieces in Belfast. Its imposing front façade is instantly recognisable, and it is often seen on banknotes and tourist posters.

The main house at Edghehill Theological College, Belfast, was designed by Young and Mackenzie (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Luke 15: 1-10 (NRSVA):

1 Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’

3 So he told them this parable: 4 ‘Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.

8 ‘Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.” 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’

Edgehill is a short walk from the Lanyon Building at Queen’s University Belfast ... Lanyon’s designs were influenced by Magdalen College, Oxford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (4 November 2021, Saints and Martyrs of the Anglican Communion) invites us to pray:

Let us pray for churches across the Anglican Communion, and all those who have given their lives in service to the spreading of the Gospel around the world.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org