THE REV David Gillespie, rector of Moy near Dungannon, Co Tyrone, will be the next vicar of St Ann and St Stephen Dublin, in succession to Canon Tom Haskins who retired earlier in the year. He will be instituted next year.
Mr Gillespie was born in 1968 in Derry. He was educated in Faughan Valley High School and worked as a journalist with Morton Newspapers. In 1999 he began training in the Church of Ireland Theological College in Dublin and was ordained a deacon in 2001 and a priest the following year. In 2001, he was appointed curate of Agherton (Portstewart) in the Diocese of Connor and in 2004 became rector of Moy.
St Ann's on Dawson Street and St Stephen's at the end of Mount Street are two of Dublin's best known churches. Built in 1707, St Ann's is near the Mansion House and many lord mayors have worshipped there. Others who have worshipped there include Thomas Barnardo, Hugh Lane, Bram Stoker, Wolfe Tone and Douglas Hyde.
St Stephen's is known to many Dubliners as "the Pepper Canister" from the distinctive tower.
As well as being active centres of worship, both are also regular venues for concerts, recitals and other musical events. Tomorrow morning the Archbishop of Dublin will preach and celebrate the Eucharist in St Stephen's.
At evensong in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, tomorrow, the 50th anniversary of the Irish Georgian Society will be marked, while in St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, there will be a celebration of the 175th anniversary of the Oxford Movement. In St Brigid's Cathedral, Kildare, there will be a festival of nine lessons and carols at 3.30pm, an ecumenical carol Service in St Kieran's Church, Clonmacnoise, at 4 pm, and a concert of carols and festive readings, featuring Alan Stanford, in St Bartholomew's Church, Dublin, at 7pm.
In the Church of St George and St Thomas, Cathal Brugha Street, Dublin, from Monday until Friday there will be a Christmas community carol cafe. The church will be open from noon until 2pm for seasonal refreshments and there will be carol singing and readings from 1pm-1.30pm.
Donations will go towards the Cara Project which is a parish community outreach initiative.
On Tuesday the annual charity carol service in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, will be sung by the cathedral girls choir and the lay vicars choral at lunchtime in support of the Camphill Communities of Ireland. Choral evensong sung by the cathedral choir will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 at 4pm on Wednesday.
The final talk in the current Advent series in Drumcondra and North Strand parishes will be held on Wednesday at 7.45pm in North Strand School, Dublin. Canon Katherine Poulton will talk about ministry to immigrants. Canon Poulton is bishop's curate in St George's and St Thomas's Church, Cathal Brugha, which has been involved with the Dublin diocese's Discovery Programme.
The annual sit-outs for charity in Dublin and Belfast begin on Wednesday. Canon Tom Haskins will return from retirement and he and the curate of St Ann's, the Rev Joyce Rankin, will be outside St Ann's Church on Dawson Street until Christmas Eve.
In Belfast, the Dean of Belfast, Dr Houston McKelvey, and the canons of Belfast, will be outside St Anne's Cathedral until December 24th.