Next week, the centenary of the of the Battle of the Somme will be remembered in churches and cathedrals throughout the Church of Ireland.
In St Mark's church, Armagh, the Bishop of Clogher, the Rt Rev John McDowell, Chairman of the General Synod Historical Commemorations Working Group, will be the preacher at a special anniversary service on Wednesday evening, and on Thursday evening at 7.30pm there will be an Evening of Prayer and Reflection on the eve of the anniversary in St Matthew's church, Irishtown, Dublin.
On Friday evening, at 6.30pm, in St Fin Barre's cathedral, Cork, there will be a Service of Peace and Reconciliation while in St Patrick's cathedral, Dublin, at 7pm, there will be a free screening of The Battle of the Somme courtesy of the Imperial War Museum. Shot and screened in 1916, The Battle of the Somme was the first feature-length documentary about war.
In the first three months of its release the film was seen by about 20 million people in Britain and Ireland, informing and challenging the public with its images of warfare, and changing the way film was perceived.
Many of the services will use the special Battle of the Somme liturgy devised by the Liturgical Advisory Committee and translated into Irish by Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise.
Today, the Limerick and Killaloe Diocesan Synod will be held in the Malton Hotel, Killarney. The Friends of St Canice's cathedral, Kilkenny, will attend Choral Evensong in the cathedral at 3pm, followed by their agm at which Barbara McCormack will speak about the successful development of the cathedral library in its new home in the Library of NUI Maynooth.
Tomorrow, RTÉ radio will broadcast Morning Service from St Mary's church, Carragaline, Co Cork, led by the Rev Elaine Murray. The annual Open Air Service on the Hill of Tara will begin at 4pm. The preacher will be Canon Mark Lidwill, Rector of Cavan, and the music will be supplied by members of the Kells and Forresters' Band and the Meath Diocesan Choir.
The agm of the Sunday School Society for Ireland will be held on Wednesday at noon in Church of Ireland House, Dublin, while the Bishop of Derry, the Rt Rev Ken Good, will preach at a service to mark the 50th anniversary of St Peter's church, Belmont.
On Friday, Cara Newman (contralto), Amndrea Banciu (viola) and Aileen Cahill (piano) will provide the lunchtime summer music in Sandford parish church, Dublin, while in the evening the Rev Dr Adrian Empey will be the preacher at a service to mark the bi-centenary of St Peter's church, Ennisnag, Co Kilkenny. A Flower Festival begins in Holy Trinity church, Westport, and continues until Sunday, July 3rd.
Two members of staff of the Representative Church Body retire next week. Adrian Clements retires from his post as Chief Officer and Secretary General. An accountant by profession, Mr Clements joined the staff from the Belfast commercial world as Head of Finance in 2002 and was appointed Chief Officer in 2012. He has achieved the seemingly impossible by being both popular and successful, clothing a steely determination to do the right thing with invariable cheerfulness and guiding the RCB through the economic uncertainties of recent years. Dr Raymond Refaussé retires from the RCB Library. He was appointed as the first Church of Ireland Archivist in 1981 and, following the retirement of the RCB Librarian, Geraldine Willis, in 1984, was appointed to the new posit of Librarian & Archivist which he has held since.