RUN4CHRIST: Revd. Alastair Donaldson runs from Malin Head to Mizen Head

On Friday morning, Revd. Alastair Donaldson (Rector of the Kinawley& Holy Trinity Group of Parishes) finished a 760km run from Malin Head, the most Northerly point of Ireland to Mizen Head, the most southerly point as part of his Run4Christ evangelistic running initiative. The run began on the 1st July and will included 24 running days and 4 rest days.

Run4Christ combines Revd. Alastair’s twin passions of running and evangelism. The aim of Run4Christ is to share the good news of Jesus with the people of Ireland. In 2013, when Revd. Alastair was 31, he ran approximately 1298 miles around the circumference of Ireland. Many lessons were learned during that time but it was also a time of great blessing. This year, Revd. Alastair has reached the ripe old age of 40. While he has regularly run marathons and ultramarathons, its fair to say that it hasn’t gotten any easier! He is very grateful to the team of van drivers, physios, runners and prayers who supported him on the way as well as for the many friends and churches who supported with practical needs like accommodation and meals.

If you would like to find out more info on Rev. Alastair month long adventures head over to  ‘Run4Christ Ireland’ on facebook.

 

Kingdom Voices Week 8-15 August

In August 2022, CMSI and SAMS Ireland will host 36 global church leaders from Africa, South America and Nepal for a one-week programme, following the Lambeth Conference. The Kingdom Voices week will provide an opportunity to engage with inspirational church leaders around the world. It is an opportunity for God’s people to worship together across cultures, to pray for one another’s ministries, and to be refreshed in God’s call to service in the places to which we have each been called.  We hope  the Kingdom Voices week will strengthen bonds across the global church empowering us all for mission and ministry in our own local communities.
 

In addition to spending time with link parishes and supporters, our global guests will contribute to three events that CMSI and SAMS Ireland are jointly hosting:

  1. On Wednesday 10th August, a day conference for Church Of Ireland leaders.

Kingdom Voices: Learning From The Global Church, the main aims of the event are:

  • To provide an opportunity for engaging together as leaders within the worldwide Church.
  • To hear from – and learn from – the practical experiences of our Global Partners.
  • To explore God’s Word together as we consider our shared calling to mission and to seeing God’s Kingdom Come in our own communities.

 

The event will take place between 10am and 4pm in St Donard’s, Belfast. Booking essential https://cmsirelandforms.wufoo.com/forms/s1ibev9m1nncolf/

 

  1. Friday 12th August, a Multicultural Evening Celebration Service in St Anne’s Cathedral, 7.30pm.

An open event for all who want to join with our global visitors for a time of worship and sharing. An opportunity to celebrate the richness in our worldwide family of faith.

  1. Saturday 13th August,a Family Fun Day in Lady Dixon Park, 2-4.30pm.

An informal afternoon to meet our global guests with activities for all ages. African Warriors acrobatics troupe, bouncy castle, BBQ, Irish dancing and more!

 


An urgent appeal for accommodation

Offers sought of properties to accommodate Ukrainian refugees

Members of the Church of Ireland are being encouraged to give urgent consideration as to how they can provide accommodation for people fleeing war in Ukraine.  This appeal for help is being made further to consultation with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY), which manages short-term accommodation needs, in light of the current shortage of accommodation and the need to sustain the momentum for the long run on behalf of people who have lost everything at home.

Anyone who owns or knows of buildings in good or habitable repair for immediate use which could accommodate groups of Ukrainian refugees is asked to contact DCEDIY directly at: [email protected]  

Buildings should preferably have communal cooking facilities that can be used by residents so they are not dependent on provided food. People coming from Ukraine are currently being housed in a wide range of properties, including hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs, hostels, self-catering accommodation, former nursing homes, and repurposed buildings.  Student accommodation is currently housing around 4,500 people but will need to be returned to its main purpose from August onwards.

Each local authority has a Community Response Forum which is co-ordinating efforts at the local level. All parishes are also encouraged to contact their Community Response Forum to see how they can support people through the next steps in their journey and to help them integrate with the communities in which they find themselves.  Each forum will know best about the needs that exist locally which may, for example, include good quality clothing, bicycles, or offers of transport to help people resettling in more remote accommodation to connect with local support hubs or to attend appointments.

The Department has commended and welcomed the initiatives of Church of Ireland parishes and other organisations around the State for all their generosity to date in response to the crisis.

The chairperson of the Church of Ireland’s Church and Society Commission (CASC), Archbishop Michael Jackson, said the warmth of our welcome is very important, especially for children who make up one in three of the people arriving in Ireland from Ukraine. Many children arriving from Ukraine are unaccompanied.

“The Department has asked for our assistance in this urgent matter which comes at a time when our entire country is struggling to find solutions to a housing and accommodation crisis,” Archbishop Jackson stated.

He added: “I encourage people to embrace this need as an opportunity to develop an ever-expanding understanding of neighbourliness. General Synod passed a motion in May urging Standing Committee to work with parishes and dioceses to identify ways to help those affected by the housing crisis. The reality now is that people from Ukraine have been sleeping on airport floors and are being accommodated in tents in today’s Ireland. I encourage anyone who knows of any suitable buildings to contact DCEDIY. While this appeal is specific to people coming from Ukraine, I encourage you not to forget others coming to Ireland as refugees and those who are homeless in our own society at this time.”

 

How many people have arrived in Ireland from Ukraine?

As at 19 July, from the outbreak of the war in Ukraine on 24 February this year:

  • Over 40,000 people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine arrived in Ireland; and
  • Over 30,000 sought accommodation from the State.

Around 400 contracts are in operation to provide accommodation to Ukrainian people who are receiving protection as refugees from the conflict.  The capacity of this accommodation, as of the end of June, was around 22,500 beds.  This figure includes around 4,500 beds in student accommodation.

 

Who is co-ordinating Ireland’s response?

The Government’s Ukrainian Crisis Temporary Accommodation Team (at DCEDIY) is focused on providing temporary accommodation to refugees from Ukraine, and is collaborating with all relevant government departments and agencies, local authorities, charities and the private sector to ensure that people are provided with accommodation on arrival, and to help to find and receive the support that they require.

This cross-government response is being supported by a Community Response Forum in each county or city; these fora were first developed to help local communities respond to the needs of particularly vulnerable people during the Covid-19 pandemic.  In the current context, these enable organisations to work together at a local level to provide the appropriate assistance and support, and to guide our new neighbours to other services in their communities.

 

Community Response Forum Contact Details

Carlow County Council [email protected]
Cavan County Council [email protected]
Clare County Council [email protected]
Cork City Council [email protected]
Cork County Council [email protected]
Donegal County Council [email protected]
Dublin City Council [email protected]
Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council [email protected]
Fingal County Council [email protected]
Galway City Council [email protected]
Galway County Council [email protected]
Kerry County Council [email protected]  
Kildare County Council [email protected]
Kilkenny County Council [email protected]
Laois County Council [email protected]
Leitrim County Council  [email protected]
Limerick City and County Council [email protected]
Longford County Council [email protected]
Louth County Council [email protected]
Mayo County Council [email protected]
Meath County Council [email protected]
Monaghan County Council [email protected]
Offaly County Council [email protected]
Roscommon County Council [email protected]
Sligo County Council [email protected]
South Dublin County Council [email protected]   
Tipperary County Council [email protected]  
Waterford City and County Council [email protected]  
Westmeath County Council [email protected]
Wexford County Council [email protected]
Wicklow County Council [email protected]

 

Information provided by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

 

Lurganboy Flower Festival

Children & Families Ministry Summer Newsletter

Everyone involved in Children and Families Ministry around the Church of Ireland is encouraged to pick up its Summer Newsletter – available now by clicking here: http://ow.ly/PgtM50Jl48Q

The newsletter is packed with ideas for summer camps, an exciting new Bible reading buddy pack, and three months free off a subscription to www.RaiseUpFaith.com

Further Support for Ukraine from Church of Ireland Bishops’ Appeal

The Church of Ireland’s Bishops’ Appeal for World Aid and Development is releasing a further €40,000 and £35,000 to Christian Aid and Habitat for Humanity in support of humanitarian efforts in Ukraine and the surrounding countries.  This brings the total released so far to €50,000 and £43,300.

Donations continue to pour in, and Bishops’ Appeal therefore anticipates releasing more funds shortly after Easter.  Financial support is being utilised as soon as it is received and even in anticipation of being received, such is the need. 

Partner agencies continue to focus on people who have been displaced within Ukraine and who have become refugees in Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. They are providing both temporary shelters and longer-term accommodation, food, money and vouchers, help with travel, and medical supplies, and are responding to more specific needs as they arise.  So far, 10 million people have fled their homes – 3.5 million fleeing to other countries and a further 6.5 million displaced in Ukraine itself.  This makes up nearly one quarter of the country’s population.  

Bishop Ferran Glenfield, Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh and Chair of the Bishops’ Appeal Advisory Committee, says: “Irish people north and south are known for being big hearted.  The plight of the Ukrainian people has touched many hearts, which is reflected in the generous response to the Ukraine Appeal across the Church of Ireland.”  

A selection of short videos – provided by Habitat for Humanity, ACT Alliance, and the Anglican Diocese in Europe from their responses to the crisis – is available on the Church of Ireland YouTube channel at this link: https://bit.ly/3udFNfw

Readers can find out more about Habitat for Humanity’s response in Eastern Europe at www.habitatni.co.uk/ukraine and www.habitatireland.ie/ukraine and the work of Christian Aid’s partners in the ACT Alliance at www.actalliance.org/news

 Anyone can contribute to the response by making a donation an online at www.bishopsappeal.ireland.anglican.org/give. Taxpayers can give more help by gift aiding donations (if resident in the UK) or tax relief on donations (in the Republic of Ireland).  The appropriate forms and further details on how to give are also available at www.bishopsappeal.ireland.anglican.org/give

Ethnic Diversity, Inclusion and Racial Justice Survey

Reminder: Ethnic Diversity, Inclusion and Racial Justice in the Church of Ireland

Please take part and share with others! The survey is open until Tuesday, 22nd March.

A survey seeking to gather the views of members of the Church of Ireland on ethnic diversity, inclusion and racial justice is currently open and all members of the Church are invited to take part. The initiative of the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, the Most Revd John McDowell, follows discussions with members and clergy and those serving in lay ministry from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds on the progress made within the Church on drawing on our rich diversity.

At the Church of Ireland’s most recent General Synod in September 2021, the Archbishop said: “It was a little troubling to hear about how we had not drawn anything like deeply enough on the rich diversity of backgrounds in our Church. The meeting had also helped me to understand how difficult it can be to be a person of colour on this island and even, at times, in our Church.”

The research now being carried out has been designed in collaboration with the group of ethnically diverse clergy and lay readers who have now met on a further occasion, and will, along with other strands, examine and make recommendations on how the Church of Ireland can become truly a place of welcome for those from every ethnic background, both lay and clergy. The research is led by Dr Lucy Michael of the Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough.

The Archbishop added: “Already in their discussions the group have also highlighted the positive experience of giving and receiving, but there is much we will need to do if we are to be the place which not only includes, but also celebrates, the God-given difference of the Catholic Church which we stand on our hind legs and proclaim ourselves to be in the words of the ancient Creeds, Sunday by Sunday.”

The Archbishop will publish and share the findings of the research and recommendations ahead of General Synod 2022.

All lay and clerical members of the Church are invited to give their views in this survey, which is available at www.ireland.anglican.org/diversity-survey

A Passion for Life

A Passion for Life is a UK wide mission which serves as a rallying cry for local churches in the UK to stand together in proclaiming the good news of life in Jesus Christ.

The aim is to enthuse local churches with resources and ideas to help stimulate an all-year-round culture of evangelism.

It will be up to each church to learn from others, to use what central resources are helpful, and to decide how they want to reach out in their own context.

In County Fermanagh a number of churches across the denominational divide have been meeting together to discuss and pray about reaching our communities with the gospel. People have been trained. Leaders have been encouraged. Congregations have been unified with the good news of Jesus Christ. It is not meant as a one-off mission but a new base level for each church to build from. God willing, we will make progress on mission together.

This has resulted in a week of evangelism being organised from Sat 2nd April – Sunday 10th April (see programme). Taking place in prominent locations, including churches, there is hopefully something to intrigue all types of people. The week will include drive-in services, testimonies, family fun day, gospel concert, training evening and all-age worship event.

Please plan to come to some of the events as listed and bring someone along with you who can receive the blessing of hearing the gospel. In an era where much of our news is negative let’s hear afresh the good news of abundant life to be found in Jesus Christ.