06.05.2014
Celebrations in Tullow to Mark 150th Anniversary
Tullow Church, Carrickmines, was packed to capacity this morning (Sunday May 4) for the service marking the 150th anniversary of the church. The service was celebrated by Archbishop Michael Jackson, who also dedicated gifts which had been given to the parish, with the Rector, the Revd John Tanner. They were joined by former Rectors Canon Cecil Hyland, Canon Cecil Bryan and Canon Kenneth Kearon with Lay Reader, Alan Rhodes.
In his sermon Archbishop Jackson outline the history of the church. He said the original parish church dated back to the 12th century but was subsumed into Monkstown. The influx of new residents to the area in the mid 1800s, as a result of the Harcourt Street railway line, created a need for a new parish. “There were the houses; there were the inhabitants; there were the commuters; there was, therefore, the need of the new parish church. This duly came in 1864. It is the celebration of this event that gathers us here this morning to mark 150 years of parish life in this ‘new church’,” he said.
Archbishop Jackson said that parishes largely kept to themselves but his recent request for all parishes in the United Dioceses would help build a picture of the dioceses as they are and how parishes and the dioceses might look in the future.
He suggested three simple steps which could be added to the parochial time table as members looked to the next 150 years as people seek to discern and distil the grace of the following generations.
Firstly, the Archbishop spoke about Daytime Discipleship and said “it is not possible to over–estimate the importance of living day by day as a disciple of Jesus Christ. This can be at home, where we work and everywhere we have a chance to influence for good the lives that others live and to learn from them ways in which we too can share life more and live it better”.
The second step he outlined involved Sunday Services. He pointed out that now just one in seven people who called themselves members of the Church of Ireland in Dublin and Glendalough go to church on Sunday. He said that soon churchgoing itself would be seen as a witness of significance and urged people to go to church. “We are free to worship and free not to worship… We make choices in a democracy. We do so because we are free to do it and it is a gift of ourselves that we give back to God freely,” he explained.
The third step is Community and Commitment. He said everyone had the opportunity to engage with their community with “heavenly generosity” every day “simply by radiating something of the presence of God in daily life”. He added that world mission connected people with others who they may never see but it was an act of trust and faith as well as being an act of helpfulness and practicality.
A large number of gifts were dedicated during the service. These included hymn books, prayerbooks, a closed loop hearing system, an electric piano, video/sound link with the parish hall, chalice and patten, a wedding candle stand, floodlighting, pew kneelers, a brass rail at the chancel steps, alter kneelers and chairs and tables for the parish hall.
Photo caption: Alan Rhodes, the Revd John Tanner, Archbishop Michael Jackson, Canon Cecil Bryan, Canon Cecil Hyland and Canon Kenneth Kearon.
The Archbishop’s sermon can be read in full below:
The Third Sunday of Easter, Grace through Generations, Tullow 150th Celebrations
Readings: Acts 2.14a, 36–41, St Luke 24.13–35
Acts 2.39: For the promise is for you, for your children and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him …
A sermon preached by the Archbishop
CONTEXT
For a parish to mark a significant milestone in its life and development, such as 150 years of its existence, is an important and a risky thing to do. It is important because, if you don’t do it, you have missed a significant opportunity in your own lifetime; it is risky because, if you do do it, you really have to open yourselves to the uncomfortable questions around what you have done and what you have not done – and why both have been the case. Celebration is important and so is self–criticism. Both are intrinsic to mature Christianity. Both bring openness and realism to bear on something well worth grappling with. In the Christian life we are going nowhere significant without both celebration and criticism working together at the same time and all the time. So, what I want to say first is: Congratulations to the parish and the rector of today for what you have done and for what you are doing. It shows both courage and commitment.
Parishes are places that, for reasons unknown to me, largely keep themselves to themselves. It may just be the fact that those who are parishioners know what is going on, as it affects them, and they want to leave it at that. They contribute to the life of the parish in their day, and people do contribute very generously, get me right, and then they pick and choose, take and leave, from the parochial table what they need. People assume that everyone else knows what everyone else is doing and that this just is how it is. That’s why I invited all parishes in the United Dioceses to share with me a few of the things that you do and a few of the things that you would like others to know that you do; and how you would intend to share such information with others; and develop these insights for yourselves and for your neighbours, both Christian and of other World Faiths. Out of this I shall be able to build a picture of the Dioceses as they are and develop a picture, with all those who participate, of how the parishes might be and might look in the future.
HISTORY
The history of any parish can be expressed in any number of ways. And history is always interesting and open to interpretation and argument. It seems that the earliest stone church was founded in this area in the twelfth century and is attributed to St Brigid. Many will be quick to tell us that this is not St Brigid of Kildare. This ought not to worry us. Such patronage would seem to me, however, a working possibility in so far as the church in nearby Stillorgan is also dedicated to Brigid. Part of the reason for this was to protect and secure a clear path of watchtowers and communities to offer safe passage to and from the Monastery in Kildare to the sea at Dublin for travel and for trade. The time of The Reformation saw destruction of existing communities, either through wilful violence or through painful neglect. This meant the collapse of this St Brigid’s Church along with the use of the stones by local people for their farms and for their buildings. And the parish and its people were subsumed into Monkstown, along with Kill, Dalkey and Killiney.
Nineteenth century church buildings often wrong–foot us about the much longer and deeper history of which every generation is a responsible custodian. You cannot just watch it; you cannot just presume that it will always be there; you have to do something with it. The story of the church we love and which is intimate in its size and attractive in its simplicity is framed as much as anything by the creation of The Harcourt Street Railway. 1854 saw this get going and 1861 saw a new Stop at Carrickmines. Samuel Beckett’s father used it! There were the houses; there were the inhabitants; there were the commuters; there was, therefore, the need of the new parish church. This duly came in 1864. It is the celebration of this event that gathers us here this morning to mark 150 years of parish life in this ‘new church.’
FUTURE POSSIBILITIES
The Primate recently outlined a number of aspirations that he has for the Church of Ireland between now and ‘Beyond 2023.’ A number of you will have met with the bishop of London when he came to share with us the amazing range of church life that is now part of the everyday weave of the diocese of London. Much of what the Primate spoke of will rightly refer to church finances; much of it equally will relate to church buildings and their appropriate use; much of it will require a proper caution about balance and tradition. But, equally, it will refer to hospitality and commitment. It will have to grapple with participation and with belonging. And, in an island culture, it will have to include and embrace people who talk in different ways about God and live out the Kingdom of God in ways we have never yet experienced. It will unavoidably be uncomfortable as, in the next 150 years, we seek to discern and to distil the grace of following generations. And it is for this reason, the fact that the whole thing is changing under our feet all the time, that I spoke of the need in a time of celebration to examine what we did not do as well as what we have done. Personally, I worry about timeframes of 10 years and upwards for the simple reason that most people do not waken up to do anything until year 8 or year 9. Timeframes like this are not urgent enough; nobody feels the need to start now. For any timeframe of change you really need to have started yesterday, but today will have to do.
THREE SIMPLE STEPS
I myself want to suggest no more than three areas that I think ought to feature on your parochial table. I realize they are not spectacular or scintillating. I also realize that they can easily slip under the carpet and become forgotten. You don’t need to be on a Select Vestry or on a Special Committee to do these things and to enjoy what it is to be at one with God and your neighbour. You do need to want to own God and be owned by God and to show it. The Acts of the Apostles is always a good source of practical inspiration when we are looking for key aspects of shared, engaged, generous Christianity.
DAYTIME DISCIPLESHIP: It is not possible to over–estimate the importance of living day by day as a disciple of Jesus Christ. This can be at home, where we work and everywhere we have a chance to influence for good the lives that others live and to learn from them ways in which we too can share life more and live it better. This is one of the things that definitely has changed in the one hundred and fifty years of Tullow Church. Less and less can any of us take it for granted that anyone will know what people are talking about when they are talking about religion. Time and again, people tell me that in the workplace people who have questions are turning to people of known faith and asking them for answers to what to them are pressing questions. Daytime discipleship: it is not maybe spectacular but it is good to know what you are talking about. In Acts we see the first disciples building up the capacity of new Christians to tell others about God as they move further and further into the Roman Imperial world. One of the most experienced clergy in the diocese keeps telling me that today we live in a pre–Christian world.
SUNDAY SERVICES: One of the memorable features of Acts is that the early Christians enjoyed worship. It was dangerous to go to work in a society that did not understand Christianity or saw it as a threat. For rather obvious reasons, your colleagues and your superiors knew that you had received the Eucharist as you came into work. Christians were unpopular for another reason in the early centuries of the church. They were overwhelmingly pacifist and would not serve in the Roman Army. We are free to worship and free not to worship and to serve in the army or not. We make choices in a democracy. We do so because we are free to do it and it is a gift of ourselves that we give back to God freely. If I return to what my friend says about Ireland being a pre–Christian country, do not be surprized if now one in seven people who call themselves members of the Church of Ireland in these United Dioceses on a given Sunday go to church. Very soon churchgoing itself will be seen as a witness of significance. Please do go to church.
COMMUNITY AND COMMITMENT: World mission and the communion of saints together show us that the church is more than we can make it. it has always been so. You have, in effect, celebrated the communion of saints throughout this year by remembering one hundred and fifty years of people who have contributed to this place as a place of community, a place of worship and a place of friendship. Saints are people who have lived earthly lives with heavenly generosity; saints are people who are known by God and who make God known in special ways. Each of us has the opportunity to be such a person every day of the week simply by radiating something of the presence of God in daily life. World mission connects us with those whom we may never see and, in this way, it is an act of trust and faith as well as being an act of helpfulness and practicality. Increasingly we are finding we have as much to learn from places and people of mission as we have to give. This is an exciting new slant on Grace through the Generations.
My final thought is this: perhaps you might, as a parish, restore the patronage of Brigid
to a parish which, as far as I can find, currently has no patron; and as a gift to the church worldwide might you consider establishing a mission partner in the Anglican Communion for three or five years to celebrate for future generations the Grace of Generations of 150 years which you have enjoyed and for which we give thanks.
St Luke 24.15a: As they talked and argued, Jesus himself came up and walked with them.