16.09.2014
United Society Celebrates 300 Years in Ireland With Service of Thanksgiving
The United Society (Us.) continued its year of celebration this afternoon (Sunday September 14) with a service of thanksgiving in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, marking 300 years of the organisation in Ireland.
The service was presided over by the Dean, the Very Revd Victor Stacey and attended by a large crowd which included the Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Revd Dr Richard Clarke; the Bishop of Meath and Kildare, the Most Revd Pat Storey; the Bishop of Cashel, Ferns and Ossory, the Right Revd Michael Burrows; and the Bishop of Clogher, the Right Revd John McDowell.
Janette O’Neill, the Chief Executive of Us., which was founded as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and later became the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, came from London to join the Irish Director, Linda Chambers for the service. Also attending was Yoshimi Gregory, from the Anglican Communion Office and Us. board member.
During the service a wreath was laid by Jan de Brujn of Us. in Ireland at the memorial of Charles Inglis, who was ordained a missionary for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 1759 and was consecrated Bishop of Nova Scotia in 1787.
The sermon was preached by Bishop Michael Burrows who is chairman of Us. in Ireland and Northern Ireland. He referred to the remarkable and courageous people who worked for Us. and those who had given their all in the propagation of the Gospel. He also mentioned the recent rebranding of the organisation, the importance of the many partnerships to Us. and the life–changing work of Us. in the Diocese of Swaziland.
However, he decided to relate his words to the Magnificat which was sung by the choir during the service. Pointing to the background of the Magnificat whereby Mary, a teenager and inexplicably pregnant, fled to the hills to visit her cousin Elizabeth, also pregnant in old age. After three months of the women finding solace in each other, the Bishop said, Mary was cheered and encouraged so much so that she wrote a song about a world which is a world for all and not one for ‘us’ and ‘them’.
“Mary’s Magnificat is symbolic of the work of Us,” Bishop Burrows said adding that while he did not want to belittle men, the fact was that when Us. works with churches and organisations on the ground they worked inevitably with women and they passed on their newly acquired skills and knowledge to their families and wider communities. He said the sentiments of the Magnificat reflected the very heart of the work of the United Society.
Photo captions:
Top – Dean Victor Stacey, Linda Chambers and Bishop Michael Burrows.
Bottom – Janette O’Neill, Yoshimi Gregory and Linda Chambers.