24.11.2014
Churches Unite in Hope for Annual Walk of Light
The 10th Dublin Council of Churches Walk of Light drew enormous support as participants made their way from church to church in the south of the city yesterday evening (Sunday November 24). About 200 people took part in the annual inter church journey which anticipates the coming of Advent.
This year’s theme was ‘Isolated by Hurt – Joined in Hope’ and participants started in St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church on Haddington Road before proceeding, under Garda escort, to St Bartholomew’s Church of Ireland Church on Clyde Road and concluding at the Methodist Centenary Church at Leeson Park.
In St Mary’s, Haddington Road, members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church took part in the service and a hymn was sung in Amharic. The service in at Wesley House in Leeson Park was led by the Dublin Korean Church and Elder Dr Kenneth Hun Mok gave an address.
Alice Leahy, one of the founders of Trust Ireland, addressed participants in St Bartholomew’s Church. She spoke of the work Trust does with homeless people and said: “Those we work with are generally treated and seen as outsiders in our world. By implication, those who work with people who are outsiders can be made to feel outsiders themselves”.
She explained that Trust owns no property and spends no money on fundraising or PR and their running costs for last year were €265,000. They are not grant aided and their costs are met by voluntary donations.
“We can all do something in our own small way to find unity in hope,” she said.
The Walk of Light is an ecumenical journey supported by the Dublin Council of Church which has taken place in the Greater Leeson Street Group of Parishes annually since 2005 on the Sunday before Advent.
Fourteen local congregations take part but people from all areas are welcome to join. As part of their 10th anniversary celebrations they organisers are offering practical support to other congregations and parishes who would be interested in starting a walk of light in their own areas. They point out that while their walk takes place in November, an ecumenical walk could be organised for any time of year. For information see www.dublincouncilchurches.ie.
The participating churches include: Adelaide Road Presbyterian Church, Dublin Korean Church, Methodist Centenary Church, Romanian Orthodox Church, St Ann, St Mark and St Stephen’s, St Bartholomew’s and Christ Church Leeson Park, St Catherine and St James with St Audoen, St Finian’s Lutheran Churches, Holy Trinity Rathmines, Church of Our Mary Immaculate, Refuge of Sinners, St Mary’s Haddington Road, St Gabriel’s Parish of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Newman University Church and St Teresa’s Carmelite Church.
Photo captions:
Top – The Revd Andrew McCroskery lighting a candle in St Bartholomew’s Church.
Middle – The Walk of Light setting out from St Mary’s Haddington Road.
Bottom – Dublin Korean Church in Wesley House, Leeson Park.