27.02.2024
Cathedral Service Celebrates People with Intellectual Disabilities
The contributions of people with intellectual disabilities to Church and society were celebrated at a special Service of Choral Evensong in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, on Sunday February 18. People living with intellectual disability, their families and friends, and services and advocacy organisations from across the Dublin region were invited. The service was led by the Revd Ruth Noble and the Revd Prof Anne Lodge.
The sermon at the Eucharist that morning, preached by the Revd Ruth Noble, was the first in the Cathedral’s Lenten series on the theme ‘Who is my neighbour?’. The series, organised by the Revd Prof Anne Lodge, aims to bring attention to how the Church might respond to marginalised and stigmatised communities. It also asks who we, as individual Christians, see as our neighbours and how we may begin to challenge our own boundaries of fellowship and empathy.
Ms Noble preached on the topic of intellectual disability using the story of Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46–52). She presented Jesus’ encounter with and question to Bartimaeus, ‘What can I do for you?’, as an openhearted response to marginalisation which acknowledges and respects dignity, personhood and agency.
The Evensong service in the afternoon attempted a living response to these questions where both a responsorial Confession and Creed and readings from Easy Read Versions of the Bible allowed all present to partake in the service.
Following Evensong, many attendees remained in the Cathedral for conversation and hospitality. It was clear that there was much enthusiasm for a further service of this kind. The Cathedral was delighted to host the service and Dean Dermot Dunne commented that innovations like this are part of the role and calling of a diocesan cathedral.
