18.10.2024
Giving Thanks for All God’s Gifts – Annual Diocesan Schools’ Service
Children from all over Dublin and Glendalough filled Christ Church Cathedral yesterday morning (Thursday October 17) for the annual Diocesan Service for Primary Schools and Junior Schools.
The theme of the service was harvest and children had the opportunity to give thanks for the gifts God had given them. They also heard from Christian Aid of the gifts people in developing countries receive when they learn new skills to deal with the effects of climate change. Meanwhile, they learned how their school communities can play a role in growing native Irish trees to care for creation.
Archbishop Michael Jackson presided and after a welcome from Dean Dermot Dunne, the service was led by the Revd Jane Burns and the Revd Sean Hanily.
The preacher was the Revd Natasha Quinn–Thomas, Curate Assistant in Castleknock. Drawing on the reading [Ecclesiastes 3: 1–11] she spoke about the different seasons of life from youth to older age and the different gifts they might receive during that time. She suggested that these gifts might not always be what they wanted, for example anti–wrinkle cream might not be suitable for an 11 year old but they may appreciate it later in life.
However, she said that God was with us at each stage of our lives and would always find gifts that were useful. Harvest time gave an opportunity to give thanks to God for all the gifts we have and she said it was important that we share our gifts.
Continuing the harvest theme, Michael Briggs of Christian Aid Ireland spoke about hunger and how Christian Aid’s work was helping to combat it. Many families around the world were facing hunger due to conflict and climate change he said. He shared the story of Nyaria in Zambabwe where the climate crisis is destroying harvests and threatening food security. Nyaria and her family are farmers but they were faced with poor harvests and hyperinflation which undermined the value of their produce.
But Nyaria didn’t give up. She undertook agriculture training with Christian Aid’s local partner Bio–Innovation Zimbabwe and learned new skills and smart farming techniques to deal with the changing weather. Now she can grow enough for her family with extra to sell and her community is more secure. Michael explained that donations to Christian Aid helped them provide tools and skills for families like Nyaria’s. “Together we can bring hope to families around the world,” he said.
Announcing details of a new native tree planting initiative for schools in the dioceses, Archdeacon of Glendalough Ross Styles urged all schools to get involved to help look after God’s creation. He is asking pupils of all primary schools which have oak trees in their grounds to collect the acorns and send them to him. A trained horticulturalist, he will plant the acorns and when they grow into saplings, he will return them to the schools where they can be planted and nurtured into mature trees.
Archdeacon Styles explained that native oak trees provide a home for 2,300 species. Meanwhile, just 15 species depend on the sycamore, which is not native to Ireland. He said it was important for biodiversity to plant more native species. “We import most of our native trees. But they also bring in diseases like ash dieback. So if you collect the seeds and send them to me we can grow our own native trees,” he explained.
Archbishop Jackson concluded the service with a blessing. He said that they had all heard of a wide range of gifts for which to be thankful.
The collection during the service was taken up for Christian Aid – Harvest Fund. The service is organised each year by a subcommittee of the Diocesan Board of Education.
A number of guests attended the service from various spheres of education. They included Gary O’Donnchadha, Deputy Chief Inspector of the Department of Education; Anne Fay, Chairperson of the Catholic Primary School Management Association; Catriona O’Reilly, President of the Irish Primary Principals Network; Dr Ken Fennelly, Secretary of the Church of Ireland Board of Edeucation; Dr Rita Kelly, Development Officer of Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise; William Earley, Chairman of the National Parents’ Council – Primary; and Carmel Browne, President of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation.
