18.06.2026
‘Licensed to serve’ – New Lay Readers Commissioned in Dublin and Glendalough
People from all over Dublin and Glendalough converged on Christ Church Cathedral on Saturday June 6 to witness the commissioning of seven new Diocesan Lay Readers and one new Parish Reader.
Becky Heaslip of CORE St Catherine’s, Andrea Black of Holy Trinity Rathmines; Beatrice Somers of the Christ Church Cathedral Group, Joanne Kenny of Coolock, Nyaradzo Mutangirwa of Athy, Kris McCaffrey of Clontarf and Paddy Halligan of Timolin, Castledermot and Killeagh were commissioned as Diocesan Lay Readers by Archbishop Michael Jackson.
The Archbishop also commissioned John Alexander of Zion Parish as a Parish Reader.
Family and friends of the lay readers were joined by their Rectors and many members of their parish families to fill Christ Church Cathedral for a joyful and uplifting service.
The sermon was preached by Canon Prof Anne Lodge, one of the joint Wardens of Readers for Dublin and Glendalough. She noted that after the service each of the candidates would leave the cathedral “commissioned and licensed to serve – like a sort of religious 007”.
The new lay readers were following a long line of people who, like Matthew the tax collector, heard Jesus say ‘follow me’ and got up and did just that, she said. Matthew’s life was profoundly changed by answering Jesus’s call and his story showed that a discipleship response is unlikely to lead a dull life, the preacher added.
Canon Lodge told the readers that in wearing their robes, they are making a clear statement that they are not just quietly following Jesus, they are openly declaring their faith and committing to share that faith with others.
“In today’s Ireland, you are being rather counter–cultural,” she said adding: “When the risen Jesus brought his disciples out of Jerusalem just before his ascension, he gave them the great commission. They had followed him, and now he was sending them forth to preach the Gospel of God’s love and to share the good news of Jesus’s deep, extraordinary and loving gift of himself. Today, you are being authorised to follow in their footsteps – to go from here, back to your own parishes and, in the case of the Diocesan Lay Readers, to serve right across our United Dioceses, sharing that same Gospel and good news.”
Canon Lodge advised that serving in Christian ministry has its challenges and saying yes to Jesus’s call was not a guaranteed easy path. However, she said that she had never regretted making that public commitment to follow Jesus. She noted that they were joined at the service by Diocesan Lay Reader, Edward Lewis of Rathmines Parish, who has served as a lay reader for 60 years and attests that he has found only joy in his service.
“My prayer for each one of you – Andrea, Beatrice, Becky, Joanne, Kris, Nya, Paddy and John – is that you find the joy in service that I and Edward, and so many others here to support you today have found. My prayer for you is that, in standing up today, very formally to say yes to Jesus’s call to ‘follow me’, you discern that he goes before you always, through the joys and the sorrows; the highs and the lows; the mundanity and the excitement. He will be there with you, and before you, no matter where this ministry takes you,” she concluded.
Each of the newly commissioned lay readers has written about their journey to being commissioned. They will be featured on the diocesan website over the coming weeks.
