Pew News 11th January, 2015

Tuesday  

Parish Art Group –Old Schoolhouse, Blackrock @ 10am.  All welcome, pay as you go. €10 a class.

Badminton – Marmullane @ 8pm. All welcome.

Parish Prayers will take place in the home of Kay   Allander, Blackrock @ 8pm.

Wednesday

Badminton – Marmullane @ 10.30am

Confirmation Class – CPH @ 6.45pm-7.30pm

Bowls Club – CPH @ 7.45pm

Thursday

1st Cork Company The Boys’ Brigade. 6pm – 7pm Anchors                                                

 7.15pm – 8.30pm Junior and Company Sections.     

Friday

Select Vestry Meeting – CPH @ 8pm

This Sunday’s Readings

Notices

New in Douglas: 55+ relaxation and chair-based Pilates. Classes will start on 14^th January in the ICA Hall in Douglas. Balance – flexibility – strength. Wednesdays 11am – 12 noon. All welcome. Class €5 per session. Contact Jaconel 085/1613505 for more details.

Ashton School Players present “Annie” on the 19^th – 23^rd January in Ashton School Sports Hall. Tickets are €10/€12. Tickets available from the school office – 4966044.

A seminarian from the United States will be visiting our parish this month. His name is Zachary Harmon from the Episocopal Church and is studying Anglicanism in Ireland as part of his course work at the Virginia Theological Seminary. He has written a short bio about himself which is printed at the back of this week’s Pew News.

Greetings,

            My name is Zachary Harmon, a seminarian with the Episcopal Church in the United States. I am quite excited to say that I will be in Cork for the month of January and learning more about Anglicanism in Ireland as part of my coursework at Virginia Theological Seminary.

            I grew up on the rainy islands and arctic taiga of Alaska. These places could be described as remote since one of the places I grew up was 450 kilometers from the nearest cinema. During most of my childhood I attended evangelical churches, but sometimes my family would attend services at St. Columba’s, a small Anglican mission in Yukon, Canada. My memory of the relational Christianity and liturgy there shaped me.

I later attended college in Oregon and became active in a college based ministry there (Intervarsity). My sophomore year I experienced an amazing semester when I studied and lived at NUI Galway for six months. From that experience I gained a strong interest in the Irish language, trad music and GAA sports which I have tried to keep up in the US. Afteruniversity, God blessed me with the experience of serving with a Native American-led ministry working with at-risk youth on the Yakama Reservation in the Pacific Northwest. Following these varied experiences, I settled in Oregon working as a court clerk.

My memories of the Anglican mission in Canada and my experiences of a more incarnational Christianity on the Yakama Reservation led me to be curious about the Episcopal Church and the Anglican tradition. Once I started attending a local church, I was drawn to many different kinds of ministry (from vestry to mission to cross-cultural relationship building). To my surprise, I found myself considering a possible call to ordained ministry as I learned more and more about Anglicanism. I had never considered such a course before, but this direction was strongly affirmed in the discernment process. Thus I am now studying at Virginia Theological Seminary.

            I greatly look forward to getting to know the Church of Ireland in Cork this January.

            Blessings,

            Zachary Harmon