By Sarah Mac Donald - 28 May, 2019
Preparations are under way for this year’s Ecumenical Bible Week and it is hoped that the DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson will be one of the keynote speakers.
Now in its sixth year, the theme of this year’s Ecumenical Bible Week is ‘Always Be Ready’ from 1 Peter 3:15, “Always be Ready to give an answer for the hope that you possess.”
During the week of 9 to 16 June, there will be a series of presentations on the Bible including the Beatitudes, Luke’s teaching on prayer and the Lord’s Prayer, and Christian hope.
The opening event is a Prayer Breakfast at St Paul’s, Arran Quay in Dublin on Monday 10 June, which will be addressed by Capuchin Fr Bryan Shortall and Seán Mullan on the theme ‘Come and have breakfast, Jesus said …’ (John 21:12).
The symposium takes place on Thursday 13 June at Holy Cross College, Clonliffe. The speakers lined up, in addition to Jeffrey Donaldson, are Paddy McGlinchey of the Church of Ireland and Patricia Devlin, a Roman Catholic. The event will be chaired by Archbishop Michael Jackson of Dublin and Glendalough.
Jeffrey Donaldson is Northern Ireland’s longest serving current MP. He represents Lagan Valley and chairs ‘Prayer for Parliament’ at Westminster. He is also a member of the Orange Order.
Two of his cousins were killed by the IRA while serving in the RUC. Sam Donaldson was killed in 1970 and Alex Donaldson, a Chief Inspector, died in a mortar attack on a Newry station in 1985.
Later on Thursday 13 June, the annual ‘Thinking Allowed’ forum takes place, also in Clonliffe College, where participants will discuss, ‘What Does it Mean to You to be a Christian in Ireland Today?’
The speakers are Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin; Bishop Pat Storey, Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath and Kildare; Rev Julian Hamiliton, Methodist chaplain at TCD; Julie Wisdom McKinley, Development Officer of the National Bible Society of Ireland; and Sharon Kelly, CEO of Tearfund and Chair of the Evangelical Alliance.
Other events take place over the course of the week in parishes and parish centres around the wider Dublin area and are aimed at interested ordinary believers or enquirers.
The focus is on the Bible, looked at from different perspectives.
The full programme is here: https://www.bibleweek.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/EBW-2019-All-Events-Brochure.pdf.
