28.04.2014
Prominent Church Historian to Address St Audoen’s Gathering During Synod
Prominent church historian, Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch from Oxford University, has accepted an invitation to speak at a lunchtime event on the fringe of the General Synod on Friday May 9 at 1.00 pm in St Audoen’s Church of Ireland, Cornmarket (pictured).
The event will be chaired by Bryan Dobson of RTE and hosted by Canon Mark Gardner at the church which is close to Christ Church Cathedral where General Synod will take place. It is intended as a contribution to the Church’s ongoing consideration of Human Sexuality in the Context of Christian Belief. It is co sponsored by the Church of Ireland chaplaincy of Trinity College Dublin and Changing Attitude Ireland, in the hope that all those concerned to explore the issues further, whether from a conservative or an inclusive starting–point, will attend.
Those who find gay and lesbian presence in the Church less than acceptable will be particularly welcome and questions for Professor MacCulloch can be submitted in advance to info@changingattitudeireland.org for inclusion in Bryan Dobson’s interview. However given that only 50 minutes are available for the session, no questions will be taken from the floor.
Professor MacCulloch has always acknowledged his status as a gay man and is a long–standing member of the Gay Christian Movement. Although his sexual orientation stood in the way of his being ordained priest in the Church of England, he has shown no bitterness as a result, only regret. “I was ordained deacon; but being a gay man, it was just impossible to proceed further, within the conditions of the Anglican set–up, because I was determined that I would make no bones about who I was. I was brought up to be truthful, and truth has always mattered to me. The Church couldn’t cope and so we parted company, It was a miserable experience.”
Since then Diarmaid MacCulloch has become a celebrated and prize–winning church historian and broadcaster. Among his major works are Thomas Cranmer (1996), Reformation: Europe’s House Divided (2003), A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years and accompanying TV series (2009) and Silence (2012) in which he considers the negative as well as positive aspects of silence, which can indicate shame and evasion as well as mysticism, through the history of the Church.
Admission to the event is free and all are welcome.