04.04.2016
New Igbo Praise Centre Means Many Can Worship in Their Own Language
The Igbo speaking community in Dublin now has a centre where members can worship in their own language. The inaugural service of the Dublin Igbo Praise Centre took place in St George and St Thomas’s Church on Cathal Brugha Street yesterday (Sunday April 3). The service was led by the Revd Obinna Ulogwara, Rector and Chaplain to the International Community. Archbishop Michael Jackson preached and during the service Igbo leaders from a number of different denominations were blessed and commissioned for their work to come. The Revd Elaine Dunne, who leads services in Irish in Christ Church Cathedral was also present.
The Igbo, some pronounce it Ibo, people live in south eastern Nigeria, generally in the area of the Niger delta. Over 17 million people in Nigeria and around the world speak Igbo. The story of Igbo Anglicanism begins in the Niger Delta in 1870 and the first prayer Book – a version of the 1662 Prayer Book – stems from that time.
St George and St Thomas’s Church is located just a short distance from the GPO and in his sermon Archbishop Jackson referred to the words of prayer spoken on Easter Sunday 2016 in O’Connell Street by the Head Chaplain to the Armed Forces, Fr Sean Madigan, at the 1916 commemoration: “a new song of compassion, inclusion and engagement, a song of listening, social justice and respect for all, a song of unity, diversity, equality and peace, a song of cead mile failte and of care for our environment.” His prayer also was for: “all the courageous people of Ireland who dared to hope and dream of a brighter tomorrow for our country and all its citizens”.
The Archbishop said that mission, service and proclamation lay at the heart of this vision and prayer for tomorrow’s Ireland. “There is idealism at the core of it and still there is also a great deal of inclusion and of engagement and of practicality,” he added. Easter 2016 was about a future lived in the hope of community and change and compassion and courage, Archbishop Jackson said. He added that the Easter Sunday prayer of principle and hope embodied new life and a redefinition of the old political understanding.
“What are we, as Christian people, going to do about it? What are we going to do with people of World Faiths? My plea to you who are people of today here in this church: please do not pick up our inherited and well–polished Irish negativities! This ‘Resurrection Now’ needs work, this needs witness, this needs willingness combined with that coming together of service and leadership, authority and power shown by Jesus Christ for others in life, death and resurrection. This is the deepest and richest hospitality in the public arena to which we as followers of Jesus Christ are called. We need to breathe new life into inherited language; we need to draw new songs out of inherited words; we need to witness to the Resurrection in our own hearts and in the lives of others,” he concluded.
At the end of the service several speakers thanked the Archbishop for enabling the establishment of the Igbo Praise Centre. Greg Umeh thanked him on behalf of the Igbo community in Ireland for listening to their needs. “We so much appreciate this gesture because this is the first time that we Christians [regardless of our background] feel at home religiously, that we can have this service in Igbo,” he stated. Chinwe Obasi said she was glad they were able to worship in the way she did at home. Mari Thomas, who had worked and lived in Nigeria, said she was delighted to be present to community wish the community well.
Revd Obinna also thanked the Archbishop and presented him with a copy of the Book of Common Prayer in Igbo. The Revd Elaine Dunne, organist David Maxwell and church warden Keith Nolan were also presented with copies of the book in Igbo.
To read the full text of Archbishop Jackson’s sermon click here.
Photo captions:
Top – Those present cut a special celebratory cake at the inaugural service of the Dublin Igbo Praise Centre.
Bottom – Leaders of the Igbo community with Archbishop Michael Jackson, the Revd Elaine Dunne and the Revd Obinna Ulogwara.