Parish of Mickleham - 22 May 2005 - Double Celebration for David Ireland

July/Aug 2005 magazine
David was ordained 35 years ago - I know it does not seem possible, he is far too young - but that is the truth. In fact the 22nd May not only saw a special service to celebrate that fact, but also rumour has it that earlier in the week he had had one of those birthdays that end with an 0; something to do with a bus pass, I think!

The service on Sunday was particularly special in that it was put together by the students at Box Hill School. It was wonderful to see the church absolutely packed: normal congregation, friends and a large multi-national contingent from the school. They handed out the books and took the collection. Vanessa von Falz-Fein did the reading and the intercessors were Franziska Jautz and Cayetana Melero. The sermon spot was handed over to Julia Skiba and Dana Farr. Both bravely and movingly spoke of their faith, Julia coming from a strong Roman Catholic background in Poland and Dana from the point of view of the difficulties being experienced in Zimbabwe. I wonder how many of us could stand up in front of both our friends and people we don’t know and speak as they did. They are all to be congratulated.

The service ended with a surprise for David from the choir; they sang a short anthem which was sung at his ordination.The sun shone and we ended the celebration with coffee and Jane’s as ever delicious cake in the Rectory garden. It was a friendly, happy morning. We look forward to the 50th anniversary celebration! Mary Huggins