54th annual Quiet Day at Craigs parish

Tuesday August 12th 2008

The Rt Rev David Conner during a visit to the RAF. Bishop Conner will conduct the Craigs Quiet Day in September. The 54th annual Craigs Quiet Day, sponsored by the Ballymena Clerical Union, will take place in Craigs’ Parish Church, Cullybackey, near Ballymena, on Tuesday September 11.

The conductor will be the Rt Rev David Conner, who has been Dean of Windsor since 1998 and Bishop to Her Majesty’s Forces since 2001.

The pattern of the day will follow the format which has evolved over the years: 10.30am arrival and coffee; 11am – Eucharist, followed by first talk and meditation; 12 noon – second talk and meditation; 1pm – lunch provided by Craigs parish; and 2pm – third talk, meditation and dismissal.

A subscription of £6 is requested from each person attending towards general expenses and should be sent or given on the day to the Rev Derek Dunn (38 Ballee Road East, Ballymena, Co Antrim, BT42 3DH), from who further details are available on 028 2564 7049 or email: Derek@mambolo.freeserve.co.uk.

Mr Dunn said: “The late Denzil Caldwell looked after the arrangements for this annual Quiet Day for many years and it would be a fitting tribute to Denzil to see a good attendance at this year’s event.”

The Quiet Day itself began in 1955 and had its origins in the rectory garden of Craigs, where, relaxing on July 12, the rector of Craigs, the Rev Jack George, his wife Dorothy and the curate of Ballymena, the Rev Kenneth Ruddock, suggested that the autumn would be an appropriate time for a Quiet Day under the unofficial auspices of the Ballymena Clerical Union. A dinner party on the eve of the Quiet Day subsequently became a tradition for several years.