Bishop Harold joins Cathedral sit-out for charities
The Bishop of Down and Dromore, the Rt Revd Harold Miller joined the team of so-called ‘Black Santas' on the annual pre-Christmas sit-out for charities on the steps of St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast on Friday 19th December.
The team of ‘Black Santas' is led by the Dean of Belfast, the Very Revd Dr Houston McKelvey and includes members of the Cathedral Chapter, drawing clergy from the Diocese of Down and Dromore and the Diocese of Connor, as well as the Bishop of Down and Dromore and the Bishop of Connor. The team have been standing with their collecting barrel outside St Anne's Cathedral since Wednesday morning 17th December and will be there until Christmas Eve. The 2008 sit-out is the eighth led by Dean McKelvey and the 31st annual collection, the first taking place in 1976 led by Dean Sammy Crooks. In recent years around £250,000 has been raised each year. This amount was boosted in 2005 following the Boxing Day Tsunami when a special sit-out raised £1.6 million.
The ‘Black Santa' title refers to the black clerical cloaks worn by clergy and the term originated in the local press. The tradition began when, in 1976, Dean Crooks decided to ‘sit out' on the steps of the Cathedral in the week before Christmas with a small barrel in which donations could be placed. Dean Crooks was succeeded by Dean Jack Shearer who involved members of the Cathedral Chapter in the sit-out - a tradition maintained today. Under Dean Shearer's leadership, the event continued to develop so that, by his last sit-out in 2000, a total of £2.2 million had been raised for charities in 24 years.
Around 150 local charities and Christian Aid benefit directly from the proceeds of the sit-out and they are presented with the donations at a special Good Samaritans Service held in the Cathedral each February. The inspiration for this service comes from a window in the Ambulatory of the Cathedral which depicts two scenes: in the lower panel of the window the Samaritan finds the victim of the attack; in the upper panel the Samaritan delivers the victim to the innkeeper to be looked after. Scrolls carry quotations from the New Testament Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke Ch.10). The range of charities includes medical research; those caring for children, young people and the elderly; the improvement of employment opportunities for young people and a range of small charities which cannot afford paid fund-raisers.
Much of the money donated comes from people who stop at the Cathedral during the sit-out. Many contributions are also made by individuals, families, schools, offices and other workplaces. The Dean remarks "Many families come along as a group - often three generations together... The sit-out fully demonstrates the charitable nature of the overwhelming majority of people in this part of Ireland. To be the leader of the team organising the sit-out is a tremendous experience which is only surpassed by actually being at the receiving end of so much generosity. The experience is breath-taking both physically and spiritually. Charity is indeed the greatest of the Christian and human virtues".
The Dean has high hopes that the global ‘credit crunch' will not take a chunk out of donations. "I'm very aware there's unemployment and recession, but I'm relying on the general generosity of people across Northern Ireland to keep us going as usual," he said. "We have faced downturns many times before and I've always seen people manage to be charitable." Several people have already been very generous in their donations and advance gifts have also matched the amount given in previous years.
Speaking at the sit-out, Bishop Harold said "the appeal movingly catches the imagination of so many, from children to old people, who come with their gifts and gladly present them to be used for those less well off than themselves."
Members of Belfast Cathedral Chapter who are clergy from the Diocese of Down and Dromore taking part in the sit-out include;
The Venerable Philip Patterson, Archdeacon of Down
The Revd Canon Jim Sims
The Revd Canon Timothy Kinahan
The Revd Canon David Humphries
The Revd Canon Ronnie Nesbitt
The Revd Canon David McClay
Donations can be made at any time of the year by sending a cheque, payable to "Cathedral sit-out" to the Dean at Belfast Cathedral, Donegal Street, Belfast, BT1 2HB