Herb O'Driscoll

Thomas Herbert O'Driscoll (17 October 1928 – 25 July 2024) was an Irish-born Canadian Anglican priest. After emigrating he became one of the most highly regarded preachers in the Anglican Church. A consummate storyteller, a popular broadcast and print commentator, and prolific hymn writer, he authored numerous books on Bible interpretation and the spiritual life, many of which reflect Celtic Christianity.

O'Driscoll was born in 1928 in Cork, Ireland; educated at Trinity College Dublin; and ordained in 1953. After curacies at Monkstown from 1952 to 1954, then Ottawa from 1954 to 1957, he was a naval chaplain from 1957 to 1960, stationed in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. He then became rector of Carp, Ontario, from 1960 to 1962, following which he returned to Ottawa. He served in Ottawa until his appointment as dean in the Diocese of New Westminster.

Biography Born in 1928, O'Driscoll spent his childhood and student years in the city of Cork in the south of Ireland. His summers were spent on his grandfather's farm in Donaguile, County Kilkenny.

Following the footsteps of many before him, he sailed across the Atlantic in 1954, and briefly returned to Ireland the following year to marry, then settled permanently in Canada. Since O'Driscoll was a prolific writer, his own words have been selected for most of this entry.

Childhood "When I was growing up, to be Protestant in the south of Ireland was to have your otherwise friendly neighbors or professional colleagues assume that you and they had different loyalties. … As a young adult I felt caught between two worlds. My family name indicated quite undeniably that whether or not I was Anglican, my father's family had been Irish and Roman Catholic and had lived in Ireland for untold generations." (1)

Student days "In my formative years in Ireland, one entered the past to be prepared for the future. From 1941 to 1945, I was a boarding student at Midleton College, a school founded in 1673 on the estates of the Earl of Midleton. From 1948 to 1952, I attended Trinity College Dublin, a foundation of Elizabeth the First in 1592." (2)

Ministry/Career "In July 1952, I was ordained in Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral, having entered by walking past its Norman remains. Pointing from the pulpit that day, directing our eyes to the stone step on which we were about to be ordained, the homilist said: ‘Never forget that men have been ordained on this step for 950 years." O'Driscoll's career, spanning more than 40 years, is described in section below, as is his theology.

Marriage and family "I had met the person who would one day become my wife. I was torn between wanting to go to Canada and not wanting to leave Paula. In the end we agreed on a plan. We would become engaged, I would go to Canada and return the following summer for the wedding." "The Rev. Canon Dr. Herbert O'Driscoll is many things: former parish priest and cathedral dean, internationally renowned conference and pilgrimage leader, hymnodist and storyteller, author of over fifty books. Perhaps above all, he is a great preacher and teacher of preaching. When invited recently to give an Easter Day sermon on Zoom (at age 92) Herb accepted at once. "After all," he explained, "I'm hard-wired for preaching."

The O'Driscoll Forum was established in 2022. Envisioned as an annual three-day event during the Summer School at the Vancouver School of Theology, includes public lectures by distinguished teachers and practitioners of preaching, teaching, and the liturgical arts.

O'Driscoll died on 25 July 2024, at the age of 95.

Career 1952 – 1954 Curate, Parish of Monkstown, Dublin, Ireland

Following graduation from the Trinity College in Dublin, O'Driscoll was ordained as a deacon and later priest in the Church of Ireland. "I had been instructed to dress in clericals in preparation for ordination. Other parts of my wardrobe—black cassock, white surplice, black stole—were waiting for me at the cathedral. I was aware that I was about to become part of something much greater than myself."

1982 – 1984 Canon and Warden, National College of Preachers and National Cathedral of St. Peter & St. Paul, Washington DC

The College of Preachers, opened in 1929, was originally conceived as a centre for the renewal of preaching for Episcopal clergy. "For more than half a century before I arrived, the college offered courses in preaching to clergy from all parts of the country. It was regarded as a significant resource within the Episcopal Church."

1993 Visiting Scholar, St George's College, Jerusalem

St George's College Jerusalem, established in 1920, is a continuing education center of the Anglican Communion. Its mission includes educating clergy and laity from other parts of the world.

1993 – 2009 Adjunct Faculty, National College of Preachers, Washington DC

O'Driscoll's involvement with the College spanned twenty-five years. "As those years went by, and the unrelenting tides of change continued to flow over church and society, I could see that the healing aspect of the college's work was becoming, if anything, even more significant and valuable. Ironically, even tragically, the need for this healing role became more and more obvious at the same time as the church's sense of the importance of the homiletic function was lessening."

Fifty years later, as an Anglican preacher instructing younger clergy, he realized the scene had flipped. Religion classes were no more, and other subjects took precedence. It was now a secular age of increased biblical illiteracy. In his preaching and seminar teaching, O'Driscoll emphasized "panoramic preaching" to expand the biblical text to frame its larger context to inform his secular audience.

O'Driscoll's theology of panoramic preaching takes ancient texts and engages them to speak to contemporary contexts:

· Exodus in an age of refugees and human migration;

· Wilderness in an age of pandemic and disinformation;

· Resurrection hope in our age of denial, despair, and death.

O'Driscoll's panoramic preaching unfolded and enlarged a text to form and inform his audience's knowledge and faith. Panoramic preaching could take a wide variety of biblical characters and enlarge their story to encompass parallel comparisons to contemporary saints and sinners.

O'Driscoll's theology of panoramic preaching invites contemporary preachers to use the lectionary for biblical education. For example, in the current three year Revised Common Lectionary, Year A centers on the Gospel of Matthew, Year B focuses on the Gospel of Mark, and Year C explores the Gospel of Luke, while all three include substantial portions of the Gospel of John. O'Driscoll's panoramic preaching would spend a Sunday or two within a church year season such as Advent or Lent, to unpack each of those Gospels' central themes, characters, sorrows, and hopes.

In his 2019 book, "A Greening of Imaginations: Walking the Songlines of Holy Scripture" (New York: Church Publishing, 2019) O'Driscoll explores "imaginative preaching." Inspired by a Jewish rabbi colleague, he sketches an exercise in Christian midrash. He imaginatively enters into familiar biblical stories and opens windows to fresh insight and meaning to refresh faith.

Publications

Books I Will Arise and Go Now: Reflections on the Meaning of Places & People (Moorehouse, 2021).

A Greening of Imaginations: Walking the Songlines of Holy Scripture (Church Publishing, 2019).

Confound Them!: Diabolical Plans for the Church (Anglican Book Centre, 2009).

Prayer Among Friends (Path, 2008).

Four Days in Spring: Christ Suffering, Dying and Rising in Our Lives (Path, 2007).

Finer Than Gold, Sweeter Than Honey: The Psalms for Our Living. (Dundum, 2006).

Praise, My Soul: The Hymns of Herbert O'Driscoll. (Selah, 2005).

Living Scripture: The Guidance of God on the Journal of Life. (Dundurn, 2005).

God With Us: The Companionship of Jesus in the Challenges of Life. (Dundurn, 2002).

The Road to Donaguile: A Celtic Spiritual Journey. (Cowley, 2000).

Confound Them!: Diabolical Plans for the Church. (Anglican Book Centre, 2009). [PT1]

Mourners of Midwives: Choices for the 21st Century. (Logos, 1999).

Conversations in Time With Men and Women of the Bible. (Cowley, 1999).

Birth: Holding Your Newborn Child. (Anglican Book Centre, 1999).

Hope for a Time of Grieving. (Anglican Book Centre, 1998).

Marriage in the Christian Church. (Anglican Book Centre, 1998).

The Word Today: Reflections on the Readings of the Revised Common Lectionary. (Anglican Book Centre, 1997).

Year A, Vol 1 ; Vol 2 ; Vol 3

Year B, Vol 1 ; Vol 2 ; Vol 3

Year C, Vol 1 ; Vol 2 ; Vol 3

Grace for a Time of Sickness. (Anglican Book Centre, 1995).

Eucharist: The Feast that Never Ends. (Anglican Book Centre, 1995).

Baptism: Saying Yes to Being a Christian. (Anglican Book Centre, 1995).

For All the Saints: Homilies for Saints and Holy Days. (Cowley, 1995). . Also published as Heralds of God: Homilies for Saints and Holy Days. (Anglican Book Centre, 1995).

The Leap of the Deer: Memories of a Celtic Childhood. (Cowley, 1994).

Heritage: A Tale of Two Books. (Anglican Book Centre, 1993).

Emmanuel: Encountering Jesus as Lord. (Cowley, 1992).

Prayers for the Breaking of Bread: Mediations on the Collects of the Church Year. (Cowley, 1991).

A Good Time for Good News: Reflections on the Gospel for People on the Go. (Anglican Book Centre, 1990).

Year A,

Year B,

Year C,

Praying to the Lord of Life. (Anglican Book Centre, 1989).

A Year of the Lord. (Morehouse, 1987).

A Doorway in Time: Memoir of a Celtic Spiritual Journey. (Cowley, 1985).

The Sacred Mirror: Encountering Good in Scripture. (Anglican Book Centre, 1984).

City Priest, City People. (Anglican Book Centre, 1983).

One Man's Journal. (Anglican Book Centre, 1982).

Crossroads: Times of Decision for People of God. (Seabury Press, 1982).

Portrait of a Woman: Meditations on the Mother of Our Lord. (Anglican Book Centre, 1981).

A Certain Life: Contemporary Meditations on the Way of Christ. (Seabury Press, 1980).

For All Seasons. (Anglican Book Centre, 1979).

Unshakeable Kingdom. (Christian Journals, 1977).

Hymnody Herbert O'Driscoll's hymn writing from 1966 to 2002 ranges over many subjects. They are set to a variety of tunes, from familiar to newly composed, and were collected in a book titled Praise, My Soul. (ref a) Of hymn writing he said, "And always there is the same excitement. It may be the sudden arrival of a first line, complete and ready to be added to—demanding to be added to! It may be the sudden arrival of the overall idea or plan for a hymn, this time demanding that work begin immediately on constructing the stanzas. But whatever the first moment of awareness may be, there is the thrill of a new hymn." They include:

Songs of Creation

Before the Earth Had Yet Begun (1986)

The Lord of All Creation (1981)

God of the Heavens (1976)

Sing of a God in Majestic Divinity (1980)

God Most High in Power and Splendour (1982)

O God, Beyond All Face and Form (1989)

Lord God, Who Spoke Creation's Word (1979)

God of this Great Creation (1976)

Songs of Incarnation

On Wings of Wondrous Majesty (1981)

There Was a Maid in Nazareth (1980)

Down the Road to Bethlehem (1999)

O My Saviour in the Manger (1999)

Three Tall Trees Grew on a Windy Hill (1971)

When Mary and Joseph from Bethlehem Town (1981)

When All the Hills of Galilee (1981)

Songs of the People of God

In the Rock It Was Written (1977)

In the Lives of Men and Women (2000)

Long, Long Ago in Israel (1995)

Who Are We Who Stand and Sing (1978)

We Give You Thanks, O Lord (1987)

Songs of Word & Sacrament

God, You Have Caused to Be Written (1966)

Sing of Eve and Sing of Adam (1982)

When Jesus Came to Galilee (2002)

When Jesus Arose (1976)

Children of Bethlehem (1977)

Though I Speak the Tongues of Mortals (1997)

One Night the Lord Jesus Sat Down (1986)

All Praise to You, Creator God (1967)

Praise Be to Christ (1989)

Songs of Personal Devotion

Lord, When My Heart and Mind (1980)

Surely It Is God Who Saves Me (1981)

Where Shall I Seek Thee? (1979)

God, When I Stand (1980)

Songs of Sacred Places

Here Is a Place of Loveliness (1985)

Beneath the Branches Far Above (1981)

Lord of the Western Prairie (1989)

Songs of the Journey

God Calls Us to Journey (1986)

Come and Journey with a Saviour (1985)

Let My People Seek Their Freedom (1971)

Lord of Life Hear Us Sing (1966)

When the Ship Is Standing Ready (1969)

The Love of Jesus Calls Us (1989)

Awards and honours The O'Driscoll Forum is a three-day event of public lectures on preaching, teaching, and the liturgical arts. Vancouver School of Theology, 2022.

Honorary Senior Fellow, Renison College, University of Waterloo, 1994. Dr. of Divinity, Honoris Causa, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto, 1991. Dr. of Sacred Theology, Honoris Causa, Berkeley Divinity School, Yale University, 1982. Dr. of Divinity, Honoris Causa, Vancouver School of Theology, University of British Columbia, 1981. Gold Medalist in Oratory, Trinity College Dublin, 1952