General Synod 2012

It's been about five years since I've been a member of General Synod, at that time a lay member from Dromore diocese. On ordination, I had missed out on the clerical elections in Down diocese in 2008, and I moved to Clogher diocese about two weeks after the deadline to stand in the clerical elections last year. I voted for our clerical Synodsmen, but couldn't stand. So I've been following the news and updates from Christ Church Cathedral Dublin from General Synod of the Church of Ireland 2012 from afar, thanks to the twitter feed and some facebook updates from various sources.

News emerging from Dublin are that the General Synod have passed the following motion in its session today:

The General Synod affirms that:
The Church of Ireland, mindful of the Preamble and Declaration, believes and accepts the Holy Scriptures as revealing all things necessary for eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ;

The Church of Ireland continues to uphold its teaching that marriage is part of God’s creation and a holy mystery in which one man and one woman become one flesh, as provided for in Canon 31:

‘The Church of Ireland affirms, according to our Lord’s teaching that marriage is in its purpose a union permanent and life–long, for better or worse, till death do them part, of one man with one woman, to the exclusion of all others on either side, for the procreation and nurture of children, for the hallowing and right direction of the natural instincts and affections, and for the mutual society, help and comfort which the one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity and adversity.’

The Church of Ireland recognises for itself and of itself, no other understanding of marriage than that provided for in the totality of Canon 31. The Churchof Ireland teaches therefore that faithfulness within marriage is the only normative context for sexual intercourse. Members of the Church of Ireland are required by the Catechism to keep their bodies in ‘temperance, soberness and chastity’. Clergy are called in the Ordinal to be ‘wholesome examples and patterns to the flock of Jesus Christ’.

The Church of Ireland welcomes all people to be members of the Church. It is acknowledged, however, that members of the Church have at times hurt and wounded people by words and actions, in relation to human sexuality.

Therefore, in order that the Church of Ireland is experienced as a ‘safe place’ and enabled in its reflection, the Church of Ireland affirms:

A continuing commitment to love our neighbour, and opposition to all unbiblical and uncharitable actions and attitudes in respect of human sexuality from whatever perspective, including bigotry, hurtful words or actions, and demeaning or damaging language;

A willingness to increase our awareness of the complex issues regarding human sexuality;

A determination to welcome and to make disciples of all people.

The Church of Ireland is mindful that for all who believe ‘there is no distinction’ and that ‘all have sinned and come short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:22–23) and are in need of God’s grace and mercy. We seek to be a community modelled on God’s love for the world as revealed in Jesus Christ. We wish that all members of the Church, through the teaching of the scriptures, the nourishment of the sacraments, and the prayerful and pastoral support of a Christian community will fulfil their unique contribution to God’s purposes for our world.

The General Synod requests the Standing Committee to progress work on the issue of Human Sexuality in the Context of Christian Belief and also to bring a proposal to General Synod 2013 for the formation of a Select Committee with terms of reference including reporting procedures. [ENDS]

The voting numbers were: Clergy: 81-53; Lay: 154-60; Bishops: 10-2.

Gone to Galway

By the time this is published, thanks to Blogger's new time-delay function, I shall hopefully be on my way to Galway. It's time for the Church of Ireland General Synod, and this is the last session of the current triennial (three year term that all members, except the House of Bishops serve).

The three years I have been part of General Synod have seen me travelling to Armagh, Kilkenny and now Galway. I'm getting to see parts of the island I've never been to before, but hopefully will again soon!

I'm not sure what internet coverage I'll have while in Galway, but if I can find an internet cafe, then I'll try to blog through the Synod...

Synodalia

Today we had the Down and Dromore Diocesan Synod in Moira. Representatives from each parish gathered to discuss the mission of the church, as well as the business reports from our various committees.

One of the more encouraging items of business was something drawn from the Methodist tradition - a conversation on the work of God. Basically it was an open forum where members could share what God has been doing in parishes and people's lives recently. The stories that were told linked in to the theme of Bishop Harold's address as he reflected on the first ten years of his episcopacy. The tag line for the address was 'Stop talking about decline' - because the figures show that Down and Dromore diocese is not in decline! We are growing, under the blessing and grace of God.

[Speaking of the ten years Harold Miller has been Bishop of Down and Dromore reminds me of the night he was enthroned in Dromore Cathedral - it was my birthday, and Harold led the congregation in singing happy birthday to me in the hall after the speeches, due to the workings of Roderic West!]

Synod snapped!

One last bit of synodalia before I move on to write about other things again! I've noticed that we made it onto the gallery on the Synod 07 website:

Ruth West, Gary McMurray and Bertie Logan, all from the Diocese of Dromore.

The Invisible Synod Members?

If you've heard anything about General Synod, you've probably heard about the Synodical Representation Bill, which failed once again. The proposers were seeking a review of the numbers of synod members from each diocese, using the criteria of cures (parishes) in each diocese to reckon the representation. It was rejected, being called unfair by members of those dioceses (generally in the south) who would lose seats.

Some speakers during the debate called for the Synod to be made more representative in other ways - perhaps by ensuring that there were more women, and more younger people. One speaker went so far as to ask where the students were (inferring that there were none). Ruth and me just looked at each other, wondering if we were invisible. Then another member of synod, in a later debate, made the sweeping statement that there was only one member under the age of thirty. This caused a bit of a stir on the bench of bishops as those who knew Ruth and me looked at us, wondering which of us looks over thirty - ok, yeah, it was probably me, and probably on account of my beard... But his facts were very wrong. The youngest member of synod is from Cashel and Ossory, and he's about 22, then Ruth and myself are around 25/26, and a member from Derry diocese is about 24.

The same speaker then called for diocesan synods to elect younger members, to ensure that they were present and represented. Yet here's the thing that I can't quite understand. The synod wants younger members to come along and take part, but don't seem to want to encourage, or even acknowledge us.

In the main synod hall, in the exhibition area outside and in the hotel, it was as if I was invisible for most of the time. I would smile and say hello to members, both clerical and lay, and be greeted with stony silence, or them staring right through me. Not a very encouraging situation to be in - especially as the synod wants more of us there! How would they treat 50 or more young people - with the same stony silence?

Full credit to (among others) Trevor Williams, George Davison and a lady from Killaloe diocese who did talk to us - as well as those who knew us already, of course.

Let's hope that in future, synod members take seriously their own call for more young people, and properly make us feel welcome at General Synod.

Back from Kilkenny / Synod reflections 1

After three days in Kilkenny, I'm back in my room in Dublin, and trying to catch up with what I have missed, and dealing with things that inevitably come in during my absence. So, there were 32 emails waiting my attention, and 43 new blog postings to read in Google Reader which is a very handy way of keeping up to date with friends' blogs. I've most of them read now, but no replies written to the emails, so if you have emailed me - be patient, and I will get back to you soon!

So what have I been up to? Of course I was at the General Synod - the parliament of the church. The business was constant and important, with various Bills being proposed and discussed, reports being presented and motions being moved. From a social perspective, the synod is a good chance to meet up with friends again and see some people you haven't seen in a while. With being in a strange city for three days, there is a chance to savour the eating houses, and to discover the road layout and the facilities of the centre. The eating houses were visited and enjoyed wholeheartedly - although I have probably eaten too well over the past few days and will need a diet to prevent my expanding stomach!

There was one great disappointment, as again the proposed Synod Representation Bill was defeated at Second Reading stage. What is it going to take for the Synod to be more representative, and to reflect the changed strength and make-up of the church since 1871? Hopes were high, with some good speeches from the proposer and seconder, as well as the Clogher Brian's - Courtney and Kerr, but fear seemed to rule the day. Our time will come! I'm currently mulling over another article on representation, and will hopefully write it tomorrow at some stage. You can look forward to it!

Remainder of Synod

So I talked the other day about the first day of Synod... but what about the rest of it? As has been discussed on the Church of Ireland Email Forum, Synod was a bit quiet this year, possibly because of the announcement of 'the big man' relating to his retirement. There were some interesting, if very short debates on subjects including the Masonic, the ARCIC Mary Document, the Windsor Report, and Ministry in the church.

Rather worrying was the debate on the Masonic, though. The Standing Committee of the Church had produced a statement, which was in the Book of Reports, and went as follows:

"The Honorary Secretaries recognise that the religious aspect of Freemasonry, as far as we can tell, does not equate with the fullness of the Christian teaching of the Church of Ireland. Notwithstanding this recognition, the Honorary Secretaries believe that membership of, and participation in, Freemasonry is a matter of free choice and conscience ofr members of the Church of Ireland."

Brian Blacoe was quick to point out that not only are its aspects different from the teaching of the Church, that the Committee should have gone further, in condemining the order outright. He quoted from a hymn, sung at the meetings, which praised masonry as divine, and elevated King Hiram to the highest place.

Two speakers (I didn't know who they were), then got up and stated that they were members of the order, that there was nothing wrong with it because you had to believe in 'a superior being' to join, and that there was unity in the lodge room between Christians, Jews, Muslims and other theists, and that it enabledthem to be a better Christian. Because, after all, we all believe in the one God, and there was respect among the members who were on 'different pathways.'

My respects go to David McClay, rector of Willowfield who immediately got up to rebuke them, asking was this house not Christian, and if so, did we not believe Jesus when he said 'I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father, except by me'? I almost got up myself, but David got there first and said what needed to be said.

That was possibly the most interesting of the debates, but, as in so many, there was no resolution or proper debate - the chairman simply called time and wanted to move on. And that was General Synod 2006. Next year's event is in Kilkenny, so it will be a bit of a holiday, and my first time as far south in Ireland - unless I make it down there between now and then.

And the day after General Synod finished, what arrived in the mail, only the notification for the Diocesan Synod, to be held in Moira near the end of June. So we have that to look forward to!

Synod Stuff

The General Synod of the Church of Ireland opened this morning in Armagh. The big news of the day was Archbishop Eames announcing his retirement, which will take effect on 31st December 2006. It was really interesting watching the Synod Chamber this morning. We had arrived at about 10.55am for an 11am start, but due to a huge number of people present, including media types and visitors, couldn't get a seat. So there was me and Alan, standing at the back. It meant we had an excellent view, though, being sort of eyeline height with the bishops on the platform.

The President's speech was going on for a bit, dealing with a variety of topics (e.g. Northern Ireland politics, Education, Ministry Training etc), and the three media cameramen and three photographers were prowling like tigers around the room, up and down the aisles taking random shots and shooting footage. Until 'the moment'. It was heralded by Eames saying that he was ordained deacon in 1963... and then it happened. Suddenly, all the media people moved very quickly to in front of the platform to get the moment on tape. And there it was. He has announced his retirement, and the search begins for the next Archbishop of Armagh. Who could it be???

The rest of the day was taken up with the seemingly confusing processing of Bills, Resolutions and Motions, and then the Reports began, from various agencies and groups of the church.

Tonight's highlight was the Synod Service, in Armagh Cathedral. Being an ordinand can sometimes be a bit of a strange experience, in terms of the new level of connectedness or independence from our sending parish. But tonight the ordinands were given some recognition (of sorts), being included in the Procession at the service. In fact, we were the lowest of the low, at the very front of the procession, but when we got to the Chancel, we had some of the best seats in the house (or cathedral), being behind the bishops, right at the Communion Rail. The Communion service lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes in total, but the organ and choir were very good.

I was also really pleased to have the opportunity to meet and talk to Dr Harry Uprichard, the Moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly. He was one of the ecumenical visitors in the procession, and we all ended up in the Chapter Room after the service (where a certain Bishop from the deep south got shocked by the loudness of the organ with all stops out!), so I made a bee-line for him! I told him about how I had enjoyed his books, and encouraged him to keep at it! It also appears that he has a new book coming out, when he manages to get some time to write - seemingly it is a busy time being Moderator.

So that was Day One of my first Synod. And back tomorrow for Day Two for more reports etc...