REPORT ON THURSDAY'S BUSINESS

From the Revd Gregg Ryan,
Irish Correspondent of the Church Times

A resolution which would have led to the admission to Holy Communion of those who had not been confirmed was defeated at General Synod.

The Bishop of Cashel, Rt. Revd. John Neill sought leave to amend the Order for Confirmation in the Book of Common Prayer by deleting the existing final rubric and substituting: "It is intended in Baptism that those who have been baptised will be confirmed. They may, however, be admitted to the Holy Communion prior to Confirmation."

He was seconded by the Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, Rt. Revd. James Mehaffey.

Bishop Neill said that what was proposed was not a change in doctrine, nor a complete innovation, but a change in the way the discipline to bring it into line with the historical shift. It was a reflection of the changing understanding of Christian nurture and child development.

Dr. Mehaffey said the new rubric explicitly links Baptism and Confirmation and was not an attempt to play down or abolish confirmation but it was to allow discipline to vary.

Revd. Eric Culbertson, Armagh Diocese, said he opposed the resolution. "We all want the best for our children, we want more of them to come to church and take part in the services. But the general conclusion of all our forefathers was the confirmation and then communion at the age of 12 or 13 was appropriate. What is wrong with the present situation? Withholding communion is not any crueller than the other things which are withheld from children and come later in adult life. If it is not broken, don't fix it."

Canon Michael Burrowes, Cork Diocese, said the synod would be behaving as "absolute ostriches if we think this is not an issue which will not go away." He said that there were already many complications in the case of inter-church marriages, and from within the Anglican Communion itself, for the Church of Ireland and the current practice.

"It is a mess and it is unjust," he declared, adding that the Church of Ireland was already proven well capable of living with differences of opinion in the matter of women's ordination and other issues.

"Let not the existing orthodoxy be the only view".

Canon Philip Patterson, Down Diocese, referred to the measure as a potential pastoral nightmare and a recipe for bedlam, especially if as envisaged the admission to communion of a child was specifically in his or her own parish.

"If the rubric is changed, in reality there will be no room for the tender conscience which objects to giving holy communion to a hild who has been admitted elsewhere."

The resolution failed to achieve the required two thirds majority in both the house of clergy and the house of laity, and though clergy voted 92 to 40 in support, the laity vote of 104 in favour and 68 against led to the defeat of the measure.

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