ROLE OF THE CHURCH COMMITTEE REPORT

PROPOSED BY THE RT REV JAMES MOORE - CONNOR

Members of Synod

The time has come for the Role of the Church Committee to be disbanded and a new group, the Church in Society Committee to take its place. This is not a name change to brush up an image. It is an endeavour to form a new group which can better meet the needs of the Church today to comment on important community issues and to respond to those who seek a Church of Ireland opinion or view on matters concerning the society of which we are an integral part.

The Role of the Church Committee was created in 1970 at the height of the social upheavals taking place in Northern Ireland when I think many North and South feared the situation might degenerate into civil war. Thank God the ‘Troubles’ dreadful as they were never came to that. The Committee report to Synod each year became a forum for political opinions to be expressed, situations to be explained and views to be exchanged. There were times when our southern friends just listened and allowed us from the North of Ireland to speak from our varied experiences. We have now moved on to much calmer waters and to a peace process Major violence has ceased though there is still far too much reactive and angry violence and serious sectarian attacks which have not only to be condemned but the issues behind them addressed and people listened to.

The Good Friday Agreement has changed things dramatically. The new model of collaborative devolved government in which parties covering the entire spectrum of political view is in place and amazingly is achieving some very positive business. It must mean putting ideologies on the back burner while dealing with practical issues of government The Foot and Mouth epidemic has shown how local government in Northern Ireland can deal effectively and acceptably in such a crisis. Brid Rodgers and her Department are to be congratulated on how they have dealt with the crisis and have gained support from the majority of those most acutely involved. This is how local management can collaborate effectively. However ideologies and difficult contentious issues surrounding matters like policing and the need for all paramilitary organisations to de-commission weapons will not go away and have to be addressed until solutions are found. Time is what is needed but sadly time does not always seem to be on our side. Politics, elections, an electorate and concerned pressure groups do not always allow for such quality time. Team players continually find themselves between a rock and a hard place faced with the threat of being voted off before they can achieve what is necessary. We should plead for, and pray for, time to allow the peace process to be worked through.

Over the past 31 years the Role of the Church Committee has sought to give the Church of Ireland view on many other important issues not of a political nature. Perhaps its most widespread and effective contributions were produced during the years from 1982 to 1994 when Mr J T N McGaffin was part-time Secretary/Researcher for the Committee. His tireless researching was an invaluable support.

Since then the Role of the Church Committee has not been provided with such a Researcher. It has been divided into four main groups to study issues and produce reports in the areas of medical ethics, social and economic issues, political developments and European affairs. As a late corner to the Committee I feel that I am in a position to boast on its behalf that a lot of good reports have been produced from all of these groups. However the members have felt increasingly that the Church is looking for a voice on all sorts of issues other than those which the Committee is considering and we have neither the expertise nor the resources to achieve what is now being required of it nor has it the mandate to speak for the Church on request. Our recommendations and conclusions have to be referred to the Standing Committee for approval.

During this past year the Committee invited Father Sean Healy of the Conference of Religious in Ireland (CORI) to speak at one of its meetings. It was revealing to see how the Justice Commission of CORI was able to give information and speak with authority and influence on a number of important public matters.

The model which we require for the Church of Ireland may not be the same, however, we do need to adopt a new system with back-up from a Researcher and also from a pool of advisers who can be called upon to serve on a working group as required to give an expert analysis on their particular subject.

For this reason we have proposed the establishment of the Church in Society Committee to replace the Role of the Church Committee. Standing Committee has approved of our proposals and it will elect the members to serve on the Church in Society Committee in June this year. You will find a summary of the proposals on page 208 of the Book of Reports in Appendix N of the Standing Committee Report.

The Committee shall research and report on issues referred to it by the Standing Committee, the Archbishops of Armagh and Dublin and the Director of Communications. It will also continue to report on matters which were covered by the Role of the Church Committee. It will have the right to co-opt members to the Working Groups to advise on issues presented to the Committee for comment as the agenda requires. This expert help may be sought as necessary from outside the Church of Ireland.

A Researcher/Secretary will be appointed as soon as practicable and the Representative Body will be requested to provide the necessary financial assistance. What we are aiming for is maximum flexibility in human resources to produce reports and viewpoints which the Church of Ireland requires in order to be an authentic voice in our society today. We trust that the General Synod will join with us and the Standing Committee in seeking God’s guidance and blessing for this more independent and flexible body to serve our Church in today’s society. I have pleasure in proposing the Report of the Role of the Church Committee.