WEDNESDAY'S NEWS
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Ministry: “of the
people, by the people and for the people”
(from Elaine Whitehouse, Communications Dept, RCB)
The Commission on Ministry’s 2003
report highlighted issues arising from the Summit on Ministry held
last September. The Summit’s participants, gathered from all the
dioceses, reflected on patterns of ministry in the Church of Ireland
and discussed possible new initiatives in ministry.
The report’s proposer, the Rt Rev Ken
Good, Bishop of Derry, emphasised the need to think of ministry in
terms of lay as well as ordained ministry. It was, he told Synod
members, the “privilege and responsibility of every one of us to
share in the ministry”.
The Summit and a follow-up meeting held
earlier this year had clearly identified the importance of
mobilising “hundreds and even thousands of people, lay and ordained,
in ministry throughout the church, working collaboratively as
teams”. The initiative, said Bishop Good, now rested with each
diocese to “encourage and explore fresh ways to work out local
expressions of collaborative ministry”.
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Seconding the report, Mr David Hannon
of the Diocese of Down said ministry, like democracy, was “of the
people, by the people and for the people”. During the subsequent
debate the Most Rev John Neill, Archbishop of Dublin, spoke of the
diversity of forms of ordained ministry and reminded Synod that not
all ordained ministry took the form of leadership.
The Commission in its report emphasised
that the Summit on Ministry and the follow-up meeting were part of
an ongoing process to review ministry in the Church of Ireland and a
further follow-up meeting was planned for next year.
The report also set out the results the
Commission’s survey of women in the ordained ministry, conducted to
mark the tenth anniversary of the decision to approve the ordination
of women to the priesthood. Respondents had reported deriving a
great deal of satisfaction from their ministry and it was found that
the majority did not feel discriminated against. Issues with the
potential to hamper ministry, such as the balancing of ministry and
family responsibilities, were perceived as affecting men and women
alike rather than being “woman only” issues.
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