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Highlights from the forthcoming General Synod 2003 (Report from Canon Des Harman)
When the General Synod of the Church of Ireland meets at the Stillorgan Park Hotel in south Dublin from Tuesday 13th to Thursday 15th May there will be many new faces following elections at Diocesan Synods last year. Members will serve for three years. The Synod opens each day with prayer and on the first day, after preliminary matters, the Primate, The Most Revd Robin Eames addresses the Synod giving a broad account of the past year and looking to the challenges of the future in Church and State. Anglican and ecumenical guests are welcomed. Liturgy The Church of Ireland will have a new Book of Common Prayer in 2004 and recent synods have been agreeing the services to be included in this book. This year there are seventeen bills before the Synod and thirteen of them relate to liturgy. A number of amendments will be discussed this year and members will hope that the process will move swiftly and efficiently. It will be interesting to see how the General Synod will develop in the next few years when the time given to liturgy in recent synods will not be required. Bill No 1 amends the wording of texts to follow the English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC) version. Bill No 2 includes a new Order for Confirmation Bill No 3 includes a service of Holy Baptism in the context of Morning or Evening Prayer Bill No 4 provides Some Prayers and Thanksgivings Bill No 5 provides for Daily Prayer. Bill No 6 provides a Ministry to the Sick and others requiring particular pastoral care. Bill No 7 provides a Service for Ash Wednesday. Bill No 8 seeks approval for the Psalter from Common Worship-Services and Prayers for the Church of England. Bill No 9 includes The Ordinal with The Book of Common Prayer. Bill No 10 gives General Directions for Public Worship Bill No 11 provides for a Preface to be inserted in the Book of Common Prayer before those in the existing book. Bill No 12 provides for ancillary matters such as the order in which the services will appear in the 2004 edition. Bill No 13 allows for the correction of inaccuracies and inconsistencies that have arisen as services have passed through General Synod. Amendments to the Constitution Bill No 14 provides for inclusive language to be used in the Constitution of the Church of Ireland. Bill No 15 concerns the consolidation of the Constitution. Severance Fund proposed Bill No 16 is to provide for the establishment of a Severance Fund for clergy. This is a pastoral response to clergy whose ministry is in crisis. The establishment of the fund is part of the process which follows the decision in 2001 to establish Provincial Mediation Panels. Parish appointments Bill No 17 would entitle a Board of Nomination to meet before a vacancy has actually occurred in a parish. Where an incumbent has given notice of retirement would be a possible opportunity. Church of Ireland / Methodist Covenant Council Following the acceptance last year of a Covenant between the Church of Ireland and the Methodist Church in Ireland. A motion this year proposes setting up The Covenant Council with ten members from each church who would facilitate the implementation of the Covenant at local, regional and national level. Limited service A motion proposes that no lay person be allowed to serve more than nine consecutive years on any Select Vestry, Diocesan or General synod or any other church committee. Synod Service at St Patrick’s The General Synod Service will be held in St Patrick’s Cathedral on the first day of Synod (Tuesday) at 7.30 p.m. The celebrant will be the Primate and the preacher will be The Rt. Revd Michael Marshall, Incumbent of Holy Trinity, Sloane Square, London. The entire collection will go to The Bishops’ Appeal. Transport will be available from the Synod but this needs to be booked on the day. Church Life A number of important topics are to be found in the Standing Committee Report particularly in the appendices. The Reports offer an opportunity to discuss a wide variety of topics and concerns. The report runs to over 140 pages and covers many aspects of the Church’s life. The content represents the hard work of a broad range of committees that carry forward the mission of the church at central level. The report includes the work of the Bishops’ Appeal and the Priorities Fund as well as the Central Communications Board and other committees. [You may read all of the reports that are being presented to this year's General Synod on the Reports page] Sectarianism The Sectarianism Education Project Committee is responsible for an in-depth Scoping Study of attitudes and perceptions among members of the Church of Ireland to sectarianism and ‘living with difference’. The 109-page study is the beginning of a process of dealing positively with sectarianism and difference and the General Synod will be asked to refer it to Diocesan Synods for appropriate study in every diocese. The Church in Society The Church in Society Committee sets out seven areas it has identified for future study and provides appendices dealing with the environment, European affairs, legislation and political matters, medical ethics, social justice and theology. Included is a statement on the war in Iraq. Wider contacts Environmental issues and their implication for parishes and people are also referred to in reports from the Global Anglican Congress on the Stewardship of Creation held in Johannesburg. The contact with other Anglican and Lutheran Churches in Northern Europe comes in the reports on Porvoo conferences. Funding of Ordinands A fact-finding group reported to the Standing Committee in July 2002 and made recommendations on financial and property matters, which have implications for the present pattern of training. Disability Church of Ireland parishes are being challenged to take all reasonable steps to facilitate participation in worship and parish life and this may involve everything from access to buildings to print size in worship material. Synodical Reform Following the failure of reforming bills in recent years and recognising that certain changes are necessary the Standing Committee set up a working group. The group recommended seven areas for consideration. Rather than have a single comprehensive bill it is suggested that reform takes place on an issue by issue basis during the next three years. No proposal is being made in the first year of this new synod. Church Finances The Representative Church Body is anxious that church members recognise the realities of the world economic scene and the implications of that for investment income and for clergy pensions in particular. If the prime obligations of the RCB are to be met from a lower income then other sources will have to be found or some work of the church restricted. The RCB accounts show a deficit of Eu18K compared to a ‘surplus’ of Eu419K for 2001. The details of the RCB report outline the responsibilities undertaken. Education The Board of Education (RI) draws attention to financial retrenchment by the Irish Government and its effect on school building programmes and greater provision for children with special needs. Census figures show fewer students at second level and there is concern about the possible return of fees and the introduction of student loans. Safeguarding Trust shows the church’s continuing duty of care for all involved with young people but the failure of the Irish Government to provide vetting procedures for those employed in schools or who volunteer to assist with youth activities is deplored. The Board of Education (NI) also expresses concerns about ‘top-up fees’, government commitment to university funding and student debt. Government educational policy is now set by a UK minister and the possibility of educational legislation by Order in Council rather than through the scrutiny of the Assembly is seen as a cause for concern. The Post-Primary Review with its concern about transfer mechanism has received a measured response form the Board and this may lead to substantial debate. The impact of Equality legislation and the possible removal of an exemption in respect of the employment of teachers is noted in the report. Religious Education programmes are under continued development. Youth developments The Youth Department reports on its simplified structure and says it is happy to report that their policy of the devolution of funds, reduction in administrative costs and the provision of training and networking has been successfully implemented and is beginning to bear fruit. The relationship with Summer Madness has changed and is now seen as in co-operation with the Youth department rather than being an integral part of the Youth Department’s work. It will be up to the Synod to agree with the report when it says that ‘all in all, we feel that we are well on the way to the provision of a realistic, sustainable, and fair youth ministry in the Church of Ireland as a whole-our raison d’etre. This work is beginning to bear fruit and we thank God for that’. Mission The Council for the Church Overseas refers to the joys and disappointments experienced by the Mission Resource Person, the Rev Charles Irwin, whose three year contract comes to an end next August. The accounts show that UK£1,035,934 and Eu477,297 was contributed to missionary societies last year. The Council for Mission in Ireland welcomes the joint meetings held between the two mission councils and foresees a joint approach in the General Synod. The Council calls for new thinking on ‘building-less communities’ while recognising that places of worship ‘represent both an invaluable asset and yet also a dangerous preoccupation for those who serve Christ in the Church’. The Committee for Christian Unity has produced a discussion document on the Understanding of Unity which it hopes will be a catalyst for a lively debate. Ministry The Commission on Ministry reports on the Summit on Ministry held last September, the combined meeting of two Provincial Mediation Panels and a review of women in the ordained ministry ten years after the General Synod’s decision to allow women to enter the priesthood and episcopate. The appendices contain the detail that deserves particular study as the respondents identified issues that facilitate or hamper ministry.
Canon Desmond Harman is a Clerical Honorary Secretary of the General Synod and Rector of Sandford and Milltown in Dublin. |
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