General Synod 2003: News

This is a thumbnail image of the Archbishop of Armagh speaking at General Synod

This is a thumbnail image of the Archbishops, Bishops, Honorary Secretaries and Members at General Synod

This is a thumbnail image of Members voting at General Synod

This is a thumbnail image of the Archbishops' table at General Synod

CHURCH OF IRELAND PRESS OFFICE
Church of Ireland House, 61 - 67 Donegall Street, Belfast BT 2QH
Tel Belfast: (028) 90 232 909
Press Officer Brian Parker (M): 07775 927 807

PRESS RELEASE

14 May 2003

MINISTRY MOBILISATION IS UNDERWAY – BISHOP OF DERRY

The mobilization of hundreds and even thousands of people, lay and ordained, in ministry throughout the church, is the vision of the Rt Rev Ken Good, Bishop of Derry and Raphoe.

Speaking today at the Church of Ireland General Synod in Dublin, Bishop Good spelt out his personal views on how the church’s ministry is shaping up in the modern age.

The Rt Rev Ken Good, Bishop of Derry and Raphoe

He said ministry was much more than ordained ministry although ordination is as important as ever. However collaborative ministry is now catching the imagination of many church members and is seen as a shared enterprise.

Bishop Good said: “Ministry is not just an issue to do with having enough clergy available to provide priestly ministry and people in the pews being passive recipients of ministry. Ministry is the function of all the people of God.”

The Bishop went on to stress the importance in the church of finding out the gifts of each Christian and then helping people to be trained and authorized to use their particular gifts.

Bishop Good added: “The Church’s Commission on Ministry has tackled and made progress on several important issues– such as opening up the possibility of Part-time Stipendiary Ministry, and the provision of Mediation and Severance Terms in the event of Pastoral breakdown; research on the Auxiliary Ministry, and in this year’s report a review, after ten years, of Women in the Ordained Ministry.

“The challenge now is to help the church at large move forward in its expectations of what ministry will look like in five, ten or twenty years time, to prove that we are willing and able to think creatively, to plan strategically, and not just rely on methods that are no longer best suited for the demands of the brave new world in which we must all minister.”

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