TUESDAY'S NEWS

Church leaders welcomed to Synod

The President of the General Synod, the Most Reverend Robin Eames, at this year’s General Synod meeting in the primatial see of Armagh, extended a special welcome to the leaders of the other three main churches in Ireland and also to the representatives of the Anglican churches in Britain.

Responding to his welcome the Most Reverend Seán Brady, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, spoke of the ongoing challenge for the Christian churches to be “travellers together on the path of God’s love”. Noting the common challenges and issues confronting the churches at the dawn of the third millennium, Archbishop Brady gave thanks for the amount of travelling together that was already happening. He welcomed the “genuine outreach” of the Church of Ireland in pursuit of Christian unity and spoke in particular of the valuable dialogue in which the clergy of Armagh had been involved as part of the recent Partners in Transformation initiative.

The Rev D Ivan McKay, recently elected Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, told the Synod that his own theme for the year was “proclaiming the gospel of God” and spoke of his wish that all of the Christian churches should give priority to making the glory of God known in the proclamation of the gospel.

The Rev W James Rea, President of the Methodist Church in Ireland, brought special greetings from the Methodists and told Synod members of his delight at the Covenant between the two churches, which was signed at the General Synod and Methodist Conference in 2003. Echoing the words of his fellow speakers, Mr Rea spoke of the common issues facing the churches and said that in an increasingly secular society the churches were “beginning to realise the challenge of reaching out again and sharing the good news of Christ with all humankind”.

The Ven Arfon Williams of the Church in Wales – and formerly of Jordanstown in the Diocese of Connor – addressed the Synod as a representative of the Anglican churches in Britain. He spoke particularly of the “mission of the celtic church to make God known as an inclusive church to those on the margins of our society and communities” and said he believed it was the churches’ “God-given task and joy to offer the hand of Christian fellowship to them without making any difference for their colour, creed or language”.