WEDNESDAY'S NEWS

Standing Committee seeks broad engagement

“Reflect, re-focus and engage” was the message from the Standing Committee of the General Synod as it presented its report to the Synod. Proposing the report, Archdeacon Stephen McBride of Connor urged the Church to consider the broad sweep of work put forward in the report and in particular to see the challenge of proposed state legislation and regulation not as a drain on our resources but as “an opportunity to take our Christian witness to the heart of civil society”.

Seconder Mrs Andrea Wills asked members of the Church to give the practical work of mission and outreach a high priority. She highlighted the fact that not only the Priorities Fund itself but also the Bishops’ Appeal fund had noted declining contributions last year and made a strong appeal to her listeners for renewed support.

Mrs Wills thanked people who serve on Church committees for their contribution to the Church’s mission. She challenged her listeners to respond proactively to the needs of the Church, encouraging all Church members to identify their particular skills and contact the Synod staff at communications@ireland.anglican.org to discuss the contribution they could make.

The report stimulated a wide-ranging debate, much of which continued the theme of mission and outreach. Repeating pleas for support for the Bishops’ Appeal, Joan Bruton (Meath and Kildare) and Kate Turner (Connor) exhorted members also to give practical support to people in the Third World in simple ways such as switching to fair trade products like tea and coffee.

Focusing closer to home, the Very Rev John Bond (Connor) commended the ongoing work of the “Hard Gospel” project and the Ven David Chillingworth (Down and Dromore) explained that the Hard Gospel Committee was now engaged in evaluating the responses of the diocesan synods to the report and identifying strategy going forward.

The Ven Gordon Linney, Archdeacon of Dublin, considered it significant that the greatest decline in Church membership in Ireland was in poor areas and urged the Church to consider how it related to those on the margins of society. Ms Hilary McClay (Down and Dromore) offered an example of how the compassion of Christ can be shown through the life of the Church, telling Synod members of a project in her parish of Willowfield which, with the support of the Priorities Fund and the Mothers’ Union, was providing practical support at a local level for people including lone parents, unemployed people and those in poverty.

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