A resolution seeking to move that the Declaration passed at the 1999 General Synod of the Church of Ireland, which sought to place the Church’s historic formularies in their historical context, should be included in The Book of Common Prayer immediately preceding The Articles of Religion has been debated by this year’s General Synod.

Section 26(1) of the Church of Ireland Constitution requires that any change to the articles, doctrines, rites, rubrics or formularies of the Church must undergo two stages.

The reform must be laid out and passed as a resolution and then as a bill the following year. At both stages two thirds support is required from both orders (clerical and lay) of the House of Representatives of the General Synod. 

The resolution was proposed by the Very Revd Patrick Rooke (Armagh) and seconded by Mr Dermot O’Callaghan (Down).

Dean Rooke expressed his concern for someone attending a Church of Ireland service who is not a member of the Church, and who finds the text of The Articles of Religion in the Church of Ireland edition of The Book of Common Prayer.

Quoting phrases from The Articles of Religion such as “they are condemned that say…” and “… were blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits”, Dean Rooke argued that if The Articles of Religion continue to be presented without further explanation, they might portray the Church of Ireland in an unfair and inaccurate light.

“We must respect the theological integrity of the past” he said, “but now, in light of the Hard Gospel process, and from a willingness to see from another person’s perspective […] we are asking you to agree that your Declaration is no longer confined to the 1999 Journal of the General Synod.

The Revd Dr Eric Culbertson (Armagh) argued that the Declaration acts as a weakening of the Church of Ireland’s commitment to The Articles of Religion.

“The Scriptures instruct us to speak truth with love. The plain truth is that in all the essentials of our Church and in all the essentials of the Roman Catholic Church, the position has not changed” he said.

“If we include this Declaration in The Book of Common Prayer, we will confuse people.

“They (the Articles of Religion) are not part of our faith, they are the ‘rule of our faith’” he continued, finally asking members of the General Synod “why must we be always watering things down in the Church of Ireland?”

The Bishop of Cashel, the Right Revd Michael Burrows, responded by saying that he approved of the insertion of the Declaration above The Articles of Religion, stating that “I do not want to weaken the Thirty Nine Articles, I want to liberate them from the language of their time.”

Explaining that he refers people to the Declaration regularly, especially new members to the Church of Ireland, he again reiterated his view that the Declaration was a liberating one.

“It liberates (the Articles) from the polemic of their time […] to recover timeless truths.”

The Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr John Neill, also commended the Declaration. In particular he emphasized the first paragraph of the declaration, which he said explained “the particular standing of Scripture in terms of revelation, then it introduces us to the historic journey to which we are part as Anglicans.”

The resolution was passed by both orders of the House of Representatives.