On the eve of the 2010 General Synod the Church of Ireland’s Boards of Social Responsibility in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (lately Board of Social Action NI) ceased existence to make way for a new Board of Social Theology in Action, combining their work and also that of the Church in Society Committee.

Two figures involved with the Board of Social Responsibility/Action NI – longstanding Board Member, Dr Joan Turner, and its current Chief Executive, Mr Ian Slaine, spoke to Church of Ireland Press Officer Paul Harron about some of their strongest recollections of its work.

Canon Edgar & Dr Joan Turner

Background

Dr Turner’s husband, Canon Edgar Turner, has provided helpful historical background on the development of the Board:-

‘The Board of Social Responsibility (NI) was established in 1969, “with a view to co-ordinating and eventually amalgamating the work and functions of the Church of Ireland Moral Welfare Association (Northern Dioceses) with the several Diocesan Temperance Societies in the North of Ireland (Connor, Down and Dromore, Armagh, Clogher and Derry)” … Its Chairman, with three Vice-Chairmen, were to be spokesmen for the Church of Ireland under the following three main headings: (i) Personal Welfare, (ii) Social Welfare, (iii) Home and Family Welfare. The Board was to report annually to the General Synod and also to the respective Diocesan Synods.’

At the instigation of Bishop Arthur Butler, and promoted by Bishop William McCappin, the Board was re-organised by Resolution of General Synod (Journal 1986 page lxxvii) which amalgamated the work. The functions of the Church of Ireland Social and Family Welfare Association (Northern Dioceses) meant dealing  with practical issues and individual cases - while the work and functions of the Church of Ireland Board for Social Responsibility (NI) which had concentrated largely on raising and discussing social issues. The three sub-committees of the original Board were increased to four, (1) Personal Welfare; (2) Social Welfare; (3) Home and Family Welfare; and a sub-committee on development to promote action and service. This last sub-committee oversaw the incorporated agency of the Church of Ireland Adoption Society (NI).

Joan Turner

Dr Joan Turner

How and when did you get involved as a BSR board member?

I was appointed to the Board of Social Responsibility in 1988 as Connor representative of Down, Dromore & Connor Social Services Committee. I can still remember the two small offices in the former Church House in Talbot Street where the secretary, Mrs Iris Ebbage, worked on a small typewriter. The office eventually got a basic computer and our daughter, Kate, was the only person available to teach her how to use it.  

My earliest memories are of our quarterly meetings where we got to know what the various Diocesan Social Services Committees were doing. Each diocese was concentrating on different things. For example, in 1988, Down, Dromore and Connor were examining issues of child abuse, road safety and the Belfast Urban Plan; Clogher, meanwhile, was studying the elderly; Derry family relationships; and Armagh discussing the many changes in Social Benefits (1988 Journal, p.298). One got a real feel for the great range of interests converging from across Northern Ireland – things happening at grass-roots level, being discussed by all. Much of this close examination work was later taken on by the Church in Society Committee, and also these days more social problems are widely aired in media on radio and television.

What changes did you see over time?

In 1987 BSR had joined with the Social and Family Welfare Association with its  much older Adoption Society, and they all worked from the one small office. Today BSA and Adoption Routes work from a suite of specially designed offices in Heron Road. Part of the organisation’s welfare programme had been to look after poor and homeless people. On a daily basis, people would arrive at the office asking for money – whereas now we care for children and families and it is the clergy who apply on behalf of the families needing support – using special forms.

For a while the Association ran a call-in centre in St George’s Church for wives, often with small children in tow, who had nowhere else to wait while their maintenance claims were coming before the courts. The present Chief Executive, Ian Slaine, has told me that his predecessors’ careful and relevant notes were praised by the authorities and were subsequently used as the foundation of up-to-date guidelines.

The Adoption Society – now Adoption Routes – had one Social Worker originally and now it has five. There were always more people wanting to adopt than there were children for adoption. In the past most children put forward for adoption were babies, whereas now it is more often older children who are available for adoption. Changes have taken place in terms of training for panel members, in the careful reviewing of adoption cases and in the support available for those who have been adopted in accessing their birth histories. Another notable development has been the increased interaction and help provided between the different adoption agencies. (Ref. 2008 Journal p.349)  

What are your lasting impressions from your involvement with the Board?

There was a huge diversity of people involved in the Board, clergy and laity with special social skills, coming from all walks of life, all doing different things and trying to work together to improve the social conditions of the Church of Ireland. Working with this diversity of people from such rich and varied experiences and varied backgrounds was, perhaps, what I valued most.

Ian Slaine

Mr Ian Slaine

What are your impressions of the work of the Board?

The amalgamation of the Church of Ireland’s Social and Family Welfare Association with the Church of Ireland Adoption Society in order to form the Board of Social Responsibility NI (later Social Action NI) was an effort to both provide practical services to people and to comment on social legislation. In order to achieve the necessary impact, it relied on both the input of the staff and volunteers. Board members put in a huge amount of time, energy and commitment.

Also, each of the Chairmen during my time at BSR – Bishop Poyntz, Bishop Moore and Bishop Harper (as he then was) – has been very interested in promoting the Board and its work.  

I would say that as staff we have been very engaged with our Board and have been highly dependent on our active Board members who have played a vital role.

When did you take up your role at BSR and how has the work of BSR developed?

I joined in the late 1980s during the time of Bishop Samuel Poyntz’s chairmanship. It coincided with the International Year of the Family, which meant the whole family, so we looked at all aspects of family life and all types of family, from the young to the elderly. In 1988 just Patricia Gilbert and I worked together but we have since experienced growth in all areas of our work. That said, we have developed at a sensible pace.

The historical days, which Joan has mentioned, of being there for people who needed money and food have been replaced by concentrating on counselling and professional social work services. Staff are professionally trained and we also work to provide services for government agencies now. The funding situation has changed significantly – we receive Church funding from central as well as parish and diocesan sources but also from public funds for services provided.

Our work in adoption has developed with Adoption Routes and, beyond that, we are now the lead provider of fertility counselling services in Northern Ireland. As a ‘next step’, the Board will focus on social work and social care.

In the past, we were a physical part of Church of Ireland House in Belfast. While we now have moved to our own dedicated premises at Heron Road near Belfast City Airport, we maintain our links – both formal and informal – with the Church of Ireland. Although we have moved, we are still part of the Church.

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