A motion on diversity and participation in diocesan and Church decision making bodies was passed at Synod today. The motion called on diocesan bishops to present the statistics on gender participation to diocesan synods and other bodies and discuss the issue of gender participation in these decision making bodies in order to increase the participation of women in these bodies of the church. Further, it stated, in 2014 each committee shall review its membership with a view to expanding the diversity of participants to reflect the membership of the Church in terms of age, gender, geographical location, experience and recently arrived migrant groups.

Revd Gillian Wharton (Dublin) proposed the motion stating that the Hard Gospel committee had been looking for ways to diversify representation on decision making bodies in the Church of Ireland. She said efforts were made to improve representation from women, younger people and people from migrant communities for the last triennial elections but diversity on diocesan councils did not improve. She hoped this motion would help progress matters.

Andrew Brannigan (Down) supported the motion but felt it did not go far enough, particularly in area of reaching younger generations. He said the younger generation was already diverse and gender balanced so if younger people were drawn to the Church gender balance and diversity would follow. He suggested introducing a quota to ensure the membership of a younger generation.

Archbishop Richard Clarke said that if they were to consider introducing a quota for participation, General Synod could not take place during the week as the timing of Synod meant many people could not attend because of other commitments.

Sheila Healy Hunt (Cork Cloyne and Ross) agreed there needed to be more diversity and a quota was a good idea. But she said it was a double sided coin – the Church needed to reach out to younger people but they were nervous about going forward for committees because they didn’t know what was expected of them.

Ethne Harkness (Armagh) drew attention to diversity of experience. “This could be used to address an issue which was brought to our attention yesterday about the inclusion of people from working class backgrounds. That kind of life experience would bring a lot to our committees,” she stated.

Blair Halliday (Dublin) said the problem came from vestries. He said women must take some of the blame because they did not allow themselves be put forward at Easter Vestries. Until the parishes do something, dioceses can’t, he contended.

Canon McClay (Down) suggested that during the forthcoming statistics gathering, places be allocated according to those statistics. He said dioceses and parishes should be invited to set targets for growth that would be measured by church attendance. He suggested that places on Synod could be allocated according to those statics.

Jonathan Harper (Armagh) supported the motion and the idea of quotas for the under 45s which were underrepresented on Synod. He wondered if the 18 to 45 year olds felt that their church looked on them as being too young to lead despite the fact that they had roles of responsibility in their professional lives. He said it was time to empower these people.

Catherine Simpson (Connor) supported the motion said Synod must be more inclusive and more representative of congregations.

Eileen Cremmin (Cork) said she had been on numerous committees and said she had got her place because of the generosity of other people not putting themselves forward. Maybe people who had been on committees for a long time needed to think about whether it was time to step aside to give others a chance, she said.

Martin Mountgomery (Dromore), a youth worker, said that the aspirations of young people were being cut down by governments and the Church needed to give them a voice if if was to remain grounded and relevant.

Leslie Robinson (Killaloo) said that if young people were to attend the time of year of Synod must also be examined as it fell in the middle of exams. Also young people saw diocesan synods as being archaic and irrelevant and that needed to be addressed.

George Woodward (Down) said he felt he was an endangered species and that the motion called on some of people to fall on the collective sword.

Shirley Griffith (Church in Wales) suggested that Synod was setting its sights too low as the Church in Wales’ governing body had places reserved for the under 30s.