Day 4
Richness of Christian Unity Highlighted at General Synod
Christian Unity is a laudable goal but Jesus linked unity with mission. So said Bishop Andrew Forster in proposing the report of the Commission for Christian Unity and Dialogue at Synod on line on Thursday evening (May 16).
Bishop Forster set out the reasons for the Commission for Christian Unity and Dialogue’s existence which is to promote the vision for Christian unity within the Church of Ireland. For many, he said, the quest for unity was a personal journey as their ecumenical journey moves from acquaintanceship, to friendship to being family.
That richness was celebrated in the last year with the centenary of the Irish Council of Churches. He said that the original six members of the ICC – the Church of Ireland, Presbyterian Church, Non–Subscribing Presbyterian Church, Methodist Church, Moravian Church, Congregational Union, and the Religious Society of Friends/Quakers – came together in the midst and aftermath of terrible turmoil in Ireland because they believed that they had a better story than division, hurt and pain. He said that belief continued today.
He recalled the centenary service in St Anne’s Cathedral when one of the preachers, Dr Harold Good, said they chose to be prisoners of hope. Archbishop Eamonn Martin was the other preacher as it was also the 50th anniversary of the Irish Interchurch Meeting with the Catholic Church.
“I believe this Synod should feel hugely grateful to be part of the ecumenical journey with the ICC over the last 100 years, that we are still prisoners of hope and there is still much to do,” he commented. “If this is so high on our Lord’s priority list it must be high up our priority list. It must be precious to us and precious things need to be handled with care. There is a danger in all Christian churches that we allow the fracturing nature of the world around us pollute our vision.”
Cate Turner seconded the report and said that the Anglican Ecumenical Affairs Working Group was looking through the recommendations of the ACC last year and would then refer them to the relevant commissions. She reminded Synod that ACC 19 will take place in Ireland in 2026.
Turning to the marking of the Armagh Agreement with the Moravian Church in Ballymena and Gracehill in March, Ms Turner said it was a very special moment. The special relationship came after 14 years of dialogue and consideration, she said explaining that this was partly because of very different geographical boundaries.
Canon Dr Maurice Elliott (Dublin) drew the attention of Synod to the Global Christian Forum Movement which was initiated by the World Council of Churches 25 years ago to allow for the sharing of faith stories. He said this was a manifestation of Christian Unity and encouraged CCUD to discover more about it and to highlight the method the forum uses which might be of use to the Church of Ireland.
Bishop Sarah Groves of the Moravian Church said it was a pleasure to represent the Moravian Church at Synod. She talked about the Armagh agreement. “It is a wonderful thing that we can have interchangeability of ministry and that our two churches can grow closer. It should be possible for Moravian Christians to find warm homes in Church of Ireland churches and vice versa,” she stated. “It is two years since the Armagh Agreement was passed. Since then life has been given to the paper and ink resolutions.”
She thanked Bishop Burrows for his support and thanked everyone who made the celebrations in Ballymena and Gracehill possible. The Archbishop said on the day what belongs together is now together but, she observed, the real challenge was staying together so the real work has begun to work together for the Kingdom of God.
Dean Niall Sloane paid tribute to Canon Dr Kenneth Milne who is retiring after decades of service to CCUD. He said Dr Milne brought an encyclopedic knowledge to everything he was involved in in the Church of Ireland and they are privileged to have him involved in CCUD.
The Revd Timothy Anderson raised the concern of Anglicans in the Global South about Anglicanism in the West. He referred to the Archbishop of Rwanda who speaks of a tear in the fabric of the Anglican Communion. He said it was important to acknowledge these realities in the wider communion and keep the matters before Synod.
The Revd Philip McKinley said that the Moravian Church had a presence outside the Province of Armagh. He said he grew up beside 400 Moravians but they were all dead. He grew up in the Rectory in Whitchurch which was beside the Moravian Cemetery, God’s Acre. He commended the Armagh Agreement.
The Archbishop of Armagh reported that at the Primates’ meeting in Rome recently there was good conversation and an acknowledgement that work needs to be done on those relationships within the Anglican Communion. He said there were mechanisms in train to repair that tear. A lot of primates from the Global South were there, he said although the Archbishop of Rwanda was not.
A membership motion for CCUD was passed as follows: Rev David White, Very Rev Niall Sloane, The Archbishop of Dublin, The Bishop of Derry, Rev Canon Dr Daniel Nuzum, Rev Dr Christine O’Dowd Smyth, Rev Suzanne Cousins, Ms Cate Turner, Ms Gina Copty, Rev Abigail Sines, Rev Canon Kevin O’Brien, Mr Femi Atoyebi, Dr Bridget Nichols and Dr Ryan Hawk.