Standing Committee & RB03 Feb 09

January 2009 Standing Committee News

27 January 2009

The Standing Committee of the General Synod met in Dublin on 27 January 2009. The meeting opened with a scripture reading and prayer. Silence was observed in memory of a former Honorary Secretary, the late Revd Canon Charles Carter.

Clerical Honorary Secretary
The Archbishop of Armagh reported that the Revd Canon Dr Ian M. Ellis had retired from his post as Honorary Secretary in order to pursue specific writing projects this year and thanked him for his service, praising his organisational capacity and his considerable ecumenical engagement. Archbishop Harper said that he would be very much missed. Mr Sam Harper also paid tribute to Canon Ellis on behalf of the Honorary Secretaries. Lady Sheil outlined the procedure for electing a new Clerical Honorary Secretary from the Province of Armagh: an election will be held at the 10 March meeting of Standing Committee and names should be proposed before or on that date. The newly elected person will hold office until the eve of the next meeting of General Synod (8 May).

Appointments
The Most Revd Richard Clarke, Bishop of Meath and Kildare, was appointed as a member of the Covenant Council and as the Church of Ireland co-Chair of the Covenant Council, following the resignation of the Bishop of Down and Dromore from those posts.

On the recommendation of the Central Communications Board, the Revd Dr R Tosh, Senior Producer at BBC Radio Ulster was appointed as a member of the Broadcasting Committee.

Further Appointments: Interchangeability of Ministry Working Group
It was resolved to appoint a number of people to this Working Group in order to examine the report ‘Interchangeability of Ministry and Episcope: Key Issues for the Churches’ and any responses from the House of Bishops or others and to provide recommendations to Standing Committee on the matter. Representing the House of Bishops: the Rt Revd Ken Good and the Rt Revd Michael Burrows; for the Covenant Council: the Very Revd NK Dunne and another yet to be appointed; for the Commission on Ministry: the Very Revd SM Patterson and Mr SR Harper; for the Commission on Unity and Dialogue: Revd FJ McDowell and Miss CS Turner; for legal representation, Revd SE Doogan; and representing the Honorary Secretaries, the Ven. REB White.

Courts and Tribunals
The appointment of those elected by Diocesan Synods to hold office as members of the Complaints Committee was ratified by the Standing Committee. This follows the legislative changes made by the General Synod of 2008 in dealing with ecclesiastical discipline and the system of courts and tribunals of the Church of Ireland. The following are those appointed by diocese: Armagh: Revd SRT Boyd, Mrs E Harkness; Clogher: Revd Canon JW Stewart, Dr N Baxter; Derry and Raphoe: Revd Canon D Ferry, Mrs A Fletcher; Down and Dromore: Revd SE Doogan, Mr M Hunter; Connor: Very Revd JFA Bond, Mr G Briggs; Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh: Very Revd A Williams, Miss M Cunningham; Tuam, Killala and Achonry: Ven GL Hastings, Mr D Auchmuty; Dublin and Glendalough: Revd Canon JE McCullagh, Mr DG Perrin; Meath and Kildare: Very Revd R Jones, Mr R Colton; Cashel, Ossory and Ferns: Very Revd TR Lester, Mr B Kemp; Cork, Cloyne and Ross: Ven REB White, Mr JAD Bird; Limerick, Killaloe and Ardfert: Revd Canon R Warren, Mr T Morrow. Members of the Complaints Committee appointed by Standing Committee: Mr A Walker BL and Mr P Good BL.

While it was pointed out that the Ordinal formed a code of practice for clergy, it was agreed that further codification and procedures must be developed in line with the common practice of other Anglican churches.

Anglican Communion Covenant
An amended response from the Standing Committee on the Anglican Communion Covenant was agreed, which will now be forwarded to the Joint Standing Committee of the Primates of the Anglican Communion and the Anglican Consultative Council. The request seeks to establish Provincial commitment to the St Andrew’s Draft of the Anglican Covenant and views on Provincial ‘in-principle’ commitments to the Covenant process; an indication of synodical processes involved in adopting a Covenant; and any changes necessary to make adoption of a Covenant viable. The Church of Ireland’s full response is available at: www.ireland.anglican.org and www.anglicancommunion.org.

Grants for Publications
The following grants were agreed on the recommendation of the Literature Committee, to be made from the General Synod Royalties Fund: €2,000 to Search to assist with short term cash flow; €850 to the Very Revd Dr RB MacCarthy to subvent the publication by Four Courts Press of a study of Dean JH Bernard (representing half of the subvention sought by Four Courts Press); €3,500 to APCK for the production of a leaflet on marriage; €1,000 to Revd Canon DWT Crooks to subvent the publication by the Ulster Historical Foundation of Clergy of Kilmore, Elphin & Ardagh; and €500 to the Hard Gospel Committee to print a Directory of Migrant-led Churches and Chaplaincies by Dr L Thompson and Dr A Bruce.

Representation of Women in Church Structures
The Rt Revd Michael Burrows, Bishop of Cashel and Ossory reported on his recent attendance at the meeting of the Governing Body of the Church in Wales, noting in particular its decision to embark upon a process aimed at bringing about better representation of women on certain central committees. Bishop Burrows drew attention to the gender imbalance on committees within the Church of Ireland. There was broad agreement that the issue should be addressed seriously and that the Hard Gospel Implementation Group should set gender imbalance as one of its key priorities going forward.

Church of Ireland Youth Department
CIYD submitted a report on its activity during 2008 which was received with interest. The report highlighted the wide range of youth activities and programmes being undertaken across Ireland including at parish level the work of seven JUMP programme interns. On behalf of Standing Committee, the Bishop of Derry and Raphoe expressed thanks to the outgoing President of CIYD, the Bishop of Tuam, for both the report and his work in this field; the Bishop of Connor is now taking on this role.