Standing Committee & RB18 Mar 09

March 2009 Standing Committee News

The Standing Committee of the General Synod met in Dublin on 10 March 2009. The meeting opened with a scripture reading and prayer, which was followed by the reading of a joint statement by the Archbishops of Armagh and Dublin on the fatal attacks at Massereene Barracks, Antrim on 7th March and at Craigavon on 9th March. The members of Standing Committee wished to be associated with this statement which expressed outrage at the events and extended sympathy to the bereaved and injured. The full statement is published on www.ireland.anglican.org.

RCB Finances
The Chief Officer, Mr Denis Reardon, briefed Standing Committee on the seriousness of the RCB’s financial situation in the current extraordinary economic climate. Full financial details will be available in the General Synod Book of Reports in May. With the dramatic fall in investment values and the devaluation of sterling, funds held by the RCB have been significantly reduced during 2008, with General Funds down by 42 per cent. The RCB wrote in December to parishes to advise them of the effects on income from the unit trusts and will be doing so again in early May. The RCB is seeking to address the deficit in the Clergy Pension Fund through proposed injections from the RCB of capital funding together with proposed increases in Clergy/Diocesan contributions.

The Chief Officer explained that whilst the current situation provides a serious challenge it also provides an opportunity to perhaps enable changes in the way the RCB conducts and effects its business with reduced income resources. He stressed that the RCB objective was to remain in a position to be able to continue to help meet the financial needs of the central Church.

Clerical Honorary Secretary
The Revd John McDowell was elected as Clerical Honorary Secretary, a position to be held until the day previous to the next meeting of the General Synod on 8th May 2009.

General Synod 2009 Procedure Guidelines
Standing Committee approved the report of the Honorary Secretaries and the appended General Synod 2009 Procedure Guidelines. A web link has now been set up to the General Synod 2009 Procedure Guidelines document: http://synod.ireland.anglican.org/2009/index.php?id=57

Charities Legislation
Following the approval of charities legislation in both political jurisdictions, which requires charities to adopt new rules for reporting their activities, consultation with dioceses has been ongoing to consider what form of registration will enable the Church to meet its legal obligations. Round-table discussion to consider next steps is now required and bishops and diocesan representatives were invited to a meeting with the Honorary Secretaries of the General Synod and the Archbishop of Armagh’s working group on the matter during the afternoon following the meeting of Standing Committee. This meeting was to discuss issues arising from the new legislation in respect of: the new regulatory scheme; reviewing approaches to compliance in the Churches’ sector; how a diocesan structure might function; required guidance and legislation at diocesan level in order to implement such a reporting structure. Following this meeting, a further report will be made to the Standing Committee in April.

Report of the Standing Committee to the General Synod 2009
The Report of the Standing Committee to the General Synod 2009 was adopted, with the Honorary Secretaries authorised to make the necessary additions which resulted from the Standing Committee meeting.

Priorities Fund
The Archbishop of Armagh expressed thanks to those who have worked in this area. Standing Committee considered the recommendations of the Priorities Fund Committee and agreed proposals to be made to General Synod.

Hard Gospel Implementation Group
An interim report from the Hard Gospel Implementation Group was considered by Standing Committee. Proposals made were discussed and various suggestions put forward regarding how the process could be taken a step further.

Review of Committees
Standing Committee gave outline approval to proposals to take forward a restructuring of the work of the Church on social theology in action.

General Synod Royalties Fund
It was agreed that a grant of £2,000 from the Fund be made in order to print 1,000 copies of the final report on the completion of the Hard Gospel Project, to be distributed to Members of General Synod and all Church of Ireland clergy. The report is designed to not only review the achievements of the project over the past three years but to function as a resource document for future practice.

Church of Ireland Press Ltd
Mr D. O’Callaghan was appointed to the Board of Directors of Church of Ireland Press Ltd. Standing Committee agreed that its April meeting would afford an opportunity for discussion of the relationship between Standing Committee and the Board of Church of Ireland Press Ltd.

Bishops’ Appeal
The Bishop of Cashel encouraged the Church to remember the work of the World Development – Bishops’ Appeal Advisory Committee and drew the attention of Standing Committee in particular to the new project-evaluation-based role being undertaken by the Revd Ian Poulton. Bishop Burrows emphasised that the Bishops’ Appeal reminded us that despite present economic difficulties at home our problems pale in comparison to the deep levels of poverty elsewhere in the world.

ENDS