Standing Committee & RB
January 2005 meeting
STANDING COMMITTEE
JANUARY 2005
New Honorary Secretary
Canon Ian Ellis, Rector of St John?s Parish, Newcastle and editor of the Gazette, was elected as the new northern clerical Honorary Secretary of the General Synod following the resignation of Dean Herbie Cassidy in December 2004. The other Honorary Secretaries are Lady Sheil (Down), Mr Sam Harper (Cashel and Ossory) and Very Revd Des Harman ( Dublin).
Large Print Hymnal
A further reprint of 5,500 copies of the large print edition of the Church Hymnal will bring the total number printed so far to 25,500 copies. In addition 1500 copies of a presentation version will soon be available.
Tsunami Disaster
Bishop Michael Mayes, Limerick, chairman of the Bishops? Appeal Committee, said the Church of Ireland response to the tsunami disaster had been most generous. The total amount received so far by Bishops? Appeal is just over £430,000. Bishop Harold Miller, Down and Dromore, confirmed that the CMS Ireland ?Families for Families? appeal co-ordinated by Seapatrick Parish, Banbridge has sent 1.5 million items of clothing to Thailand. Bishop Alan Harper, Connor, commended the initiative of Dean Houston McKelvey in extending the Belfast Cathedral Sitout and raising £1.4 million.
Windsor Report
The Standing Committee discussed an interim response to the Lambeth Commission on Communion report ? the Windsor Report ? to be forwarded on behalf of the Church of Ireland to the Anglican Primates? Meeting to be held in Dromantine Retreat and Conference Centre, near Newry, from 21 to 25 February 2005.
The Hard Gospel
The International Fund for Ireland, under its Community Bridges Programme, offered a grant of £300,000 over a three-year period. The Standing Committee accepted this offer on the basis of matching funding from the Church of Ireland in support of the aims and objectives of the hard Gospel Committee. A programme of work has now been approved and three full-time staff will be appointed to implement and manage the scheme.
Archdeacon David Chillingworth
Archbishop Robin Eames welcomed Archdeacon Chillingworth to the January meeting of the Standing Committee to outline the Hard Gospel project, and warmly congratulated him on his selection to be the next Bishop of St Andrews. Archdeacon Chillingworth will be consecrated in Perth Cathedral on Friday, 11 March 2005.
Parish Development
The Parish Development Committee is to launch an information strategy setting out key challenges for parish mission and ministry. A Parish Development web page will be set up on the Church of Ireland site and a series of articles will feature in the Church of IrelandGazette and diocesan magazines from February 2005. A core team will be available to speak to various audiences. A residential seminar will be held in St Patrick?s College, Drumcondra from 22 to 24 September 2006 when the keynote speaker will be Ian Coffey, author of ?Church Next?. As part of this initiative two contrasting parishes will be chosen as pilots to demonstrate how the principles of parish development are working out in practice. Rev Paul Hoey, Church Pastoral Aid Society Consultant, is chairman of the Parish Development Committee.
Delegates
Rt Rev Alan Harper, Bishop of Connor, and Mr H T Morrison will attend the general Assembly of the Presbyterian Church to be held in Belfast from 6 to 10 June 2005.
Most Rev Dr Robin Eames and Mr G A Forbes will attend the Conference of the Methodist Church in Ireland to be held in Portadown from 10 to 14 June 2005.
Ven David Pierpoint will attend the Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends to be held in Dublin from 31 March to 3 April 2005.
Ms Stella Mew will attend the Fifth Assembly of the European Christian Environmental Network (ECEN) meeting in Basel, Switzerland from 4 to 8 May 2005. The theme of the Assembly is The Churches? Contribution to a Sustainable Europe.
The following will represent the Church of Ireland at the next Irish Inter-Church Meeting to be held in Cork on 5 and 6 May 2005: Rev Dr A McCormack, Rev Canon G Hastings, Ms C O?Laoire, Rev P McGlinchey, Rev G Clunie, Mr T Morrow and Mr G Casey.