Standing Committee & RB
Standing Committee News - September 2006
The Standing Committee of the General Synod met on Tuesday, 19th September 2006.
Charities Legislation
The Honorary Secretaries reported on the establishment of a working group to review recent proposed changes in charities legislation in both Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Review of Committees
An interim report from the Honorary Secretaries on the review of committees will be put before the Standing Committee in November. To date, the Secretaries have identified four important areas in Church life into which the work of the various committees can be divided: Ministry & Mission, Social Affairs, Policy Affairs, and Inter-Church Relations / Interfaith Issues. While the current committee structure has served the Church of Ireland well for many years, the Honorary Secretaries feel that it is a good time to take stock and consider how the Church can best move forward in this new century.
General Synod 2008
After considering a number of different venues, the Honorary Secretaries recommended that the 2008 General Synod take place on the 13th, 14th and 15th May in the Radisson SAS Hotel, Galway. This was agreed by the Standing Committee.
Budget
Recommendations from the Budget Sub-Committee were received by the Standing Committee and agreed. These will now be forwarded on to the Allocations Committee of the Representative Church Body.
Anglican Communion Covenant
A Consultation Paper, produced by the Anglican Consultative Council Joint Standing Committee and entitled Towards an Anglican Covenant, was received by the Standing Committee. After much discussion it was agreed that a number of questions still remained unanswered and a working group was established with the task of formulating questions to be put to the ACC regarding the proposed Covenant for the Anglican Communion.
Synodical Reform
The Standing Committee received a request from the Diocesan Synod of Down and Dromore to bring forward, within three years, legislation regarding the more equitable representation of the clergy and the laity at General Synod. It was agreed that the Honorary Secretaries would consider the issue of synodical reform again and, taking into account all the work done so far, will report to the Standing Committee by March 2007.
Parish Development
The Rt Revd Ken Clarke reported on the very successful Church 21 weekend that was held in Drumcondra on the 15th, 16th and 17th of September. He congratulated all of the 125 delegates from the 34 parishes involved and thanked the Standing Committee for initiating the parish development process now being developed by the Working Group.