Members of the Diocesan Synod,

I welcome you all to this meeting of the Synod and pray that Almighty God will guide and bless us as we transact the work given to us.

GRATITUDE

Due to the urgent renovation work in St Patrick’s Cathedral it was necessary to hold our customary Holy Communion service in St Mark’s, Armagh. I thank Canon McKegney and the Select Vestry for their help and hospitality this morning.

CATHEDRAL APPEAL

In doing so I take this opportunity to remind the Diocesan Synod of the current appeal for parochial help with the necessary repairs to our Cathedral. I thank those parishes which have already given their support to this appeal but I have to remind those which have not that the need for support is urgent and necessary.

I have taken as the general theme of my Address this year the concept of ‘community’.

NORTHERN IRELAND

The past few weeks in Northern Ireland have produced further evidence that this society is experiencing a redefinition of what we mean by ‘community'. There were widespread hopes that the political aspects of the Peace Process might move forward to permit the re-establishment of structures for devolved power-sharing government. Suddenly those moves came to a halt. Time alone will disclose why. The truth is that we were built up to expect a careful presentation of events where agreement had been reached between governments and political parties. The level of that expectation resulted from clear indications that something dramatic had taken place through discussion, dialogue and action by the paramilitary dimension of Republicanism. Undoubtedly that process had moved a long way. But not for the first time in our history the final step proved a bridge too far. Risks had been taken and undertakings exchanged.

Political stability is like most aspects of the Peace Process a sensitive issue. I do not believe this is a time for recrimination. Rather it is a time to encourage everyone involved in the political arena to try yet again.

The relation of those recent events to the idea of a community is simply this. A true and lasting community at peace with itself must embody trust. Trust was what suffered most during our thirty odd years of violent mayhem. So any step forward must evolve around genuine trust. Trust that we can believe in each other. Trust that we mean what we say. Trust that we can depend on each other. Those factors define the sort of community we seek and the sort of community we deserve.

‘Transparency’ has become the latest word in our communal vocabulary. But it is about ordinary trust. We have come a very long way. Let us pray that within the political arena basic trust can become a reality and produce the sort of community where people of all traditions no longer need to doubt the intentions of their neighbours.

That redefining of what we mean by ‘community’ applies far beyond the political sphere. There is a growing evidence that while many parts of this Province have witnessed genuine progress in relationships in other parts tensions and divisions continue to dominate lives. Political stability will move a long way to addressing those tensions – but much more than politics are involved.

As matters stand at present Northern Ireland will face an election. People are asking – ‘an election to what?’. Personally I welcome this opportunity for people who do not occupy the ‘centre stage’ to express their political preferences. Whatever follows an election will be influenced by the opinions expressed at the Ballot Box. Unfortunately, and perhaps naturally, recent events or the lack of them have engendered a sense of alienation from politics on the part of many. That alienation is highly dangerous.

I urge everyone to take the democratic opportunity to exercise their vote at this election. It is their right and it is their duty. Carefully and prayerfully Church people must record their vote. How they do so is a matter for individual conscience. But vote they should and must.

We would be forgiven for believing that only political issues determine the nature of a community.

The plain truth is that what finally determines the definition of community lies in the hands of ordinary people in their daily lives. Political institutions can provide a framework for stability – they cannot enforce or compel human understanding, human relationships or human reconciliation. Sectarianism has been a part of our story for generations. Today it is still alive and well. Memories of the past dominate our attitude to the present and the unknown future. There is the naked face of sectarianism on our streets. There is the ‘respectable sectarianism’ of our attitudes.

The Church of Ireland has taken a major step towards facing up to the pressure of sectarianism. The Report ‘The Hard Gospel’ asks searching questions about our lives as members of this Church. Soon we will have an opportunity to look at that document as a diocese. I hope other Christian denominations will follow our example. But I also pray we will treat what that Report discloses honestly and prayerfully.

I have arranged for a special meeting of this Synod to be held on the evening of Thursday 4 December next. I ask you all to keep that date clear so that we may discuss this vital issue as a diocesan family.

There is one other aspect of sectarianism which confronts us all in a new and sinister manner.

The upsurge in racialism in our community is serious. Attacks on people because of their ethnic or religious origins are to be deplored and utterly condemned. In redefining the nature of a community racialism must have no part. I ask the Synod to join me in condemning all aspects of this new and dangerous phenomena.

THE PARISH MINISTRY

Now I turn to another aspect of community – the community of the parish.

I want to share with the Diocesan Synod my concerns on the question of parochial staffing and parochial vacancies in this diocese. I want to place my thinking in the context of Ministry as a whole.

I am always loath to use the word ‘crisis’ in Church affairs but we could be excused for believing that we face something like a crisis at this time throughout the Church of Ireland at the level of incumbencies.

At present there are five vacant parochial groupings in our diocese. This will rise in the early new year to six or more. We have at least three or four opportunities for a curate-assistant vacant. Those figures pale into insignificance when we look to the two most populated dioceses of our Church : Connor and Down and Dromore. In one of these cases in coming months the figure of vacant parishes will reach fourteen. The process of Boards of Nomination is of course confidential but it is no secret that filling vacancies in the smaller country parishes is extremely difficult. We are suffering throughout the Church of Ireland from the fact that in the 1940’s a large number of clergy began their ministry and of course a similar number reached retirement in recent years. While the numbers seeking entry to our training programme are encouraging many more are needed if we are to even approach a satisfactory supply in years to come.

First, let me say something about lengthy vacancies.

The truth is that once a vacancy occurs in a country parish in this diocese we cannot guarantee a short inter regnum. In that situation parishioners can no longer expect the level of parochial normality which is their due with a resident Rector. For some years through careful planning we have sought to provide a similar pattern of worship for such parishes through the good offices of retired clergy or readers. We cannot do so from now on. Rural Deans are being asked to provide extensive pastoral care cover in cases of sickness or other urgent need. But parishioners of a vacant parish in Armagh diocese must now accept that the pattern of their regular worship cannot be provided on the same basis once that vacancy occurs. I look at each vacancy carefully, but as a general statement I have to warn that a vacancy now means change. Reluctantly I have to ask those concerned to accept this fact and to understand the reason for it.

I pay tribute to the Archdeacon who has the unenviable task of arranging services for our parishes during vacancies or illness. I thank our Rural Deans for their wonderful work often under great difficulty in covering the needs of vacancies. I thank our retired clergy for their magnificent help and our Readers for their support. Without such willing help we would find it impossible to provide even a minimum programme of Sunday services in some cases.

Second, I want to say something about the parochial system.

For most of us here today the parish has been the bed-rock of our Church life. The parochial system has provided the local basis for our life as Anglican Christians for generations. Rightly or wrongly it has provided a picture of settled Church life with a Rector known to all its parishioners. ‘Settled’ is the best word to describe that historic principle of life in the Church of Ireland. There was a sense of dependence, reliability, relationships and familiarity about it all. Times have changed and that change is not just due to difficulties in filling vacancies.

People’s expectation of a parish have changed. People’s needs have changed. People’s life-styles have changed. Patterns of life on a Sunday have changed. Parochial organisations mid-week face a changing picture as they compete with many interests in the secular society. Youth organisations all speak of a new set of needs on the part of our young. The local school has become more and more a centre for family involvement during the week. Both parents at work have changed the pattern of family life. The list of change goes on and on.

It is within such a picture of life that the Church of Ireland parochial unit has existed with little change all these years.

It cannot go on the same way.

I hope I am not being over dramatic when I say in many cases the parochial system has outlived its usefulness. A radical rethink is essential.

For example, let me use that dreaded word ‘amalgamation’ - not in a negative but a positive sense. Am I being too radical to visualise team ministries in the future of clergy and trained laity covering large rural areas and providing pastoral care and divine worship on a new basis?

Sometimes in our history God has compelled us to think of new structures by forcing us to face facts in Church life. Is this such a case? Is this such a time?

I have been interested to listen to the thinking emanating from the Summit on Ministry Conference of the Church of Ireland. Fresh ideas about ministry are coming to the surface. We must examine such ideas with an open mind. What I am saying about parish life also requires forward thinking.

I have already mentioned our Diocesan and Parish Readers. We have a system of training of readers in this diocese second to none. I again acknowledge the work of Canon Michael Kennedy and his colleagues. Are we making the best use of our Readers? Rectors must recognise that when a parishioner becomes a Parish Reader they should be used regularly during divine worship. Rectors must also recognise that when a parishioner qualifies as a Diocesan Reader he or she must be available every Sunday to help in the Diocese. They cannot be an unpaid curate in their own parish alone.

In this connection of change I want to float one more personal thought on Ministry.

The diaconate has by tradition been viewed as the first step in ministry leading on to priesthood. But the diaconate is much more than a mere stepping-stone. It is a vital part of ministry as a whole. Surely there is a case for establishing the diaconate as a more permanent aspect of ministry. The phrase I refer to is of course ‘a permanent diaconate’. There are many lay members of our Church who I feel would welcome the chance to be ordained as a deacon to serve in Holy Orders without seeking to see it as a step to priesthood. Such a ministry would not just be a great help to the ordained ministry as whole but would say much about the theology of ministry.

These are just some of the points which I have been conscious of as I pray and plan the work of our diocese.

It is a time of change. But it is a time of excitement for the Church of God. Let us pray our way into this new era and have the courage to move into uncharted waters.

ANGLICAN COMMUNION ISSUES

Now we turn to another question of what community means.

Later today we will hear about some of the many ways the Church of Ireland in general and this diocese in particular reaches out to the life of fellow Christians in other parts of our world family, the Anglican Communion. The Church of Ireland is a small but historic part of that family. We will hear of our involvement in the work of missionary societies, youth projects, visits overseas, humanitarian relief, exchange visits for clergy and laity and our financial support for education overseas. The ties we enjoy with fellow Anglicans are best summed up for me personally by the title given to a report some years ago – “Bonds of Affection”. Those bonds far outweigh, legal rules or the lack of them.

At times in any family problems arise because differences occur. That is inevitable. But the important aspect of such differences is how we deal with them, how we address their implications and again, what they say about the nature of that word ‘community’.

In the Christian sense the fellowship of believers is a ‘community’. It is made up of ‘all sorts and conditions’ of people. The common bond is allegiance to the things of Almighty God in worship and life.

Within that part of the Christian community we call ‘the Anglican Communion’ recent events have questioned the basis of common life and witness. We have been reminded of our differences. We have been confronted with ‘unity in diversity’. The question of different interpretations of Holy Scripture and the different approaches to patterns of human behaviour have compelled the Anglican Communion to face up to difference.

I do not intend to devote much time in this Address to a detailed recital of the facts which confront our community, the Anglican Communion. I am fully aware that there are many who feel deeply on the issues which have arisen in the Diocese of New Hampshire, U.S.A., and New Westminster, Canada. I recognise that feelings are being expressed on many aspects of these developments within our own Church of Ireland. I am equally aware that for many of us there are other questions of great importance confronting the mission of the Church today.

Let me state the position as clearly as I can at this time. I turn to the Resolution 1.10 of the Lambeth Conference of 1998 which stated the mind of the large majority of bishops on sexuality but also, and this is not always remembered, called on the Communion to pray and reflect on such questions. I turn to the Church of Ireland bishops’ letter a few weeks ago which called for reflection and calm debate. I turn to the recent communiqué of the Primates following our meeting at Lambeth Palace.

1. Holy Scripture is the centre of our Christian pilgrimage and understanding.
2. Difference of interpretation of Scripture must never permit any erosion of the centrality of the Word of God to His Church.
3. Holy Matrimony involving a man and a woman blessed by God is the norm recognised, proclaimed and supported by the Church.
4. Recent events in the United States and Canada do not represent the mind of the Anglican Communion as a whole.
5. The love of God reaches out to humanity with its message of forgiveness, reconciliation and renewal and the Gospel imperative is to show compassion and to seek understanding. But this does not mean that the Church should decline to set standards and adhere to its own teaching as it understands the will of God. Central to that must be the loving prompting of God.
6. The ordination of anyone to the diaconate, priesthood or episcopate in the Church of Ireland known to be engaged in an active homosexual relationship would be in conflict with the mind and accepted practice of this Church.

I say these things as one who has always emphasised the pastoral ministry of the Church to “all sorts and conditions” of humanity. I speak as one who holds open the door of Christian fellowship to all who seek the presence of Christ. I speak as one who has solemnly vowed to uphold the teaching of my Church as Archbishop. I speak as one who will continue as much as lies within me to search for God’s will in this and in all matters.

I pray and ask you to pray that Almighty God will give grace to the Anglican Communion, that international world community to which we belong, at this time of differing views and that our real mission of proclaiming the Gospel to the world may not be diverted.

Beyond the sensitivities or personal attitudes to human behaviour is the crucial question of how our Anglican family manages its affairs. How do we deal with different attitudes? How do we address different cultures?

Soon the Archbishop of Canterbury will announce an international Commission to seek ways of guiding us in this complex scene. It will be no easy task. But under God it is a task which must not be avoided. Unless we find an agreed way of dealing with difference our mission as a world Communion or international community will suffer. May God guide all members of this family in these days.

A COMMUNITY OF CHARITY

There is a final aspect of the Christian community to which I wish to direct the attention of Synod.

High among the list of Christian characteristics spelt out in the New Testament is that of ‘charity’.

Charity is not always an ever-present feature of contemporary life. Charity has much more to remind us of than money. Charity in the New Testament sense includes that precious ingredient we call either compassion or kindness. Sometimes, just sometimes, we see compassion and kindness more obviously in the wider community than we do in the Church. If we ever allow compassion or kindness to each other to deteriorate the true meaning of the Christian community will be lost. There should be no place in the Church for a lack of genuine compassion and kindness to each other. Let that be remembered when we feel strongly about something. Let that be remembered when we feel a point of principle has to be made. Let that be a reminder of the greatest compassion and charity we have which calls out to us from the Cross of Calvary. Let compassion and kindness be an on-going characteristic of what it means to be a Christian community.

THANKS

I have many people to acknowledge with thanks this year in the life of our Diocese.

In particular I think of the staff in Church House, Armagh.

We thank Mrs Jane Leighton our Diocesan Secretary for all her work and care for the business of this Diocese during the year. We thank her assistant, Mrs Jennifer Kirkland, for all she has done – not least in connection with this Synod.

Once again you will all join with me in thanking Mrs Roberta Haffey, my secretary, who after 16 years of patience, support and understanding continues to be such an attribute to all our work.

The Reverend Brian Parker, the Church of Ireland Press Officer, is once again supervising our links with the media today and I thank him for his work throughout this past year.

May God bless you all.