Christian ministry that reflects the needs of a fast changing society is varied and challenging and is developing rapidly within the Church of Ireland and in other communities according to speakers at the second Summit on Ministry meeting in the College of Education in Dublin on Saturday, 22 March 2003.

Representatives from all the Church of Ireland dioceses were given the opportunity to hear about and discuss a range of development models at the meeting, which offered a fascinating insight into how new ministry models are working in different social and cultural contexts.

Chairman of the Commission on Ministry, the Most Revd Richard Clarke, Bishop of Meath and Kildare, said the Summit revived his confidence in the Church of Ireland as a single church that shared a vision of the ministry of Jesus Christ.

He said: ' I hope that each representative group from the dioceses will continue to work and pray and engage in sharing ideas and in seeking ways to build up our common life and ministry together.'

Bishop Clarke added that a third Summit on Ministry would be held early next year.

The one-day event was structured around several well-prepared presentations that demonstrated the amazing variety of Christian ministry.

In an opening presentation, Mrs Janet Maxwell, Communications and Synod Services Director, used a colourful 'sticky labels' visual to explain ministry in relation to spirituality, finance, church structures and community.

Four presentations followed describing ministry in a large parish at the centre of community life, in a group of rural parishes serving a dispersed community, in a suburban parish with no community focus and in an inner city parish.

The delegates then joined groups of their own choosing to discuss one of these types. It was significant that by far the largest group gathered to discuss the experience of the grouped parishes in a rural area.

Two presentations looked at ministry in other communities.

The 'Adam and Eve' parish in Merchants Quay, Dublin is in the Roman Catholic tradition. It is run by a female Pastoral Co-ordinator and is involved in community service projects.

In a contrasting environment, the Argyll and the Isles parish is made up of 30 parishes served by eight stipendiary clergy. The challenge is to see how the local community can build a basis for shared ministry with teams emerging from the community.

In the afternoon session five presentations marked the contrasts in different approaches to ministry developments in the Church of Ireland. There was certainly no evidence of a template but a diverse, astonishing and exciting variety of solutions.

The experience of Shankill Parish, Lurgan was illustrated by an organisation chart that traced every conceivable aspect of ministry responsibilities. This ranged from an aerobics class that seeks to bring people into the church building to running confirmation classes and pragmatic support such as management of IT systems. There was a very obvious sense of laity involved and working as a team.

In a very different context St Catherine's CORE Church in Inner city Dublin emphasised the network of ministries in action and engaged in outreach to community, particularly to the most vulnerable people such a drug addicts and single parents living in area surrounding the church, although there is also considerable energy and enthusiasm for parish outreach. The congregation here is largely under-45 and has been gathered around a particular exploration of Christian ministry. Typically, they would describe themselves as 'Christian' first, and might be less conscious of the denominational label, 'Church of Ireland'.

Other approaches included the idea of appointing a professional Ministry Development Officer in each diocese.

The challenge of planting a new congregation was given an airing. It was stressed that people came first followed by the building rather than the other way round. This 'living stones' approach was illustrated by the story of the congregation in Moneyrea, Down and Dromore, who recently began holding occasional Sunday Services in the 'Auld House', a local hostelry. Some 40 parishioners from a neighbouring parish agreed to be 'planted' and weekly services are scheduled to begin in June.

Rathfarnham Parish, Dublin presented a collaborative ministry approach with the emphasis on clear lines of shared responsibility. Under the banner 'Christ First' the parish is encouraging every baptised person to exercise ministry in various ways from youth leadership to hospitality. University College Dublin is to monitor this collaborative ministry project and provide feedback.

Ruth Handy of Dublin Diocese led the final session of the day. She looked at the challenge of change and observed that 'change is not a word we like'. The important thing in any change process was to create a vision by asking 'what' kind of parish we wanted to be. The 'how' questions come later. Small teams of 5 to 7 people engaged in brainstorming could be very effective and rewarding. But don't expect change overnight - change was more like a slow cooker not a microwave.