New models of ministry will be among a range of topics to be discussed at the Church of Ireland Summit on Ministry to be held in Dublin on Saturday, 22 March 2003.

The Summit, to be held in the Church of Ireland College of Education, follows a similar event in September last year when around 100 clergy and laity discussed new opportunities for ministry at a time of rapid change in society.

Chairman of the Church of Ireland Ministry Commission, the Most Revd Richard Clarke, Bishop of Meath and Kildare, said: “I hope this meeting will generate a set of ideas that will be given further consideration at diocesan level. Change is most needed and will most need to be facilitated at the grass roots-level of the Church of Ireland if we are to develop effective ministry for this generation and the next.”

The programme will include short presentations and discussion on various models of ministry, with the emphasis on identifying practical opportunities for developing collaborative ministry. New ideas will be collated and enabling strategies will suggest solutions for overcoming barriers to change.

In developing the debate on ministry key issues so far identified include the need to agree on what we mean by patterns of ministry; identifying specific examples both within the Church of Ireland and from other churches; examining why certain models work in particular situations and what infrastructure is needed.

Click here to visit the Summit on Ministry website