The Theological College Council, appointed by the House of Bishops to govern the affairs and develop the policies of the Church of Ireland Theological College, has been in existence for over three years and later this month will meet for its eighteenth meeting. The membership of the Council is made up of four bishops, two representatives of the Standing Committee, two representatives of the Representative Body, three co-opted members, as well as the College Principal, two student observers and a secretary.

There have been some recent changes in its membership, some of the members originally appointed and who have faithfully served the Council since October 1999 moving on or changing their role within the Council structure.

Following the consecration of the Rt. Revd Ken Good as Bishop of Derry and Raphoe in June 2002, the new bishop now represents the House of Bishops, and not the Standing Committee as previously. In addition, he has replaced his predecessor, the Rt. Revd Dr James Mahaffey as chairman of the Management Committee - one of two ancillary committees accountable to the Council. The other new Episcopal member of the Council is the Rt. Revd Dr Michael Jackson, Bishop of Clogher, who replaces the Rt. Revd Harold Miller, both as a Council member and as chairman of the Academic Committee. Bishop Jackson is a graduate of both Trinity College Dublin and St John's College Cambridge, where he was awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy in 1986. In addition to ministerial posts within the Church of Ireland, he has also lectured in the Department of Theology, Trinity College Dublin between 1987 and 1989, and served as College Chaplain at Christ Church, Oxford between 1989 and 1997.

In place of Bishop Good, formerly appointed to the Council by the Standing Committee, and Ms Clare McCutcheon, from the Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, who stood down after her three years'service, the Standing Committee has nominated Canon Kenneth Kearon and Mr Wilfred Young as its representatives to the Council.

Canon Kearon is Director of the Irish School of Ecumenics and well known for his expertise in the field of Christian Ethics and Contemporary Ethical Issues. He is a regular speaker at conferences on ethics, both in Ireland and abroad, and in frequent demand as a commentator by the media. In the sphere of education he has lectured in Trinity College Dublin, where he was Chaplain and Dean in Residence between 1984 and 1990. Since 1995 he has been Co-Ordinator of the Auxiliary Ministry Training course at the Theological College, and has been a member of the Academic Committee since its establishment in 1999.

Mr Young is involved in the life of the Church of Ireland at parochial, diocesan and central levels. As well as being honorary secretary of the Select Vestry in the parish of Derryloran, Cookstown, he is general secretary of the Board of Religious Education, Honorary Secretary of the Ordinands' Committee; and for the Diocese of Armagh is a member of the Diocesan Synod, Council, and General Synod Board of Education. He is also a member of the General Synod, Standing Committee and Priorities Committee. Mr Young's professional career has been devoted to education in Northern Ireland. He was Head of the English Department in Rainey Endowed School, Magherafelt, and then served for twenty years as Headmaster of Cookstown High School between 1971 and 1991. In 1987, he was awarded the OBE for his services to education.

Following the retirement of Mr Robert Sherwood as Chief Officer of the RCB in May 2002, the Council co-opted his successor, Mr Denis Reardon. Mr Reardon has already served as a member of the Management Committee, and as well as maintaining the links between the RCB and the College, is also representative of lay input to the Council structure. In addition to Mr Reardon, and the Revd Dr David Hewlett (the latter co-opted in 2000, and recently appointed as the next Principal of the Queen's Foundation in Birmingham), the Council has also appointed the Very Revd Dr Stephen White, Dean of Killaloe, as its third and final co-opted member. Dr White was ordained for the Church of England in the Diocese of York, following education at Hull and Oxford Universities. In 1993 he was awarded his Doctorate in Philosophy by Queen's University Belfast. Prior to his appointment as Dean of Killaloe, he exercised his ministry in the Church of Ireland Diocese of Raphoe. He is a member of the Publications Committee of APCK, the Literature Committee of the General Synod, edits Search, the Church of Ireland Journal, and in 1999 edited the collection of papers about the future of the Church of Ireland A Time to Build. Essays for Tomorrow's Church. Dr White, who is also Director of Ordinands in the Diocese of Killaloe has been co-opted specifically to strengthen the influence of Diocesan Directors of Ordinands on the Council.

Membership

The current membership of the Council is as follows: the Rt. Revd Dr Richard Clarke, Bishop of Meath and Kildare (Chairman), the Rt. Revd Ken Good, Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, the Rt. Revd Dr Michael Jackson, Bishop of Clogher, the Rt. Revd Paul Colton, Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, represent the House of Bishops. Canon Kenneth Kearon and Mr Wilfred Young, were appointed by the Standing Committee, while the Venerable Patrick Lawrence and Mr Fred Rankin continue as the appointees of the RCB. The three co-opted Council members are the Revd Dr David Hewlett, currently Principal of the South West Ministry Training Course in the Church of England, Mr Denis Reardon, Chief Officer of the RCB, and the Very Revd Stephen White, Dean of Killaloe. The Principal of the College, Canon Adrian Empey, is also a member of the Council, representing the interests of College staff, while two student observers, Mr Henry Blair, a second-year student from the diocese of Clogher, and another student to be elected shortly by the entire student body, (in place of Mr Kenneth McGrath who will be ordained this summer), also attend. Dr Susan Hood, Assistant Archivist at the RCB Library continues to act as Secretary.

Committees

The membership of the Management Committee is as follows:

The Rt. Revd Ken Good Bishop of Derry and Raphoe (Committee Chairman), Canon Adrian Empey (Theological College Principal), Mrs Lynda Levis (College Administrator), the Revd Dr Alex Jensen, (Lecturer in Divinity, Theological College) who acts as secretary, the Venerable Gordon Linney (Archdeacon of Dublin), Mrs Angela Packham, The O'Morchoe, Mr Adrian Clements (Head of Finance, RCB), Mr Arthur West, and the Revd Gillian Wharton. A student observer also sits on this Committee.

The membership of the Academic Committee is as follows:

The Rt. Revd Dr Michael Jackson, Bishop of Clogher (Committee Chairman), Canon Adrian Empey (Theological College Principal), Most Revd Dr Richard Clarke, Bishop of Meath and Kildare (Council Chairman), Revd Bernadette Daly (Director of Pastoral Studies, Theological College), who acts as secretary, Revd Dr David Hewlett (Council Member), Dr Susan Hood (Council Secretary), Canon Kenneth Kearon (Director, Irish School of Ecumenics), Ms Susan Parkes (Fellow of Trinity College Dublin, formerly of the School of Education at TCD), and the Very Revd Stephen White (Council Member).The Revd Dr Alex Jensen, (Lecturer in Divinity at the College) and the Revd Kevin Moroney, (the College Chaplain-Tutor) will in future attend meetings of the Academic Committee, strengthening the input from College academic staff. A student observer also sits on this committee.