Press Releases12 Oct 04

Armagh Diocesan Synod presidential address

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS

delivered by
The Most Rev. Robin Eames, Archbishop of Armagh
to
The Synod of the Diocese
on
Thursday 12th October2004
in
The Synod Hall, Armagh

Members of the Diocesan Synod, I welcome you all as we meet to consider the work of our ancient diocese. I pray that Almighty God will bless and guide us. We are here because the members of the diocese of Armagh have placed their trust in our judgement. Let none of us take that trust lightly. We have begun our proceedings in the Cathedral around the Lord's Table. So it is prayerfully and in the faith of the living Christ that we are called to transact our business.

THE REAL ISSUE

I begin my Address this year by asking the Synod to reflect on an issue which is too often given less prominence than it deserves as we become immersed in committee reports, facts and figures or financial statements. Those traditional parts of an agenda are vital for the good management of a diocese and here in Armagh we are so well served by those who exercise trusteeship of our administration.

However business and administration are only a means to an end.

The real question we need to face is as complex in its questioning as it is in its response.

In an age of change, in an age of materialism and consumerism, in an age of secularism what is the real purpose of the Christian Church? What is it we must be about?

However we define the Christian Church I am conscious that at present within our own society we need to pause to ask ourselves as members of the Church of Ireland and members of the Diocese of Armagh fundamental questions:

* What is our purpose?
* Why are we here?
* How are we facing up to that task?

I believe these questions need to be asked in every parish and home of this diocese. We as clergy need to ask them of ourselves, Select Vestries need to ask them and individuals need to consider them. We place Holy Scripture and the sacramental life at the centre of our worship-life. We have a new Prayer Book. We have many opportunities for worship. We have parish structures. We have an organised diocesan life-style We have an atmosphere throughout this diocese of family caring for each other. But I have to ask how does all this affect the daily life of our people?

There is great confusion abroad about how different religious traditions relate to each other. There is a greater complexity about moral and ethical questions than ever before across this society. We are asking new questions about the nature of life such as it is when a gravely ill little child should be allowed to die or when someone terminally ill should be permitted to end their life. There are questions about justice and human rights. Such issues challenge what we say we believe about the nature of God and the life we have been given. None of those questions provoke easy answers. We must go on struggling with the issues.

Within this complex scene the Body of Christ, the Church and those who belong to it through baptism must apply their beliefs as a guide to their decisions and attitudes. Christianity is not a form of escapism. Jesus does not call us to a privileged position removed from the challenges of life or the difficulties of decisions. The incarnate Lord of life calls us right into the centre of it all, right into the hurt and pain, the indecision, the paradox and the contradictions. The Church which is a true embodiment of the Calvary experience is itself a part of that pain. If it is not it has removed itself from its real purpose.

My call therefore to our diocese this morning is a call to renewal, involvement and confidence. Renewal of individual faith in the incarnate Christ, involvement in the life of our society and a fresh confidence that this is God's world. To put it simply, our preaching, our worship, our parochial life and our lives as individuals must all be centred on a new depth of faith, a new awareness of God's purpose and a new confidence that despite it all we believe in a God of love who cares.

Parochialism is a word which is often used to denote local needs as a barrier to considering life beyond our own neighbourhood or parish. But there is another meaning to it which is more personal. An individual person can become over-parochialised in attitude or witness. Our faith can become so self-centred that provided we have personal certainties about the big questions of life and death we can be immune from the needs of others. Religious experience can be a very selfish or self-centred experience at times.

So I ask all our clergy about their ministry day by day. I ask all our lay leaders and congregations about their worship and witness. How much of our preaching and teaching, how much of our organisational life, how much of our parochial witness in our neighbourhood truly reflects a faith which lives? How much do we need to become more sensitive to the real needs of people? Are we asking the real questions about our society or are we thinking of questions no one is really interested in?

I suppose I am really talking about priorities at this time. Have we become too familiar with the familiar? Have we become too comfortable in traditional ways of expressing the faith once delivered?

Can we all go back to our homes and parishes after this Synod prepared to ask ourselves fundamental questions about what we are about and how far our ministry, our parish, our organisation is helping people to be renewed in their faith, to be involved as people in their community and to be more confident in the love of God?

NORTHERN IRELAND

Most of us in this Synod live, work and worship Almighty God in probably the most politically scrutinised part of these islands. For years the Presidential Address from this platform had to reflect on the suffering and tensions of this community through the long dark night of the Troubles. The diocese of Armagh carried a great deal of that burden. There is hardly a parish in this diocese which does not contain the evidence of lives lost and hearts broken by the violence. Our memories remain. Our hurt is symbolised by much more than a photograph on the mantelpiece or by flowers on a grave. I have often thought and reflected on what those years did to this diocesan family.

Now we meet in a period when it seems the full force of those atrocities is behind us. Life has moved on and while we carry our memories of those days we cannot deny life has changed. Now the focus falls on the attempts of our people of all traditions and outlooks to put those years back into history. The focus falls on how we can build a peaceful society for our children and grand-children. In that process there are two levels for society to engage in : the political peace process and the lives and experience of everyday life.

Today elected representatives and our two governments continue their efforts to build political structures which will reflect a community of diversity, a community of difference, a community of historical divisions but a community with a future. Those efforts have been frustrated by different factors of which we are well aware. But they continue.

For too long the greatest frustration has stemmed from the question of paramilitary activity and the threat of it. There is reason to believe that soon we will see the end of the cauldron of fear presented by paramilitary organisations which has held this community in its grip. If this is true our society will have taken a major step forward. We are led to believe that the focus has now turned towards structures of sharing power. Those words sharing power are themselves emotive. I prefer the words sharing responsibility. Responsibility for government is much more than political power. Responsibility speaks of trust, awareness of trusteeship of peoples hopes and fears and trusteeship of the structures of fair and open representative political influence.

Until we reach a point where all our various traditions can feel genuine and lasting ownership of that shared responsibility we will continue to encounter political vacuum.

Political structures alone will never deliver a lasting peace. Political structures will provide the means whereby we can all feel there is justice, equality and integrity in how we are governed. Society cannot have reconciliation forced upon it. Society cannot have peace on our streets or between our homes forced upon it. Real peace and real equality, real reconciliation and community harmony will come when ordinary people want it to happen. Too often we have been given an impression that the real and only reconciliation will come through legislation or governmental edict. Our history tells us this is simply not true. As has been so often said from this platform the real battle in Northern Ireland lies in the hearts and minds of our people.

So let the call of this Synod to all our political leaders be one of urgent demand. Go on and go on trying. Go on and go on working. Do not let the judgement of history be: when the need was greatest they could not meet the demands of the hour. People yearn for stability they yearn for government which is relevant to their real needs. But above all they yearn for reassurance that those dark days to which I refer will never return.

What of that second part of the peace process the ordinary everyday experiences of the home and work place?

While violence in different forms blights the life of certain communities and paramilitarism takes on the face of protection rackets, money laundering and evil influence over young people, for most of our people life goes on. Many have benefited from this uneasy peace and the standard of everyday life for most has improved vastly. For a majority of people the bread and butter issues of health care and provision, education, care of the elderly and employment are the subjects of concern. Those are issues which we associate with the normal society. We welcome a situation where those are the main issues.

So it is that the political level of our society must face up and accept that as long as a stop go process continues a growing number of people are becoming disillusioned with the political part of the peace process. Young people speak to me of a growing irrelevance of the body politic. They even speak of alienation from politics. By any standard that is a potentially very dangerous situation. People wonder what is the relevance to their ordinary everyday lives to political stalemate. Relationships at the local level are growing up by personal contact and co-operation. Neighbourliness is working in many areas of this diocese and further afield. For a growing number of people there is the thought that politics need to catch up with the mood they are seeing in their own lives.

Let the message of our Synod to those trusted with political opportunity be a simple one. You have been given the opportunity to move forward and provide us not with problems but with opportunities. Keep trying. Keep working. Do not lose sight of the big picture. Do not fail a people who desire and deserve the best

For that reason I believe this morning we need to proclaim without reservation our vision for this community. Irrespective of our individual political preferences, preferences to which we are free and able to accede, there are surely principles we have a right to proclaim for our future.

* Northern Ireland must be a society devoid of the reality or the threat of violence.
* Northern Ireland must be a place where the value of a human-being is judged by their worth not because of their political outlook, their class, their colour or their religion.
* Northern Ireland must be a place where a young person's hopes for the future are protected, made possible and encouraged
* Northern Ireland must be a place where responsibility is shared at all levels not because of power but because of trust.
* Northern Ireland must be a place of compassion where the weak, the vulnerable and the poor are valued particularly by those who have so much.

If those principles can not just be words or aspirations but guiding and indeed controlling inspirations to our community then the world will in fact note that we have really moved from darkness into a future of lasting hope.

MINORITY ETHNIC GROUPS

During recent years the number of members of minority ethnic groups living in this diocese has increased. They have their particular traditions and identities. Their arrival in our midst is one more indication of the changing Europe in which we live. Integration into the life and customs of a new environment is difficult in any context and for any nationality. It calls for understanding and patient acceptance of others way of life.

Tragically in recent months we have witnessed a rise in racially-motivated attacks. This new evidence of hate-crimes particularly in areas where religious and political sectarianism is being faced up to with courage is extremely worrying. Society cannot afford this manifestation of fear and hatred. There are complex reasons for these attacks none of them are acceptable. I know of the efforts being made to reach out to these minority groups in some of our parishes. But let the Synod be emphatic in this regard. Let us regard all attacks on people because of their class, creed or colour as totally unacceptable in any Christian society

MINISTRY

Recently I provided all our parishes with a Pastoral Letter on Ministry. I called on our people to recognise the call of God to vocation in ministry. I did so out of a deep conviction that God is calling us as a diocese to recognise the needs of ministry in all its forms. Naturally I think most of ordained ministry, both fulltime and non-stipendiary. I make that call again this morning from this platform. I say to all our clergy search your hearts, look at your parishes. Is there someone there who simply needs the word of encouragement to consider ordination selection and training.? To our clergy I would say this: one of the greatest contributions you can make in your life of ministry is the seeking out and encouragement of a candidate for holy orders. I regret that some do not see this as the priority I believe it is. No greater encouragement exists than the example, the attractiveness and the prompting of a parish clergyman or woman where someone may be thinking of the call to ministry.

In our diocese lay ministry is alive and well. My Archbishop's Certificate Course has provided a wonderful opportunity for laity to learn more about their faith. Our panel of diocesan and parish readers is steadily growing. But the central core of ordained ministry remains the bedrock of Church of Ireland ministry.

So I say again: all of us, clergy and lay, have a God given responsibility to seek out and encourage candidates for ordination.

Members of this Synod, please ask yourselves what more can I do to encourage people to respond to this particular call of God?

I welcome the holding of a Vocations Conference here in Church House on 20 November next. This event is designed for young people in the 17-21 year age group who are considering their vocation. I encourage clergy to give details of this Conference to any who are interested.

PARISH VACANCIES

At present we are concerned as a diocese by the number of parochial vacancies which exist.

As members of Boards of Nomination will testify it is increasingly difficult to fill vacancies in rural parishes. The scene has changed over the years and the attraction of city and urban parishes has increased. But as many clergy here today will agree there is immense satisfaction and attractiveness in a faithful ministry to people in rural areas. When a Board of Nomination fails to appoint I have the constitutional responsibility to appoint. Hardly a week passes when I am not pursuing the possibility of such an appointment. I have managed to do so in some cases but the need remains. I pay a warm tribute to the people of vacant parishes who have continued to organise and maintain worship and parish activities in the absence of a rector. But we must face reality. In some cases there seems little likelihood of such an appointment. Our resources are being stretched to supply regular worship in those cases. I pay a warm tribute to our Readers and retired clergy, to the Archdeacon who manages the supply of services in vacancies and to the many who recognise that a long vacancy means sacrifice of traditional times and frequency of divine worship.

This year I will be asking some rural parishes and our Diocesan Council to consider a realignment of boundaries so that we can produce and maintain realistic ministry to people. Vacancies can prompt reality. Those realities are going to mean that we think long and hard but think prayerfully what is the best possible way to providing ministry. It will not be an easy process. But if we can all be realistic and consider above our individual preferences the good of the parish as a whole there are ways of meeting the challenge. I look forward this year to beginning that process. As I say it will not be easy but I am convinced that the time is right to do so.

COUNTY LOUTH

That element of realism has recently been evidenced in the Louth Rural Deanery. There a strategic plan of reorganisation has emerged after months of genuine dialogue and planning. The Louth plan is before this Synod. It has the unanimous backing of the parishes. I believe the way in which we have gone about this planning holds out an example to the rest of the diocese. I acknowledge the work of the Louth Commission and in particular the efforts of the rural dean, the Rev Michael Graham and our diocesan secretary, Mrs Leighton, who have devoted so much of their time to helping the diocese reach agreement on this reorganisation.

THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION

As you know the international Commission appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury to address the problems at present confronting the Anglican Communion has been meeting during the past year and has now completed its Report. The proposals it has reached are due to be made public on 18 October in London. As you also know it has been my privilege to Chair this Commission.

I want to express my sincere appreciation to this diocese and to the many members of the Church of Ireland who have conveyed to me their prayerful good wishes for my work since last October. This work has involved the Commission in months of careful listening, conferring and planning. We were set a most difficult task. Indeed if some commentators were to be believed it was an impossible task! You will be able to judge our Report shortly. It is not a set of conclusions that will please everyone that was not why we were established. But it is not the bland Report some feared. It has teeth. It has integrity. It has suggestions which will only be really tested by the degree to which the Churches of the Anglican Communion are prepared to ask questions of themselves. It is about that vital word communion how we relate to each other, how we regard each other and how we see God's will for the life of a diverse, vibrant and multi-cultural world Church.

It is not always easy for the local Church to see a relevance to its life in an international issue. The Church can be a very parochial society at times. But what is the issue in this regard and what has involved the attention of the Lambeth Commission has a relevance to the local scene. This diocese has many links with other parts of the Anglican Communion. Even this past year teams have gone out to work in Africa and South America from Armagh diocese. We have a strong link with CMS and other Anglican missionary organisations. We welcome visitors from other Anglican Provinces. Historically the Church of Ireland has played a role in Anglicanism far in excess of its numerical size. What this Commission addresses is the nature of all those links. It is not a judgement on sexuality issues. It is an agenda for relationships where we face deep and serious disagreements.

I can tell you that the work I have been privileged to lead in the Lambeth Commission has been a pilgrimage in its truest sense. We came together representing many nations, representing all the so called conservative and liberal stand-points and representing many different attitudes to the call of the Church. Some told us we would never complete our task, that we would not agree and that we would never be able to present one Report on which we could all agree.

The recommendations in the Report I will present next week has the support of all members of the Commission. All the well-known arguments were placed on the table. There was no shirking of issues. I saw courage and openness in those discussions but I also saw vision and a love for the Anglican tradition.

There will be an opportunity for the entire Anglican Communion to discuss our proposals in the next few months. I recognise that there will not be complete acceptance of all the Report has to say. But I do pray that it will be given serious, prayerful and honest appraisal.

In the end this Commission and its Report is about what sort of Anglican Communion we want to belong to. It is about how we deal with and relate to each other. But above all it is a seeking for what is the will of God for the Anglican Communion.

At this stage let me reflect on one aspect only of the mission of the Church. When disagreements arise, when problems face the Church, is it not all too easy to lose sight of the real mission of the Christian Church? As I listened this past year to so much argument, to voices which were at times so strident, even angry, I found myself turning back over and over again to the New Testament and the words of Christ. I found myself thinking of the desperate needs of this world. I found myself wondering what Jesus himself would make of it all. I thought of suffering men, women and children in places of war, famine and desperate need. Let me mention just one fact which should push all of us beyond parochialism to the real needs of this sad world. Did you know that the average parking-meter in the United Kingdom earns more in one hour than 70% of the world's population does in a day? I thought of those experiencing injustice and want. In short, I asked myself questions about the real needs of this sad and bewildered world. And I asked myself what is the real mission of the Christian Church. May I suggest that when you see the final Report of the Lambeth Commission, you do the same.

APPEALS

In the recent past two appeals have been foremost in our diocesan life.

The renovation of Church House has produced a building and facilities of which we can be justifiably proud. I thank our parishes for their responses in support of this work.

Today I want to draw the attention of the Synod to the Appeal for St Patrick's Cathedral. Earlier today we worshipped in a Cathedral whose appearance speaks of love and care for the things of God. Many visitors have remarked on its beauty. Our Appeal for £500,000 is well supported by commercial firms, trusts and a majority of our parishes but we still face a short fall of about £80,000. Again I ask parishes and individuals to consider support for the mother church of our diocese. You will find copies of the Appeal Brochure on your seats. It is essential that we meet our targets. Do please take this call back to your parishes.

DEATHS

We note with sadness yet thanksgiving to Almighty God for their lives of service to the diocese the passing of Mr Jack Dickson, a pioneer in education and former Diocesan Secretary of Armagh and two clergy, Canon D.G.A. Clarke and the Reverend T.A.B. Sawyers. I know the Synod would wish an expression of sympathy to go to the families of these so faithful servants of our Church.

GRATITUDE

May I express the gratitude of our diocesan family to those who serve us so faithfully during the year:

* the honorary secretaries of the Council and Synod.
* the Archdeacon who undertakes such detailed responsibility for the provision of worship and pastoral duties where there are vacancies or emergencies and our Readers and retired clergy who provide such vital help.
* the Rural Deans who help us so much with Church life in their individual deaneries.
* our Diocesan Secretary, Mrs Jane Leighton and her assistant Mrs Jennifer Kirkland
* and last but by no means least, my secretary, Mrs Roberta Haffey who continues after 18 years to forgive my shortcomings.

May God bless us all in our work. May God grant that those three key words with which I began renewal, involvement and confidence mark our proceedings and our life as a diocese.