Diocesan News
Archbishop of Armagh's Presidential Address at Diocesan Synod
The 2008 Armagh Diocesan Synod was held at Church House, Armagh on 21st October 2008. The transcript of the Presidential Address given by the Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland and Metropolitan, the Most Revd Alan Harper, OBE, is provided:
Members of Armagh Diocesan Synod,
In the year since we last met there have been some notable firsts in our diocesan life. Ranking as most historic of all stands the visit of Her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by Prince Philip, the Yeomen of the Guard and the team from the Royal Almonry led by the Lord High Almoner, the Bishop of Manchester, for the ceremony of the Royal Maundy on 20th March last. On this unique and colourful occasion St Patrick’s Cathedral played host to a packed congregation from every corner of Northern Ireland as 82 men and 82 women, accompanied by their companions, assembled to receive the gift of Maundy Money. The music was stunning with our own cathedral choir reinforced by the Choirs of the Chapels Royal. What a day and what an achievement for the Dean and Chapter, the Director of Music and the Choir, and everyone associated with our diocesan cathedral. I want to thank them and congratulate them and, in particular, to recognize the immense contribution that Dean Patrick Rooke has made to our diocesan life in this calendar year.
The Maundy Service was the highlight of the year but the service to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the granting of the Royal Charter for the Royal Schools of Ulster, bringing together choirs, staff, students and friends from Armagh, Cavan, Dungannon, Portora and Raphoe was almost its equal. Again our cathedral rose magnificently to the occasion, an occasion graced by the presence of HRH the Duke of Gloucester and HE Mary McAleese, President of Ireland. These are obviously the highlights of a very busy year here on the Hill of Armagh and I mention them not just as a cause of much rejoicing but also to pay tribute to the way that life – a real buzz – is being brought back to the Hill as, at the same time, the Centre for Celtic Spirituality is becoming better established and the properties of Cathedral Close and Vicars’ Hill are gradually brought back into repair.
St Patrick’s Cathedral is the mother church of our diocese, the missionary centre from which men and women were and are sent out to continue the work of God in the parishes. That is why the ordinations take place here each year. Please encourage your parishes to see the Cathedral as their church. It belongs to all the people of the Diocese of Armagh, hosting the great occasions certainly, but working and praying daily for the mission of God throughout the diocese. As a diocese we can all take immense pride in what has been achieved in the past year and look forward with confidence as the Dean and Chapter build on past achievements.
Another notable “first” this year is the launch of the new look Diocesan Magazine, “The Ambassador”. The Revd David Gillespie and his team have done a tiptop job in this new departure. We also owe an immense debt of gratitude to the Revd David Hilliard for all the sterling work he did in maintaining and enhancing the old magazine. Indeed, he laid the foundation for the new and remains associated with it. It remains for you, members of Synod, to commend “The Ambassador” to your fellow parishioners and ensure that it finds its way into every Church of Ireland household in the diocese. Never forget that in many cases the magazine will get across thresholds that clergy rarely cross. It is a magazine with a message so get the news – the Good News – out there, we have a publication (a vehicle, so to speak) worthy of the message God wants us to send.
GROWTH – UNITY - SERVICE
Over the past year or so, responding to the challenge posed by our work to re-shape training for ordained ministry, the Bishops have reflected together in an attempt to give expression to the thrust and direction of mission and ministry required for the 21st century. The result is set out in the leaflet you should all have received with your synod papers and entitled Growth – Unity – Service. Each diocese and each parish is now encouraged by the Bishops to see their work and direct their energies under these three headings. On the last page of the leaflet you will find these words:
In the power of the Spirit, our mission requires us to order our contemporary worship and life in a manner that nurtures growth, promotes unity and liberates us for service in the world that is God’s.
The Bishops are suggesting that these three concepts should provide the kind of framework that will help us to prioritize the work we are called by God to do for Him. The three “foci” are explored more fully in the three central pages of the leaflet headed “Worship and Spiritual Growth”, “Unity and Dialogue” and “Living God’s Kingdom and Serving the World”. When you read and study those three succinct and deceptively simple sections – and I very much hope that you will – you will see that they are couched in open and not closed terms. That is to say, we recognize that there is no “one size fits all” formula for God’s mission and that emphases and priorities are going to differ from place to place, but these are the marks we must strive for, these are the characteristics that should shape and shine through the activities we share in the Church of God.
Actually, this document would make a very useful discussion starter for diocesan and parish study sessions. I can imagine each diocesan committee and every Select Vestry or Lent Group sitting down to evaluate what they do in the light of the Mission Statement. I certainly hope that, with the energy and cooperation of the Honorary Secretaries, the Standing Committee will look carefully at the way in which our central church structures might be adjusted to equip the Church of Ireland as a whole for Growth, Unity and Service.
We need now to do likewise as a diocese, that is, sit down in committees and boards and discuss what the mission statement means for the work we are charged to do. We need to ask the question “How does the work we do promote the mission goals of growth, unity and service? How must we change? Has the need for this particular committee passed or changed beyond recognition?” The vision document is now an essential tool in renewing us in the mission to which we are called by God.
All of which leads me to say this: I am acutely aware that a variety of factors will force upon us a radical review of the way we deploy the human resources of our diocese. Those factors include:
• The proportion of the clergy in the diocese who are approaching the age of retirement;
• The disparity in work load among clergy in differing parochial situations;
• The escalating cost of stipends, allowances and parochial running costs as related to the ability of parishes to pay;
• The projected ratio of retirements to ordinations to the stipendiary ministry, and the relatively small numbers of curates assistant being trained for full time ministry, especially of this diocese. This latter issue is a matter of deep concern to me, particularly because the number of parishes prepared to appoint curates assistant is in decline, usually for reasons of cost. This, in turn, means that the workload of incumbent clergy is increased and the numbers of clergy being trained is in decline. On the other hand, there has been an upsurge in specialist appointments. The appointment of Youth Ministry professionals is an example of this. In some cases such deployments are clearly strategic, sometimes they may be seen as a cheaper option. If, however, such appointments are at the expense of providing curacies for junior clergy this will be a development we shall come seriously to regret. I am very happy with “both/and”, but if it becomes a case of “either/or” I want to see preference given to the provision of posts for curates assistant. Further factors include:
• Demographic changes related both to the age of the population and to population movements;
• The sustainability and the very model of children’s ministry in parishes both at the Sunday School and the Confirmation Class, and also in those day schools where clergy have opportunities of access. Children’s ministry needs to be raised to a much higher level of priority;
• The need to examine forms of ministry that do not depend upon the “single practitioner” model, in which all ministerial activity is exercised by the clergy. Ministry must be holistic. There is a vocation to the ministry of the laity as well as a vocation to ordained ministry. All ministry is the ministry of Jesus Christ, exercised incarnationally by the Body of Christ in its local manifestation. Therefore we need to begin to take seriously the ministry of lay people and to equip and authorize them to exercise the ministry to which they are called. Reader ministry is one ministry of the laity that is well understood and accepted, other forms of lay ministry need now to be developed, not as a substitute for the clergy but as adjunct to their particular work;
• Issues such as the equipping of the laity for mission and service have implications for training, both of potential lay ministry team members and of the clergy whose colleagues they may become. Two examples will suffice: team management skills and delegation skills are not necessarily the natural gifts of all clergy. Training and assistance in these areas, as well as a deeper understanding of human resource issues, are likely to assume much higher priority in the future. When the new model of training for ordained ministry is fully operational, the oversight of Continuing Ministerial Education will, in part, be exercised at central rather than diocesan level. It may be opportune, sooner rather than later, to begin to re-think the parameters and the pattern of CME at diocesan level, especially since we are keen to develop a culture of life-long learning.
Certainly other issues will emerge that I have failed to mention today. At this juncture, however, I need to say this to the Synod: we can no longer postpone grappling with major issues in the organization of the diocese and the deployment of clergy. I make no pretence that this will be an easy or a popular thing to endeavour, but we must have the courage to try. The Diocesan Council will have a central role to play in this exercise. The Council is our principal, representative, governance and consultative body. It should be challenged to consider strategic issues for the diocese as a whole rather than confining its discussions to a narrow range of administrative technicalities already discussed by other committees of the Council or Synod. I believe that the themes of Growth, Unity and Service will help us in providing a framework for our business.
THE WIDER CONTEXT
There is, I believe, an ancient Chinese curse that says, “May you live in interesting times!” The times through which we have lived in the past few weeks have been rather more interesting than, perhaps, we might have liked. For an institution like the Church of Ireland, especially in the context of its overall financial resources, the huge fluctuations (and mostly decline) in the capital value of assets is a very serious matter, especially for the Clergy Pension Fund.
Capital values are not the only issue of course, dividend payments – the money earned from investments held – are an equally serious issue. A fall in investment incomes in the event of recession will have serious effects on our central and local church budgets.
This would be a serious enough situation if only the funds of the Church were affected, but the truth is that real and serious effects will also be felt by many vulnerable people – those with serious levels of debt, those whose jobs are threatened, those in negative equity situations, those on fixed or even declining incomes, the homeless and other vulnerable people. I well remember a poster displayed a year or two ago by the Simon Community which pointed out that most people are only one or two pay packets away from homelessness. Every parish, as well as the Church at diocesan and central level, is challenged to examine whether and in what ways it can be supportive and pastorally sensitive to those experiencing stress, trauma and hardship made worse by the prevailing economic conditions.
This is hardly a time, you might think, for the Northern Ireland Executive to find itself paralyzed and unable to address devolved issues. My purpose today is not to carp and criticize. Everyone knows that politics, as “the art of the possible”, presents particularly difficult challenges in Northern Ireland; indeed few people thought that we would have made as much progress as we have in developing and embedding a completely unique system of government. But I do believe that we should urge those in positions of political responsibility to move rapidly to resume their functions. This is vital, not least, because apart from the global issues that impact the local scene, there are important local issues that require intensive attention.
Foremost among these, obviously, is the adoption of a programme for the devolution of policing and justice powers, but of no less importance are matters concerning education, housing, health provision and provision for mental health services including the needs of those with personality disorders. We are talking here about matters of social well being and public safety.
It is also a matter of some pressing importance that preparation be made for a response to the publication of the Eames/Bradley Report which will, undoubtedly, make uncomfortable reading for everyone in Northern Ireland. In this regard I want to draw your attention to a “Hard Gospel” Beyond the Box seminar to be held in this Synod Hall on Tuesday November 11th at 8.00pm. The topic is “Dealing with the Past” and the speaker will be Mr Alan McBride from WAVE. The issue of how we move on as a community in both parts of Ireland, but especially in Northern Ireland, is a matter of crucial importance. Dealing with the past is a central component of the issue. This event is a small but significant contribution to the exploration of the journey we must all take. It is important that the churches make their contribution to the shaping of a new future. However, we also require from government a renewal of focused attention to the task of moving the whole community forward.
However, if the Executive continues to fail to meet, my fear is that the vacuum so created, and the sharpness of the issues that remain unaddressed, will permit malign or extreme influences to gain ever more ground. We have already seen a significant escalation in acts designed to heighten tension. There have also been very serious attempts to kill or maim people, including actions directed specifically against the police. The longer this vacuum is allowed to continue the more likely it is that mischief makers will attempt to capitalize on the situation, evoking a hardening of attitudes where communities feel themselves under threat. Real political progress, engineered and driven by locally elected public representatives, is now imperative. It would be a supreme irony if demands that the abortion issue to be dealt with locally were to be totally invalidated by the inability of the devolved administration to exercise the responsibility it is claiming for itself.
In fact we require from government a renewal of focused attention to the task of moving the whole community forward, in particular towards the articulation of a shared vision for a shared future. Central to such a vision should be concepts that include equality, mutuality, inclusivity and participation. This will require a more generous mind than one which embraces only narrow and sectional interests. In order to work towards such a vision there has to be engendered a sense that the opinions, the needs, the hopes, the aspirations and expectations of ordinary people are understood, which, of course, means heard; and when I say “heard” I imply that attention needs to be given to enabling the views of ordinary people to be skillfully articulated.
Perhaps we need to have in mind a medium term progression encompassing a movement from acceptance of the inevitability of a divided society with divergent aspirations towards a society where division is gradually replaced by partnership. In time partnership might be replaced by social consensus in which common interest morphs into something close to a unity of outlook able both to embrace and then transcend division.
We are a long way from that goal at present. Therefore, acknowledging that we need to start from where we are, and also that a significant sector of the Protestant community feels itself (rightly or wrongly) marginalized and disadvantaged, we need to ask, “What must be done to change perceptions and move things on? What will enable Protestants to feel that they have come in from the cold?” Furthermore, does the Church have a distinctive part to play in enabling people to realise their dreams and fulfill their potential?
I want to offer some thoughts on these matters and I want to acknowledge the help of an ad hoc group of people whom I called together earlier this year and whose experience and insights I value. Let me attempt to set out then, some of the perceptions that one hears voiced at the grass roots:
• Urban communities and rural communities often appear to be confronted by rather different experiences and draw upon different accounts of recent history. Thus the recently published report on the experience of “Border Protestants” in the Diocese of Clogher entitled “Whatever you say say nothing” gives a window on the role of the Church in that particular context. It reported that time and again the importance of the Church was emphasized referring to a stabilizing and guiding influence, together with the sense of identity and belonging that Church membership provides.
• On the other hand, what one hears from the urban, Loyalist, estates is of a community fractured and in need of internal healing, very divided within itself throughout the period of the Troubles and where the Church appears to have been abandoned by the majority of people and is sought out only for some (but not all) rites of passage, baptism and marriage being less often sought than in the past.
• Social and especially family and marital breakdown is also a major concern, contributing to the fractured nature of the community and the decline in Church influence.
• Confusion about identity is a problem identified by many. Part of the reason for this may be the lack of a sense of what constitutes a distinctively “Protestant” culture. Such feelings are, perhaps, exacerbated by the perception that Roman Catholics have a strong cultural identity. This may be, partly, because Protestantism itself is fragmented, but there are other reasons too.
• For some people, especially members of the Loyal Orders, identity is expressed in terms of parading and bands, for others, support for parades is limited at best and sometimes absent.
• It needs to be recognized that parading and bands are an important part of the Ulster scene. For many they are a significant identity marker. Perhaps, therefore, there is a need encourage and assist those in the Protestant community for whom parading is important to develop their activity in a way that enables parades to become regarded by all as a colourful and creative contribution to the cultural life of the whole community. The work of Belfast City Council, and of community groups elsewhere, in enabling a transformation in the experience of the “Eleventh Night” bonfires shows what creative support rather than trenchant condemnation can achieve.
• It is widely felt by many ordinary people that Protestant communities are being left behind in taking advantage of development opportunities. Again, the notion is reinforced by a sense that the Roman Catholic community is better equipped than the Protestant community to take advantage of the opportunities available. This sense of inadequacy may also contribute to feelings of alienation.
• Three additional features may be at play here: distrust and bewilderment at the arcane complexities of form filling in order to access public or trust funds; a residual traditional reverence for self-reliance; and the fractured nature of community in Protestant areas which, as an outworking of a Protestant ethos, fosters an instinctive individualism. The first of these is seen as by far the most significant.
• The spheres of housing, education, parenting, the equipping of community leadership, the empowerment of women and the development of networks for social support are often mentioned as in need of particular attention. It is largely agreed that Protestant communities need:
Better local leadership. Many are heard to bemoan the lack of indigenous local community leadership outside the ranks of the paramilitaries: this is a capacity building issue;
Better and sufficient housing of a type and in locations that maintain community infrastructure. Significant initiatives in the provision of new housing stock have been announced by the Department of Social Development and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive but many lack confidence that their own communities will benefit and others suspect that social housing or shiny new apartments will only be occupied by incomers: this is a consultation and an information issue. It requires detailed and respectful consultation with local people;
Major investment in imaginative models of education that integrate work experience, life skills and career oriented training into the curriculum along with essential skills of literacy and numeracy for those who choose a non-academic pathway: this is an issue associated with the building of positive aspiration and confidence in communities where educational achievement and aspiration are distressingly low and where the possibility of access to fulfilling employment is often seen as little better than a pipe dream;
Major investment in child care and early years education with supported models of good parenting: this is a community welfare issue;
A heavy investment, including from the churches, in one-to- one relationship building: this is a mentoring issue;
A renewed focus on providing creative leisure activities for young people, reinforced by endorsement from individuals respected by young people as positive role models: this is, perhaps an “Olympic” opportunity;
The integration of all of the above into a seamless strategy with a “one stop shop” approach: this is a policy and agency coordination issue.
• Two other things, I think, will be absolutely vital, they have to do with Victims and with Voluntary Community Groups:
Anyone who in any way sees himself or herself as a victim of our historic conflict, or of its consequences in community breakdown, needs to be made aware that their suffering is recognized, acknowledged, shared, respected and registered with sympathy and sadness. The Victims Commission team, whose work I hold in high regard, will, no doubt, develop responses to the issues of victimhood and loss as their work progresses. The Historic Enquiries Team and the work of the Eames/Bradley Commission will make their distinctive contributions including recommendations about dealing with our painful past. Indications of the direction the Eames/Bradley recommendations are to take have been emerging within the last 24 hours. Some people will not mind their suffering being known, others will prefer to live with their feelings of loss and injustice in private. But we need to find a way, as a community, to acknowledge the pain and distress caused on all sides by our conflict, and to remember that when we talk about victims and about pain we are talking about real people, folk with sentient hearts and scarred memories trying to put back together the damaged pieces of a broken life.
Finally, I believe that we also need to celebrate and affirm the work of Community Voluntary organizations of every kind. We need to build and feed the voluntary sector. It is a source of strength and energy in building community. From football teams to women’s groups, from Mums and Toddlers to Senior Citizens, from language classes to brass bands, voluntary action is essential to the reconstruction of society. The Church of God is the greatest of all the arenas of voluntary action. Greater respect and attention should be given to the work of the Churches and to what the Churches could be enabled to do for the benefit of the whole community. Government should accord greater recognition to the churches as stakeholders and partners. Sometimes, in the Church, we have seen other community groups as competitors rather than partners. This is a wrong perception. It is important that the Church should seek ways further to support, motivate and celebrate the work of the voluntary sector because of what it already contributes and might further contribute to enhance the lives of ordinary people. I include in this category the efforts of public representatives at local and national level: they also deserve proper recognition.
In this long address I have ranged widely in considering issues of both diocesan and national concern. I want to end with this observation. The triple foci of Growth, Unity and Service have been identified for us, in the Church of Ireland, as a framework for ordering and taking forward the agenda of God. I think that these three watchwords might equally prove an appropriate framework for addressing the needs and aspirations of the whole community. I commend these key principles to everyone with an ear to hear.
ENDS
Issued by the Church of Ireland Press Office
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