Diocesan News17 Jun 10

Presidential address from The Rt Revd Harold Miller, Bishop of Down and Dromore at the Diocesan Synod on 17th June 2010

In his Presidential Address at this year's Diocesan Synod in the Jethro Centre on 17th June 2010, The Rt Rev Harold Miller, Bishop of Down and Dromore, “spoke only of the Church and to the Church.”

“After thirteen years and more as your bishop,” he said, “I have become ever more convinced that, unless we are fulfilling our vocation of truly being the Church of Jesus Christ where God has set us, then anything else we say, not least in ways which are critical of our society, will ring hollow and come back to haunt us.”

The Bishop addressed the assembled leaders of the diocese and challenged them with the words of Willow Creek Pastor Bill Hybels: “The local church is the hope of the world and its future lies primarily in the hands of its leaders” Bishop Harold shared his passion that churches would, “become places where a glimpse of the Kingdom of God is revealed here on earth for all to see.”

“Churches” he continued, “must be places of the ‘Fourth Dimension’- places where heaven and earth meet. Everyone who comes to be with us in our worship and life together, and especially those who do not yet believe, has a right to expect that they will meet with the living Lord, and that a spiritual dimension of life will be revealed to them in a way which is not to be found in the world outside. That, in the end, is what the Church is for: to make God’s presence known in and to the world.”

The Bishop mentioned his recent appointment as a Vice-President of Tearfund, remarking that its principle of working through the local church worldwide is one to which he is profoundly committed. He will call on those present to do the ordinary things of church well in their locality and highlight the three areas of Welcome, Worship and Witness.

Bishop Harold finished by turning turn to the question of the church’s witness in a sectarian society and asked: “How much are we committed to a shared future? How much are we committed to forgiveness? And how might we give a lead, witnessing to the values of Jesus Christ in our particular world of today?”

He described the task of leadership as a potentially disturbing calling, one focused in the local church and its leaders, but none greater or more exciting.

To download the full text of the addres, please click here.