Diocesan News30 Sep 11

Diocese Of Derry & Raphoe celebrates ‘Moving On’

On the evening of 29th September up to 1000 members of the Church of Ireland diocese of Derry And Raphoe came together for a major celebration. The event entitled ‘Moving On’ was held to celebrate the progress made in parishes across the diocese in making the diocesan vision ‘Transforming Community Radiating Christ ‘ a reality at local level.

Bishop Ken Good said of the church “We are in the business of growth, not in the business of managing graceful decline”. Reflecting on the ‘Moving On’ event he saw it as “representing a belief in the future. It is a belief that there are things that we can do to make a significant difference not only in the church but for the good of our communities”. Julie Green, a youth leader in the diocese talked of a “sense of excitement and anticipation within the diocese at present”.

Early in 2011 the diocese took a remarkable initiative. It decided to give each parish a gift of either £1,000 or 1,200 Euro. As the gift was given each parish was asked to invest in practical action towards ‘the diocesan vision of Transforming Community Radiating Christ’. This vision represents a commitment by every parish in the diocese to take action that not only builds the church but also serves practical need in their local communities.

The ‘Moving On’ celebration gave an opportunity for a range of different parishes to tell inspiring stories of what action they were taking to make a difference. It was also an opportunity to recognise the efforts of many church members across the diocese.

Derry and Raphoe has a combined membership of 32,563 people. The diocese conducted a survey in 2009 to build a picture of what sort of activity was taking place within it. It emerged that a pool of 5790 members helped to run church related activities across the diocese. Such a figure is not surprising given the commitment of church members in maintaining the life of their local church. What was interesting to note was that 2035 volunteers took part in activities that not only benefited the parish but also the wider community.