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Bishop Henderson's Presidential Address to the Tuam Diocesan Synod
TUAM, KILLALA AND ANCHONRY DIOCESAN SYNOD
SATURDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER 2005
TUAM SYNOD HALL, TUAM
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS BY BISHOP OF TUAM, KILLALA AND ACHONRY
RT REVD DR RICHARD HENDERSON,
Dear Friends,
Once again it is my pleasure to welcome you all to our annual deliberations: always a welcome and needful occasion of fellowship and common purpose in our widely dispersed United Diocese. So I hope you enjoy the day, and that the various reports and other contributions stimulate a good discussion. In particular, I want to welcome Fr. Pat O?Brien, representing our good friend Archbishop Michael Neary who unfortunately cannot be with us today.
I welcome our latest addition to the clerical family, Very Revd Sue Patterson, Rector of Kilmoremoy Union of Parishes, and congratulate Revd Neal O?Raw on his appointment to be Rector of Killala Union of Parishes. I would also like to welcome Mr David Wynn, Administrator of the Secondary Education Committee who will be explaining the system and telling us the details of the grants available for secondary education ? something we frequently need, but about which we often know too little. I welcome Canon Paul Hoey who will be telling us more about the successful parish development programs around the country and the possibilities that exist for us to join in the Church 21initiative.
Finally, I would welcome Mr Martin O?Connor of Bishops? Appeal and Mr Albert Hempenstall of Protestant Aid, both of whom have presentations for us to look at; I would urge you to meet them and consider what they are bringing to us.
I bring to you the good wishes of our Link Diocese and their Bishop Michie Klusmeyer. As you know, Bishop Michie visited us last November and participated in many events, most notably the Clergy Conference, an Ecumenical healing service in Westport, and the opening of the wonderfully refurbished Easkey church. I am scheduled to travel over to West Virginia next month and it is hoped that the exchange of bishops will herald a good number of further visits. The people of the USA, most of all in the Gulf States, have been very much in our thoughts and prayers in recent days following the awful devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the expected devastation of Rita. Indeed, Bishop Michie tells us that a large number of refugees have already sought and received shelter in his Diocese, even though it is one thousand miles away.
Returning to ecumenism, I think it is worth pointing out that we have well and truly moved from stringing together (albeit with increasing frequency) ecumenical events to a thoroughgoing ecumenical atmosphere. I really rejoice in this harvest that has begun ? we are reaping where others have sown. Remembering this, I would like to record our great sense of loss of one the greatest and courteously courageous ecumenical sowers: Dom Paul Mc Donnell of Kylemore and Glenstal ? may he rest in peace and rise in glory. The fruit of this is that we have so many friends now in different church denominations that it is ceasing to be an issue ? more a reality to be enjoyed and developed as the years go on. I have no idea where it will end, but I think we have something very special here in the West, and we do well to treasure it, nurture it and give thanks to God. Let me give you just as some examples in the past year: it has been a real pleasure and joy to open our church buildings for the worship of our Roman Catholic friends in Westport, Cong and Galway, while rebuilding projects are under way. Archbishop Michael Neary and I shared in praying for the sick in Westport, and Michael gave the most wonderful talk to our clergy on John Chapter 3 - on Nicodemus - and how the churches have neglected to address the questions of the academic and artistic world. In the other direction, I have had the privilege of addressing the Tuam Archdiocese and Killala Diocese clergy gatherings, and count my friendship with my colleagues as one of the most precious things I possess. On the more local scene, there are many areas of real cooperation in the Gospel. Among them I might mention the Ecumenical committee in the Ballina region, with representation of the four ?main? churches, and the holding of Junior Alpha groups for children across the denominations. These things go way beyond the ?Christian Unity Week? and extend throughout the year. It is hoped that the Unity Week will continue to thrive, but be held in the Octave of Pentecost to Trinity ? a more logical time for ecclesiological reasons, never mind meteorological ones! Years ago, I heard of a very ecumenical community in England where the Roman Catholic priest and the Church of England vicar had identical visiting cards ? the name and address of one on one side and the other on the other. This powerful image has never left me. Perhaps here we would need cubes or polyhedra, but the idea is a challenge worth considering when the time and place are right. The church notice board currently outside St Nicholas in Galway is very much akin to this line of thinking and practice.
Over the last few years, I have sought to encourage small congregations and signaled, in effect, that I don?t mind how small congregations are so long as they are healthy ? and so long as they do not place impossible or unreasonable demands on the clergy. I have also tried, where possible, to remove the perception of a hovering and menacing axe of impending church closure from over the heads of the people. This is partly because the expectation of extinction is very unlikely to motivate true and lasting Christian mission. It is a shame, though understandable, if the attitude is, ?We?ll keep it going as best we can - until the lights go out?.
When the axe is lifted, there is much relief, and a real and energetic desire to build church and community for the future; and much time, imagination, money and, let it be said, joy has been devoted to this. I have been truly privileged to preside over many re-opening ceremonies, and to share in congregational and community joy. Similarly, I have been present at numerous institutions of our wonderful new clergy. But a nagging question remains, sharpening all the time, ?What next?? What is our vision for the next ten years, the next twenty, the next fifty? In many of our parishes, this is a question frequently asked ? even to me - and more frequently still unasked but felt nonetheless. We have got our buildings, churches, we have got our clergy, we have even got our bishop! And we have, very significantly, a wonderful range of lay people, with so many talents and interests. We also have, as I have said, really significant and developing relationships with our Christian neighbours, and indeed in the more ?secular? community. What do we do now? Do we do it alone, do we do it together, and what is ?It??
We saw the need to think about these things some years ago, and we gave it to the revamped Board of Mission. This Board, when it met, quickly saw that one of the ?Its? was adult Christian education ? in all sorts of areas. Part of the vision for this was the understanding that God provides the people for healthy congregations, but not all the people are motivated and involved, still less trained and equipped. The Board met for several years, and I chaired it for most of that time. Initially, it was for clergy, laity and the bishop, but soon the model of laity and the bishop emerged. Many good ideas ensued ? and several events were held, most notably the DEDS, or Diocesan Exploration Days. These began to address issues and opportunities such as healing, multifaith, asylum and much more. However, numbers began to dwindle, both on the Committee and also at the events and, to be frank, it?s fizzling out rather just at the moment. We had thought of tackling this last problem with ?travelling roadshows? ? that is, organising several events in different places, but each with the same content and team. But I do not think we would have had many more takers, even though geography is undoubtedly one of the things that hinders our gathering. Rather than lamenting or chastising (both of which I have been tempted to do), we have to ask, ?what does this say?? Was it the right thing at the wrong time, or the wrong thing at the right time, or missing the mark in some way, or unrealistic given how busy we all are? And here is the one that has haunted me for years and more and more as time goes by: Are we corking the bottle of the Spirit by insisting on doing global things (like mission, charitable giving, praying for the world) within our own local denominations? How would it be if we said that we would only and ever do things ecumenically? Or, perhaps if we were to combine commitment with realism, how would it be if we tithed our work ? we commit ourselves to doing ten per cent of all Christian work together. Might the windows suddenly blow open and replace the stale air?
Let me lighten it ? and deepen it ? for a moment. Most of you will know by now that I love to work with my hands, and make things in my workshop; the chances are that that is where I am on a day off. But the reality is that I often go there and make nothing at all. I just ?pootle? ? as I say to my wife; at the end of the day, there?s next to nothing to show for it. I pootle when I do not quite know what to make, have no vision in other words. When I am like this, I clean my lathe, sharpen my tools, get the rust off my chisels, renew some bearings, tidy the workshop, re-organise what I already have, label things neatly, listen to the radio. If I am subconsciously responding to a question, it is ?What could I do next?? not ?What shall I plan to make now?? ? because I don?t really know what to do; I just want to be in the workshop, with my familiarly happy surroundings, memories of what has been and hopes of what might yet be. But nothing much happening now. These are creative doldrums, waiting for the wind of creativity to pick up and carry me on. The limit is not the tools in the workshop. The limit is in the mind of the worker, in inspiration ? how I use what I have, what I?ve learned. But by golly, when the wind does blow, then I go at it with frenetic activity, a huge sense of purpose, total concentration ? and a fearsome sense of bereavement if my achievement is thwarted or I have to leave something half done. Any artist will tell you these things and, more than once, I have wondered whether church life is best depicted and understood artistically is some way. I personally dislike painting by numbers or copying others, so tend to gather everything around me and wait for inspiration. Having said that, I must emphasize that inspiration comes in many ways. Usually it is in the place where I can implement it. Sometimes it comes out of the blue, sometimes from flicking through a magazine to see what others have made, sometimes from the Internet to see how others have tackled a problem, sometimes because someone expresses a need: can you make a greenhouse door that lets the air circulate but keeps the donkeys out? In all these cases, I look at what I have, and wonder what I should do with it. I think this is where we are in West just at the moment. We have a lot, and much to be thankful for, but what do we make of it?
With church life, there?s nothing necessarily wrong with doldrums, so long as they do not last for ever, or mark the beginning of terminal decline. St Peter, my icon of the church in almost all things, didn?t know what to do with the stories of resurrection sightings ? nothing was happening at that moment, in his neck of the woods ? so he said ?let?s go fishing?. Not much else to do, apart from do what you know best. There?s good advice there, mind you. But even that let him down, until the dawn reveals Christ by the lakeshore. Inspiration from outside, but penetrating the ordinary compass of life, miraculously transforming and empowering the familiar. Later, the Spirit of Pentectost comes to believers who are simply gathered in one place. Here is a new insight into doldrums: waiting. Waiting for a power greater than our own, and which we cannot generate. Get on with the business of living but also Watch and Pray.
?Watch and pray? is one of my favourite choruses from Taize where Brother Roger was so tragically murdered last month. How much things were multiplied there by wakefulness and prayer! Ready to put the sails up and sail ? when the wind blew. Thousands of young people, caught up in worship; the memory is as fresh as ever. But that too began with a vision.
Now, I need to say something at this stage ? something I tried to address more fully at last year?s Diocesan Synod. I know that maintenance (as opposed to mission) is not to be ridiculed. Maintenance is part of the mission ? even part of the vision. Let me say why. I know that the pastoral care of our people is essential, and deeply desired. I know that the parish system is what we have inherited, and it is certainly not broken and doesn?t need amateur or hasty ?fixing?. I know that it matters profoundly for people to know their clergy and to be known by them. I know that maintenance of our traditions is important. But I also know that these things, by themselves alone, have little chance of transforming the world we live in with its awful injustices and crying needs. So the nagging question re-emerges. What do we do next? Wait? Watch? Pray? Plan? Educate? Keep on trying? What do you think? How will you let me know? Is there a Diocesan project hovering in the wings ? something that would unite us and serve church and community? Doubtless some of you will say that is the job of the bishop, but I do not want to drive off into the distance with no passengers! I need to know where you want to go.
I am happy to say that there are two current initiatives in the Church of Ireland that may well be able to help us in considering these questions. The first is for us to note that the Theological College is creating a modular approach to much of its theological education, for lay and ordained across the country. This means that professionally-taught in-depth distance learning should be possible for some of us, working from home and in some cases leading to the possibility of recognised qualification. Secondly, you will shortly be hearing from the Chairperson of Church 21 ? the Church of Ireland Programme of Parish Development. Canon Paul has much to share and I hope that two of our parishes will be able to participate in the year ahead. It will certainly link us in with others who are tackling the same issues.
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At last year?s Diocesan Synod, you may remember a discussion of the old chestnuts of Maintenance and Mission from the point of view of evolutionary biology. I considered a biological perspective that might be applied to the survival and work of the Church, likening Mission to the innovation in nature and Maintenance to nature?s faithful reproduction from one generation to the next. I argued that we need both in order to survive as a church ? both new ideas and constancy - especially in a rapidly changing world. Thus I was speaking of the evolution and survival of the church ? depending, paradoxically, on both change and reproducibility.
I took the scientific approach a little further, appealing to the importance of experiment when we are wondering whether new ideas in Church life should be either embraced or rejected. I noted that some of the ideas and creativity will be timely and inspired; others will be quite simply wrong, or the right thing at the wrong time or in the wrong place. I argued that we shall only know which is which by honest trial and evaluation, and that this is a means to find the truth. I reminded (myself as much as anyone else) that in Church life, this involves risk. Further, it requires a broad mind, acknowledgement of the genuine differences between environments, and a degree of consensus as to setting up the experiment. It also requires a steady nerve! Yet without providing for this possibility, change cannot happen, and we are slaves to virtuous reproduction of the past, ultimately ecclesiastical dinosaurs, doomed to extinction.
This year I want to take one of the insights of scientific testing or experiment just a little further ? insofar as it might apply to the continuing discussion on human sexuality. Despite the heat of this debate which touches some of the deepest questions of conscience, biblical understanding, social responsibility and morality ? the data can nonetheless be looked at dispassionately.
Over the last few years I have not been able to help noticing that many things on the global stage have also been hugely divided, the polarising sometimes approximating to 50:50. It began with Bush or Gore, and it is happening again in Germany this week. And it is happening also in our beloved Anglicanism. What do these data say to us in the Church ? where many say, ?yes? and many say ?no?? To me, it sends a clear message that we have been talking excitedly about the wrong thing ? bringing
us closer to the withering judgement of E.M. Forster: ?poor, talkative, little Christians?.
Let me explain why from a scientific viewpoint. Consider a scientific experiment that gives 50:50 results: litmus papers turned blue half the time and red the other half! The data is self-evidently inconclusive, so we must question the set-up. The only conclusion is that this is the wrong issue, or we are seeking to measure it in the wrong way or under the wrong conditions: or we have made no provision for environmental effects ? or whatever. Put more simply, we have been asking the wrong questions, or possibly the right question but in the wrong way. It is precisely this evidence that reveals the inadvisability of our set-up. Where there are conflicting results, enforced clarity only emphasises the crudeness of our questioning. Now, I acknowledge that evolving issues and changed consciousness must pass the 50:50 threshold at some time, but when they persist at this level, and even show some signs of entrenchment, we must ask, ?What does this evidence say to us??
The results are to be welcomed, not lamented! They tell us the truth. They show us that enforced clarity is inadvisable because it ignores the complexity of the system. Thus it is yet more inadvisable to seek to apply it globally. Do you find polar bears in the desert or Bouganvillea in the Arctic?
There is I suggest a better way, and one that may circumvent what is currently unresolvable, and even end up solving it! Leave the narrow question for the moment and inch round it. It is something akin the much-favoured phrase, living with difference. By this, I do not mean merely tolerating difference. I am talking about creative living with difference. To take the example of human sexuality, we have been persistently asking ?yes or no? questions about events in the USA and Canada. The litmus is inconclusive, though let it be acknowledged that there is much that has been acid and caustic in the debate. Throw away the litmus paper! It?s the wrong test to apply. Should we not rather have been asking, on the positive side, about the quality of love, about commitment, devotion, mutuality, fidelity and friendship? Against such, there is little or no law. Equally, would we not have been much more profitably occupied turning our compassionate attention to the negative side of sexuality (wherever found)? Should we have not have used our vast resources to discuss, understand and heal the abuse of love - the origins of lust, persecution, exploitation and the consequent pain - loneliness, despair, and suicide? The Bible has much to say on most of these, as a consistent thread of the human condition. It is perhaps only by looking at these that we shall begin to find the answer to the narrow question as posed, if indeed that answer matters at all. I wonder how much time we have devoted to articulating viewpoints that may ultimately turn out to be no more than increasingly clear descriptions of prejudice?
Too many rhetorical questions I know! But I?d be glad to find some answers somewhere for I am wilting under this debate, and wish we would also turn our attention to other more pressing matters ? the hideous evil of war, the horror of famine and disease, the overpopulation of our planet, the ecology of our beautiful world, and the rise of fundamentalism to list just a few.
It has been said, a little unkindly but with some truth, that the Anglican Church has two speeds ? Dead Slow, and Stop. In the current crisis over sexuality and the interpretation of scripture, I have been glad enough of these because the waters are rough, the ubiquitous fog makes for low visibility and the sea is demonstrably full of mines. Recently, in approximately equal proportions, I have been asked by different people to show leadership at the tiller and go Full Ahead, but the directions asked for were diametrically opposite. This leaves us with Dead Slow and Stop. I hate to have to say it, but many people, on all sides of the debate, will have to be very patient indeed. The issues will not go away, but neither will they be resolved quickly.
Solvitur ambulando.
+Richard Tuam: