Press Releases19 Jun 14

New Central Director Of Ordinands

Canon David Gillespie has been appointed by the House of Bishops as Central Director of Ordinands; with immediate effect. He takes over from the Venerable Robert Miller who has held the post for the past three years.

Canon Gillespie is from Clooney Parish in Derry Diocese and has served both in Northern Ireland and the Republic. He was ordained for Connor Diocese and a curacy in Agherton Parish, Portstewart. Before moving to his present post, he served a first incumbency in the Parish of Moy, Diocese of Armagh. Since 2009 he has ministered in Dublin as Vicar of St Ann’s with St Stephen’s and earlier this year was appointed to the Chapter of Christ Church.

The Central Director of Ordinands is responsible for the resoursing of diocesan Directors of Ordinands and takes responsibility for organising an annual Meeting of DDO’s. In addition to this, he runs an occasional conference focused on ministry in general and on ordination in particular and communicates with the Church of Ireland through an annual Newsletter. New to the post will be the added responsibility of overseeing the placement of deacon–interns in consultation with the Bishops and CITI Staff.

Commenting on the appointment, the Chair of CITI, the Most Revd Michael Jackson said:  ‘Canon Gillespie has experience of the Church of Ireland in both parts of the country. He also has experience of four different dioceses, prior to and since ordination. He brings skills of organization and a broad understanding of the shape and character of the Church of Ireland to this role. I look forward to working with him in this capacity.’

In response, Canon Gillespie stated that he looked forward to supporting DDOs in their role of helping people from varying backgrounds explore their sense of vocation.

Speaking about the new additional responsibilities of the CDO he said: ‘It is a privilege to be asked to contribute in this way to the continuing development of those training for ministry and, in many ways, this added responsibility is a logical addition to the work traditionally undertaken by the CDO. The purpose of the internship year is to make the connection between learning and practice and is now an established part of the M.Th. programme. The year offers the opportunity of new and varied experiences of ministry and in this we are most grateful to training clergy who make such an opportunity possible. I look forward to working with them, and with the staff at CITI, to ensure that students’ intern year is a fruitful one.’