Diocesan News
Connor Diocesan Synod in Carrickfergus
In his Presidential Address to the annual Diocesan Synod the Bishop of Connor, the Rt Rev Alan Abernethy said he prayed that the Agreement in the north Belfast parades dispute would be ‘something that helps us move to a better tomorrow.’
The Bishop told Synod, held in Carrickfergus Methodist Centre on September 28, that within the local community there is still ‘a real difficulty in dealing with the past.’
So often the past can hinder us from moving forward, Bishop Abernethy said.
“I do believe that the legacy of the past is something we cannot avoid as we seek to build a better future. It will need courage, grace and wisdom but we must find ways of living with the past that can honour all and recognise deep and unresolved pain.”
Bishop Alan said many parishes in the diocese had faced change in the past year. “I am increasingly convinced that groups and unions are not the way forward in terms of reshaping parish life, we need to find new models of ministry and parish,” the Bishop said.
“The issue that concerns me most is the isolation and loneliness that can be the lot of parish clergy. I do want to find ways of making parish ministry something that can be done as team with limited resources.”
Bishop Abernethy also referred to restructuring of the administration of the two dioceses of Down and Dromore and Connor, which he said had been difficult for staff, the staff committee representing the joint committee and the bishops.
“The outcome will be that by early next year each diocese will have its own administrative structure and staff, working directly to the diocesan bishop,” Bishop Abernethy said. “Change is never easy but I do believe this will help us as a diocese as we look to the future.”
He said it was exciting to see Connor’s diocesan Centre of Mission established with the opening of Base Connect in Shankill Road. “This will be a great asset to the local churches but also in time to the wider diocese as we develop new ways of connecting with people and local communities who have little or no church connection,” the Bishop said. “This can become a resource for equipping, training and modelling for us in mission today.”
He added: “I am convinced that alongside traditional church we need to find ways of connecting with people who are not going to come to church and we have to be willing to take risks to do so.”
The Bishop expressed sadness that he will be unable to travel to Connor’s link diocese in Yel in South Sudan in January. “The violence is raging and yet again human life has been lost and communities devastated. Please pray for this country as it seeks to find a better future from some tragic and painful hurts of the past that keep coming back to destroy hope and peace.”
The Bishop thanked clergy, lay members and all present at Synod for their prayers and encouragement, he thanked staff and his family, and paid tribute to Canon Edgar Turner, Connor’s long serving registrar who died in April aged 96.
Guest speaker at the Synod was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All–Ireland, The Most Rev Eamon Martin. He spoke inspirationally about re–imagining church in the present culture and the need to take risks and ‘get out there.’
“The people we really need to reach are on the periphery, on the margins, they are not coming in to meet us,” he said.
“All of us in the church have found this exciting but also disturbing. We are used to doing what we do. If we have to do more it tends to be for the people with us already. The challenge is to leave them there and go out on the margins.”
Archbishop Martin was joined by Bishop Abernethy as the floor was open to questions.
Earlier in the evening, members watched a video showing how three Connor parishes are doing very different – and innovative – things to connect with the communities they serve.
Featured parishes were St Jude’s, Muckamore, which among other things organises a festival during the week of the annual Eleventh Night Bonfire; Ballymoney Parish which has refurbished its old Schoolhouse and now runs a monthly contemporary worship there as well as Christians Against Poverty; and St Aidan’s in Sandy Row which runs a thriving charity shop and a vibrant Messy Church.
During the afternoon business session, members stood for a minute’s silence in respect of the late Canon Edgar Turner, Connor’s Senior Registrar, who died in April at the age of 96. The silent tribute came before Registrar Canon William Taggart read communications from General Synod, something Canon Turenr had done for many Synods previously.
Among the visitors at this year’s Synod was David Ritchie, Chief Officer of the RCB (Representative Church Body) who is touring all diocesan synods as he familiarises himself with dioceses and parishes in this his first year in the job.
For further information please contact:
Diocesan Communications Officer, Connor
07766 103880
Mrs Karen Bushby
[email protected]