Christ Church Cathedral at its best

Archbishop Alan Harper presents Patrick Comerford with the 2010 runner-up prize for his blog at General Synod (Photograph: David Wynne)

Patrick Comerford

As a member of the chapter, it was great to see Christ Church Cathedral at its best throughout these three days of the General Synod of the Church of Ireland. The third and final day of Synod opened this morning with the Cathedral Choir leading us in singing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah.

Of course, Handel’s Messiah had its first performance only a few footsteps away from the cathedral.

When we got down to business, it was obvious that we were going to finish early. Three bills passed their third and final stages within three minutes on the third day – surely a record for the third day at any sitting of the General Synod.

The first Bill deals with the provisions for clergy pensions; the second Bill separates the Saint Patrick’s Cathedral group of parishes from Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and creates a new parish of Saint Catherine and Saint James when the Deanery of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral is next vacant; the third Bill creates a new board for Saint Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast.

The Archbishop of Armagh then presented the prizes for the competition organised by the Central Communications Board for newsletters, magazines, websites and the innovative use of social media.

The winners and runners-up were: Taney Parish for Taney News and Saint Columba’s Parish, Knock, for The Columban; the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe for N:Vision and Dublin and Glendalough Diocese for the Church Review; Soundboard, a newsletter for church musicians, and In Touch, published by Connor Diocese Mothers’ Union; the websites of Willowfield Parish, Belfast, and Aughrim Parish in Clonfert Diocese; the Derry and Raphoe and Connor diocesan websites; the Summer Madness website, ‘Tales of the Unexpected’, and the Uganda 2010 site of Shankill Parish, Lurgan; and the Revd Daniel Owen’s ‘Imprints of Light’ blog [http://imprintsoflight.blogspot.com/] and this blog.

The judges liked Daniel’s “wonderful photos and interesting thoughts – they kept on scrolling to enjoy all the photos.” They said this blogspot is “clearly a very active account with lots of interesting material.”

Olive Stanely-Wetzel’s winning caption was: “God’s Gift.”

Each year, the “caption competition” causes great hilarity. This year, first prize went to Olive Stanely-Wetzel (Killaloe) for her caption: “God’s Gift.” The runners up were the Revd Dr Ron Elsdon (Connor): “Please, can you wrap him up for me?” Bishop Harold Miller (Down and Dromore): “Hi there! Just wondering if the Church is open at all? And it has been properly re-ordered?” and Lyndon MacCann (Dublin): “Go Forth and Fructify.”

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin ... the venue of this year’s General Synod the Church of Ireland (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2010)

This year, this was no report from the Board of Social Responsibility (Republic of Ireland), whose sole activity over the year was the establishment of the new Board for Social Theology in Action. The Church and Society Committee presented its final report, and the committee will be replaced by the Board for Social Theology in Action.

It was good to hear Dermot O’Callaghan (Down and Dromore) apologise for going “into too much graphic detail” on the first day of General Synod. If we could all have the good grace to apologise when we step over the boundaries and offend others we would have a much happier church.

The attendance during the three days of General Synod had waned as each day passed: Thursday, 439; Friday, 426; today (Saturday), 304. Perhaps we just need two-day synods in future.

My stall in the chapter of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin (hotograph: Patrick Comerford, 2010)

The thin edge of the wedge?

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin ... the venue of this year’s General Synod of the Church of Ireland (Photograph; Patrick Comerford, 2010)

Patrick Comerford

During the debate on the report of the Standing Committee this afternoon, Dean Stephen Lowry of Dromore and Mr Sam Harper successfully amended the Statements of Charitable Purpose and Public Benefit from stating that “the Church of Ireland is open to all” to say that the Church of Ireland “seeks to minister to all.”

I tried to challenge this amendment, asking who Dean Lowry might want to say the church was not open to. I feared this was the thin edge of the wedge, and wondered whether we could find rectors saying the church was not open to some people because of their sexuality, their ethnicity, their diet, their choice of clothing so on, and I pointed out that the Gospel charged us to bring the good news to all and not just those we liked or we thought were like us. I was supported by Bishop Paul Colton and Canon Stephen Neill, but the amendment was carried in a 122-90 vote.

We’ll have to wait to see whether this is, in fact, the thin edge of the wedge when it comes to inclusivity and exclusivity.

Only a half hour earlier or so, Dean Lowry’s bishop, Bishop Harold Miller, had spoken clearly on inclusivity and exclusivity when he said the Hard Gospel Report had not yet been implemented “nearly enough” in the areas of peacemaking and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. The dissident threat existed at a very severe level indeed, he warned. He said the churches have been lulled sense of security, but Northern Ireland was more divided than ever as a society.

Referring to a recent pre-election meeting, he said: “If you can sing God Save the Queen in Croke Park, you can welcome a Sinn Fein candidate in a Protestant Church hall in East Belfast.”

During the debate, the legislation on civil partnerships was welcomed by Bishop Michael Burrows, who pointed out that civil partnerships are not the same as gay marriage. He believed the legislators had responded sensitively to a real need in society with the Civil Partnership Bill 2009.

The report of the Standing Committee mentioned how officials of the Department of Justice had told a delegation from the Church of Ireland that there would no conscience clause in the legislation “as it could open the floodgate for hate and intolerance.”

Speaking during the debate on the Standing Committee report on Friday afternoon, Bishop Burrows hoped that the Church would respond appropriately and pastorally to those who availed of good legislation. But Mr Andrew Brannigan defended a conscience clause for civil registrars, saying they could face a custodial sentence if they refused to take part in civil partnerships.

During the debate, the synod heard a recommendation on an appropriate Church of Ireland response to the Anglican Covenant would be brought to next year’s General Synod by the Commission for Christian Unity and dialogue. Archdeacon Philip Patterson, who proposed the report, blamed the current crisis in the Anglican Communion on the election of Bishop Gene Robinson and the actions of the church in the US and Canada “providing for the blessing of gay partnerships.”

He said the Anglican Covenant could be seen as “a redundant statement of no consequence to us at all, or … as the only way of holding the Anglican Communion together.” It was “unlikely that the Anglican Covenant will have the status of a formulary of this Church,” and also recognised that there are fears of a two-tier Anglican Communion emerging.” But he accepted the response of the Church of Ireland would be important.

Turning to the report on the Interchangeability of Ministry, he said it shows “a way forward that has integrity on all sides to enable us to recognise de jure what we all know to be de facto.” When Philip said “I like bishops … there is always a great affection for sparring partners,” Archbishop John Neill of Dublin, who was in the chair, interjected: “Thank you indeed, archdeacon.”

There must have been thanks too to the Revd Ian Poulton, who spoke of his visit earlier that week to Rwanda and how a grant of €9,832 had been used there. He presented jars of pineapple jam from Rwanda to the Archbishop of Armagh and the Bishop of Cashel as expressions of gratitude to the Bishops’ Appeal from parishes in Rwanda. “Bishops’ Appeal is reaching real people,” he said.

Canon John McKegney thanked the internet committee for the weekly readings and made “a real plea” for a better website for the Church of Ireland. Bishop Trevor Williams of Limerick and Killaloe accepted that the Church was not communicating “our story” properly at the moment. Other speakers said the website was difficult to navigate, lacked information on local churches, their locations and services, the potential of Facebook and blogs to communicate beyond the Church of Ireland and the need to listen as part of communicating.

Perhaps a few workshops on blogging and using Facebook might be worth suggesting.

Reserved for Canon Comerford ... but there was no parking at the cathedral during General Synod (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2010)

There was loud applause for Billy Kingston when he praised the primate for his criticism of the banks in his presidential address yesterday. We had two full dollops of fiscal reality during the day when we were presented with, the report of the Representative Church Body this morning and the report of the Clergy Pensions Board this afternoon. Proper house-keeping, indeed! But if it was difficult for ordinary members to taken in, I wondered how more difficult it was for our ecumenical guests to sit through this part of the agenda politely and with an appearance of interest.

Each day, I’ve been seated with and having lunch and dinner with our ecumenical guests. These guests include guests: one from the Church in Wales, the Dean of Bangor, the Very Revd Alun Hawkins, whose diocese, the oldest territorial diocese in Wales, is twinned with the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough; three from the Roman Catholic Church; two each from the Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church; one from the Moravian Church; and Father Godfrey O’Donnell of the Romanian Orthodox Church, representing the Irish Council of Churches.

Father Kieran McDermott, Parish priest of Dundrum, Dublin, spoke openly and honestly about the present crisis in the Roman Catholic Church, but also spoke warmly of the support received from the Church of Ireland at one-to-one, pastor-to-pastor and at parochial and diocesan level, as well as the support received from the bishops of the Church of Ireland.

As he brought greetings from the Church in Wales, “our sister Church just across the sea,” Dean Hawkins referred to last night’s synod service took place in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, and referred to Saint Patrick as “another Welsh boy made good.”

Speaking to the report of the Commission for Christian Unity and Dialogue, the Bishop Richard Clarke of Meath and Kildare said the three underlining principles in the Mission Statement of the Church of Ireland, Growth, Unity and Service, said these are the central task of the church that cannot be talked about separately or on their own. They belong together, and are not a luxury or a hobby.

Bishop Clarke also introduced the report Covenant Council and the resolution encouraging celebration of the covenant near 26 September each year, appealed for co-operation between the Church of Ireland and the Methodist Church to work at local level and said many of the issues were cultural ones rather than doctrinal differences.

The Revd Dr Maurice Elliott spoke of increasing signs of the covenant beginning to take root at all levels, including co-operation and coloration in the chaplaincy at Queen’s University Belfast and between the Church of Ireland Theological Institute in Dublin and Edgehill Theological College in Belfast.

The cathedral crypt is being used for exhibitions each day. These include books stalls and exhibits by many of the mission agencies associated with the Church of Ireland, included the three mentioned by Archbishop Harper in his presidential address yesterday – USPG Ireland (Anglicans in World Mission), CMS Ireland and the Church Army.

Jan de Bruijn and Linda Chambers at the USPG Ireland stall in the crypt of Christ Church Cathedral

‘We require a completely new banking morality’

Christ Church Cathedral ... the venue for this year's General Synod (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2010)

Patrick Comerford

The General Synod of the Church of Ireland opened in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, this morning with a punchy and well-honed presidential address by Archbishop Alan Harper of Armagh, referring to the “state of the economy and the impact of serious recession on the lives and life chances of ordinary people.”

He referred to the Church of Ireland Council for Mission, and the objectives it set out last year:

• To provoke members of the Church of Ireland, at every level, to think what it means to be ‘mission-shaped’ in Ireland today…
• To facilitate the employment of new forms and patterns of ministry conducive to mission…
• To encourage local churches to think strategically about mission… and
• To enable already existing information to be used for mission purposes.

He spoke of the absolute priority of mission as the hallmark of the life of the Christian and the Christian Church. But he said “one of the pitfalls inherent in hiving off the mission agencies from the mainstream life of the Church is that we create a false dichotomy. We look upon mission as a special activity separate from normal church life and lose that outward looking orientation that properly belongs to the Church. The Church is not only holy and catholic; it is also commanded to be apostolic. Perhaps the mission agencies can help us restore the vision of apostolicity.”

He looked at three understandings of mission, from the Church Mission Society Ireland, the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG) Ireland, and the Church Army.

CMS Ireland says it works “in partnership with the Church to share the Gospel throughout the world in word and deed …we are working to see our world transformed by the message and love of Christ.”

USPG Ireland says: “Mission begins and ends with the Triune God. It is God’s activity from creation until the coming together of all things in Christ. It is seen most clearly in the saving life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Through Scripture, Tradition, Reason and Experience, we see the Holy Spirit at work, calling, liberating and transforming the People of God. Communion is at the heart of God, the very life of the Trinity. God yearns to draw each one of us into this communion with him… Communion is God’s gift to the Church. We respond in worship, most of all when this communion is made real in the Eucharist… Communion is God’s will and desire for all humanity and the whole of creation. Mission is, therefore, ‘holistic’, responding to all of God’s liberating activity so that people may ‘grow spiritually, thrive physically, and have a voice in an unjust world’.

“It involves Evangelization, Pastoral Care, Education and Healthcare, the struggle for Justice and Peace, and the care of Creation (the five marks of mission identified by the Anglican Communion).”

The Church Army says it is “sharing faith through words and actions to transform lives by making Jesus famous. Our focus is on the 7 out of 10 people who have little or no meaningful contact with the church.”

Turning to the present climate in Ireland, he spoke of:

• circumstances of political and social division: therefore we must be apostles of peace and justice;
• circumstances of denominational and religious diversity: therefore we must be apostles of respectful restraint and gracious dialogue;
• circumstances of recession, fear, rising unemployment and renewed poverty: therefore we must be apostles of generous care and a socially responsible morality.
• We minister among highly educated and sophisticated people: therefore we must be the apostles of learned simplicity but never of the simplistic.
• We minister in an environment, partly of our own making, in which religion is seen as discredited and irrelevant, faith is dismissed, worship is ignored and religious culture is no longer thrilling: therefore we must be apostles of joy and fulfilment, not by turning worship into entertainment but with the recognition that by worshipping and serving with integrity we may be serving angels, for God writes off no one.”

The challenge facing us is not to lament our circumstances but to transform them, he said. “The role of the Church, in good times and in bad, is to stand alongside those who are finding it hardest to cope, whatever their circumstances; to exhibit in practical and personal ways the loving concern of God for all people but especially for the vulnerable; and to be a beacon of hope to the living, for nothing is more spiritually, socially and physically restorative than love and hope.

He said the mission agencies show us that “mission begins when we meet people at their point of need: theology and doctrine come some way after compassion when it comes to introducing people to Christ.”

Turning to the “current circumstances of financial stringency,” he said “we are confronted with fresh challenges which require us once more to accommodate change.”

In terms of the global recession, he said “the consequences of recession are devastating for those forced into unemployment or faced with the collapse of their companies. I recently received a letter from a GP. He described what he encounters in his consulting rooms as a result of families stressed to the limit by pressure from their banks: decent folk, pillars of the local community, reduced to tears. That GP’s observations are more than supported by the statistics of suicide in both jurisdictions.”

And he graphically described the way things have changed in Irish society.

“The effects of the restriction in bank lending have been disastrous for small and medium-sized businesses, especially in the construction sector, and, consequently, for those made unemployed as businesses contract. Many employers have been forced to the wall; one long-established firm I know has laid off 60% of its workforce, others have ceased trading altogether; punitive rates of interest … are being demanded; banks are reducing overdraft facilities; asset rich but cash poor businesses, often described by the banks themselves as their core customers, are being starved of the cash required to enable them to trade, yet these same small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of the local economy.”

Harpers in tune ... Archbishop Alan Harper of Armagh and Mr Sam Harper of Kilkenny at the General Synod (Photograph: Church of Ireland Press Office)

The strength of the capitalist system in collectivising the sharing of risk has become a weakness, he said. “Is it too late to turn back the clock and remove from working people and businesses – and indeed from the retail banking industry – the risk of the billion dollar gambles of the bond markets? If it is, other types of institutions must be created to return society generally and retail banking in particular to a less vulnerable place.”

He added: “We require a reassertion of the key understanding that the first obligation of the retail banks is to the customer and that the true interests of shareholders are best served by implementing customer satisfaction. Part of that banking obligation to the customer involves ensuring that credit is available to keep business alive for, without business, wealth creation ceases and employment collapses.”

Banks are a part of our social system and integral to the lives of ordinary people and the businesses where they work … Banks and financial institutions are not themselves wealth creators,” he said. “We need them to act morally, consistently and responsibly for the greater good of society. We need to be able to trust them, including trusting in their objectivity and reliability … “We cannot allow hard-working people to be driven to the point of suicide by institutions parts of which those same desperate and distraught people actually own.”

He suggested “the retail banking sector has been morally compromised by association with the culture of investment banking. Now, however, the majority shareholder is often the tax payer. In these circumstances it is not enough for the banks to indulge in the ruthless pursuit of profit on the premise of delivering shareholder value, leading them to invest heavily in what they hope will prove the more profitable investment arm. There is no shareholder value for the tax payer if banking policy puts people on the dole, causes significant loss of tax revenue, and inflates the cost of the social security system. We require a completely new banking morality that takes full account of the social obligations of financial institutions and that insulates ordinary people and businesses from exposure to the risks of investment banking.”

Sarah Drumm of Christ Church Cathedral at the opening of the General Synod today (Photograph: Church of Ireland Press Office)

This afternoon, the General Synod passed a resolution unreservedly supporting the Transferor Representatives’ Council in seeking the continuation of the rights given to the Church of Ireland, Presbyterian Church and Methodist Church and “the right to appoint governors to those transferred schools.”

Speaking on the report of the Board of Education, Canon John McKegney (Armagh) said the legislation to create a new Educations and Skills Authority could remove church representation as of right.

“We are not asking to run controlled schools, simply to be a rightful partner,” he said. “We also wish to ensure that schools that the majority of our children attend have an ethos which reflects Christian faith and values.”

During the debate, Mr Dermot O’Callaghan quoted graphically from material on gay lesbian and transsexual issues. He was asked by the Archbishop of Armagh to justify the relevance of his quotations and eventually was asked to finish up in 30 seconds.

The Revd Grace Clunie (Armagh) said she was appalled to hear what Mr O’Callaghan had said. She described it as an “affront to my sacredness as a woman and to many of my friends who are gay and lesbian.” She also regretted that Changing Attitudes Ireland had been refused a stall at the synod for a second year, and said another voice needs to be heard.

General Synod meets for three days in Dublin

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin ... the General Synod of the Church of Ireland takes place here for the next three days (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2010)

Patrick Comerford

The General Synod of the Church of Ireland opens in Dublin tomorrow [Thursday] morning, and the meeting continues until Saturday. This year, General Synod is meeting in Christ Church Cathedral, and this is the first time the nave of the cathedral has been used for the General Synod.

The General Synod Service takes place in the evening in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, where the preacher is the Bishop of Clogher, the Right Revd Dr Michael Jackson.

It will be interesting to see who is present and who is absent from Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, because the Irish Church Missions is hosting an evening reception for members of General Synod and others at 7.30 in the evening, when the guest speaker is the Dean of Sydney Cathedral, the Very Revd Phillip Jensen, who is speaking on: “Why I am an Anglican.”

Interesting to see, I say, because I have not been invited to this reception.

Dean Jensen has spoken publicly against what he describes and condemns as secularism, syncretism and intellectual relativism, as well as gambling, same-gender relationships and Roman Catholicism.

In the Sydney Morning Herald two years ago, Dean Jensen said it is the nature of Protestantism to protest against Roman Catholic claims to authority. “We object to the Pope claiming to be the Vicar of Christ. We reject all claims to authority that imply the insufficiency of scripture. We reject any implication that Jesus’ work on the cross was insufficient or is received by more than faith or requires some other mediator,” he said. “There is nothing in modern Roman Catholicism that reduces our need to protest. They have not repented of their Reformation errors.”

He was more outspoken in his views on ecumenism in a book he co-wrote in 1991, Have Evangelicals Lost Their Way? In that book, he described Roman Catholicism as “sub-Christian” in its doctrine and practice and an “unrepentant persecutor of the Gospel.”

He is also a vociferous opponent of the ordination of women as priests and bishops. He and other leading Sydney Anglicans advocate lay presidency at the Eucharist.

Under Dean Jensen, the liturgy in Saint Andrew’s Cathedral has undergone considerable change. Dean Jensen no longer wears the traditional Anglican cassock, surplice and scarf at cathedral services, but now uses the Geneva gown when he is preaching in his cathedral. Choral Evensong on Sundays has been replaced by what he calls “The Bible Talks.” His attitude to traditional Anglican styles of worship has led critics, including Peter Phillips, the director of the Tallis Scholars, to accuse him of “vandalising” Anglican culture.

So it may be interesting for those who have been invited to hear Dean Jensen try to explain that he is still an Anglican. Not having been invited to the reception or to hear him, I’ll be very happy to attend to my responsibilities of looking after our ecumenical guests at this evening’s service in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, including three guests from the Roman Catholic Church.

The Chapter House, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2010)

The legislative programme for this year’s synod is light with Bills and resolutions relating to clergy pensions, the separation of the Saint Patrick’s Cathedral group of parishes from the cathedral and the restructuring of the board of Saint Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast.

Other issues for debate include education, inter-Church dialogue, the Anglican Covenant, a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, and the restructuring of the committees and boards of the General Synod.

The Liturgical Advisory Committee has produced a document on “Liturgical Space and Church Reordering” which it will seek leave to have published. Church of Ireland Publishing plans to publish this later in the year.

Of course, much of the discussion will really take place in the cathedral crypt over cups of coffee, and in the neighbouring cafés and bars.

The report of the Representative Church Body, which is being presented on Friday morning, reflects the financial turmoil that is besetting the country and the adjustments that have to be made by the Church of Ireland.

Just in time for the synod, Christ Church Cathedral has published a new and extended guide to its stained glass. The former short guide, by Lesley Whiteside, was produced over ten years ago and has been out of print for some time. The cathedral architect, George Edmund Street, viewed the stained glass as an integral part of his restoration of Christ Church as a 13th-century cathedral and gave detailed instructions on the choice of glass, the drawing and the painting.

This new booklet explains each window and points out features that are often missed. Take a look at these windows if you’re at General Synod this year on your way down to the crypt for that cup of coffee