Synod News
Work of Standing Committee Highlighted at General Synod
The report of the Standing Committee was presented to the Church of Ireland General Synod as it met online today (Wednesday December 2). The wide ranging report, which covered the breadth of non–financial issues that have been considered centrally since General Synod 2019 in Derry, was proposed by clerical Honorary Secretary, the Revd Malcolm Kingston and seconded by lay Honorary Secretary, Hazel Corrigan.
Addressing Synod members who joined from their homes all over the island, Mr Kingston highlighted some of the areas of the Standing Committee’s activity in 2019. The Church and Society Commission (CASC) had focused particularly on climate change but had also looked at gender justice, homelessness and housing insecurity and the impact of social media, he said.
He paid tribute to the Historical Centenaries Working Group and their work on sensitive commemoration of the centenaries of events which took place between 1912 and 1922. He highlighted the ‘Divided States’ reading list as a useful resource for those who would like to learn more about the period which continues to have a profound influence on the island and the Church of Ireland.
The work of the Priorities Fund in blessing local communities was also mentioned and Mr Kingston suggested that the Priorities Fund Allocations reported offered an encouraging insight into innovative ideas being undertaken by parishes and organisations. He informed members that in light of fewer projected applications this year due to Covid–19, Standing Committee had approved the recommendation that Diocesan contributions to the 2021 fund be set at 50% of the target amount in 2020 and 75% of the target for 2021.
He concluded by drawing Synod’s attention to the work of Child and Adult Safeguarding which he said remained a priority for the Church. The new Safeguarding website was launched in 2020 and he said that it contained a lot of useful information for the Church. He paid tribute to the staff “who deliver training, liaise with statutory authorities, process checks and promote good practices throughout the ministry of the Church of Ireland”.
Seconding the report Hazel Corrigan focused on three legislative pieces. Standing Committee last month agreed to defer presenting the General Synod Representation Bill to General Synod 2021 at the recommendation of the working group, she stated. As most triennial elections had taken place in the dioceses, the impact of the Bill would not now take effect until the triennial elections of 2023. Standing Committee is conscious that new members will be joining General Synod next year so in order for all members to be fully informed about the Bill and the process it was agreed that each dioceses should be asked to hold a forum to brief their General Synod representatives, she reported.
The Bill going to General Synod next year wil have the following alterations: the first phase of the changes to representation will take effect for the triennium 2024–2026 with the end date, 2032, remaining the same. The second phase of changes wil take effect for the triennia 2027–2032. The review will take place in 2030 and the outworkings of the review will take effect for the three triennia beginning 2033.
Ms Corrigan also spoke about the bills procedure report which proposes minor amendments to the phraseology of the bills procedure to make the process easier to understand and encourage members to participate actively in the legislative process.
The Charities Bill, which Ms Corrigan reminded members had been presented to Synod, had been some years in development as the Church and the relevant Regulatory Authorities refined their approaches. The work had been brought together in the proposal for a new chapter in the Constitution where the various charitable statements could easily be found by those who need them and any member of the public. She thanked members of the Charities Registration Monitoring Working Group for their commitment.
She concluded by noting that the Facilitation Committee had presented its concluding report to General Synod and its recommendations would be referred to Standing Committee or other bodies to explore.
Discussion on the Report
Speaking to the report Geoffrey McMaster (Dublin &
Glendalough) addressed the Bishops’ Appeal report which he said provided a window to the Church’s response to disaster. Any response from Bishops’ Appeal was entirely dependent on the response from individuals and parishes. “If we don’t support them they cannot respond to anything,” he stated. He noted that contributions to Bishops’ Appeal had dropped in recent years and said it was necessary to reflect on that. Bishops’ Appeal needed to do more to bring parishes on board, he said before asking how appointments were made to Bishops’
Appeal Advisory Committee.
Responding, the Bishop of Tuam and chairperson of Bishops’ Appeal, Bishop Patrick Rooke, thanked Mr McMaster for his questions. There are currently 10 members on the Bishops’ Appeal Advisory Committee and it has not been the practice to seek appointments, he stated. Currently names were proposed at Standing Committee and voted on. The criteria is a willingness to work and interest in Bishops’ Appeal and they are always looking for people with experience in finance. The membership has a gender balance and a balance of lay and ordained. The diocesan representatives are listed in the report. Bishop Rooke said that as Bishops’ Appeal approaches its 50th anniversary in 2022 it is conducting an audit in the Northern Provinces in the first instance which will ask a number of questions, including why donations have decreased.
Adrian Hilliard (Limerick and Killaloe) said one of the reasons contributions to Bishops’ Appeal go up and down is because some years there has been a particularly bad disaster and then it is highlighted in the parishes. He accepted that it isn’t highlighted as much in parishes as it used to be but it does rise when there is a crisis in a particular year.
George Woodman (Connor) noted that in the report, Bishops’ Appeal asked if the mission should be extended to Ireland. He said that in the United Kingdom last week the Chancellor of the Exchequer proposed a reduction to Britain’s aid budget and suggested that if that did happen, more would fall to the charitable sector. He said work abroad for Bishops’ Appeal must take precedence. He commended the work on the Bills procedure and felt the changes were good.
Lady Brenda Sheil welcomed the changes that the Honorary Secretaries proposed in the Bills Procedure. She raised a technical point of information.
The report of the Standing Committee was received by Synod members.