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September 2010 Standing Committee News

The Standing Committee of the General Synod met on Tuesday 21 September 2010. The meeting was opened with a scripture reading and prayer. The Archbishop of Armagh welcomed the Revd Canon Denis Sandes (Tuam) to Standing Committee who has taken the place vacated by the Very Revd Sue Patterson; he also welcomed back the Bishop of Connor after his short period of illness.

Ecumenical Canons
Detailed work is continuing in the area of producing an enabling Canon relating to local ecumenical partnerships with further consideration being given to the matter by the Bills Committee and the Legislation Committee, to be brought to Standing Committee in due course.

Speaking Rights at General Synod for Ecumenical Guests
In September 2009, the Standing Committee agreed that ecumenical guests attending the General Synod should be afforded participative speaking rights. It was resolved that Standing Committee requests a motion be brought to the General Synod in 2011 to afford speaking rights to ecumenical guests at the General Synod during debates pertaining to reports and motions. Further work in drafting this motion is to be undertaken by the Standing Orders Committee.

Mediation Panels, Severance Fund and Complaints and Disciplinary Procedure Reviews
Provincial Mediation Panels (assisting bishops in the resolution of conflict within dioceses) were created in 2001, and in 2003, Synod legislated for the provision of a Severance Fund for clergy to be raised within dioceses to deal with situations where there has been irretrievable pastoral breakdown. The current complaints process, meanwhile, was established by the General Synod in 2008. Now that these have each been in operation for some time, and in order to ensure an effective running of the processes, reviews at this point are felt to be desirable. Each is a significant body of work.

Standing Committee resolved to request the Honorary Secretaries initiate a review of the Complaints Process and report the findings to the Standing Committee as soon as practicable. It further resolved to initiate a review of the Provincial Mediation Panels and the Severance Fund and report the findings to Standing Committee as soon as practicable.

Reports from Representatives attending Conferences of other Churches
Reports were received and noted regarding attendance earlier this year by: the Bishop of Clogher at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland; the Bishop of Down & Dromore and Mrs Hilary McClay at the Methodist Church in Ireland’s Annual Conference; the Revd Dr Maurice Elliott at the Scottish Episcopal Church’s General Synod in Edinburgh; and the Venerable Robin Bantry White who attended the General Synod of the Church of England in York.

General Synod 2012
It was resolved that the meeting of the General Synod 2012 be held in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin on 10, 11 and 12 May (Thursday-Saturday).

The dates for the 2011 General Synod to be held in Armagh are 12, 13 and 14 May (Thursday-Saturday).

Consultation on Cohesion, Sharing and Integration
A consultation by the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) in Northern Ireland on Cohesion, Sharing and Integration is currently underway with a deadline for submissions by 29 October 2010. Standing Committee appointed a working group to devise a response for the Church of Ireland, to be convened by the Bishop of Down & Dromore. In light of the timing for submission preceding its next meeting, Standing Committee agreed that the response be approved by the Archbishops and Honorary Secretaries on its behalf and subsequently submitted to OFMDFM.

Bethany Home
The Archbishop of Dublin addressed the Standing Committee on the concerns that have been raised about the Bethany Home, Rathgar. The Archbishop read a statement which he had released on 15 September, which is given below in full. The Standing Committee supported the statement and agreed to associate itself with it.

Issued by the Archbishop of Dublin, The Most Reverend Dr John Neill:

‘It is a matter of grave concern and deep pain that in the first half of the last century Bethany Home, which was operated by an independent charity with a Protestant ethos, should have been inadequate to its task. As Archbishop of Dublin, I lament the fact that women and children suffered through the reported failures of the charity. My paramount concern is a pastoral one for those women and children who suffered through physical neglect or abuse of any kind.  Whilst recognising the apparent poverty of the Bethany Home, the allegations of a lack of human kindness and compassion are deeply disturbing.  As the largest church within the wider Protestant community, we recognise that many residents of the home would have been Church of Ireland members and that the Church of Ireland community engaged in public fundraising for the home. Furthermore, I acknowledge that some clergy and laity were involved in a personal capacity in the management of the Bethany Home. I am deeply concerned at the information revealed by recent research and the Church of Ireland has repeatedly petitioned the State to have the home brought under the remit of the Residential Institutions Redress Board.’

ENDS

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