Council for Mission04 Mar 14

Council for Mission Conference with the Bishop of London and the Methodist President

Above: L–R: Revd Andrew Quill (Chair, Council for Mission), Mrs Brigid Barrett, Bishop Harold Miller, Revd Dr Heather Morris, Bishop Richard Chartres, Revd Paul Hoey

The Church of Ireland Council for Mission held a conference at Dromantine Retreat and Conference Centre, Co. Down on 28 Feb–1 March 2014 with guest speakers the Revd Dr Heather Morris, President of the Methodist Church in Ireland, and the Rt Revd Richard Chartres, Bishop of London (pictured right).

The conference addressed the key questions: how to articulate the mission of the Church of Ireland in the range of contexts that exist across Ireland in such a way that all church traditions can embrace, support and enact it, and how can it be brought to life?; and how can more traditional and newer forms of church together enhance and strengthen the mission of the church?

Delegates from across all twelve Church of Ireland Dioceses, the guest speakers and special contributors from a range of parishes engaging creatively in mission were welcomed by the Bishop of Down and Dromore, the Rt Revd Harold Miller, and the conference discussions were facilitated by Dean Katharine Poulton and Mr Andrew McNeile (pictured left).

A conference report will follow in the forthcoming edition of the the Church of Ireland Gazette (14 March) and subsequently on this website.

The Council for Mission’s objectives are to:

• stimulate within the Church of Ireland a sense of the priority and urgency of mission;
• advocate the equality and complementary nature of mission at home and throughout the world;
• maintain close relationships with other bodies concerned with mission and in particular with Diocesan Boards of Mission, the Association of Mission Societies, and mission and overseas development agencies;
• promote effective models of mission and evangelism;
• encourage programmes of renewal;
• initiate and encourage enterprises which will further the mission of the Church;
• allocate funds from St Patrick’s Memorial Fund and other funds at its disposal;
• foster interest in members of the Church of Ireland serving in other parts of the world;
• facilitate mission interchange visits to and from Ireland; and
• encourage reflection on the theology of mission.

The Council reports annually to the Church of Ireland’s General Synod.

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