Diocesan News
Limerick and Killaloe Annual Clergy Conference 2016
The L&K Diocesan Conference was again held in the beautiful surroundings of the Dingle peninsula, posing the perpetual question why anyone would ever want to live anywhere but Kerry.
The Conference theme was based on the report commissioned by Bishop Kenneth Kearon entitled ‘Forward Together’. The document, based on a comprehensive series of discussions with both clergy and congregations across the entire Diocese – no small task! – was introduced by its co–authors, Canon Cecil Hyland and Archdeacon Gordon Linney, supported by The Very Revd Maria Jansson, Dean of Waterford, and Foster Murphy, the well–known Consultant and advisor to a number of charities.
Introducing the report, Cecil spoke of the privilege and warm welcome which he and Archdeacon Gordon Linney experienced in the Dioceses. He said we were all challenged to look at the role of the Church and he illustrated this by means of 4 points of a star – Worship; Growing in Faith; Fellowship; and Service. It is the responsibility of every Church and every Parish to maintain these four aspects of Christian life.
In the context of the conference, he drew attention to that part of the report which deals with ministry. The need for ministry to be shared was stressed. Clergy need to support one another, parishes need to co–operate, denominations must work together and lay people must play a more active role in the ministry of the Church.
Maria’s brief was to offer her personal perspective on ministry and so she rooted everything in the ministry of Christ – His calling, temptations, imaginative teaching, profound healing of others, the mounting opposition to His ministry, radical table fellowship, His apparent abandonment on the cross by all … even God … and His victory in the resurrection. In Jesus we find not just inspiration but direction and encouragement. As He walked with and engaged with our humanity, even at its most broken and ambiguous, we are called to so do with each other.
Foster began by discussing the absolute vastness of the universe and the infinitesimal smallness of the elementary particles, from which all is made. Ireland was separated from the main landmass of Europe when the last Ice Age remitted about 10,000 BC. He moved on to a Christian theology based on ‘Original Blessing’ where God caused the emergence of the world – as Hildegard of Bingen wrote “God hugs you, you are encircled by the arms of the mystery of God”. Having considered some 26 nouns (A to Z) as a description of ministry Foster settled on the key ministry role of being a mentor, helping each individual discover, in their own terms and over time, the meaning of life.
Summing up, Gordon spoke for all when he said that it had been a privilege to spend time at the invitation of the bishop with the clergy and people of the dioceses of the South West. Perhaps like many Church of Ireland people, he said he had a very limited understanding of church life in that part of the country but was much encouraged by the loyalty and devotion of the people and their natural friendliness. They are refreshingly honest about the challenges they face, challenges not confined to their dioceses.
In conclusion, he emphasised that the review process we have just completed was never intended to be a case of ‘experts’ from outside telling locals what to do; rather it has been a listening and learning exercise, encouraging the people, clergy and lay, to celebrate the diverse gifts they have and consider how they might better use them. We would do well as a church to treasure more the witness of these faithful people.
Communications Officer, Tuam, Limerick & Killaloe
089 448 9353
Stephen Fletcher
comms@tlk.ie