Standing Committee & RB24 Apr 18

April 2018 Standing Committee News

The Standing Committee of the General Synod met on Tuesday 17th April 2018 in Church House, Dublin. The meeting was chaired by the Archbishop of Armagh and the Archbishop of Dublin. The Revd Canon Gillian Wharton opened the meeting with a scripture reading and prayers.

The Archbishop of Armagh noted that the meeting would be the last one attended by Mr Denzil Auchmuty of the Diocese of Tuam, Killala and Achonry and also by the Ven. Ricky Rountree, Archdeacon of Glendalough, and he thanked both for their notable service to the Standing Committee.

Honorary Secretaries’ Report

Mr Ken Gibson provided a brief report from the Honorary Secretaries. He relayed that there were useful continuing discussions with Church of Ireland Press and with the Board for Social Responsibility (NI) with a planned consultation with its new Chief Executive. The Honorary Secretaries have met the Chair of the Bills Committee, the Rt Revd Dr Paul Colton, and are engaged in ongoing consultation and development of their review of the Bills Process. Mr Gibson also communicated that the Honorary Secretaries hope to send a representative to a forthcoming meeting of the Citizens’ Dialogue on the Future of Europe in response to an invitation received.

Adult Safeguarding

Legislation in Northern Ireland governs adult protection, while similar legislation is under development in the Republic of Ireland, and Church of Ireland Adult Safeguarding Policies (Codes of Good Practice) for Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will be launched later this year, accompanied by a series of training events for clergy and relevant staff. The policies will primarily be published online so that they can be regularly updated in accordance with legislation and good practice.

At the March meeting of the Standing Committee, resolutions to submit legislation, as recommended by the Executive Committee and in conjunction with the Representative Body, to the General Synod 2018 were approved, and the draft Bills were also approved. These Bills are to amend Chapter XVI of the Constitution (to adopt a policy to address the safeguarding of adults) and to replace Statute Chapter III of 2006 (Child Protection Officers levy) with provisions for a new Safeguarding levy.

Following discussion, the Standing Committee approved the Adult Safeguarding Policies, known as Adult Safeguarding: The Church of Ireland Code of Good Practice, subject to corrections.

Secondary Education Committee

The Standing Committee approved the following nominations to the Board of the Secondary Education Committee: Mr Adrian Oughton; Ms Hazel Corrigan; Revd Katharine Poulton; Mr Roy Crowe; Ms Joyce Ryder; Mr Derek Beattie and Mr Geoffrey Perrin.

The Rt Revd Michael Burrows, Bishop of Cashel & Ossory, who has now concluded his role as Chair of the Secondary Education Committee, paid tribute to the commitment of many people from the Church of Ireland who had served on the SEC over many years.

Children’s Ministry

The Revd Canon Ian Berry reported on recent discussions between representatives of the Sunday School Society (SSS) and the Children’s Ministry Network (CMN) around the potential to merge their operations and purposes. The Standing Committee agreed to endorse the direction of development proposed for SSS and CMN to merge into a new Ministry among Children.

CTBI

It was agreed that Dr Kenneth Milne represent the Church of Ireland at the AGM of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland to be held in Liverpool on Wednesday 9th May.

Report from Methodist Church’s Faith & Order Committee Symposium

A report was received from the Revd Canon Dr Ian Ellis reporting on the Methodist Church in Ireland’s recent special symposium on biblical interpretation and human sexuality held at Edgehill College, Belfast, and noted.

The meeting closed with the Grace.