Day 1
General Synod 2018 Gets Underway Today in Armagh
The General Synod of the Church of Ireland gets underway today (Thursday May 10) in the Armagh City Hotel, Armagh. Over the coming three days, elected clergy and lay members along with the Archbishops and Bishops of the Church of Ireland will consider a range of Bills and Motions and receive the reports of a number of Church committees.
Before the formal business of the Synod gets underway, the Synod Eucharist takes place this morning in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh at 10.30am. The preacher will be the Rt Revd John McDowell, Bishop of Clogher. Synod proceedings will start at 12.00 noon.
Throughout the next three days reports and information, including a summary of business done, will be posted daily during Synod on the Synod website: https://synod.ireland.anglican.org
There will be an audio broadcast during Synod and a Twitter feed using the hashtag #coigs. This hashtag will also be used for Facebook and Instagram as well as other social media outlets.
On the following days, the Synod will begin in the conference centre at 10.00am. Business will finish at 6.30pm on Thursday and 6pm on Friday and is scheduled to finish at 4.30pm on Saturday.
Each morning begins with a short act of worship, which this year will be led by the Revd Canon Shane Forster, Rector of Ballymore and Executive Chaplain to the Archbishop of Armagh.
The Archbishop of Armagh’s Presidential Address will take place shortly after 12.00 noon today.
A new Daily Worship app will also be launched today as part of the Standing Committee report session (4–6pm). The app is an initiative from the Church’s Central Communications Board.
A reception for General Synod members will take place in the Armagh City Hotel on Friday evening after the close of business.
This morning will see the launch of the Commentary on the Constitution. This is a book which has been written and produced by the Constitution Review Group. It goes through each chapter of the Constitution, summarising the content, explaining the history and the changes of the topic, and providing detail on the relevance of the material to life in the Church of Ireland. Sir Paul Girvan, the Chair of the CRG, will launch the commentary morning and the book will then be for sale at Synod and later on the Church of Ireland website.
The launch of Bishop Michael Burrows’ Route 66 book will take place at the Mothers’ Union stand at Synod: http://cashel.anglican.org/?p=6253. The launch of a Council for Mission booklet on the 5 Marks of Mission will take place during their report to Synod.
There will be an informal session on Friday afternoon on Church of Ireland third level chaplaincies in Belfast and Dublin led by the Revd Barry Forde and the Revd Rob Jones.
The triennial elections will be taking place this year, including Honorary Secretaries, Bills Committee, Legislation Committee and Record Committee. The results of Standing Committee elections will be read out to Synod members.
A Communication from the House of Bishops will be read to members and the text will then be available on the Church of Ireland website.