Disestablishment 150
Marking Disestablishment 150 at General Synod
The 150th anniversary of the Church of Ireland’s Disestablishment was marked in several ways at our 2019 General Synod in the Millennium Forum, Derry/Londonderry (16th–18th May). The General Synod first met in Dublin in 1871, following the General Convention of 1870 and the passage of the Irish Church Act 1869.
In the course of his Presidential Address, Archbishop Richard Clarke remarked that a review of the Church as it now is, by a group of colleagues from other Christian traditions, is intended to be published by the end of 2019, along with a book of essays considering the many developments within the Church over the past fifty years since the centenary of Disestablishment.
Archbishop Clarke pointed to the words of the French diplomat Paul Claudel (1868–1955) to summarise the “great and essential challenge” for every member of the Church as we look into the future: “Don’t talk about Jesus Christ but live in such a way that people will ask you about Jesus Christ.”
National Youth Officer Simon Henry announced the creation of a Young Leaders In Ministry Fund to celebrate the 150th anniversary and to support the Church’s ministry in the future. This fund will provide individual young people with small, but significant, bursaries to enable them to apply for teams, training and placements that might otherwise have been financially challenging.
Archbishop Michael Jackson recalled how the Church of Ireland Youth Forum, in January this year, explored the theme of Disestablishment and looked forward to the opportunity for young people from the Church to meet the President of Ireland to explore the issues that are in their hearts. He encouraged everyone at General Synod to take something of Disestablishment 150 and its strapline ‘Free to shape our own future’. Each diocese has been asked to undertake a project which shows the Church of Ireland as it is today.
At a civic reception for members of General Synod in the Guildhall, a dramatic production told the stories of several figures from the time of Disestablishment – Prime Minister Willliam Ewart Gladstone; the Ven Edward Stopford, Archdeacon of Meath; the Rt Revd William Alexander, Bishop of Derry and Raphoe; and his wife, the hymn–writer Mrs Cecil Frances Alexander.
The next meeting of General Synod will take place in the Croke Park Meetings and Events Centre, Dublin, from 7th–9th May 2020.
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