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Derry & Raphoe Synod 2019

Address by Archbishop’s Commissary, the Ven Robert S Miller

The Venerable Robert S Miller, Archbishop’s Commissary and Archdeacon of Derry, gave the following Synod Address yesterday morning (23rd October) at the Diocesan Synod of the United Dioceses of Derry and Raphoe in An Grianán Hotel, Burt, Co. Donegal.


Walking Together

Today is an important day in the life of our dioceses. It is an occasion when we come together as a synod and set aside time to celebrate what God has been doing through us and in us.  I hope you have had an opportunity to read the Book of Reports.  It includes many extremely uplifting stories of ministry across our dioceses.  Synod gives us an opportunity to celebrate these and challenge one another around our vision and values. We serve in teams; we seek growth and we encourage leaders. These core values articulate the nature of our witness. Our time together begins quite rightly in worship as we look to God in order to see one another, and our mission and ministry in the world, more clearly.

Making a Difference

As we grow older, many of us wonder about our mark on the world.  I saw a very striking photograph, recently, which showed how a Donegal forester had made his mark on the world.  Fourteen years ago, the late Liam Emmery planted more than 3,000 trees not very far from here, at Killea, in Co. Donegal.

What was remarkable about the forest is that Liam designed it in such a way that in the autumn – when some trees change colour – a huge Celtic Cross is revealed, visible only from above. It is over 100 metres long and 70 metres wide, and Liam’s creation has rightly been hailed as a remarkable feat of horticultural engineering.

As we gather together today, we are challenged to reveal our difference. In our reports, and during the discussion of those reports, we have an opportunity to show how following Jesus individually, and as parish communities, makes a difference to our own lives and in the society of which we are a part.

Derry and Raphoe Diocesan Synod: Addreess by Archbishop's Commissary
Derry and Raphoe Diocesan Synod: Addreess by Archbishop's Commissary

From Power to Authority

There are many challenges within the Church and many challenges to the Church’s role within society. 150 years ago, the Church of Ireland was disestablished. At the time, some felt that the Church was being shorn of her power; they viewed disestablishment as a loss from which the Church might never recover. And yet to others it presented an opportunity. The Church of Ireland had to change. It no longer possessed power and status; now it could only influence society by an authority that came from its witness.

We can learn much by reflecting on the journey of our Church over this last century and a half. The question I find myself asking is, ‘How can we better influence our society?’ Our authority to influence the decisions of our society is strengthened by our lived–out faith. I have reflected on this in the light of our diocesan vision statement: ‘Transforming Community, Radiating Christ.’ If we are to seek to transform the society around us by our Christian faith, if we – like Liam Emmery – are to make our mark on the world, then we must live out that transformation first and foremost in our own lives and relationships.

One Church, One Island, Two Nations

The world we live in is fragmenting at a frightening rate. People feel threatened by climate change, inequality and global terrorism.  Increasingly, society seeks to define who is ‘one of us’ and who is not!  Western civilisation – with its relative abundance – is seeking to build bigger walls rather than longer tables. I believe Jesus calls us to live differently – to live more generously.

The Church of Ireland has lived out her faith on one island with two distinct political ideologies and jurisdictions. The nations on this island were born from different national identities, and we remember only too clearly the conflict that consumed our island home for far too long and which – if we aren’t careful – threatens to embroil a new generation.

As the Church of Ireland, we were challenged to embrace one another in the Church as sister and brother while holding different national identities. We see this writ large here in this room. The nature of our own United Dioceses as we go to–and–fro across the border is that we share a common identity as members of the Church of Ireland. Our Christian identity helps shape our national identity. And I can’t help feeling that there is something revelatory, something illuminating, something almost prophetic in this – a lesson that contains an important message for us, in this place and at this time. As Jesus said in our reading, “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35).  

Facing Uncertainty

For the last three years there has been tremendous uncertainty about our future. Brexit seems, at the moment, to offer more questions than answers. As a Church we must be political with a small ‘p’; that doesn’t mean we should be arguing on any particular side of the Brexit debate, but we certainly should be arguing for one another’s needs to be acknowledged and addressed.

After the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was challenged by a widow who felt he should be working harder to destroy his enemies. Lincoln’s response was profound: ‘Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?’

Is it too much to ask that we, who follow the One who called us to love our enemies, should seek to ensure we continue to love one another regardless of political ideology? The Community we are called to be as the Church is not static. We are called to follow Jesus. And as we follow, we will shape not only the Church but our wider society as well.

A Gentle Authority

In Ireland, we have sought to shape our society by a gentle authority. We are called to remember the pain of the conflict here, the hurt and trauma of which some still carry in broken bodies and scarred minds. However, we do not simply remember; we invite God to minister through us to redeem that very pain and trauma.

Jesus reminded his disciples that peacemakers were blessed by God. As Christians, we must strive to influence our society, to build peace where it is absent and nurture it when it is still only emerging from its smallest beginnings. An essential foundation in this ministry must be our prayerfulness in asking God for the necessary strength to persevere in our peace–making. The stories of our mission and ministry across our dioceses are evidence of such gentle authority radiating from the lives of individuals and parishes.

A Political Church

Gathering here today as the United Dioceses of Derry and Raphoe we are only too aware of the failure of MLAs at Stormont to meet together and govern. Let us commit to praying for MLAs and for all who are working to resolve the impasse at Stormont. And let us be honest with ourselves. We must accept our share of the blame as members of an electorate which has allowed the ‘fixed–position politics’ – perhaps even the ‘trench warfare politics’ – of Northern Ireland to continue for far too long.

As the Church we must raise our voices to highlight the difficulties people face because of the stagnation of a system of governance that is unable or unwilling to see beyond consideration of the constitutional position of Northern Ireland. In the meantime, those who ought to be served by this government are suffering: patients and medical professionals; pupils and teachers; business people; farmers; those in low–paid jobs; those with no work; families dependent on food banks; people with addiction problems; those battling mental illness; the elderly who deserve to be treated with more dignity; and now, to that long list, we must also add the unborn. The lack of governance at Stormont has – as of yesterday – paved the way for radical change to abortion law in Northern Ireland, with obvious dangers for unborn children and health risks for women.

The Church in the Republic of Ireland has also seen society moving away from legislation that had previously upheld traditional Christian teaching – most noticeably with the decisions on marriage and abortion.

Brexit

Like Northern Ireland, the Republic has been consumed by the Brexit debate. Both parts of the island will be profoundly affected, whatever transpires. Indeed, in the run–up to the recent budget in the Republic, concern over the financial impact of Brexit forced the government to lower economic growth projections from this year’s 5% to half of one percent. The subsequent budget was suitably cautious. There is no denying that the Republic’s economy had been performing incredibly strongly and that some in Irish society are doing very well nowadays. It’s estimated there are around eighty thousand millionaires in Ireland, and the government says there are more people in work than ever before. But homelessness is also at an unprecedented high, with more than 10,000 people – forty percent of them children – having nowhere to live. And no civilised society, certainly not a modern Irish one, can be comfortable at the sight earlier this month of a 5–year–old boy, identified only as Sam, sitting on a pavement eating his dinner off a piece of cardboard.

Redeeming Our Society

Thankfully, my faith permits me to believe that God can redeem any situation. I am convinced that through perseverance in prayer we can see new life and fresh governance emerge from the political stagnation north of the border, and the development of a more just and more compassionate society in both jurisdictions. But we must pray with open hearts – hearts that may have to acknowledge that God is calling us not only to pray but to act.

Opportunity

I believe that we have an opportunity to do good, an opportunity to transform our community, by radiating Christ. In both Northern Ireland and in the Republic, the Church must seek again to influence society, not because of any selfish desire on our part for power and status, but in order to extend God’s Kingdom. We must do so by using the humble authority that comes from following Jesus with integrity. The Church has an opportunity to present with gentleness and respect the hope that we have, a hope that we believe to be relevant to society in the 21st Century. We aren’t seeking to legislate the Gospel but to liberate society to hear the Gospel message of hope as a challenge to the idol of the age: rights.

Vocation

The opportunities we are presented with as Christians living in the world are an important element in our calling. The Church of Ireland has focused some fresh energy into reminding us to grasp onto our sense of vocation as individuals and together as the Church. I hope we will see that answering God’s call is a requirement for all of us. I pray, too, that we will witness more people of all ages seeing ordained leadership as something worth embracing.

Change

Of course, as we consider the changing role of the Church in our society, we ourselves face a change of leadership. In the Book of Reports, we have noted the names of clergy who have retired and of those who have moved to minister in other dioceses in the Church of Ireland: I am thankful for their partnership in the work of the Gospel. A major change is the appointment of Archdeacon Andrew Forster as our new bishop. Bishop Andrew has been able to send greetings to our synod and we prayerfully anticipate his arrival amongst us as our bishop in December. We acknowledge the need to encourage leaders. And as Bishop Andrew joins us let us continue to pray for the strength of the Lord to guide and sustain him in his episcopate.

Thanks

As we look forward, it is right to reflect also – and with gratitude – on those who have served the Lord and led our diocese in the past. I would especially want to send Diocesan Synod’s prayerful good wishes to Lord & Lady Eames, Bishop Jim and Thelma Mehaffey, and Bishop Ken and Mary Good. So, it is with a sense of thankfulness and a willingness to be attentive to what God is saying to His people that we turn to our agenda.

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