Press Releases
Continuing Ministerial Education concludes on Zoom
By the Revd Dr William Olhausen
Working out of the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, I am the national coordinator for Continuing Ministerial Education (CME). At the moment, there is an annual programme for ordained priests in their first three years of ministry. Along with everyone else, we have been hit hard by the coronavirus. This has meant missing our final day session with the Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, Dr William Morton, and our annual retreat in the beautiful setting of Mount St Anne’s Retreat Centre in Co. Laois.
The CME team decided that it would be really good to at least attempt a final Zoom gathering to mark the end of the year. It proved to be a very successful and encouraging time together! Archbishop John McDowell joined with us to lead us in a Bible reading and reflection.
The Archbishop spoke on 2 Kings 4:9. On seeing Elisha walk past, the wealthy Shunammite woman remarks to her husband: “Look, I am sure that this man who regularly passes our way is a holy man of God”. The reflection focused on the place of holiness in Christian ministry. Even though we were meeting virtually, there was a real sense of fellowship and being ministered to by our new Archbishop. For me, it was particularly helpful to see holiness as something winsome, something pastoral and something grounded in God’s love. I also appreciated the quite subtle point that holiness is not something we can obtain like a diet or a fitness plan but comes by spending time with God and allowing ourselves to be a channel for his love. Finally, I also appreciated the Archbishop’s gentle challenge to speak truth to power as and when the Spirit compels us.
Once we had prayed together, we broke down into our pastoral support groups. This proved to be a great opportunity to catch up with each other’s news, to learn from each other and also to offer encouragement to one another. Next year’s programme may continue to be disrupted as we return to a ‘new normal’ but we will certainly be much more confident of being able to keep in touch and continue to learn and grow together in our discipleship.
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