INTRODUCTION
This year's General Synod, the second meeting of the triennium, was held in Dún Laoghaire, to the south of Dublin. It was a hotel conference venue, albeit one new to the Synod meeting. The Synod passed Bills relating to the areas of episcopal election and part-time ministry, as well as the ongoing areas of charity legislation and pensions. A Bill relating to diocesan boundaries was withdrawn.
EPISCOPAL ELECTION
In 2015, Synod had passed a resolution relating to the work by the Commission on Episcopal Ministry and Structures welcoming proposed changes to the approach to the election of bishops. Following further reflection and consultation, the commission presented a Bill with legislative changes.
The proposed changes included the preparation of diocesan profiles, formation of a shortlisting committee, the appointment of facilitators to assist with diocesan profiles and statement of needs, and the holding of two (or potentially three) meetings with a set timetable regarding subcommittees, shortlisting and the like. There were also amendments to personnel requirements: other than the president (usually the archbishop of the relevant province), there would be two bishops, rather than the current three, and an amendment provided that no member from outside a vacant see would serve more than twice (and never consecutively) on the shortlisting committee. It also allowed that if any person received a simple majority of the votes of members in each order, that person's name would be put to the College alone, in order to determine whether it reached the two-thirds majority (in each order) required for election. In addition, the Bill opened up the possibility for a bishop of another province of the Anglican Communion to be elected to the Archbishopric of Armagh and Primacy of All Ireland: translation to the See of Armagh had previously been limited to the members of the House of Bishops of the Church of Ireland. The Bill was passed.
PART-TIME MINSTRY
In 1999, the General Synod had legislated for members of the clergy to serve in part-time stipendiary ministry; however, they were required to have already served for three years in full-time ministry. It was noted that persons trained for ordination on a part-time basis were currently restricted either to full-time ministry or to serving in a non-stipendiary capacity. This year's Bill removed the three-year full-time requirement.
CHARITY REGISTRATION
Two Bills related to the ongoing registration of parishes as charities under the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 and the Charity Act 2009 in the Republic of Ireland. One Bill clarified the legal obligations of select vestry members in complying with documentation requirements of the relevant legislation. The second corrected an anomaly in the statute relating to Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, so as to ensure that the Cathedral Board was recognised under the charity legislation as the trustee body for the cathedral.
FINANCE
The new defined contribution clergy pension schemes for Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland were established in 2013. Under the scheme, parish/diocesan contributions ceased at the normal retirement age (currently 66 and increasing to 68). The compulsory retirement age for clergy is 75; a Bill was therefore passed which extended these contributions until actual retirement age.
Another Bill renamed the Church Fabric Fund as the Church Fabric and Development Fund and widened the terms under which applications could be made to the fund.
DIOCESAN BOUNDARIES
An important element of the work of the Commission on Episcopal Ministry and Structures over the previous four years had been consideration of diocesan boundaries. A Bill proposing new structures had met with considerable hostility, and notice that it was being withdrawn was given in advance of the Synod meeting. A resolution was successfully passed encouraging those dioceses directly affected by the original proposals – Dublin and Glendalough; Meath and Kildare; Tuam, Killala and Achonry; Limerick and Killaloe; and Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh – to explore possibilities in the light of the commission's work and report to General Synod in 2017.
This remains a sensitive and emotive topic in a church with wide variations in demography across the island. It involves a much more significant and wider concern than merely ‘lines on maps’.
MICHAEL DAVEY RIP
Frank Cranmer writes: Our Church of Ireland correspondent, Michael Davey, died on 30 June 2016. Conscientious to the last, he had left outline notes for this report – and I should like to express my thanks to Kate Turner for bringing it to completion.
A solicitor, Mike had served on the Board of St Anne's Cathedral and was a member of Down and Dromore Diocesan Council from 1986 to 2016 and of General Synod from 1982 to 2014, for 19 years of which he was an assessor. Though we never met, we corresponded frequently after I became Parliamentary and Synod Editor of the Journal and I very much appreciated Mike's acute observations on the Church of Ireland scene, delivered in a style that was often drily witty but never less than charitable. The Journal has lost a good friend: may he rest in peace.
