INTRODUCTION
‘A person is a member of the Church of Ireland if they say they are’.Footnote 1 This aphorism, attributed to Archbishop John Allen Fitzgerald Gregg,Footnote 2 inspires the exploration, in canonical terms, of the nature of membership of the Church of Ireland.Footnote 3 In a survey of serving clergy and bishops of the Church of Ireland, 82 per cent indicated that they had encountered Gregg's definition of membership.Footnote 4 Of these, only 56 per cent agreed with it.
It is a colloquial definition, which reflects a mindset of membership that accords readily with the perspective of many in settings where there is an established church, such as the Church of England. However, for other non-established or disestablished churches such as the Church of Ireland in a contemporary context, Gregg's definition is inadequate. Moreover, elements of a canonical definition of membership can be identified; and amendments to the law of the Church of Ireland are desirable.
This study addresses these questions: is definition necessary or desirable? What are the dynamics of definition: in civil law; and in the law of the Church of Ireland, in comparison with other Anglican provinces, in an ecumenical context and from an historical perspective?
Theology
At the outset it is important to affirm that the pursuit of a canonical definition is inextricable from its theological and ecclesiological roots.Footnote 5 The church is a ‘mystery’,Footnote 6 ‘the congregation of Christ's flock’,Footnote 7 ‘the body of Christ's Church’,Footnote 8 and ‘the whole Church throughout the ages, [is] journeying into the fullness of God's love’.Footnote 9 ‘[T]he visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in which the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments be duly administered according to Christ's ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same’.Footnote 10 Anglicans posit an ecclesiology of ‘communion through baptism’.
The influence of Vatican II has been seminal. In Lumen Gentium,Footnote 11 the dominant model is the church as the pilgrim people of God,Footnote 12 there is renewed emphasis on the ministry of all the people of GodFootnote 13 and the issue of membership arises for clergy and laity alike.
The Hazards of Definition in a Missionary Context
A further word of caution prior to embarking on this pursuit is also necessary. Membership is a difficult concept for Anglicans; definition is ‘inevitably broad and hazy.’Footnote 14 As one guide underlines
[m]embership for an Anglican is … more about incorporation into a community than conformity to a set of credal formulae or observance of a set of rules … In these days of an increasingly post-Christian culture, potential members appear on the threshold coming from all kinds of backgrounds and experiences.Footnote 15
Objections to the pursuit of a canonical definition arise from the fear of jeopardising the mission of the church and an innate suspicion of the use of law in a church: ‘the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ’.Footnote 16 There are other concerns about the pursuit of definitions: the fear that non-quantifiable, qualitative data may be overlooked;Footnote 17 or that emerging models (such as discursive ChristianityFootnote 18 or diffusive ChristianityFootnote 19) of believing and of belonging may be precluded by definition.
IS DEFINITION NECESSARY? THE CIVIL LAW
That begs the question: is definition necessary? Both the civil law and the law of the church appear to be predicated on the expectation that it is possible and necessary to define who is a member and who is not. In the civil law this is manifest in a number of key areas: marriage,Footnote 20 education, equality and employment, and charitable trusts. The formalities of marriage require clergy in Ireland to make a determination as to whether or not a person is a ‘Protestant Episcopalian’.Footnote 21 In education,Footnote 22 the concept of the ethos or ‘characteristic spirit’ of a school formulated in the Education Act 1998 leads to the question of membership in relation to eligibility for membership of school Boards of Management or school trusteeship, school enrolment, education grants and teacher recruitment.Footnote 23 The issue arises in equality and employment matters, since educational or medical institutions ‘under the direction or control of a body established for religious purposes or whose objectives include the provision of services in an environment which promotes certain religious values’ may take into account the protection of their ethos when employing members of the staff.Footnote 24 Finally, membership (and consequently the authentication of membership) is a requirement of those who seek to benefit from some of the many charitable trusts administered by the Church.
IS DEFINITION NECESSARY? THE LAW OF THE CHURCH
The law of the Church of Ireland itself presupposes the ready availability of a definition of membership in the following situations:
i. Eligibility to avail of the provision for marriage in church following a divorce;Footnote 25
ii. Eligibility to serve as a godparent;Footnote 26
iii. No member of the clergy may refuse to read the burial office at a burial ground at a reasonable distance outside the parish, in the case of a deceased ‘member of the Church’;Footnote 27
iv. When burial rights in a post-1870 churchyard are claimed, the issue of membership of the Church of Ireland is relevant.Footnote 28 Conversely non-membership is not a factor in the case of burial rights in a pre-1870 churchyard;Footnote 29
v. Membership also arises in relation to qualifications for ordination;Footnote 30 the licensing of Readers;Footnote 31 and eligibility for election or appointment to various church bodies (General Synod,Footnote 32 Diocesan Synod,Footnote 33 Diocesan Council,Footnote 34 registration on the Register of Vestry Members,Footnote 35 participation at General Vestry,Footnote 36 appointment of ChurchwardensFootnote 37 and Glebewardens,Footnote 38 Select Vestry,Footnote 39 Diocesan Court, and Boards of NominationFootnote 40);
vi. The Marriage Regulations of the Church of Ireland now prescribe that a marriage may not take place unless ‘at least one of the parties shall have been baptised and is a member of the Church of Ireland or of a Church in full communion therewith, unless in exceptional circumstances, the bishop shall determine otherwise’.
Anglican Controversy
The role of canon law has come to the fore in the context of the current controversy within Anglicanism.Footnote 41 The rights of ecclesiastical persons, property ownership, episcopal jurisdiction and alternative episcopal oversight are issues which have, for example, generated, in some instances, questions about membership or continued membership of the church in particular Anglican provinces.Footnote 42 The proposal for an Anglican Covenant by the Lambeth Commission on Communion,Footnote 43 if adopted, would provide a covenantal framework for relationships within the Communion. Consideration of the covenant will entail reflection by each Church on the nature and parameters of membership: of the Anglican Communion, and of each individual province and member church.
Is definition necessary? My survey established that, as a day-to-day reality within the church, definition is necessary. For the 82 per cent of clergy who indicated that they did have to adjudicate on the question of whether or not a person was or was not a member of the Church of Ireland, the question of membership had arisen in many situations: request for marriage (67 per cent of clergy); compilation of membership rolls or records (49 per cent); marriage in church following a divorce (48 per cent); eligibility for charitable donations or grants from trust funds (40 per cent); requests for baptism (38 per cent); the claiming of burial rights (38 per cent); school enrolment (35 per cent); eligibility or ineligibility to hold an ecclesiastical office or a position or office on church bodies or committees (27 per cent); confirmation (25 per cent); a request for pastoral care (20 per cent); whether a person had any right to any particular ‘privilege’ attaching to membership (17 per cent); admission to Holy Communion (16 per cent); application for membership of a parish organisation (16 per cent); a request for the use of church property (15 per cent); in recruiting volunteers to undertake work on behalf of the Church (12 per cent); eligibility for ordination training (11 per cent); in deciding whether or not to draw someone's attention to their duties as a member of the Church of Ireland (10 per cent); and in determining whether a person had a right to invoke the disciplinary processes of the Church (0.7 per cent).
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP IN CIVIL LAW
How does Irish law regard churches, religion and church membership? Bunreacht na hÉireann Footnote 44 reflects ‘a firm conviction that … [the Irish people] … are a religious people … a Christian people’. The current constitutional position is well summarised in Corway v Independent Newspapers (Ireland) Ltd Footnote 45 by Barrington J, referring to Article 44 of the Constitution:
The effect of these various guarantees is that the State acknowledges that the homage of public worship is due to Almighty God. It promises to hold his name in reverence and to respect and honour religion. At the same time it guarantees freedom of conscience, the free profession and practice of religion and equality before the law to all citizens, be they Roman Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims, agnostics or atheists. But Article 44.1 goes further and places the duty on the State to respect and honour religion as such. At the same time the State is not placed in the position of an arbiter of religious truth. Its only function is to protect public order and morality.
It seems that the State's obligations under Article 44 ‘would be discharged through a policy of non-interference with religious views and practices’.Footnote 46 The autonomy of religious denominations is guaranteed in relation to the management of their own affairs,Footnote 47 and ‘the primary aim of the constitutional guarantee is to give vitality, independence and freedom to religion’.Footnote 48 There is a common-law presumption against interference by the courts in church affairs.Footnote 49
Legislation settles the standing, in law, of the Church of Ireland.Footnote 50 It is ‘a consensual compact … imposed by secular legislation … [and] … a fundamental consequence of this doctrine is that internal church rules are inferior to secular law in cases of inconsistency’.Footnote 51 The Irish Church Act 1869 places ‘the Church, as regards the civil law of the land, in the same position as any other body of men associated together for purposes recognized and allowed by the law’.Footnote 52
In O'Keefe v Cullen,Footnote 53 Barry J described churches in Ireland as having ‘the status of a voluntary association’.Footnote 54 In the High Court in State (Colquhoun) v d'Arcy,Footnote 55 Sullivan P agreed.Footnote 56 In that case also, Hanna JFootnote 57 described a church as:
a voluntary and unincorporated association of Christians united on the basis of agreement in certain religious tenets and principles of worship, discipline and Church government … . It is, indeed, almost a truism that an unestablished religious association is free from State control as regards doctrine, government and discipline.Footnote 58
Members of churches are, therefore, members of voluntary associations.Footnote 59 In Feeny and Shannon v MacManus,Footnote 60 Johnston J referred to an unincorporated club as ‘the most anomalous group of human beings that is known to the law’.Footnote 61
In R v Dibdin,Footnote 62 the Church was described as ‘not the Church of the clergy or of the laity, but of both’.Footnote 63 Their relationship is contractual.Footnote 64 Membership is a qualification for holding office in the Church.Footnote 65 In addition to their duties, members, in England, have rights sustained by the civil law:Footnote 66 for example, the right to attend the parish church;Footnote 67 a qualified right to baptism;Footnote 68 the right to raise an objection in faculty proceedings;Footnote 69 in certain circumstances, the right to burial;Footnote 70 the right to take part in the meeting of ‘parishioners’ at which churchwardens are chosen.Footnote 71 Membership may be resigned.Footnote 72
The disentangling by the courts of issues – frequently arising from charitable trusts and bequests – surrounding membership is insightful.Footnote 73 In Re Selby's Will Trusts,Footnote 74 Buckley J wrestled with what a testator meant when he referred to ‘the Jewish faith’. He said:
I am bound to take the view that this is a sufficiently defined concept to make it clear that in many instances the court would have no difficulty in saying one way or another whether a particular person was or was not of the Jewish faith.Footnote 75
In Re Perry Almshouses,Footnote 76 Stirling J said that
Whatever difficulty there may be in giving a strict legal definition of what constitutes membership of the Church of England, I think that a person who has been baptised, has been confirmed or is ready and desirous to be confirmed, and is an actual communicant member does hold the status of a member of that Church, and would be ordinarily regarded and spoken of as such.Footnote 77
In Re Allen deceased, Faith v Allen,Footnote 78 the question of whether or not a man was a member of the Church of England presented difficulty. (Romer LJ dissented and Evershed MR came to his conclusion ‘with considerable hesitation’.Footnote 79) Birkett LJ said that the words ‘member of the Church of England’ are capable of definite meaning.Footnote 80 His approach was pragmatic:
‘Is this man a member of the Church of England?’ would seem to me to be a question which could be answered quite simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ … [The Testator] must be assumed to be an ordinary man using ordinary language. Millions of people today use precisely the same words when they say with complete assurance: ‘I am a member of the Church of England’. The words have a clear and definite meaning and are understood to mean exactly what they say …Footnote 81
Moreover, irregular or infrequent attendance at church did not bar someone from being deemed a member of the Church of England.Footnote 82
These English cases, persuasive in Ireland, illustrate that, however elusive definitions of membership may seem, courts are capable of determining whether or not someone is or is not a member.
The civil law requires members to know and adhere to the rules of the association,Footnote 83 which must be implemented in a way consonant with the requirements of constitutional/natural justice.Footnote 84 Members will be taken to be acquainted with rules.Footnote 85 Conversely, the governing authorities of an association (such as rugby clubs,Footnote 86 or a soccer leagueFootnote 87 – and by analogy a church) should not act ultra vires its own laws because they form the basis of the contractual relationship between it and the members, and the members with each other. The rules only apply to someone who is a member.Footnote 88 The courts will take cognisance of the rules of voluntary associations in determining issues of membership.Footnote 89 Depending on what is stated in those rules, they may or may not be altered.Footnote 90
MEMBERSHIP IN THE LAW OF THE CHURCH OF IRELAND
The law of the Church of Ireland presents no entire or unified definition of membership.
Church Courts
In Correll v Robinson Footnote 91 before the Court of the General Synod, the appellant claimed that, as a member of the Church of Ireland, his family had burial rights in the parish graveyard. The Court of the General Synod agreed with the Diocesan Court that he was not a member and dismissed the appeal. Frustratingly, the reasoning of the Court is not reported. In the other 38 cases heard by the Court of the General Synod, membership of the Church of Ireland only arises tangentially: the legality of the election of an incumbent;Footnote 92 the suspension of clergy;Footnote 93 deprivation of office;Footnote 94 maintaining doctrines contrary to those of the Church;Footnote 95 incapacity (due to mental illness) to serve as a priest;Footnote 96 and the breach of canons.Footnote 97
So, to where do we turn?
The Irish Church Act 1869
Section 20 of the Irish Church Act 1869Footnote 98 goes to the heart of the nature of membership of the Church of Ireland.Footnote 99 The ecclesiastical law of Ireland is binding on the members ‘as if such members had mutually contracted and agreed to abide and observe the same’,Footnote 100 as if it had been included in an express contract between the members of the Church and remains so binding as a matter of contract, save to the extent that it is, has been, or will in the future be, abrogated or changed by the Church itself as a matter of internal Church law.Footnote 101 Accordingly, section 20 encapsulates the contractual nature of the compact between the members.Footnote 102
A member of the Church of Ireland is, therefore, someone who has voluntarily associated him or herself with the Church of Ireland, and is bound by consensual compact, as a matter of private contract, not only to the other members of the Church, but also to keeping the rules and regulations of the Church.
The Charter of Incorporation
Section 22 of the Irish Church Act 1869 anticipated the granting of a Royal Charter to a body to represent the Church of Ireland, ‘to hold property for any of the uses or purposes thereof’.Footnote 103 Those eligible to receive such a charter were to be the bishops, clergy and laity of the Church of Ireland at the time, or those who, ‘for the time being, may succeed to the exercise and discharge of the episcopal functions of such bishops, and the clergy and laity in communion with such persons’.Footnote 104 The concept of communion with the bishops is of contemporary interest; however, as a matter of law, it seems that, once the charter had been granted, it ceased to be a dynamic of membership of the Representative Body. While membership is not defined, it is recognised, and clearly it is envisaged that the charter would be granted to members of the Church of Ireland.
The Preamble and Declaration
The Preamble and Declaration to the Constitution of the Church of Ireland contains elemental characteristics of the Church, and, by extension, of those who espouse membership of that Church. Members of the Church, it is submitted, therefore, are those who belong to a Church which is, on the one hand ‘the Ancient Catholic and Apostolic Church of Ireland’,Footnote 105 and, on the other, ‘a reformed and Protestant Church’.Footnote 106 It is a Church which (and whose members) ‘accept[s] and unfeignedly believe[s] all the Canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as given by inspiration of God, and containing all things necessary to salvation; and doth continue to profess the faith of Christ as professed by the Primitive Church’.Footnote 107 It ‘will continue to minister the doctrine, and sacraments, and the discipline of Christ…and will maintain inviolate the three orders of bishops, priests or presbyters, and deacons in the sacred ministry’.Footnote 108
As the Church ‘receives and approves’ certain documents and formularies, as a corollary, its members do also: the Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal. Members covenant to continue their use, subject to any alterations that may be made to them at any stage ‘by the lawful authority of the Church’.Footnote 109 Members are to maintain ‘communion with the sister Church of England, and with all other Christian Churches, agreeing in the principles of this Declaration’.Footnote 110
The Constitution
The Constitution of the Church of Ireland does not define membership:Footnote 111 impulses towards definition are, however, infused within it. Not only is the language of membership recognised in the legal formularies of the Church of Ireland, it is also relied upon in shaping the ministry of the Church. Terminology is used in a variety of ways to describe different types of member and to delineate the activities they undertake: people,Footnote 112 lay persons, congregation,Footnote 113 communicants, members of the parish,Footnote 114 wider community of the local church,Footnote 115 Christians,Footnote 116 people,Footnote 117 representatives, congregation and parishioner.
Some terms used are either not defined (‘member of the Church of Ireland’)Footnote 118 or not fully defined (‘accustomed member’).Footnote 119 Others have technical designations: ‘voluntary member’ and ‘member of the clergy’.Footnote 120 The terminologies that reflect different strands of membership and roles fulfilled within the Church have been described as marks of membership, rather than causes of it, and determine eligibility to serve various offices in the Church.Footnote 121
The overriding sense is of a model of membership based on self-definition and self-affiliation, and which, therefore, has limitations. It is subjective and takes no account of objective factors: baptism, place of worship, knowledge of the faith and doctrine of the Church, and commitment. Objective expectations of members are, however, detected in the Preamble and Declaration and the Constitution; as well as in the Declaration subscribed by clergy.
A key issue that emerges from an analysis of the law of the Church of Ireland is the ambiguous place of baptism in the canonical framework. It incorporates a person into Christ's Church, but does not, of itself, bestow membership. Its nuclear position theologically, liturgically and pastorally is not accorded canonical endorsement as the keystone of membership.
It is clear from the survey that the Church of Ireland does rely on a concept of membership and lays down specific requirements in respect of office-holders, and concerning the ministries of the Church.
The Constitution – Office Holders
In the qualifications for holding office in the Church of Ireland, we see layers of membership and levels of definition based on age (which is defined) and communicant status (which is not defined) and membership of the Church of Ireland (which is also not defined but a signed declaration is required): lay membership of the General Synod;Footnote 122 diocesan synod members;Footnote 123 and vestry members.Footnote 124
The Constitution – Ministries of the Church
In the case of some of the ministries of the Church, qualifications for eligibility are also laid down.
Initiation
The corollary of the minister's duty to baptise is the people's right to be (or to have their children) baptised, without refusal or undue delay.Footnote 125 Candidates for confirmation should have come to years of discretion, be able to ‘say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments, and render an account of their faith according to the catechism’.Footnote 126
Eucharist
Church members are to partake regularly in Holy Communion.Footnote 127 ‘Communicant’ is not defined.Footnote 128 It would appear that a communicant is simply someone who intends (or remains in order) to receive the sacrament, as distinct from someone who does not intend to communicate and has withdrawn.Footnote 129 No one is ‘to be admitted to the Holy Communion, until such time as he be confirmed, or be ready and desirous to be confirmed’.Footnote 130 Every communicant is ‘to make careful devotional preparation’.Footnote 131 Licensed Readers should be ‘regular communicants’.Footnote 132
The sick may receive Holy Communion privately.Footnote 133 Eucharistic hospitality is not delineated within the canons, but by reliance on the Lambeth Conference 1968.Footnote 134 Members of the congregation may, in certain circumstances, be excluded from Holy Communion.Footnote 135
Burial
Among those in respect of whom clergy may not refuse to read the burial service is a deceased person who died outside the cure but whose remains have been brought there for interment and who is believed to have been at the time of death a member of the Church.Footnote 136
‘Any member’ of any family that has acquired the right of burial in a burial ground is entitled to that right.Footnote 137 In the case of pre-1870 graveyards, ‘every parishioner (of whatever religion) and every person who dies in the parish is entitled to be buried in the parish graveyard’.Footnote 138 In the case of post-1870 graveyards, the term ‘parishioner’ refers to any member of the Church of Ireland.
Ordination
A person (whether a man or woman)Footnote 139 who wishes to be ordained must be baptised and confirmed;Footnote 140 at least 23 years of age (to be ordained deacon)Footnote 141 or 24 years of age (to be ordained priest);Footnote 142 have undertaken approved training;Footnote 143 be able to yield an account of their faith according to the Articles of Religion and the Scriptures;Footnote 144 and produce letters of testimony of their good conduct and character.Footnote 145 Candidates for ordination are to be examined.Footnote 146 All must make a declaration against simony.Footnote 147 A bishop who contravenes these provisions may be suspended.Footnote 148 Candidates from outside a bishop's diocese are required to bring letters dimissory.Footnote 149
All who are to be ordained or licensed must ‘make and subscribe…in the presence of the bishop or of the bishop's commissary, the declaration in the roll… and none other’.Footnote 150 The declaration is a solemn statement of approval of the Preamble and Declaration;Footnote 151 of assent to the Thirty-Nine Articles, the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal;Footnote 152 of conformity to the doctrine of the Church set out in those formularies together with an undertaking to use the liturgies in the Book of Common Prayer;Footnote 153 an oath against simonyFootnote 154 and pluralism;Footnote 155 an oath of canonical obedience;Footnote 156 and a statement of submission to the laws and authority of the tribunals of the Church.Footnote 157
Pensions
The Clergy Pensions Fund relies on a technical definition of membership.Footnote 158 It refers to ‘voluntary members’ (a member of the clergy who is permitted to be a contributor to the fund);Footnote 159 and ‘members of the clergy’ (which includes archbishops and bishops, but not auxiliary clergy).Footnote 160 Membership is confined to members of the clergy in the service of, or who re-enter the service of, the Church of Ireland.Footnote 161 The Pensions Board may exempt from membership any person otherwise required to become a member.Footnote 162
DEFINITION BY COMPARISON
In the survey, only 45 per cent of the clergy said it would matter if the law of the Church of Ireland with regard to membership were different from the law of the other provinces of the Anglican Communion. Nonetheless, the consonance and dissonance between the law of the Church of Ireland and the laws of the other Anglican provinces proffer insights in the pursuit of a definition of membership, particularly against the background of the emerging consciousness of the Anglican canonical tradition.Footnote 163
Consensual Compact
Constitutions of some Anglican provinces expressly articulate the contractual nature of the relationship between the members of voluntary associations.Footnote 164 In the Constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia, ‘[e]very consensual compact…shall, insofar as they are not inconsistent with this Constitution, continue in force in this Church’.Footnote 165
Laity
‘Laity’ is generally an undefined term within the laws of the Anglican Communion. Some exceptions are Hong Kong,Footnote 166 SudanFootnote 167 and in West Africa, where the ‘laity of the province’ is ‘all persons who are members of the Church of this Province who are not members of the Orders of Bishops, Priests or Deacons’.Footnote 168
In Japan, Article 6 about the laity defines that term:
Members are those who by Baptism have been made members of the Seikokai,Footnote 169 who contribute to the advancement of the peace of the Seikokai by adherence to its doctrines and admonitions under the pastoral care of diocesan bishops and priests, and by participating in Holy Communion.Footnote 170
Equality
Some constitutions take account of inclusive language and principles of equality.Footnote 171 General affirmations about equality in Sudan,Footnote 172 the Province of MelanesiaFootnote 173 and the Church of the Province of West AfricaFootnote 174 are fleshed out in The Episcopal Church (TEC–formerly ECUSA) where no person is to be ‘denied rights, status or access to an equal place in the life, worship, and governance of this Church because of race, colour, ethnic origin, national origin, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, disabilities or age, except as otherwise specified by Canons’.Footnote 175
Membership
Unlike the case in Ireland, definitions of membership are attempted in the formularies of most Anglican provinces. Here are two examples.Footnote 176 First, in Hong Kong, a registered member of a parish is ‘a ChristianFootnote 177 who is at least 18;Footnote 178 has been baptised and confirmed;Footnote 179 is regularly receiving Holy Communion;Footnote 180 and is making monthly contributions regularly to the parish concerned’.Footnote 181 Parishes may implement additional registration requirements;Footnote 182 provision is made for transfer of registration;Footnote 183 and a person is eligible for registration in one parish only.Footnote 184 Meanwhile, the Church of Nigeria states that ‘membership shall be open to all persons who accept the aims and objectives, the doctrines and the Constitution of the Church, as well as the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion’.Footnote 185 Such a person must also be ‘accepted as a member by one of the Dioceses’;Footnote 186 be baptised;Footnote 187 ‘confirmed or unconfirmed; married or unmarried, financial or non-financial’.Footnote 188 A member may not also be a member of ‘any other religion or faith or secret society or cult’.Footnote 189 Every member is entitled to a certificate of membership signed by the vicar and countersigned by the bishop of the diocese.Footnote 190
Rolls and Registration
Most provinces make provision for a variety of rolls or registers, such as a register of baptisms.Footnote 191 In the Scottish Episcopal Church, every cleric in charge of a congregation is obliged to ‘keep, regularly revise and carefully preserve, in a manner approved by the Bishop, a list of the names and addresses of the baptised members and the adherents of that congregation’.Footnote 192 They are also required to keep and ‘regularly revise at least annually a list of…those members of that congregation who have communicated…in the Scottish Episcopal Church or in some Church in communion therewith’.Footnote 193
Communicant
In Sudan, ‘communicant means a baptised and confirmed member of the Province of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan who receives the Lord's Supper’.Footnote 194 Frequency is not an aspect of the definition. In contrast, in Hong Kong, a communicant means ‘a parishioner of a Parish of one of the Dioceses who is baptised and confirmed, and is regularly receiving Holy Communion’.Footnote 195 In Scotland, those not on the communicants’ roll do not have ‘the privileges or rights given by these canons to communicants’.Footnote 196
In West Africa, in order to be a communicant, a person must also be a subscriber, and have received Holy Communion on at least three occasions in the previous year, unless hindered by sufficient cause.Footnote 197 In that province, there is a distinction between ‘communicant member’ and ‘communicant of the province’. The latter is ‘a baptised and confirmed member of the Church of the Province of West Africa who, unless for good cause prevented, shall have received the Holy Communion three times at least during the previous year’.Footnote 198 West Africa also utilises the concept of the ‘privilege of communicant status’, which means ‘eligibility to be elected or appointed to such Orders, Offices or Functions within the Church as are or shall be by the Diocesan Constitutions and Canons reserved to Communicant Members’.Footnote 199
In Wales, a communicant is ‘a person who has lawfully received Holy Communion in the Church in Wales or some Church in communion therewith and is entitled to receive Holy Communion in the Church in Wales’.Footnote 200 In some provinces, the frequency of receiving Holy Communion is intrinsic to the definition of ‘communicant’. The norm is three times: West Africa,Footnote 201 Southern Africa,Footnote 202 TEC,Footnote 203 MexicoFootnote 204 and England.Footnote 205 Receiving the sacrament at Easter is compulsory in some provinces in order to qualify as a communicant.Footnote 206 Some definitions of ‘communicant’, such as that in England, use qualifying words such as ‘regularly’.Footnote 207
In TEC, a distinction is drawn between communicants and adult communicants (who are over 16 and who have received Holy Communion at least three times in the preceding year).Footnote 208 ‘Communicants in good standing’ are communicants who ‘for the previous year have been faithful in corporate worship, unless for some good cause prevented, and have been faithful in working, praying, and giving for the spread of the Kingdom of God’.Footnote 209
A distinction is drawn also in Mexico between ‘communicant’ and ‘active communicant’. The latter is ‘every communicant of this Church that during the prior year had been faithful in public worship, except in the case of justified cause, and has worked, prayed and pledged for the propagation of the Kingdom of God’.Footnote 210
In contrast, in New Zealand, the Canons simply state that all the baptised may receive Holy Communion.Footnote 211 In Japan, those who have received the laying-on of hands from the bishop and have received Holy Communion are deemed to be communicants.Footnote 212 Those who received at least twice a year are ‘active communicants’.Footnote 213 Eucharistic hospitality to communicant members of other churches is articulated in the canons of some provinces: MelanesiaFootnote 214 and England, for example.Footnote 215
Other areas of consonance include the following:
i. Baptism is the hallmark of membership in most provinces;Footnote 216
ii. All provinces have specific requirements of office holders,Footnote 217 including an age requirement;Footnote 218
iii. The practice of requiring a declaration in a prescribed form, including submission to the laws of the particular province, appears to be commonplace: Southern Africa,Footnote 219 Hong Kong,Footnote 220 Scotland,Footnote 221 Nigeria,Footnote 222 New Zealand,Footnote 223 and Wales;Footnote 224
iv. Exclusion of church members from Holy Communion in certain circumstances is the norm;Footnote 225
v. Many of the canonical systems within Anglicanism delineate both the privileges and duties of members.
The Church of England
In its widest sense, membership of the Church of England ‘may be taken to include baptised persons giving general allegiance to the ordinances and liturgy of the Church of England as by law established and not owing allegiance to a religious body whose tenets are inconsistent with those of the established church’.Footnote 226 Nonetheless, the fact that the Church of England is an established church interconnects with the understanding of, and ongoing debate about, the character of establishment.Footnote 227 The complexity is expressed thus: ‘By dint of its established status and its history, the nature and consequences of membership of the Church of England are remarkable, not least by an element of anachronism.’Footnote 228
It is acknowledged that the granting of rights is, of itself, an insufficient basis for granting the status of ‘member’ of the Church of England.Footnote 229 Lay persons who wish to be included on the electoral roll in England must have been baptised; be at least 16 years of age; have signed an application form declaring inter alia that he or she is a member of the Church of England (either resident in the parish or having habitually attended public worship there during the previous six months), or is a member in good standing of a Church not in communion with the Church of England, but which subscribes to the doctrine of the Trinity. In the latter case, the person enrolling must also declare that he or she has habitually attended worship in the previous six months in the parish and is now a member of the Church of England.Footnote 230 In this instance, ‘membership’ is also not defined. Requirements are also detailed for ordination,Footnote 231 deaconesses,Footnote 232 readers,Footnote 233 churchwardens,Footnote 234 lay workers,Footnote 235 chancellorsFootnote 236 and registrars,Footnote 237 for example. Again, no definition of membership is articulated.
Churches in Communion with Anglicanism
In the Church of South IndiaFootnote 238 all members agree to abide by the Constitution,Footnote 239 which is a contract between the Church and each member and is binding on all members.Footnote 240 Membership of the Church is defined in a theological framework:
The Church of South India acknowledges that the Church is the Body of Christ and its members are the members of His Body; and that these are members according to the will and purpose of God who have been baptised into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit …Footnote 241
Members are those resident in South India who have been baptised, are willing to abide by the faith and order of the Church; are not members of any Christian body that is not in communion with the Church of South India; and have not been excommunicated.Footnote 242 All baptised children are members of the Church. Members’ duties include prayer, reading the Scriptures, worship, receiving Holy Communion, contributing their time, talents and resources, manifesting a Christian disposition in their dealings with their fellow beings, and responsible use of the earth's resources.Footnote 243
A distinction is drawn between members, and those members who have attained years of discretion, gained experience in the Christian life, received instruction and made public profession of their faith. Such members are entitled to the ‘full privileges and obligations of membership’.Footnote 244 Participation in the government of the Church is confined to ‘adult communicant members’ who have been confirmed, are at least 21 years of age and who partake in Holy Communion.Footnote 245
Since 1996, through the Porvoo Agreement, the Church of Ireland has been in full communion with the Nordic and Baltic Lutheran Churches.Footnote 246 In the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, membership comes through baptism, but the civil law requires that the rules of religious associations must articulate the grounds whereby a person may be accepted as a member,Footnote 247 including the payment of membership fees.Footnote 248 There must also be a register of members.Footnote 249 The right to partake independently in Holy Communion (children are welcome with their parents or godparents) and the right to vote in parish elections stems from confirmation. Also, in order to be married according to Church rites, a person must have attended confirmation classes. Confirmation class and confirmation itself form another, fuller, level of membership.Footnote 250
All who have been baptised in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania, either at home or abroad, are members.Footnote 251 Honorary members comprise those who live abroad and are baptised members of other Lutheran churches. Active members pay an annual fee to the parish and are accorded voting rights. Passive members are all baptised Lutherans known to live in the parish. They may be married in church, have their children baptised and are admitted to Holy Communion.Footnote 252
Baptism also gives membership of the Church of Norway. Children of members are not full members but are in a special status of ‘belonging’. In the Church of Sweden, baptism is also the normative means of admission to membership. However, where a couple opts to delay the baptism of their child, that child may be accorded the status of ‘membership on the way to baptism’. Prior to 1996, when new membership rules were devised, there was a status of member determined by the membership of one's parents.Footnote 253
Roman Catholicism
Roman Catholic canon law is the product of faith and doctrine.Footnote 254 ‘The Roman Catholic conception of the Church's legislative authority and functions … is considerably different from … [that in Anglicanism]. For Roman Catholics, in so far as their life in the Church is concerned, the canon law operates as a juridical expression of the Church's doctrine about itself, and of its pastoral responsibility for bringing the faithful to the complete awareness of and response to the redemption once wrought for them by God in Christ … The science of Canon Law is a theological science’.Footnote 255
According to Lumen Gentium, ‘[f]ully incorporated into the Church are those who, possessing the Spirit of Christ, accept all the means of salvation given to the Church together with her entire organisation, and who – by the bonds constituted by the profession of faith, the sacraments, ecclesiastical government, and communion – are joined in the visible structure of the Church of Christ, who rules her through the Supreme Pontiff and the bishops’.Footnote 256
In the Code of Canon Law the whole people of God (all Christians, not only Roman Catholic Christians) are styled as ‘the Christian Faithful’ who, ‘inasmuch as they have been incorporated in Christ through baptism, have been constituted as the people of God’.Footnote 257 This incorporation is brought about by baptism.Footnote 258 Those who have been baptised are in full communion with the Catholic Church through its ‘visible structure, by the bonds of the profession of faith, the sacraments, and ecclesiastical governance’.Footnote 259 The faithful are either sacred ministers (clerics) or lay persons.Footnote 260 The rights and obligations of all the Christian faithful are delineated,Footnote 261 as are those of lay peopleFootnote 262 and those who are ordained.Footnote 263
All the Christian faithful have a right to receive the sacraments,Footnote 264 to all of which baptism is the gateway.Footnote 265 Baptism must be carefully registered.Footnote 266 ‘The sacraments may be received only by Christian believers, those who have and profess the Christian faith’.Footnote 267 Moreover, ‘any baptised person not prohibited by law can and must be admitted to Holy Communion’.Footnote 268 The prohibitions include restrictions on baptised non-Catholics.Footnote 269
The Code also uses a variety of terms to make distinctions. Adults (those over 18), for example, may have the full exercise of rights under the canon law.Footnote 270 Other qualifications inter alia arise from residence,Footnote 271 domicile,Footnote 272 marriage,Footnote 273 adoptionFootnote 274 and rite.Footnote 275
Methodism
In the Methodist Church in IrelandFootnote 276 members are
those who have committed their lives to Christ and have formally accepted the discipline of the Methodist Church. As such all members are expected to attend worship regularly, including Holy Communion, join with others for Christian fellowship, engage in some form of Christian service and financially support the ongoing work and mission of the church through regular giving.Footnote 277
Those over 18 years who are associated with a local Methodist Church and are recorded, either as a member, or are on the congregational register (those who attend or with whom there is pastoral contact) are members.Footnote 278 Junior members are all those associated with the church, under 18 years of age, who have not yet accepted the obligations of being adult members. Only actual members are entitled to voting rights.Footnote 279
Reception into membership of the Church takes place following instruction and is a public declaration of faith in Jesus Christ.Footnote 280
Presbyterianism
The Code of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland lays down that ‘[a]ll who profess faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour are called to be members of the visible Church in the fellowship of a congregation, with all the rights and responsibilities attached thereto’.Footnote 281
The children of believers are also part of the Church.Footnote 282 ‘Communicant members’ are those who have been baptised and received on profession of faith by a Kirk Session into full communicant membership.Footnote 283 ‘Adherents’ includes all baptised persons who have made no adult profession of faith.Footnote 284 Additionally, there are ‘voting members’ who are ‘communicants on the roll of the congregation who are listed … as having contributed to the stipend or weekly freewill offering of the congregation in the last financial year’.Footnote 285
DEFINITION FROM HISTORY
The historical overview underscores the fundamental point that, although not defined, the concept of membership was recognised in canon law.Footnote 286 In the medieval period the laity (with the exception of wardens and the charitable work of the laity) were ‘to all intents and purposes, an invisible people…. From the perspective of the clergy the role of the layman was to service the institution by dutifully paying his tithes and other dues, and by fulfilling his sacramental obligations’.Footnote 287
In relation to membership Ford underlines that the
nature of religious allegiance and commitment in sixteenth century Ireland is complex and, as yet, not wholly clear.… In speaking of religious commitment, it is clear that there was a large section of the population, especially in rural areas, who can hardly be said to be either protestant or Catholic.Footnote 288
In both the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries it is unclear who, for example, was entitled to come to the parish vestry meetings; however, non-conformists and Roman Catholics alike participated alongside members of the Church of Ireland.Footnote 289 Bullingbrooke's Ecclesiastical Law of the Church of Ireland,Footnote 290 published in 1770, which is a two-volume companion to the Irish Canons of 1634, provides no canonical definition of membership.
In the nineteenth century, as an established church, the question of ‘membership’ of the Church of Ireland is inextricable from the nature of establishment itself.Footnote 291 Double allegiance was a familiar phenomenon.Footnote 292 The relationship between the Church of Ireland and some of the dissenting churches in Dublin, for example, has been described as ‘porous’.Footnote 293 Indeed, in that city, the Primitive Wesleyan Methodist Society ‘opted in 1816 not to join the Wesleyan Methodists, but to retain its association with the Church of Ireland by way of a continued participation in the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and Holy Communion’.Footnote 294
Stopford'sFootnote 295 handbook – A Handbook of Ecclesiastical Law and Duty Footnote 296– became the principal practitioner's guide to canon law after 1861. It contains no definition of membership of the Church of Ireland. The commentary is predicated on an ‘establishment’ model where, simply, there are people in a parish to whom ministry is required. As the era of disestablishment dawned, the issue of defining membership per se was not debated at the General Convention.Footnote 297
The absence of formal definition did not prevent the clergy from drawing up their own informal definitions. Some equated membership with citizenship or with baptism. Others included those who availed of the pastoral offices, while narrow articulations of membership demanded exclusive commitment to the United Church of England and Ireland, with a consequent rejection of other denominations.Footnote 298 Towards the end of the nineteenth century, clergy increasingly took participation in the Eucharist as the measure of Anglican identity and commitment, a definition which ‘permitted none of the diversity of the past…but for the great mass of those who for whatever reason chose not to participate, it was a definition which left them to some degree unchurched’.Footnote 299
The pattern of recognition of the concept without definition persisted, and the stage was set for the propagation of broad and inclusive concepts of membership of the Church of Ireland in years to come, such as that of Archbishop John Gregg.
CONCLUSION: TOWARDS A DEFINITION OF MEMBERSHIP OF THE CHURCH OF IRELAND
The ordinariness of Gregg's maxim reflects an Anglican inclusiveness and establishes an initial bridge between evangelism and belonging to the church. While it undoubtedly reflects sociological realities, not least those nurtured by an establishment mindset, it has shortcomings both theologically and in terms of canon law. It overlooks the place of baptism as the incorporating sacrament of initiation. For the canonist it is deficient. Empirically it fails to meet the requirements of pastoral ministry in a civil and church law context (both of which presuppose definition) where the reliance on and articulation of church membership is more nuanced and subtly articulated.
Other Anglican provinces have found it possible to define membership without compromising either inclusiveness or mission. Canonical definitions of membership are capable of encompassing the parameters of the missionary imperative of the church. In this regard the Church of Ireland can learn also from its ecumenical partners. At a time of conflict in global Anglicanism the absence of definition may prove problematic.
Specific membership issues persist on the Church's agenda: the employment status of clergy; whether members can avail of judicial review of decisions of Church bodies; and the admission to Holy Communion of the baptised but unconfirmed. Neither the position on Eucharistic hospitality nor the reception of members of other churches is addressed in the laws of the Church of Ireland.
Based on the theological understanding of the church as the people of God and notwithstanding the nebulous scenario painted by the sociological context and the breadth of the understanding of membership in the history of the Church of Ireland, it is possible to extrapolate elements of a definition of membership from the civil law, church law and the comparative framework of the wider Anglican and ecumenical households. These dynamics shape an anatomy of a definition of membership:
i. Any canonical definition of membership ought to be construed within a theological understanding of the church as the people of God;
ii. Definitions of membership ought to take account of the rediscovery of the place and ministry of the laity, while not overlooking membership issues which affect the clergy;
iii. The theological and sociological overviews indicate the complexity of membership;
iv. The sociological reflections indicate a confluence with Gregg's aphorism: ‘A person is a member of the Church of Ireland if they say they are’;
v. Since canon law has a theological basis, the pursuit of a definition of membership is foremost an exercise in applied theology;
vi. Arising from the inclusive character of Anglicanism, there would appear to be a determination to construe any definitions of membership as inclusively as possible;
vii. Definition should facilitate the mission and ministry of the Church rather than impede it;
viii. Definition is attainable. Individuals and institutions achieve it for the purposes of census and data collections;
ix. The civil law requires the Church to be able to define who is a member for a variety of purposes – including the law of marriage, education and employment – and presupposes that the Church can do so;
x. In fulfilling many aspects of its work, the Church already implements ‘definitions’ of who is or is not a member, and Church law requires it to do so;
xi. In situations of conflict, courts have had to address the issue of membership;
xii. The parameters of membership may become an increasingly important enterprise at times of conflict resolution;
xiii. Clergy themselves validate the hypothesis that, however intangible, the concept of membership is relied upon in their day-to-day ministry;
xiv. The fact of membership of the Church of Ireland is a phenomenon recognised in the law of the State;
xv. The freedom of members of churches to practice their religion is afforded constitutional protection;
xvi. Members of churches are members of voluntary associations;
xvii. Members are bound to the Church and to each other as a matter of contract in a consensual compact;
xviii. Members are, therefore, required to abide by the rules of the Church, which they should know;
xix. While the courts appear reluctant to interfere in the internal affairs of a voluntary association, nonetheless, they are capable of determining whether or not someone is a member of a church;
xx. Membership is a qualification for holding office;
xxi. Membership may be resigned;
xxii. The Church of Ireland qua church does not have legal personality;
xxiii. The civil law presents no unified definition of membership;
xxiv. Members of the Church of Ireland are those who have voluntarily associated themselves with the Church of Ireland;
xxv. The law of the Church of Ireland is binding on every member as a matter of private contract between them;
xxvi. A yardstick of eligibility for the granting of the Royal Charter was the communion between the clergy and laity and their bishops at the time;
xxvii. Members belong to a church which at one and the same time is an ancient catholic and also a reformed protestant church;
xxviii. Members of the Church of Ireland accept the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, profess the faith of the ‘Primitive Church’, receive and approve the Articles of Religion, The Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal, are committed to maintaining communion with the Church of England and all other Christian Churches that agree with the principles of the Declaration, and acknowledge and submit to the authority of the General Synod;
xxix. Although baptism is full sacramental initiation into membership of the Church, this theological reality is not given adequate canonical expression in the Church of Ireland although the formularies and liturgies presuppose its role as sacrament of initiation and incorporation;
xxx. The Church recognises, without definition, a concept of membership on which it relies, to implement and manifest its structures;
xxxi. Various terminologies are used to give canonical expression to layers of membership and status within the Church;
xxxii. These designations are manifestations of membership rather than definitions of it;
xxxiii. Lay people may be excluded from Holy Communion, but there is no mechanism to exclude them from membership;
xxxiv. Those who are to be ordained must meet additional requirements, and the canonical nature of their membership is reflected in the declaration they make;
xxxv. Clergy may be suspended, deprived of their benefice or office, or may be deposed from holy orders (but not excluded from membership);
xxxvi. In the absence of formal definitions of membership, clergy clearly depend on other benchmarks, both formal and informal;
xxxvii. Membership takes on a self-defining and self-affiliating character (much in line with Gregg's maxim);
xxxviii. An overview, however, of all these sources of Church law indicates that membership of the Church of Ireland envisages more than that suggested by Gregg's definition: baptism, agreement with the fundamental principles of the Church, abiding by the authority of the General Synod;
xxxix. Nonetheless, the fact remains that the absence of a canonical definition of the laity and their role as ministers within the church is a weakness;
xl. In contrast to the Church of Ireland, most Anglican provinces endeavour to define membership;
xli. The law of the Church of Ireland, insofar as it deals with membership, is manifestly within the Anglican canonical framework;
xlii. Broad trends, but no legal unity, are identifiable in Anglican definitions;
xliii. As in the Church of Ireland, a multi-layered use of terminology gives expression to classes of membership and the activities carried out by members;
xliv. The terminology describes rather than defines membership;
xlv. The failure to express canonically the theological importance of baptism as a sacrament of initiation and incorporation is exposed by comparison with the rest of Anglicanism;
xlvi. The lack of any unified attempt, in contrast to others both within and outside Anglicanism, to articulate the canonical nature of membership in the Church of Ireland (even though those efforts are not uniform) is striking;
xlvii. Registration on electoral rolls or membership records does not appear to confer status, but acknowledges a status which objectively exists or which has been self-declared by the person registering.
It is reasonable, therefore, to propose that a current minimal definition of membership of the Church of Ireland includes the following elements:
i. a voluntary claim of membership (Gregg's axiom);
ii. baptism;
iii. acceptance of the fundamental principles and formularies of the Church of Ireland;
iv. a consensual compact with the other members of the Church expressed in a submission to the rules of the Church and the authority of the General Synod.
The Church of Ireland should, however, seek in its laws to define membership (and elements of it such as communicant status), drawing on insights such as those enumerated here. Whether it will, and if it does, the definition might usefully build on but move well beyond the maxim: ‘A person is a member of the Church of Ireland if they say they are’. In any event, ‘the future forms of the Church lie beyond our power to foresee, except that we may be sure they will be different from the forms of yesterday and today.’Footnote 300
