Report of the Joint Diocesan Synods of the United Dioceses of Tuam Limerick and Killaloe 2024
A Meeting of the Diocesan Synods of the United Diocese of Tuam Limerick and Killaloe was held at the Hotel Woodstock in Ennis on Saturday 19thOctober 2024.
The conference began at 10:45 with a service of Holy Communion, using two of the set readings for that day, Ephesians 1: 15-23 and Luke 12:8-12.
Bishop Michael Burrows preached on the Gospel explaining he was following the good Anglican principle that you preach about the scripture that confronts you as opposed to choosing what suits you. The sermon, he said would also form his Presidential Address.
He began by noting that in this passage we are immediately confronted with an extraordinary phrase uttered by the Lord, ‘whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven’. We can be forgiven for what we say against the Son of Man, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
It was on this that Bishop Michael wanted to focus, and began by suggesting that to sin against the Spirit is to sin against the truth, because it is the function of the Spirit that leads us to the truth, and if we turn our faces against the truth we are blaspheming against the Spirit.
Bishop Michael then went on to describe two ways in which we sin against the truth. He thought the most obvious example of that was to deny that the climate is changing, and that it is changing very quickly and dangerously.
He thought that some of us may think global temperatures increasing a degree or a degree and a half since the industrial revolution seems a very small thing in the scheme of things, but we should remember our bodily temperature and its balance. He pointed out that we are very carefully constructed beings and our body temperature remains at 37. If it’s 38, we feel quite miserable. If it’s 39, we feel awful, and we probably need to be in hospital. If it’s much over 40, we’re dead – and the same is true of the planet!
The bishop’s second example of sinning against the truth was our tendency to accept ambiguity and denial, and not facing the truth about ourselves.
He reminded the synod of past sadnesses, mother and baby homes, abuse of religious run educational establishments.
He thought that while we may have corrected this corporate hypocrisy with some of the recent referendums, we are still a society agonizing with the truth about itself, and doing this instead of exporting its problems and seeking to remain righteous.
He thought that we sin against the truth by this denial and ambiguity.
He said these are the sort of issues we would face squarely at the Council for Mission conference for young adults and discipleship in the coming weeks.
Bishop Michael then turned to look at the church and the diocesan synod and how it might be tempted to sin against the truth.
Firstly, he thought we should consider what a synod actually is. A synod is a gathering of people on the way. The bishop then looked to our ecumenical friends of the Roman Catholic Church and their present process concerning the nature and experience of synodality, which he thought was far removed from our sort of neo parliamentary and adversarial way of doing things.
Together on the way is what being in synod is, and therefore it’s not static. It’s certainly not a place for the backward look. It is not a mere AGM. It’s a place of vision and waiting on the spirit and then moving forward together strategically, harmoniously and courageously.
In this way he said it is dynamic, it sits lightly on the past, it takes risks.
The bishop said that he once heard a distinguished bishop, now departed this life, describe timid conservatism as the devil’s best tool in the Church of Ireland. He hoped that today, whatever we were discussing no eavesdropper would conclude that this synod was a place of timid conservatism.
The other way in which a synod can sin against the truth is by being a victim of delusion. Looking out the window and seeing things that nobody else sees because it suits us to think we see them.
And then managing to convince ourselves that we are right. So that in that way we tell ourselves that we are keeping everything out there going perfectly well.
Bishop Michael said that we needed to realise that traditional church attendance has been in rapid decline, that there were faithful people who stopped going to church during the pandemic and realised they didn’t miss it very much, that participation in what was offered was for most people very erratic, that large numbers of young adults have little regular need of us, and none of this should necessarily make us despair provided we are realistic about what we see.
However he reminded us, we do well in these circumstances to be an outward looking, undeluded body, which has flexible membership boundaries and is clear in its role in the world.
In that way he thought we could be a beacon for those who still yearn for hope, holiness, and meaning.
We can welcome those who occasionally wander in and out, perhaps in search more of peace and space than traditional worship.
We could shun the type of harsh, exclusive righteousness that the bishop feared was becoming far too obvious in much of the Church of Ireland these days.
We could recultivate our relationship with the arts.
We could address the world with intelligent social comment rather than pious piffle and in this way, we could be interesting and excite curiosity rather than being repulsively morally upright.
Bishop Michael ended his presidential address by referring to the debate on Baptism at the last General synod, where he thought the repulsive moral uprightness had done the church a great deal of harm.
Having earlier welcomed our ecumenical guests, Bishop Fintan Monahan, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Killaloe and Rev Jackie McNair from the Methodist Church in Adare, Ballingrane & Christchurch Limerick, synod moved on to its formal business.
Apologies for absence were received, supplementals were appointed and it was confirmed that there was a quorum of members.
Synod was reminded of the Conflict-of-Interest policy and the minutes of the previous meetings were approved and signed.
There were elections for one Lay and one Clerical representative to the General Synod Board of Education 2025-2026. As there were two nominations for the Lay Representative post an election was held by secret ballot and Ms Margaret Brickenden was elected. The Clergy Representative, Revd Suzanne Cousins, was elected unopposed.
The Reports of the two Diocesan Councils were presented to Synod.
The report from the Tuam Diocesan Synod was proposed by Revd Suzanne Cousins and seconded by Dr Rachel Latey.
The report from Limerick and Killaloe diocesan council was proposed by Mr Adrian Hilliard and seconded by the Revd Canon Jane Galbraith.
There were then heard two motions from the Tuam Diocesan Council and one motion from the Limerick and Killaloe Diocese. These were all passed.
The synod then broke for lunch.
After lunch, the synod watched a video produced by the Pioneer Ministry Team which introduced our new Diocesan Co-Ordinator for Spiritual Tourism and Pilgrimage, Valerie Raitt and explained the vision behind Pioneer Ministry.
There were then Resolutions from the Limerick and Killaloe Diocesan Council to bring Select Vestries together to form new Unions of Parishes
The first resolution was to join the separate Select Vestries of St Ruadhán, Lorrha, Lockeen and Dorrha become a Union of Parishes.
The second resolution was to join the Select Vestries of Cloughjordan and Ballingarry, Borrisnafarney and Templeharry and Borrisokane into a new Union to be known as Cloughjordan and Borrisokane Union.
Both were passed and it was further resolved that the consent of RB to these decisions be sought.
Synod then heard Reports from different committees and Boards. The report of the Tuam Diocesan Board of Education and the Report of the Limerick Board of Education were proposed, seconded, and approved.
As was the United Diocesan Council for Mission Report and the United Diocesan Youth Council Report.
Standing Orders were suspended to enable the recently appointed Diocesan Safeguarding Compliance Officer, Damian Shorten, introduced his report. Bishop Michael commented that the diocese was privileged to have him on board and thanked him for the confidence and vision that he brought with him for training and advising on Safeguarding.
While Standing Orders were still suspended the next report was the Communications Report which was introduced to synod by the Diocesan Communications Officer, Mr Stephen Fletcher.
After Standing Orders were restored Mr Peter Whyte gave a report on the work of the Single Diocese Working Group.
As Bishop Michael said when introducing this item the single diocese working group wasn’t just bringing matters in the two dioceses into line with one another , but beyond that it was charting a possible future course by which over the next few years the two dioceses could become truly one. Not two dioceses sharing a bishop , but one diocese with one bishop and one synod, conforming to the proper Anglican understanding of what the nature of a diocese is.
Mr Whyte set out what he called a Green Paper showing the ways the this could be achieved. Bishop Michael thanked Mr Whyte and the Single Diocesan Working Group for their work .
There were no Private Members Motions, so the Synod then closed at 4:45pm after Bishop Michael’s closing remarks, thanking the diocesan secretaries, Heather and Lorna, for their work in organising, coordinating and running the synod and he concluded the Synod with prayer.
Stephen Fletcher Diocesan Communications Officer 22nd October 2024
