The annual TKA Clergy Conference took on a different aspect in 2017. This year we were joined by the clergy of Limerick and Killaloe Diocese. This is a reflection of the fact that both dioceses are striving to co-operate more closely in a spirit of sharing resources, building relationships and ex-ploring how we might encourage each other in faith and service. Already there has been a willingness shown on the part of both dioceses to to walk the partnership path and this joint Clergy Conference is an obvious step on that journey.
The clergy met for three days in the Ardilaun Hotel in Galway. Our guest speaker was the bishop of St. Asaph’s Diocese of the Church in Wales, The Right Reverend Gregory Cameron.
Bishop Gregory spoke about the challenges experienced recently in his own diocese, comparing them with the challenges faced by us in The West. He described how St Asaph diocese is facing these challenges, particularly in its participation in the Church in Wales’ ’20-20 VISION’ project.
( http://stasaph.churchinwales.org.uk/life/2020-vision/ )
The clergy spent time in considering where we in Tuam and Limerick might learn from the experiences of the Church in Wales: what may be applicable to our context and how we might borrow ideas from St Asaph’s way of ministry and organisation.
The conference was not all work, of course. Worship was firmly at the centre of our days together. And equally important was the business of getting to know each other and making friendships.
We left Galway at the end of the conference with a determination to grow the co-operation between our two dioceses and deepen the bonds of friendship amongst the two clergy teams.