Diocesan Synod hears of encouragements, challenges and opportunities
Bishop David spoke of encouragements, challenges and opportunities in both Down and Dromore and the wider church in his Presidential Address to the 2025 Diocesan Synod.
He was speaking in Magheralin Parish Church, on Thursday 19 June where synod business followed a service of Holy Communion. The preacher was Revd James Burnett, Principal of Belfast School of Theology, who urged us in unity to follow only Jesus’ agenda - the salvation of the world.
In his address Bishop David reiterated the diocese’s commitment to resourcing the priorities of Discipleship Leadership and Apostleship. These three, he said, “laid the foundations for growth, and for keeping faithfulness to Christ and faithfulness to the Gospel at the centre, as the heartbeat in the life of our diocese and local church communities.”
Encouragements
Looking over the past year, the bishop highlighted much to be thankful for, including the work of the diocesan team to train, equip and support parishes in all aspects of ministry. He expressed special thanks to Josh Hooker who is returning to Namibia with his wife Cathy having laid the firm foundations of our popular Diocesan Bible Courses.
Synod was also notified that the diocese has made the decision to seek a new diocesan resource and office space within the budget available after the sale of Church House.
The bishop went on to speak about the importance of our growing partnerships with the dioceses of Multan (Pakistan), Maridi (South Sudan) and Santiago (Chile), which he visited in January. “These diocesan links are crucial at a time of turmoil when the church in the West needs increasingly to be aligned with the orthodoxy and the evangelistic fervour we find in 80% of Anglicanism worldwide but often absent in the liberal western church,” he said.
Bishop David also asked parishes to seek missional partnerships with orthodox Church of Ireland parishes south of the border.
Successes in finding and training leaders were, the bishop said, the result of many people in the diocese working together, and in just over two years we have seen 21 vacant parishes filled. Bishop David recently ordained six stipendiary priests and one deacon plus one OLM deacon. In July another OLM priest will be ordained and seven of the eleven selected at the most recent Selection Conference were from Down and Dromore.
This year the diocese commissioned eight Diocesan Lay Readers with four in training; eleven Diocesan Bible Teachers and Catechists with a new course planned for the autumn, and one Diocesan Evangelist with twelve in training. In addition, four Pioneer Ministers from Down and Dromore were commissioned in Newry in November to serve in pioneering initiatives in the diocese.
Following last year’s announcement of plans for a new Resource Church Plant in Ballymacarrett in partnership with Holy Trinity Brompton, Bishop David confirmed the recent appointment of Revd Mike Darbandi as leader. Mike will arrive in 2026 from Gas Street Birmingham, another HTB church plant.
Challenges and opportunities
Bishop David’s address contained many challenges to our churches: to pray for our local communities and all who live in them; to intentionally invest resources in youth and children’s work; to be invitational and welcoming so that the people who live in our parishes are given opportunities to meet and follow Jesus; to put discipleship structures in place. Bishop David also invited every church, irrespective of their size or resources, to participate in church planting and offered several ways in which they could do this.
Bishop David said that the Church of Ireland Census would, in the coming years, offer us the opportunity to map what is helping us to grow, both in depth of commitment to church and numerical growth.
Turning to the Church of Ireland and our mission today, Bishop David rejected the language of the inevitability of decline. He said:
“That simply isn’t true and is not what the Holy Spirit is saying to the church and not what God is doing. Increasingly, there is a new emerging hope. We give thanks that central church is putting some money into five pioneering initiatives annually…but it is only a small part of a much larger task of equipping every parish to put Christ at the centre and go for growth. We welcome that central church is now financing 50% of the cost of curates and has increased grants to student training for ordination at CITI in Dublin but we need many more men and women - with a further 150 clergy of our total of 430 approximately expected to retire in the next 8 years and 80 vacancies in all of Ireland as I speak. We need to pray for our wider Church of Ireland. Every parish needs to see the need to reach the lost.”
The bishop continued:
“We need too to be fearless by challenging the church where it chooses to depart from the Gospel of Christ as the church has received it. Please pray that I as your bishop will always fearlessly challenge the wider church when necessary, as I believed was necessary a week ago today in relation to the weekend activities in Christ Church Cathedral Dublin...I repeat however again what I said then:
“’We consider it pure joy however, to align ourselves with Anglicans across the world who hold to the teachings of the bible as we have received it.’”
Bishop David asserted that God would build his church with or without local Church of Ireland parishes and urged us to find the will “to join in with what God is doing in seeking and saving the lost, prioritising reaching the lost, ensuring our goals around discipleship, leadership and apostleship.”
In finishing, the bishop offered four phrases consistently used in Billy Graham’s preaching through which over two million people are known to have come to faith in Jesus.
The Bible says:
'You must be born again'
'Come as you are'
Jesus is the answer
“Our church would do well to make these our regular catch phrases as we proclaim Christ and His Gospel faithfully. We as a Diocese are committed to the strengthening of our church for Gospel ministry and the planting of new congregations.
May all of us be faithful to our calling.”
Before leading Synod in prayer, Bishop David concluded with some words of JC Ryle, the first Bishop of Liverpool:
“If she claims to be a territorial, and not a congregational Church, she should never rest till there is neither a street, nor a lane, nor a house, or a garret, nor a cellar, nor a family, which is not regularly looked after, and provided with the offer of means of grace by her officials,
. . . her aim should be to produce such a state of things, that no one shall be able to say, ‘I am no man’s parishioner. I am never visited or spoken to: no one cares for my soul.’”
Download Bishop David’s Presidential Address in full at THIS LINK.
Other business
In other business, the Synod heard presentations from Archdeacon Jim Cheshire (Alpha) Mr Allen McCluggage (The Word One to One), Mrs Jane Beaney (Safeguarding), Mrs Claire Neill (Diocesan Financial Report) and a short video message from our Bible Week speaker, Colin Smith.
Mrs Diane Ruddock was re-elected as a member of the Representative Body of the Church of Ireland for the next three years.
The Report of the Diocesan Council was very warmly received having been proposed by Revd Emma Rutherford and seconded by Mrs June Butler. A variety of contributors spoke very positively about the work and ministry of the diocese and encouraged us in pursuing the priorities of discipleship, leadership and apostleship.
A Motion of Diocesan Council was proposed by Mr Mike Johnston and seconded by the Very Revd Geoff Wilson. The Diocesan Council requested that the Diocesan Parish Assessment should rise from 5.8% to 7.11% of each Parish’s average income over the years 2021 – 2023 to enable the Diocese to carry out mission and ministry. Synod voted to accept and agree to the Motion.
Finally, in response to the recent services held in Christ Church Cathedral Dublin the Archdeacons of Down and Dromore jointly brought a Resolution to Synod:
This synod resolves to express its deep concern at the actions of the Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, in permitting a service to take place in his cathedral during which the preacher expounded doctrine contrary to that contained in our liturgies and canons of the Church of Ireland. Furthermore, we resolve to highlight the responsibility of the Central Communications Board of the Church of Ireland not to publicize any service or event which promotes such doctrine and teaching.
Synod voted unanimously to accept the Resolution.
Before Bishop David closed Synod with a scripture reading and prayer, Archdeacon Mark Harvey thanked him on Synod’s behalf for his leadership - in evangelism, in raising up new leaders, in ensuring that vacancies are filled and in his pastoral care which, he said, was "second to none". The Archdeacon also thanked Bishop David for his leadership as a voice to the wider church.
Our thanks to Magheralin Parish and their team for hosting us so wonderfully in all aspects of the day and it was a bonus to enjoy the sunshine in their beautiful Garden of Reflection at coffee and lunch.
