General Synod is coming to Down and Dromore
The Diocese of Down and Dromore is honoured to be hosting General Synod when it meets in Newcastle, County Down on Thursday 7 May, Friday 8 May, and Saturday 9 May 2026.
This is the first time since 2019 that General Synod will return to meeting in person for three days. The venue will be the Slieve Donard Hotel which nestles beside the sea and below the Mourne Mountains.
Whilst the local parish church is St John’s, the General Synod Service of Holy Communion will be held in the hotel at 12 noon on the first day. The preacher will be The Most Revd Pat Storey, Bishop of Meath and Kildare and Matt Good from Hillsborough Parish will lead the worship team.
Archbishop John McDowell will deliver the Presidential Address shortly after the start of business and a short presentation will be made by the Working Group to Review Clergy Tenure on Thursday afternoon. This will outline the background to its work before the resulting bills are brought before the Synod members for consideration.
Lunches
The diocese is hosting a free welcome lunch of sandwiches, savouries and drinks for all Synod members on Thursday 7 May at 1.00pm in Newcastle Presbyterian. Please register at THIS LINK no later than 9.00am on the day.
The Council for Mission and the Bishops’ Appeal for World Aid and Development have invited all members of the General Synod to a mission lunch in the venue on Friday 8 May immediately following the morning session. The guest speaker will be Tearfund’s Middle East Regional Director, Safa Hijazeen.
Down and Dromore is delighted to have the opportunity to make a presentation to General Synod about our ministries on Friday afternoon.
Bills and reports
General Synod’s main purpose in its role as the Church of Ireland’s governing body is to consider proposals for legislation (bills) which seek to amend the Constitution.
This year, members will consider bills to remove references to ‘deacons serving in an internship’ from the Chapters I and XIV – as ordinands are no longer ordained before serving their internship – and to amend Chapter XVI, in relation to safeguarding, to remove mention of the names of the previous safeguarding policies and reword so this chapter does not refer to the names of specific safeguarding policies going forward and, therefore, cannot be out of date in this regard.
Three bills arising from the work of the Working Group to Review Clergy Tenure will be proposed, covering the clergy disciplinary process (in Chapter XIII), situations of ill–health (in Chapter IV), and pastoral breakdown (in Chapters IV and VI).
Over the course of General Synod, members will receive and discuss reports from 12 committees. The results of the 2025 Church of Ireland Census will be presented in the Standing Committee report.
For more information, please visit the preview page on the Church of Ireland website HERE.