From the Bishop of Cashel & Ossory
Sir, - As one of those
responsible for introducing into the General Synod of the Church of
Ireland legislation that, we trust, will lead to interchangeability
of ministry with the Methodist Church in Ireland, I note the Revd
Bruce Bridgewood's comments (Letters, 24
May) with interest. He and other readers might consider
reviewing the full text of our legislation, which is available on
www.synod.ireland.anglican.org.
This is the culmination of a
long process, at the heart of which has been a recognition that
there is a sufficiency of consonance in terms of personal
episcopebetween the office of a bishop and that of the President of
the Methodist Church. Holders of the latter office, for example,
retain for life a distinctive standing within the Church, and may
be called upon in the absence of the serving President to ordain on
behalf of their Conference.
Mutual recognition of this
consonance of office and function has led the Church of Ireland and
the Methodist Church towards a point where our ordained ministries
will duly converge and in consequence become interchangeable. Once
both Churches have finally approved the proposals, a plurality of
Church of Ireland bishops will join thereafter in the admission or
consecration of Methodist Presidents, to be known as episcopal
ministers.
Similarly, Methodist
Presidents and past Presidents will be invited to join in the
laying on of hands at the consecration of Church of Ireland
bishops.
The process recognises a
period of anomaly, not unknown to such processes elsewhere in the
world, by which there will be a mutual acceptance of the ministries
of those already ordained before the moment of convergence. The
Church of Ireland and the Methodist Church have no current plans to
integrate their two polities, but there are significant
possibilities for the future, given the manner in which personal
episcopal ministry will be understood in both Churches not least as
a sign of the continuity in faith of the whole people of God.
Those involved at an
international level in Anglican-Methodist international dialogue
have been aware of our endeavours in Ireland, and indeed of their
wider ecumenical implications. The process here has been somewhat
facilitated by the fact that, in the Church of Ireland, the
admission of women to the episcopate was approved as long ago as
1990.
MICHAEL CASHEL &
OSSORY
Bishop's House, Kilkenny
Republic of Ireland
