The 2006 Clergy Conference in Donegal
Beautiful autumnal weather greeted the 140 delegates who travelled to Donegal Town for the bi-annual Down & Dromore clergy conference. The four day residential conference was held in the Central Hotel, right in the heart of Donegal Town overlooking Donegal Bay. This year's keynote speaker was the Rt Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, Bishop of Winchester. Pastor David McMillan from Windsor Baptist Church in Belfast led the daily bible readings.
Several clergy from our link diocese of Albany, including Bishop Dan Herzog and the newly consecrated Bishop Bill Love, and Methodist representatives were guests at the Donegal event.
The conference programme featured daily worship in the hotel, with an evening service in the local parish church at which David McMillen conducted bible readings on Jeremiah. Seminars on a variety of pastoral issues were on offer during the morning and afternoon of the second day. The topics ranged from trauma, inner healing, human sexuality to disability and drug/alcohol addiction. Other sessions during the conference included Confirmation, Fresh Expressions of Church and Learning from Da Vinci. The latter was conducted by the Rev Christopher Brown, one of the Albany guests who is an authority on the subject.
During the conference the Rev Raymond Fox, a former rector of Carryduff & Killaney, and his wife Jean acted as ‘house parents'. While Bishop Harold held an open session with his clergy, those clergy wives who had accompanied their husbands joined Liz Miller and Carol Herzog (wife of Bishop Dan from Albany diocese) for a special clergy wives session.
For Adrian Dorrian, who is a curate in St Mark's Newtownards, this was his first experience of a clergy conference and afterwards this is what he had to say:
" ‘Enjoy your Father Ted Convention.' Such was the message one delegate received on the first day of this year's Diocesan Clergy Conference. As one of the new recruits, it was all exciting for me. The journey down, discussing church; the speakers, discussing church; the seminars, mostly church - at least, that's what I expected, but (disappointingly?) this wasn't to be the case. Not too many Teds or Dougals and, refreshingly, few Jacks!
The Bishop of Winchester's input on matters Anglican - and in truth the one matter Anglican that is likely to dominate most church debates and discussions leading up to Lambeth 2008 - was plain spoken and insightful, though many of us found the detail of who met who, where, and about what, somewhat challenging; bible readings from David McMillan that spoke to where we were proved to be spot on; an encouraging open session with the Bishop, and the word pastoral coming through strongly in the seminar choices - even though I hadn't attended before it became clear that this conference was built on successful predecessors, and tweaked with the aid of feedback from the same.
Conferences, though, aren't always (are they ever?!) about content exclusively. The reason I looked forward to it, the reason I enjoyed it and the reason I'm already looking forward to Conference '08 (when, I suspect, Lambeth might JUST be under a little discussion!) is the people. Conference was an important chance for me to spend time with training colleagues and friends from throughout the diocese, and it also afforded me the opportunity to meet many new people, and make many new friends. It was a chance to talk about how others do things and to share in things that may not always be familiar or comfortable. The presence of some clergy wives, a smattering of people from other denominations and our brothers and sisters from Albany only ever served to increase the sense of diversity within our little community - and it was the community that above all else made this conference worth the bother. The only shame being that so many of us (me not among them, thank God) were returning to parishes where such community and support from colleagues didn't exist on a day to day basis. But we did talk about that - which should make it better."
Bishop Harold also invited Roy Searle and his wife Shirley to this year's Clergy Conference. Roy is one of the leaders of the Northumbria Community, a network of Christians drawn from protestant, catholic, orthodox and unchurched backgrounds across the world. A former President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, he is now living at Ballydugan where he is spending time writing, leading retreats, mentoring and supporting Henry Hull and others associated with Saul and Downpatrick.
Speaking after the conference Roy said: ‘Having spoken at the conference 2 years ago it was a real joy to be back in Donegal. Journeying there and participating was a great delight for my wife and I to gain further insight and an appreciation of the life and work of the diocese and its clergy and support staff. We were warmly welcomed, friendships were made and renewed and we felt the companionship of brothers and sisters in Christ in conversations, in worship, at the meal table, out walking, during the sessions and workshops and at the table quiz, where we learnt much about the misspent youth and dubious musical tastes of the clergy and their spouses. We witnessed a friendliness, a gift and grace that led to free discussions and a genuine sharing of hearts. The lack of posturing and a competitive spirit that often plagues such occasions created a context where it was okay to be real. Serious debate mingled freely with humour, respect and love for one another and the relating to bishops as companions and friends was good to observe. One of the greatest gifts of the Anglican Communion is its ability to hold together unity and diversity, where difference is not automatically assumed to be deviant or wrong but enriching. We met with godly men and women from differing streams of spirituality and emphases, young and old, charismatic and contemplative, established, emerging and new expressions of church and witnessed the bond of fellowship that exists with friends from Albany Diocese.
As David MacMillan led us through some excellent Bible studies in Jeremiah we were reminded that we too are in exile, where the task of "Singing the Lord's song in a strange land" is a tough call. There is no doubting that these are tough days in these changing times for the church and society which will pose many challenges for believers. Ministry is not easy. It requires leadership not only of competence but of character and calling. It was our privilege to witness such characteristics in the lives of the clergy and their spouses. We left with a deepening respect and a developing partnership in the gospel here in the diocese.'
These two comments and other feedback did much to affirm the need for clergy to spend time with their bishop and each other on a regular basis.
To download a larger version of the group photograph above, click here ! (Photograph courtesy of Jason McGarrigle, Donegal Post).