Clergy Conference 2008
Around 130 Clergy, Church Army Officers, youth workers and a number of spouses from the Diocese of Down and Dromore gathered in the Central Hotel in Donegal town for the bi-annual Clergy Conference for four days from 6th to 9th October. The weather was somewhat disappointing, but the hospitality and the setting, just on the shores of Donegal Bay made up for the almost constant rain.
The format for this years' conference differed from pervious occasions - there was only one speaker and no seminars were offered. That speaker was the Revd James Lawrence from CPAS (Church Pastoral Aid Society). James is Director of the Arrow Leadership Programme and the theme was "Growing Leaders".
The Rt Revd Bill Love, Bishop of Albany was accompanied by five clergy couples from the States, including Bob and Amee Longbottom who are bringing a group of young people from Albany to Summer Madness in July 2009. Bishop Bill also celebrated Holy Communion with conference delegates on Tuesday morning, and spoke of his "delight" to be back in Ireland and to be "with brothers and sisters in Christ from Down and Dromore Diocese".
Worship was led by Alison Cadden on the keyboard, with Julie Bell (violin), Dean Stephen Lowry (guitar) and singers Cherry Niblock, Canon Liz McElhinney and Revd Joanne Megarrell. Contemporary informal worship was held in the hotel every morning, while Donegal Parish Church (a short walk from the hotel) was the venue for services of Evening Prayer each night. Holy Communion was celebrated on Wednesday evening in the church and included ministry to one another. The Revd Adrian Dorrian, Curate of St Mark's Newtownards was the chaplain in charge of organising worship, who spoke at the informal morning service in the hotel on Tuesday morning. The Revd Craig Cooney, Curate of Shankill parish, Lurgan spoke on Wednesday morning and Captain Neville Barnes, Church Army Evangelist working in Wells spoke on Thursday morning.
Bible readings and reflections at the evening services in the Parish Church were given by three first incumbency rectors - the Revd Simon Richardson (Hillsborough), Revd Willie Nixon (Killaney and Carryduff) and Revd Jono Pierce (Kilmore and Inch).
James Lawrence spoke over six main sessions on the theme of leadership. In his opening remarks, James reminded those present of the need to Live by Jesus' words (John 15) - to bear his fruit, to receive his love, to live his commands, to expect his suffering and to know you're chosen. These points were expounded in the succeeding sessions, looking at leadership matters, and the character of a leader, the call to lead and the competence of a leader. James explained that leadership ability is made up of knowledge, skill, talent and Spiritual gift, while the leader needs to ensure integrity, authenticity and credibility.
Bishop Harold also welcomed the Revd John Alderdice from Movilla Methodist Church to the conference as the representative from our covenant partners, the Methodist Church in Ireland.
In another change from the format of previous conferences, Bishop Harold allowed for an entirely free afternoon on Tuesday. This took place following the traditional group photograph, which proved to be a challenge as the wet weather prevented it being taken outside - as a result the photographer from the Donegal Democrat newspaper was faced with organising everyone in the conference room (see news item). A number of activities were then offered for the afternoon including golf, a Blue Stack Mountains walk, a visit to the local craft village, a tour of Salthill gardens, a look around Donegal Castle or a trip on the waterbus. The weather put paid to a number of these activities and the waterbus was out of service for its annual inspection, but many enjoyed the opportunity to spend some time in each others' company.
Gary McMurray, recently ordained Deacon for the Curacy of Dundonald said "The Conference was a good time for me, and a great way to get to know my new colleagues in the diocese. James gave us some useful insights on leadership in the main sessions. The challenge now lies in thinking through the material and leading our people into the future as we follow where the Lord Jesus leads us"
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Bishop Harold and Diocesan Youth Officer, Andrew Brannigan also took an opportunity to commend the new Confirmation Handbook to clergy during the conference. The book is designed to be used with youth candidates across the Church of Ireland and was compiled by Andrew Brannigan. Information is contained elsewhere in the news section on this website.