SEARCH Journal

Autumn 2012

The Ulster covenant was being celebrated and analysed in the media as this issue of SEARCH was going to press, so it is good that we can start off this autumn with a trio of articles considering not only the Covenant but the decade of mould-breaking - even seismic – events it led into. Bishop John McDowell, who chairs the C of I’s Historical Commemorations Working Group, leads off with an overview of the Decade of Commemorations, urging that we “listen carefully to the whole story”. There follow reflections relating to the Decade from two different perspectives, reminding us of the respectable unionist tradition in the South (Wilfred Baker) and noting also the positive attitude to the events of 1916 expressed by distinguished Church of Ireland preachers in the jubilee year of 1966 (Aonghus Dwane).

Summer 2012

It is good, in the aftermath of last month’s General Synod, to look beyond our particular obsession of the moment to the wider ecclesial scene and to consider, along with Archbishop Jackson, the ever present and ever pressing issue of how much our common baptism enables Christians to share together in our regular worship and witness. Passion and politics tend to prompt different approaches to such issues, so we are grateful to our Archbishop for his balanced, thoughtful and thought-provoking article – a fitting accompaniment to his presence at this month’s Eucharistic Congress, where he will be presiding at the Liturgy of Word and Water on Monday June 11th.

Spring 2012

As we go to press at the end of January, two important conferences are waiting in the wings: the C of I Conference on Sexuality for General Synod members in March and the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in June. A whole issue of SEARCH could be devoted to the former – and indeed this was done back in Autumn 2004; but given the intensity of feeling on this subject in the Church today it now seems best to offer only a faraway perspective on the issue. New Zealand Bishop John Bluck’s offering should be thought-provoking for both sides of the debate. The Eucharistic Congress, at first sight of interest only to Roman Catholics, is actually very pertinent to the Church of Ireland, in that Archbishop Jackson has been invited to address the assembly on the theme “Communion in One Baptism”. Since we accept each other’s baptism as valid, is there hope we may in our lifetime proceed to accept each other also at the eucharist? Eoin de Bhaldraithe, former abbot of Bolton Abbey in Co Kildare, has long studied this issue and contributes a carefully considered article on the subject.