25.04.2023
Archbishop of Dublin Attends Jerusalem Diocesan Majma
Archbishop Michael Jackson is in Jordan attending the Majma (Synod) of our link dioceses, the Diocese of Jerusalem, at the invitation of Archbishop Hosam Naoum. He he reports on the first two days of Synod.
MONDAY AND TUESDAY 24TH AND 25TH APRIL
MONDAY
The Majma (Synod) began with a service of Holy Communion in The Church of The Redeemer, Amman, Jordan. Members of the diocese gathered from Jordan, Israel–Palestine, Lebanon and Syria to worship God and to give thanks for another year of shared witness. There was great rejoicing that a delegate from Syria was able to attend this year. They were joined by invited guests from across The Anglican Communion, from sister churches and from key Anglican Institutions worldwide. The Diocese lists as it four key aims the following: a church that has a pastoral heart; a church that offers a Christian witness to all people through the Diocese’s health and educational institutions; a church that promotes friendship, understanding and mutual respect between people of different religious traditions by advancing ecumenical and interfaith initiatives; and a church that exercizes a ministry of hospitality towards the many pilgrims and travellers who visit the Holy Land each year.
The theme of The Majma 2023 is Built Together, based in The Letter to The Ephesians. In the sermon, the archbishop developed the twin themes of the commonwealth (citizenship) and the foundation of our faith in the apostles in Ephesians 2.22. In this way, he led the participants into reflection on our belonging to the kingdom of heaven and the kingdoms of this world together with shared responsibility and celebration of church life in everyday life. This was a powerful message of hope to hear in a geographical and political context where many experience pressures of which we in The Church of Ireland know little if anything. The service of Holy Communion was followed by hospitality in the church hall and courtyard.
TUESDAY
The First Day of The Majma began with a celebration of Holy Communion. Three phrases in The Intercessions struck me powerfully: that we be renewed in purpose, faithful in witness and empowered in mission. I was invited to bring greetings from The Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough. Along with expressing our good wishes and prayers for flourishing in the faith together with gratitude for the shared retreat during Lent which incorporated a pilgrimage to Mount Nebo and to The Baptismal Site at The River Jordan, I presented the archbishop with a medal specially struck to mark the Beatification of Father John Sullivan SJ on May 13th 2017. I did so as an expression of our shared hope that religious and social traditions which for much of their history have been at enmity or maintained an uneasy and fractured truce can move together in shared public witness and personal solidarity. Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and I had been jointly involved in the petition to Pope Francis in the cause for the beatification not least on the grounds that John Sullivan had spent half of his life as an Anglican and half as a Roman Catholic – with a strong and consistent sense that he should not leave behind the best of the Anglican tradition when he became a Roman Catholic and a Member of The Society of Jesus.
In his address, the archbishop drew on pivotal texts in the New Testament: St John 2.19; 1 Corinthians 12.27; Ephesians 2.21; 1 Peter 2.5; St Luke 14.28 to expound the idea of spiritual building. Fundamental to being ‘built together’ the archbishop argued is the following: ‘The New Testament teaches us that the concept of the Church, from a spiritual point of view, emanates from the principle of the one body, whose head is Christ, and we, the believers, are members of this body. The idea of a composite building and one body, even the temple (as a building), are figurative expressions that refer to the Church both from a spiritual and organizational perspective. Just as the one body has members, such as the head and the hands, etc., the Church also has roles, talents, and orders.’
The rest of today was spent in discussion of and response to the archbishop’s address. The financial reports on the year past and the budgetary provisions for the year to come were also discussed. The afternoon concluded with Evening Prayer.