Press Release from First Things (Church of Ireland).
First Things have issued a statement regarding The Church of Ireland Preamble and Declaration and being ‘in Communion’.
This is a significant period in the life of the Church of Ireland, the Anglican Communion (AC), and other fellowships such as the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) and the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) with its most recent announcement of the Global Anglican Communion (GAC).
The Nairobi-Cairo Proposals (2024) will be brought to the Anglican Consultative Council in 2026 as the beginning of a new conversation on the shape, and instruments of, the Anglican Communion. The Cairo Covenant (2019) of the GSFA is a foundational document developed as a ‘reset’ for the Anglican Communion complete with a doctrinal basis and a formal governance structure. The Jerusalem Declaration (2008) was published as the foundational basis of GAFCON and remains a standard for Anglican Identity in its recent declaration of the ‘Global Anglican Communion’ (2025). The GAC is stated to be a re-ordering of the AC, and a restoration of its original structures as autonomous provinces, bound together by reformation formularies, as reflected in the first Lambeth Conference in 1867.
Each of these documents and the bodies or fellowships from which they come, point to some form or reordering, resetting, or reforming of what it means to be ‘in communion’. They merit deep engagement and consideration. There will be a wide range of views and undoubtedly much debate will follow. To help guide such discussions beyond mere subjective opinion or unhelpful caricature, it may be helpful to revisit our own foundational statement – the Preamble and Declaration BCP p.776.
That this foundational declaration exists at all points to a time in the life of our church when reordering was necessary and our autonomy as a self-governing church was declared. Fundamental principles were stated as to what it means to be the Church of Ireland, and what it means for our church to be in communion with other churches. Our identity as protestant and reformed was asserted and understood as a resetting and reordering, along with a remaining in continuity with the ancient catholic and apostolic church on the island. In short, at times like these when debates about doctrine and structures may become fraught, we need not be afraid – we have been here before. Our Preamble and Declaration is a gift and a guide to help us to navigate the path ahead.