Reverend Canon Alan Abernethy is the new Church of Ireland bishop of Connor. The fifty year old Belfast man will succeed Most Reverend Alan Harper, who was elected Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland in January 2007.Canon Abernethy said he was “totally gobsmacked,” by the news which he heard by telephone from Archbishop Harper at lunchtime yesterday. “There was twenty seconds of silence, and he had to ask was I still there?”
Canon Abernethy, a deeply spiritual man, said he will be going on retreat with the Benedictines of Rostrevor before he is consecrated bishop. “My prayer life is fundamental. My own personal spiritual director is a Benedictine. I love ‘Lectio Divino’. I find that if you enrich your own spiritual life, that is the key to ministry.”
The bishop elect said that a number of Church of Ireland bishops have a close relationship with the Benedictines. “They are such open people. There are no labels. There is no denominationalism. Unfortunately we don’t have retreat houses in the Church of Ireland.”
Canon Abernethy said his priority as bishop would be people and helping his clergy with their spiritual life. “Ministry is a lonely life. I want to be able to say to priests ‘how are your prayers going’ and walk and pray with them.”
His passion is ministry and helping people discover ministry “other than ordained ministry.”
“We must all work together for the kingdom,” he said.
Welcoming the appointment of Canon Abernethy to his old diocese, Archbishop Harper, said he brought “considerable gifts, which will greatly benefit the diocese when he begins his episcopal ministry.”
Canon Abernethy hails from Belfast. He was ordained in 1981 and appointed to his present post as rector of Ballyholme Parish, North Down in 1990.
Having lived there for seventeen years, it will be a wrench to leave his home in the seaside parish. He is married with a son, Peter, currently studying in Glasgow, and a daughter, Ruth, who is in her final year in school. His wife Liz works as a hospital physician.
To date his ministry has focused on parish ministry and this interest has led him into a key role in the restructuring of ministry training in the Church of Ireland, in particular to the challenge of training curates and developing new models of non-ordained ministry in the parish context.
He is currently Central Director of Ordinands for the Church of Ireland, like a Director of Vocations, keeping an eye on students as they progress through their training.
He is also a member of its Theological Inspection Team, which assesses the quality of training, accreditations etc.
Over the years Canon Abernethy has also enjoyed working within the world of broadcasting, serving as religious advisor to Downtown Radio for several years.
In 2002 he published a book entitled Fulfillment and Frustration with Columba Press.
He is currently working on a second book on the subject of doubt, and conducting research on the subject of clergy training.
His new diocese, Connor, covers most of Co Antrim, including a large part of Belfast.
The appointment of the new bishop fell to the House of Bishops last month when the Episcopal Electoral College failed to agree on a new bishop for the diocese at its meeting in Armagh in March.
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