THE NEWLY-APPOINTED Church of Ireland Bishop of Limerick has said the effectiveness of a church is not to be gauged by flourishing congregations, describing as “narrow-minded” the concern for self-preservation. The Rt Rev Trevor Williams was installed as Bishop of Limerick in St Mary’s Cathedral Sunday.
A native of Dublin, he was appointed to the post last May following a meeting of the Episcopal Electoral College.
The 59-year-old replaces Bishop Michael Mayes, who retired in March.
Speaking yesterday Bishop Williams said there was a great temptation by churches to get into a mode of self-preservation, due to falling numbers.
“We have a host of churches with very few people, and in that mode you can get into a self-preservation zone, as if keeping going is all you’ve got to do, but I think you’ve lost the meaning of it all if that becomes your goal. Certainly, I think [of] why we have to be sensitive to people who are really very sad at something they love being so diminished in terms of numbers and resources, and that’s like a real bereavement for many people, but I think we need to be looking at what is possible rather than what we no longer can do.”
He said during his address at St Mary’s: “The effectiveness of our church is to be gauged not in the number of flourishing congregations, but to the extent that each of us resembles the self-giving love of Jesus.”
Sunday’s cathedral service was led by the Dean of Limerick and Ardfert, the Very Rev Maurice Sirr.
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(Source: IT)