Visit to Northern Ireland in October 2005

(left) Frieda, a representative of the Presbyterian church in Ireland ,a minister and Rosie at a hotel

(right) Rosie, the Bishop and his wife and Frieda at their home

Rosie, a member of the National Committee, was going to be in Dublin for a holiday during mid-late October 2005. It was unanimously agreed by the Committee that, if possible, Rosie (and Frieda another committee member) should try and re-establish contacts previously made in Northern Ireland by two previous members of Broken Rites.

Belfast 20-23 October 2005

After a great deal of hard work, Rosie was able to arrange meetings in Belfast with two Church of Ireland Bishops (including the wife of one of the bishops), two representatives of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, and a divorced former wife of a minister in the Presbyterian Church. At the suggestion of one of the bishops, Rosie also contacted by telephone a clergyman in Dublin who has had experience of marriage breakdown among Church of Ireland clergy in the Republic.

Rosie, Bishop and Frieda at Church House

Summary of Discussions

The meetings provided a useful insight into the pastoral support service available for some Church of Ireland clergy and their spouses, and also the support provided by the two churches for some separated or divorced wives of clergy and ministers in both the Church of Ireland and the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. We also discussed the important fact that both churches cover the whole of Ireland including the Republic. We were very well received by everyone we spoke to. Great interest was expressed in the work of Broken Rites, and generally it was felt that our organisation could be of benefit to divorced and separated wives throughout the whole of Ireland.

All the people mentioned above have been given/sent information about Broken Rites as appropriate. This includes copies of The Rite Lines, the last Annual Report, the book – “The Story of Broken Rites – the first twenty years”, the Information Pack, the Broken Rites Constitution, some leaflets, details of the next AGM etc.

We hope that sufficient interest will have been aroused to encourage representatives of the two churches to attend our AGM in Edinburgh in May 2006. We propose to recommend to the Committee that all the people we met, including the former wife of the Presbyterian minister, be sent invitations to the AGM in due course.

The Future

It soon became apparent to both of us that, in our opinion, Broken Rites could not respond effectively to divorced and separated wives in the churches of Ireland unless our constitution is changed to include the Republic as well as Northern Ireland. We will be putting a proposal to this effect at the next committee meeting, and if this is acceptable, a similar proposal will be submitted for discussion at the next AGM.