Grievance with Church of Ireland

In Fairness to the Op,

Should anyone have to tell the Clergy what to do,

Surely its part of there Criteria to Keep in Touch

I've been following this thread.

(a) How does your father feel about the Rector in question, has he got a good relationship with him, and would he like to have a phone call from him? Does it bother your father as much as yourself that there has not been any communication?

(b) Are you yourself a churchgoer and if so does your own Rector visit his/her parishioners?

(c) Does your father have friends in the parish who keep in touch with him? Does he telephone his own friends in the parish? This is the alternative when the Rector fails in his duty of care.

There are some fantastic Rectors in the CoI, I know a couple of them, but I also know some others that are woefully bad when it comes to visiting.

I've read your replies. The other parishioners being dumbfounded makes me wonder if the Rector has changed his habits recently and if so, then why has he changed? If there has been no change then the parishioners wouldn't expect anything and surely would be more disappointed than dumbfounded which to me seems more surprise and shock at the behaviour. But this might be a different problem. I'd wonder if the Rector himself is having problems dealing with the job other than wilful neglect and carelessness. That would certainly be something for a ‘serving’ church like the CoI to address.

I definitely get where you're at and what is upsetting you. You're right, a simple phone call would go a long way towards helping an elderly gentleman feel he is a valued member of the parish, that the church is interested in him. Rectors are given a parish in which to not only preach the word of God, to preach about God's love for all of us but also to practice it and be an example of how a Christian should behave.

I'm glad you have made it clear that you are not attacking all Rectors, though I too have witnessed the carelessness of some. There is no addressing it if the Archbishop does not reply, you've hit the ceiling at this point. But I would not automatically assume that the Archbishop has not taken note of it. Perhaps a quick email around the Diocese has been (and certainly should be) sent, reminding all those receiving their stipend that they should 'love thy neighbour as thyself'.

On another point, I have never heard that any Rector is given a change of car every two years, or any time. I believe Rectors buy their own car but the parish probably pays for his petrol expenses, ideally for parish visiting!!! I don’t know of any parish that could afford to buy a car for a Rector and I’d say any Rector that requests same from the Parish Treasurer would be laughed out of the meeting! Just my experience anyway.

OP, I'm curious as to how well known your father is to the Vicar? Would your father have been a weekly or at least monthly attendee at church services?
Also how long has he been attending the church and how long has he known this particular vicar? And also may I ask how old the vicar is and his state of health?

There are two sides to every story and so far we have only heard your side..

Our rector is the same, no visiting, no phone calls, hardly any service online, if you bump into him, he will say how are you and all belonging to you. No effort made though to contact you. I know of one family who are so annoyed they said they would contact the archbishop. Personally I feel the church of ireland will go down in numbers because of COvid and the church being closed and the biggest threat of all, lazy rectors who dont keep on top of things, no people, no church. I do my job 100 percent, why cant they.

Give it up will you. Just another OTT rant about the Church of Ireland and I've never heard of two rectors in a parish. As for supplying rectors with a new car every two years and running the church like a business.....please. :rolleyes:

From what i see here the Op has asked a very Simple question why do the Rectors etc not Keep in touch with there Parishoners in these Dramatic times.

You Really Would think they Would, But the Conclusion i can see here is the Rector or Curates, The Fact that there is two in Question are Lazy.


Famous Quote comes to mind now ( Practice What you Preach )

Peregrinus wrote: »

Also perhaps worth bearing in mind that a parish is not just the rector, but the whole parish community. The parish community should support elderly, lonely or vulnerable people but it's not especially necessary that all the support should be provided directly by the rector. In a healthy parish people will look after one another; the rector may have a leadership role to play in this, making sure that it happens, etc, but it's not necessary that he personally be the front-line provider of care and comfort to everyone in need.

I wouldn't be asking what the rector has done in this regard; I'd be asking what the parish has done. And if the parish has done nothing, then maybe talk to the rector not about why he hasn't contacted a person in need of support, but about why no-one has contacted that person.

Above is exactly what I asked in my #36 post. The OP replied that other parishioners were in contact, so at least that community is answering the need.

There are too many strange things about this, the free car, the two Rectors, definitely strange. Not contacting parishioners, yes, that one I definitely believe.