06/11/2025
The Gazette has always sought to represent voices within the Church fairly and in full context. We note today’s statement from the Bishop of the Diocese of Down & Dromore, The Rt Revd David McClay, suggesting he is used to being misrepresented.
For clarity, the Bishop asked that his comments be quoted in full — and they were quoted in full, exactly as supplied.
The Bishop's longstanding public connections with Gafcon prompt questions about his relationship with the Anglican Communion — the body to which the Archbishops of Armagh and Dublin, and the Church of Ireland as a whole, profess belonging.
These remain important questions for the life and unity of the Church of Ireland, and we are grateful for the Bishop's engagement in these important matters.
https://www.facebook.com/churchofireland/posts/pfbid029RPhoqUPhFHBUqepnb8We9exrcg8hohbzVC8yC7zFvuYxLhpxeFAbYWGhy8J3VdHl
D&D news: The Bishop of Down and Dromore, the Right Revd David A McClay, has issued the following statement:
"I am not unaccustomed to being misrepresented over many years on social media and by the press because of my evangelical convictions. My connections to Gafcon have added to my being increasingly misrepresented over the past twelve years. Recent weeks have been both difficult and painful as this misrepresentation has further intensified since the issuing of the Gafcon communiqué.
"I wish to publicly clarify that I remain and that the Diocese of Down and Dromore remains, not only in communion with, but part of, and committed to, the health, wellbeing and growth of the Church of Ireland.
"I also wish to publicly make it absolutely clear that I fully submit as I always have as a Deacon, a Priest and now as Bishop, to the Preamble and Declaration of the Church of Ireland in its entirety, the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordering of Bishops, Priests and Deacons.
"Ministry in all its forms that I have been involved in over all the years since coming to trust in Christ as a young man aged 18 has always been, and remains, a privilege."
In Christ,
+David Down and Dromore
https://www.facebook.com/543613874535652/posts/1166918715538495
