ICC Membership Policy

  1. The Irish Council of Churches (ICC) seeks to create spaces where Irish churches from all traditions may pray, dialogue and act together.
  2. ICC invites written applications for membership from:
    1. churches, or recognised associations of churches within one Christian tradition, having a reasonable spread of congregations on the island of Ireland, and
    2. churches which, while only having a few worship centres on the island of Ireland, are part of much larger historic churches with significant membership in other places in the world and who
      • accept the constitution of ICC;
      • accept that membership of the ICC involves active participation with the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland in the Irish Inter-Church Meeting;
      • have demonstrated evidence of inter-church engagement and commitment on this island;
      • have their own church policies in place to protect children and the vulnerable using their facilities or service ministries (templates for which are available from the ICC office);
      • are willing to test out their commitment and understanding about membership by journeying with the other member churches of ICC over a 12 month period with opportunity to participate in meetings of the ICC Executive with the freedom to speak but not vote;
      • are committed to participate in the life of the Council’s activities; pay an annual subscription and attend the Annual General Meeting;
      • are broadly acceptable to the ICC member churches.
  3. Although the Irish Council of Churches was from its inception (1922) based on a cooperative rather than a credal model for ecumenical endeavour, it would nevertheless understand itself as basing its fellowship around an affirmation of Christian faith which – in company with other ecumenical bodies – proclaims Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour according to the Holy Scriptures and seeks to fulfil a common calling to the glory of the One God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
  4. Internal procedures: An application for membership needs to address the criteria above and be submitted to the General Secretary, who will bring it to the attention of the ICC office bearers. The officer bearers will meet with those making the application, consult with others as needed, process the membership application further and then bring a recommendation to the next ICC Executive meeting. The Executive will then, if appropriate, invite the church to nominate a representative to journey with and build relationships with the Executive for a probationary period of 12 months on the terms outlined above. The ICC office bearers will undertake to support, monitor and at the end of this period, bring a recommendation to the ICC Executive to consider. The Executive will subsequently bring an appropriate resolution with rationale to the attention of Members of the Council to consider at the following AGM.
  5. In considering an application for membership, the Council will take account of
    • the beliefs, practices and history of the applicant church
    • its relationships with other churches including the membership of the Irish Inter Church Meeting
    • any other relevant information provided by any member church.
    Following the twelve month probationary period, a final decision will be taken at an AGM, requiring the support of 75% of the member churches of ICC.