The spring synods of Methodist districts in Ireland follow a standard agenda of reports and appointments, but the autumn synods have a much greater freedom.
Each district is allowed to choose as the subject of debate a matter of immediate relevance to its own people, so the discussion can therefore move to a deeper level.
The Belfast synod this year turned to a concern which has developed out of the violence of the past few decades and invited Dr David Gallagher to introduce a consideration of the Methodist Memories project being developed by the church's council on social responsibility.
This aims to provide a space in which people can address, record and seek healing for their experiences of conflict. The synod shared briefly in an exercise drawn from a faith-based resource on trauma.
If the Belfast synod was considering the consequences of violence over the years, the northeast synod experienced the effects of current street disturbances. Its meeting had to be postponed and relocated in Cullybackey.
The highlight of the meeting was a report from Joan Parkinson of a conference on evangelism at Cliff College in England, organised by the World Methodist Evangelism Institute.
Exciting examples were quoted of churches in poverty and under persecution, yet which continued to make an impact on the lives of their communities.
At the Down synod, the Rev Dr Heather Morris shared her views on Christian leadership, relating it to the present changes in the life of the church. She examined the reasons for resistance to change, and suggested the role of leadership in encouraging people to cope with it.
On not-unrelated lines, the Portadown synod heard reports of imaginative ways in which church buildings are being adapted to meet the demands of service within the church and in the community.
The retired ministers fellowship will meet at Knock in east Belfast next Tuesday morning. The Rev Norman Brookes, a New Zealand minister now working in Fermanagh, will offer a viewpoint from the other side of the world.
The ministers of the Dublin district will meet in Wesley College early on Wednesday, November 16th, for a celebration of the Holy Communion.
On Friday, November 18th, the East Belfast Mission is organising a conference on "Spiritual Leadership in Today's Church".
Beginning at 9.30am, it will take place at Edgehill College, Lennoxvale, Belfast, and will be addressed by the Rev Mike Slaughter, who leads a conference and mission centre at Ginghamsburg, near Dayton, Ohio.
Details as to cost and registration may be had from the mission at 028/048 9045 8560.
The president of the church, the Rev Desmond Bain, will preach tomorrow morning at the Belfast Central Mission, Grosvenor Hall, and in the evening will address a Belfast district rally. Next Wednesday he will visit the Lisburn and Dromore circuit.
On Saturday, November 12th, he will lead a midlands and southern district workshop, and on the Sunday will preach in Cork. On November 18th and 19th he will attend a conference on racism.
The Friends of Sabeel Ireland are sponsoring a meeting in Milltown Park, Dublin, on Tuesday, November 15th, at 8pm which will be addressed by the Rev Dr Naim Ateek.
Dr Ateek, an Anglican priest, is the founder of Sabeel, an ecumenical theologically-based movement among Palestinian Christians.
The Evangelical Alliance, Ireland and the Irish Christian Writers' Fellowship are organising an arts seminar in O'Neill's Hotel, Smithfield, Dublin, from 2pm to 7pm on Saturday, November 19th. Christian artists from different fields will display and perform their work.