The only contested vote of the Presbyterian General Assembly this year related to request for a serious doctrinal review of the role of ministers - which insisted it was not targeting the ordination of women.

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland is the annual gathering of leaders from its 500 plus congregations across the island of Ireland, which took place this year over three days this week in Belfast.

The Presbytery of Armagh, some 20 congregations, made a formal request to the General Assembly this year to formally define the role of a minister in the 21st century.

The presbytery felt that ministers have taken on so many contrasting responsibilities that it would be helpful for a doctrinal refocus on their primary responsibilities.

placeholder image — The 2025 Presbyterian General Assembly in Belfast has agreed to review the role of ministers in the denomination in the 21st Century.

Their written request to the assembly, which was some 500 words in length, raised the issue of ordination of women in the last few paragraphs - but only to insist that it was not the target of the requested review.

The request noted that there are "differing views in the church regarding the policy that women are eligible for ordination as ministers on the same conditions as men,".

However it insisted that "the burden" of the request is that the current policy of the church - which allows women to be ordained, "is not in focus and to see it addressed is not its intent".

The request also suggested that the Doctrine Committee prepare a report on the issue for 2027, in part based on "the collective wisdom of the Reformed Tradition".

However the News Letter understands that some elements of the church felt concerned that the issue of ordination of women was even mentioned - and were concerned that the settled status of the issue might come into question as part of a formal doctrinal review.

Nonetheless, on Wednesday morning the Assembly unanimously agreed to consider the broad issues.

At the same time, the Presbytery of Down had made a similar request to the General Assembly - in this case to consider reintroducing the positions of ordained deacons.

On Thursday morning, the Assembly revisited the issues to consider how the two requests would be handled - proposing that a single panel be created to handle both.

However, Armagh was keen for the definition of ministers to be examined by the church's Doctrine Committee, which has not met for several years, while Down was happy for the review of deacons to be handled by a panel.

The issue was pushed to a vote, but the house turned down Armagh's request by 83 votes to 70, the only contested vote of this year's assembly.

The role of ministers and deacons will now be reviewed together by an ad hoc panel - which will, however, include some members of the Doctrine Committee.

Speaking to the News Letter afterwards, clerk of the Armagh Presbytery, Rev Philip McClelland reiterated the purpose of the requested review.

"Yesterday, I conveyed the burden of the Memorial," said the minister of Ahorey and Clare. "I said that the Armagh Presbytery believed that doctrinal clarification and consensus regarding the ministerial office would bless our church by promoting the calling and serving of ministers. The house, having heard the burden of the Memorial, unanimously agreed to consider the broad issues contained in it."