The Church of Ireland Bishop of Clogher, the Right Rev. John McDowell, is to visit every parish in the diocese during 2017 to discuss their needs with rectors and non-stipendiary clergy, he announced at the Synod.
He made the announcement in the context of the job description of a bishop as set out in the 1998 Lambeth Conference;
(a) a symbol of unity of the Church and its mission 
(b) a teacher and defender of the faith
(c) a pastor of the pastors and of the laity
(d) an enabler in the preaching of the Word and in the administration of the Sacraments
(e) a leader in mission and an initiator of outreach to the world surrounding the faithful
(f) a shepherd who nurtures and cares for the flock of God
(g) a physician to whom are brought the wounds of society
(h) a voice of conscience with the society in which the local church is placed
(i) a prophet who declares the justice of God in the context of the Gospel of loving redemption
(j) a head of the family in its wholeness, its misery and its joy.  
(k) The bishop is the family’s centre of life and love 
He stated: “No-one is equipped to do all of that. Obviously these tasks can only be carried out in collaboration with clerical and lay colleagues.
“ I have been bishop of Clogher for five years now and in order to help me bring a greater focus to what our priorities should be as a Diocese over the coming years and to more fully grow into my own vocation, I propose to carry out a visitation of parishes in the calendar year 2017 which in the first instance will involve discussing with rectors, curates, non-stipendiary clergy in charge of parishes and Church Army Evangelist what they understand to be the needs of their parishes to help it carry out the work of the Kingdom and how we as a diocese might be able to resource those needs.  
“That will not be an overnight exercise and will involve honest conversations and openness about our weaknesses as well as our strengths.  
“I will undertake to report back to next year’s Synod on what that experience has yielded,” he added.
In his address at the Synod held this year in St. Patrick’s Parish Church, Monaghan, the Bishop referred to inequality for many working people and how the church should react to that.
“Parishes are big enough communities to make a difference in their locality yet small enough for everybody’s contribution to be both needed and noticed, “ he said.
He also referred to climate change and how farming and stewardship of the land was not merely an economic question but one on which the character and morale of whole communities depended.
He added: “I would love to see each parish cultivate a living space, whether a garden or a vegetable patch or both, as a reminder of our original vocation to maintain the Garden of creation but also as a witness that we still have a vocation together to steward the resources given to us in reflection of His Glory.”