Rite & Reason:The Church of Ireland is an organisation waiting for nothing to happen! When these words were uttered at a General Synod the laughter suggested that a profound and uncomfortable truth had just been spoken.
Two values have helped characterise the Church of Ireland.
One has been an overriding "steady as she goes" approach. Infused in this was a belief that what was most important was that the "boat" of the church should not be rocked. This permeated every level of church life. What was crucial was not innovation or risk-taking but preservation of the ethos of the institution of the church.
Alongside this unwritten value was another. It is best summed up as "whatever you say . . . say nothing". Smoothing over was more important than honest, frank discussion.
The outworking of these two overwhelming values had its effect. It led to a paralysis of thinking and risk-taking at every level of the church.
Coupled with the pressures of a radically-changed Ireland (north and south) it has led to an indefinable discouragement, not least among many clergy, a sense that church is indeed not working but no-one is allowed to say it in public.
For clergy there was an approach that existed between two poles - go with the system or ignore it and be a maverick. The danger of either approach was a creeping disillusionment. The consequences of being a maverick were to be consigned to the fringes or leave.
An organisation quite literally priding itself on "steady as she goes" and "say nothing" is vulnerable. Unspoken paralysis does not readily encourage dynamism or creativity. It needs to play catch-up if it is to have anything to say to its own membership let alone the rest of the community.
In the rapidly-changing society that is the Republic there is a constant temptation to want to fit in. But if you do not say no to anything then your yes is of no value. A temptation to be resisted.
What of the Troubles and their aftermath in Northern Ireland? The Church of Ireland was good at pastoring its people during times of grief and loss.
It had to do so all too often.
In the film As Good as it Gets Jack Nicholson is deeply troubled. Finding that the advice of his young neighbour isn't helping, he explodes with frustration in a damning sentence: "Listen buddy, I'm drowning here and all you're doing is describing the water."
The Church of Ireland has been good at describing the water. In a community with little political commitment to the common good, something more than describing the water to a drowning man is needed.
This is a moment of challenge. It is also one of great opportunity. For different reasons the north and south of this island are at pivotal moments. There is hunger and appetite at all levels of the Church of Ireland to ask itself searching questions. This willingness may rock the boat alarmingly but it brings the possibility of a release of energy.
Ireland is on a journey towards something, but it is not quite sure what. When the Hard Gospel Project was established in 2005 by the standing committee of the General Synod, with Archbishop Robin Eames as its president, it was being asked to hold up a mirror to the Church of Ireland and the wider community.
As we look in that mirror what do we see? What does dynamic and authentic Christian faith look like at such a pivotal time?
It means three hard questions for the Church of Ireland:
Who do we say we are - what is our deepest sense of identity and greatest passion as a church?
How do we do what we do - is there a relationship between the activity we engage in and the mission we have been called to fulfil? and
What is the culture of our church - do we believe that openly addressing difficult issues is always better than "whatever you say . . . say nothing".
The Church of Ireland is asking itself the most fundamental question anyone can ask - where is our "treasure", in other words, what do we really value? What are we most passionate about? An important question, because where the treasure is, there also is the heart.
This above all else will shape the feel and effectiveness of the Church of Ireland. Riding the storm is a more energising choice than being becalmed or indeed sinking.
The Rev Earl Storey is director of the Church of Ireland Hard Gospel Project