Introduction: Peace, Justice & Reconciliation
Derek Poole

Comment
Lesley Macaulay

From the Director
David Porter

Now and Not Yet
Stephen Williams

Grace: An Attribute of Reconciliation
Graham Cheesman

Reflections on ECONI
Ken Wilson & Brian Moore

Stanley Who?
Alwyn Thomson

Justice
Billy Mitchell

Peace
Ethel White

Reconciliation
Brian Cruise

< Past Issues Archive

FROM THE DIRECTOR
It is now ten years since ECONI emerged into the public domain with the publication of For God and His Glory Alone. It has been a humbling experience for those of us involved in its genesis to see how God used this document to touch the hearts and minds of many. Aimed primarily at the Evangelical Protestant community, the challenge presented has helped initiate healthy debate concerning the role of Evangelicals in our divided community.

At the time few of us considered that a whole range of initiatives would eventually take place under the title of ECONI. Indeed it was difficult to envisage there being any positive response in the context in which we then lived. The Protestant and Unionist community were still in reaction to the 'betrayal' of the 1985 Anglo Irish Agreement. The horror and pain of the 1987 Enniskillen bomb had provoked an intense debate on the nature of Christian forgiveness. Suspicion had increased when John Hume held a series of meetings with Gerry Adams in 1988. Yet here was a document calling on an embattled and embittered community to engage in self-critical biblical reflection.

Inevitably there was misunderstanding and misrepresentation. Some perceived the document, and subsequently the work of ECONI, to be anti-unionist. In truth we simply drew out the implication of the biblical separation of Christian identity and national identity - that it was possible to be Evangelical, Irish and Nationalist. No one ever said you could not be a unionist and a biblical Christian, yet that is what was heard and continues to be heard by some in the complex insecurities of our community.

Equally there were and are those who deliberately misrepresent ECONI as ecumenical. Within ECONI we disagree in our understanding of Evangelical / Catholic relationships, and have openly reflected on this in various publications. This capacity to work together despite such diversity has been for me creative, as I interact with the group of around 30 people who have been responsible for ECONI over the last ten years. As Evangelicals holding different views, we are committed to respecting each other's integrity on this as much as on questions of political and cultural identity.

Some on both sides of the wider debate find the lack of a clearly stated official position frustrating. Yet we are united in our rejection of the attitudes of hostility towards Catholicism that have so often blinded Evangelicals to the practical Christian and biblical requirements of love for their Catholic neighbour. This is particularly true when lived out in the divided loyalties of our politics and culture.

Of concern to others has been a perceived spiritual naivety that has potential for political and moral compromise. It has always been our desire to apply our best understanding of scripture to the conflict that exists in this community. The application of spiritual values to the temporal realities of a fallen and broken world is always accompanied by risk. We share in the good news of Jesus, in whom grace and truth are revealed, justice and mercy meet, repentance is exhorted, yet forgiveness freely given and the enemy must be loved. While there can never be any surrender of God's moral values, there is always room for political accommodation based on God's yes to all the people of Ireland.

In practice our contribution has become not simply the statement of biblical principles but the longing for the Evangelical community to take seriously their God-given responsibilities to make peace. This has not primarily been expressed in the organisational growth of ECONI, but in the numerous congregations and individuals who have engaged in the debate, and found fresh resources as they relate to the deep issues we face as a result of our conflict.

Over one third of all Protestant congregations in Northern Ireland have shared in ECONI's vision through participation in ECONI events, or invitations for us to preach and teach on a whole range of contexts. We have discovered that the core of our message finds a deep resonance in many of our brothers and sisters, who long to see the good news of Jesus freed from unnecessary cultural and political baggage.

This biblical call, to ensure that the demands of loyalty to Jesus do not come second to the call to solidarity with our community, has also found a resonance both beyond the bounds of the Evangelical community and beyond the borders of Northern Ireland. This remains the constant tension in the life and witness of the church of Christ in every culture. Called by Jesus to incarnational mission among the peoples of this world we remain aliens and strangers, citizens of another kingdom. It is from this allegiance to Christ that the biblical values of peace, justice and reconciliation demand that God's people think, speak and act for peace and healing in divided societies.

It is a cause for reflection that, ten years on, some things remain all too familiar. Unionist anxiety continues as we begin to implement the terms of the Stormont Agreement. Communal pain has been heightened by Ballymoney and Omagh, cruel acts done on days when the potent mix of religion, politics and culture are celebrated in both traditions - 12 July and 15 August. It is still difficult to live the way of Christ - loving enemies and building bridges. ECONI can still be misread. Our active engagement with the peace process leads some to dismiss us as too political. Yet our driving motivation remains profoundly spiritual. We are concerned to nurture an authentic biblical evangelical witness that addresses with credibility and integrity the task of healing the wounds of our divided community. It is a task that we share with the whole community. And there is still (that) baggage that we need to set aside. For ultimately biblical faith is best served from a position of powerlessness and not domination.

After thirty years of civil unrest, with its legacy of hurt, mistrust and bitterness, we now have the opportunity to build a better future. The task of peace building will be long and hard. It is the work of a new generation, and will take well into the next century to secure.

The biblical principles as set out in For God and is Glory Alone remain as relevant to the new dawn as they were to the old darkness. We must strive to ensure that the contribution of God's people to the future is based on love, forgiveness, reconciliation, peace, heavenly citizenship, truth, servanthood, justice and righteousness, hope and repentance. May God give us the grace to be fit for the task.

David Porter - ECONI's Director