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Editorial
Alwyn Thomson
Comment:
Failed Politics?
Norman Hamilton
From
the Director: Words and Deeds
David W Porter
Loyalism
and Me
Philip Rankin
Real
Life
David Campton
Policing
Matters
Sam Pollock
The
Crisis Within
Eddie
Kinner
Loyalism
- The Issues
Mervyn Gibson
Scapegoating
Billy Mitchell
Review...Beyond
Retribution
Stephen Graham
Down
to Basics
Malachy
O'Doherty
Faith
in the Future
David
W Porter
For
God and His Glory Alone:
Study 1: Love
EVENTS AND NEWS
Catherwood Lecture
In October we will be holding the fifth, annual Catherwood Lecture. Rev
Dr David Smith of the Whitefield Institute will deliver this year's lecture.
David spent six years working in a Bible college in Nigeria and has written
extensively on the challenges facing evangelicalism in the Western world.
Bringing these and other areas of his work together, David will be speaking on 'World Christianity and the Healing of the Nations'..
"I am increasingly aware of the immense significance of Southern Christianity and its growing importance in the era of globalisation," writes David.
To hear more come along to the Ramada Hotel on Thursday 24th October at 8pm.
ECONI Sunday
3rd November 2002 is ECONI Sunday. This year's theme 'Facing the Unknown'
will consider the issues of journeying in faith, new beginnings, authentic
belonging and welcoming strangers, pertinent questions facing today's
church as it seeks to bear Christian witness in a sectarian society.
By sending for the ECONI Sunday Resource Pack your church can take part in ECONI Sunday through prayer, reflecting together biblically on the theme and by identifying with the many others throughout the country who are praying about and addressing these issues.
The Resource Pack
provides three substantial Bible studies specially designed to help clergy
and lay leaders prepare. These include:
Facing the
Unknown: Following Abraham in a journey of faith and the implications
for us of this man's ability to move beyond the familiar and secure in
search of the living God.
Endings and Beginnings: An exploration in the book of Ruth on how
our life choices and sense of belonging shape our identity. This ancient
story of love, loss and loyalty holds many insights for the church in
contemporary Ireland.
Welcoming the Stranger: Guided by Paul's letter to Philemon this
study considers the role of the stranger in our lives. In particular we
are invited to take the risk of making space for the 'other'. in a way
that challenges the assumptions and boundaries of our lives.
See the enclosed flyer for further details on ECONI Sunday and how to order a Resource Pack.
If you would like to invite a member of the ECONI staff or Steering Group to speak at your ECONI Sunday service, please contact Claire Martin, the Programme Co-ordinator at ECONI.
Clergy Events
For the last eight years ECONI staff have organised a considerable range
of seminars, forums, conferences and residentials for clergy throughout
the country. Our commitment to supporting ministers in the challenging
task of leading the church through difficult times has resulted in a creative
exchange of ideas and practice between local pastoral experience and ECONI's
particular gifts and resources. Our recent programme of clergy residentials
and forums has raised a number of new and pertinent issues for us to consider
and we have been reflecting on the challenges that clergy have put to
us at these events. Consequently, Derek Poole (ECONI's Programme Director)
has been developing a new series of workshops designed to be relevant
and helpful to local leadership. These include a series entitled:
- Vision Building:
Owning the Future by Changing the Present
- Creative Managing:
Helping Congregations Negotiate Change
- Understanding
Group Processes: A Systemic Approach to Congregational Life.
- A Gospel Imperative: Peace-Building in Church & Society
Derek has had extensive involvement in many local clergy forums and in organising and facilitating clergy residentials. If you would like to explore these or any of ECONI's range of seminars and workshops please contact the office for further details. Derek will be on sabbatical leave until December but Claire Martin, the Programme Team's co-ordinator, would be happy to discuss possible dates with you for 2003.
Book Launches
During the past few months, ECONI has launched four new publications.
On 15th April, in the Linen Hall Library, David Hewitt, ECONI's President,
officiated at the launch of Thinking Biblically, Building Peace,
Seek the Welfare of the City and Fields of Vision. The event
was attended by more than 40 guests who heard speeches from the authors
and contributors of the resources.
The following month, on 21st May, we were very pleased to launch Changing Women, Changing Worlds by Fran Porter. This book, which tackles the issue of Evangelical Women in Church, Community and Politics, has been published in conjunction with The Blackstaff Press. The event also took place at the Linen Hall Library with over 50 guests in attendance.
Full details of these new publications, which are all available from ECONI, are listed below.
Thinking
Biblically, Building Peace
An ECONI Resource
This book provides a comprehensive range of biblical material for those
committed to the integration of peace, justice and reconciliation in the
life of their church and community.
Price £9.99
Seek
the Welfare of the City
Church and Society in Scotland and Northern Ireland
This was the theme of the ECONI conference in September 2000. The papers
presented in this book aim to encourage churches to see change, not as
a threat, but as an opportunity.
Price £7.00
Fields
of Vision
Faith and identity in Protestant Ireland
Alwyn Thomson
This book aims to shape a deeper understanding of the Christian vision
of God, belonging and identity. Changing our field of vision not only
changes how we think, but how we live.
Price £7.00
Changing
Women, Changing
Worlds
Evangelical Women in Church, Community and Politics
Fran Porter
Based on 70 in-depth interviews with evangelical women, this book explores
the questions women face in their church, community and political participation.
Price £9.99
ECONI Forgiveness
Project
CONFERENCE:
Forgiveness: Making a World of Difference
Over 100 participants attended our annual conference on Saturday 28th
September at the Ramada Hotel, Shaw's Bridge, Belfast.
The keynote speakers this year were Mark Amstutz, Professor of Political Science at Wheaton College, Illinois and Mari Fitzduff, Professor of Conflict Studies at the University of Ulster. Jim Wallis of the Sojourners Community in Washington DC also joined us.
The keynote addresses considered international perspectives on forgiveness and how forgiveness has functioned in post-conflict transitional societies and helped us to look at the role of churches and religious groups in making the ethic of forgiveness a central component of conflict resolution. The relation between the church as a forgiving community and political pragmatism was also explored – asking how these two agendas might work together for the common good of society.
Seminar groups tackled the challenge of Bringing Forgiveness Home and a range of speakers contributed their distinctive experience and perspective, helping us to relate the issues raised in the keynote addresses to the situation in Northern Ireland. This included looking at the similarities and differences between Northern Ireland and other contexts when addressing the theme of forgiveness.
The day concluded with a screening of the award-winning documentary Long Night's Journey Into Day. This moving documentary considered the work of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission as it facilitated encounters between victims and offenders involved in the political and ethnic violence under the Apartheid regime.
Forgiveness Papers
We continue to publish our series of papers on various aspects and issues
surrounding forgiveness. The papers so far have looked at forgiveness
in the Bible and in various Christian traditions. Forthcoming papers wil
consider issues such as truth, memory, justice, reconciliation, politics,
the church and repentance.
If you would like to register for the conference or would like to receive the series of forgiveness papers then please contact Stephen Graham at the ECONI office or by email at stephen@econi.org
Socrates
Together with partners in Sweden and Latvia, ECONI has been involved in
an EU funded project entitled 'The role of religion for integration in
Europe'. Alwyn Thomson and Lynda Gould spent time in Riga, Latvia in March
as part of this project and will be travelling to Sweden for the final
seminar in October. By the end of the year we hope to have a dedicated
website which will make the findings from the project available for educators.
Reflecting on this project as it comes to a close, it has been fascinating to meet Christians from other parts of Europe who find themselves in different circumstances but struggling with many of the same issues of identity and conflict and the church'.s role and place in society after Christendom. It has also been refreshing to escape from the unfortunate parochialism to which we seem particularly vulnerable in this part of the world.
We are discussing with our partners ways of extending this project further so that we can continue to learn from others in their work and to contribute some of what we have learned over the years to our brothers and sisters in Christ elsewhere in Europe.
Towards a Plural
Society
Life at the Civic Forum continues to consume a fair proportion of our
Director's time and energy. At its plenary meeting in September he chaired
a debate on diversity as convenor of the working group on a plural society
as it launched its work programme for the coming year. This will involve
contributing comment on the Growing as a Community section of the Programme
for Government, responding to the next phase of the community relations
review and hosting a series of events giving opportunity for people to
listen to each other as they share the key themes that shape their identity
in this society.
Equality and Human
Rights
You may know that ECONI has been working with Evangelical Alliance and
CARE on human rights for some time now. Our aim has been to ensure that
a Christian voice is heard in the debates over the role of human rights
in Northern Ireland generally and the Bill of Rights proposals in particular.
Naturally, this work is ongoing as the process develops. As well as continuing
to respond to various consultation documents that appear from time to
time, lobbying politicians and others and responding to invitations to
speak or write on these matters, we are also working on a series of Bible
studies which will develop Christian perspectives on these issues. At
the moment we intend to publish these on our website, but they could also
be made available in other electronic formats. If you would like to know
more please contact Alwyn at the ECONI office.
One particular area of human rights concerns rights to equality. In Northern Ireland we now have an Equality Commission and it seems likely that a similar body will soon be created for the rest of the UK. Meanwhile a raft of equality legislation – much of it in response to European Directives – will be appearing over the next few years in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
In response to this ECONI is planning to do some work on this issue over the next few months. A briefing paper will be produced in October which will describe the current and proposed legislation, identify some of the key debates and offer some biblical reflections. This will be followed by a number of briefing days for church leaders later in the year which will provide an opportunity to discuss the role of the churches in relation to these developments. We also hope to invite a number of members of the Equality Commission to be part of this process in order to establish a dialogue between the churches and the Commission. Again, if you would like to know more about this project, please contact Alwyn at the office.
Budapest, Barcelona,
Bogota
ECONI member David McMillan and Director, David Porter were among those
who gathered in Budapest last spring for the Hope for Europe conference.
Organised by the European Evangelical Alliance and the Lausanne Committee,
participants contributed to a series of mini conferences within the overall
event, addressing the needs of Europe as the new century unfolds.
The ECONI delegation was part of the reconciliation track, which focused on sharing resources and news of the various organisations working for reconciliation throughout Europe. While one of the smaller tracks at the event, this did allow for good listening and sharing among the group and we left more aware of the struggles in making the good news of reconciliation effective in an increasingly fractured world. It was agreed to try and set up a European network to facilitate exchange and support across countries and ministries with the aim of giving a greater profile in the mission of the church to the ministry of reconciliation.
In follow up to this David Porter will be heading for Salou in Spain on October 17th to take part in a round table discussion on the outcomes of the Hope for Europe event. This will also overlap with the EEA Assembly and the anniversary celebrations of the Spanish Evangelical Alliance.
Later in the month on 26th October, David is again on the move, this time to Colombia at the invitation of the British Council. Together with Professors Paul Arthur and Christine Bell of the University of Ulster, he will be speaking at a conference on the challenges facing societies in transition from violence to peace.
It is part of our vision in ECONI to share with others what we have learnt working in Northern Ireland and to do this in a variety of contexts, both geographical and in church and wider society.
New School Starts
This July (19th-22nd) saw the first Aughrim Summer School in Co Galway.
Held in the village just outside of Ballinasloe, which gives its name
to the bloodiest battle in Irish history, its participants explored aspects
of religion, reconciliation and healing over four days. ECONI Director,
David Porter was the keynote speaker on the Saturday evening on the theme
'It is by bridges that we live'. A further workshop on Jesus and the politics
of belonging completed ECONI's contribution to this inaugural event. We
were delighted to be able to share with Canon Trevor Sullivan and Robert
Dunlop as they launch out on this venture.
Another first was the Summer School at the beginning of September for those in training for the Church of Ireland Auxiliary ministry at the theological college in Dublin. The group was made up of people from both north and south and drawn from all three years of the training course. David was again the keynote speaker, addressing the themes of reconciliation, politics, peacebuilding and the example of Jesus, over the four day event.
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