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Editorial
Alwyn Thomson
Comment:
Politics: serving God and doing good!
Ethel White
From
the Director: Cultivating the common ground
David W Porter
ECONI
Statement: Confidence in God
October 2002
Postbag: Letters to the Editor
Why
vote?
Alison Laird
Communities
of hope
Lord Alderdice
Transformation 2003: Killing for God?
View
from the south
Patrick Mitchel
Church
& state
Esmond
Birnie MLA
Taking
the plunge
John Kyle
Faith
in politics
Interview: Rt Hon Paul Murphy MP
Your
kingdom come
Heather Morrow
ECONI
Statement: Forum for Peace & Reconciliation
January 2003
Bible
study series: Faith in the future
David
W Porter
Through
a glass, darkly
Changing Women, Changing Worlds Conference
Review:
A night in November by Marie Jones
Noel
McCune
Book
Reviews
Alwyn Thomson
For
God and His Glory Alone:
Study 3: Reconciliation
For
God and His Glory Alone:
Study 4: Peace
EDITORIAL: OVERCOMING THE DESIRE TO WALK AWAY
Admit it. You just
can’t wait for the elections. At last, a chance to talk about politics.
Or possibly not. Perhaps you are among the many who are disillusioned
with our politics or have lost interest. If so, thank you for staying
with us this far. We hope that this issue of the magazine will encourage
you to reconnect. With elections looming (as of the time of writing) Alison
Laird and Heather Morrow focus us on why Christians need to be involved
with politics, particularly the politics of voting. We also hear from
the practitioners. The Secretary of State, Paul Murphy, speaks of the
importance of faith as a factor in shaping his own political life and
the key role that churches have to play in
public debate. Esmond Birnie offers a nuanced apology for the unfashionable
cause of Constantinianism in a thoughtful essay. Lord Alderdice reflects
on the challenges of creating communities of hope. Politics, as Lord Alderdice
notes, is about relationships. Many of us may have become disillusioned
or frustrated by the politics of Northern Ireland, but all of us have
an interest in crafting relationships that will sustain us as a community.
It would be a strange thing if those of us who call ourselves Christians
were to turn our backs on such a powerful and important means for shaping
the society in which we live, worship and witness.
Enclosed with this
issue of the magazine is a brochure for ECONI’s Summer School. This
year we have added a fourth strand, ‘Killing for God’ and you
can read more about it on page 11. If you are free over this period do
give serious consideration to joining us for the Summer School. If you
know of others who might be interested, please pass
the brochure on or contact Lynda at the office who will be happy to send
out further information.
You may think it has been some time since you received lion & lamb and you would be right. Unfortunately, financial constraints mean that we will only be able to produce the magazine twice a year for the foreseeable future. We will, however, ensure that everyone is kept up to date with what is happening at ECONI, and we will work to ensure that lion & lamb is a magazine worth waiting for.
Alwyn Thomson
ECONI WELCOMES the submission of unsolicited articles, but does not guarantee publication, and manuscripts cannot be returned. Opinions expressed in the magazine are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of ECONI. Permission to reprint any original article in Lion & Lamb should be sought from the Editor.
Editor
Alwyn Thomson
Asst Editor Anna Rankin
Design & Cover Spring Graphics
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