 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
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
NEWS
Equality Project
“Faith groups are among the main sponsors and innovators of voluntary
activity in all these areas. Community by community, you are engaged directly.
You know the terrain. You have committed volunteers, and often an infrastructure
invaluable for delivering projects speedily and effectively. And you do
this because of your faith, not in isolation from it, a point that government
– central and local – must always appreciate.
All your local and social activity is driven by your values and beliefs and the spiritual dimension of your faith. In a world of uncertainty, rapid change and technological transformation, I believe these underpinning values are becoming more, not less, relevant.”
So said the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, in March 2001 addressing the Christian Socialist Movement. On the surface it seems a ringing endorsement of faith-based groups in their public role as providers of services to the community.
In Northern Ireland, of course, faith-based groups – primarily the Christian churches – have a long record of service to the community. But as our society changes, and as government increasingly recognises the value of faith communities as service providers, what are the challenges and opportunities for church, community and government?
On January 29th ECONI organised two seminars exploring these challenges and opportunities. The first, The Church’s Responsibility to Society, looked at the big picture. What role can churches play? What role should churches play? What distinctive qualities do churches bring to the provision of services? Should churches rely on state funding to provide services? Is the church’s witness blunted or compromised through the process? Do churches find themselves administering state policies they would otherwise want to critique? What may the state demand of those bodies it is funding? In funding churches, is the secular state discriminating against its non-religious citizens?
The second seminar, Society’s Responsibility to the Church, focused specifically on issues of equality. The question of whether the state should be funding faith-based organisations is intimately linked to the question of whether those organisations should be privileged in their employment policies and practices. Traditionally, faith based organisations have enjoyed some discretion in these issues. Yet the changing values of our society and changing legislation reflecting those values raises new questions. Should these organisations continue to be privileged in this way? How can they make a positive argument for retaining their status? What responsibilities come with these privileges? And if they were to lose this status could – or should – they continue to provide public services?
To help us think through these issues we had with us Kurt Schaefer, Professor of Economics at Calvin College. Professor Schaefer has written and lectured extensively on the relationship between faith communities and economic justice, and has been involved in discussions on the role of faith based organisations and the provision of services in the United States.
ECONI is currently producing a report on the equality agenda and its implication for churches in Northern Ireland, and we hope to include the text of Professor Schaefer’s two addresses in that document.
Embodying Forgiveness
Reception
A reception was held at the Wellington Park Hotel, Belfast on Wednesday,
26th March to mark the completion of the Embodying Forgiveness
research project and to thank all those who had contributed. Speaking
at the reception the Lord Mayor, Cllr Alex Maskey said, “To ask someone
to forgive is a tall order indeed. There has been so much hurt and pain
that people have put forgiveness to the back of their minds. Everyone
has to come to this from their own perspective, but I think it probably
is time to start thinking about the whole question of forgiveness.”
“This may be the end of ECONI’s forgiveness project but really it is just the end of the research, we are now beginning the forgiveness project proper.”
Over the last two years the project has been exploring the meaning of forgiveness and the implications of the practice of forgiveness for our society. Two public conferences have addressed international aspects of forgiveness and explored what lessons we in Northern Ireland can learn from the experience of others.
Ms Barbara Stephenson, US Consul General in Northern Ireland, said, “We have to ask ourselves, ‘Do we want a society that is about benign apartheid or do we want to do the work and have the difficult conversations about reconciliation and forgiveness?”
“I admire the work that ECONI has done in addressing the issue of forgiveness. I think a lot of people have chosen to do something else that wasn’t nearly so hard as this. I see this work as having a huge value at both an interpersonal and social level.”
The guest speaker at the event was the internationally known writer and speaker Dr Os Guinness. Os has written and edited over 20 books addressing aspects of Christian life and contemporary culture including The Call and the forthcoming Rising to the Call. As Chief Executive of the Williamsburg Charter Foundation Os helped draft ‘The Williamsburg Charter,’ a statement on religious liberty and co-authored the public school curriculum Living with our Deepest Differences.‘Living with our Deepest Differences’ was also the subject of his 30 minute address on 26th March. Tapes of this address by Os Guinness are available from Anna Rankin on 028 9032 5258 or via email anna@econi.org
Forgiveness Project
ECONI’s programme of research concludes with the publication of 15
Forgiveness Papers,addressing the theme from a variety of traditions
and fields of knowledge. Also recently published, the booklet Forgiveness:
Making a World of Difference, challenges us to see the power of forgiveness
in the resolution of conflict in Northern Ireland and the wider world.
Embodying Forgiveness, by L Gregory Jones is also available from
ECONI in the Pathways series. The full set of 15 Forgiveness Papers
costs £15.00, Embodying Forgiveness and Forgiveness: Making
a World of Difference publications are £3.00 each. These resources
can be ordered by phone on 028 9032 5258 or email to admin@econi.org
Christian Citizenship
Forums
ECONI has held three Christian Citizenship Forums this spring, providing
an opportunity for conversation and debate around three pertinent questions
relating to the theme ‘Beyond the Talks’. The format of the
three evenings provided an opportunity for the public to listen to and
question invited guests holding strong opinions on important issues facing
the political process.
Writer and poet Danny Morrison and the Irish News columnist Roy Garland addressed the question ‘Is the war really over?’ in conversation with David Porter at the first forum on 24th February.
Discussing the question ‘Who needs to change?’ with Derek Poole on 19th March were former Chief Probation Officer for Northern Ireland and columnist with the Irish News Briege Gadd and Presbyterian Minister and Chair of the Ulster Society and the Loyalist Commission Mervyn Gibson.
In the final forum on 7th April Duncan Morrow, Chief Executive of the Community Relations Council and David Porter looked at the question of “What price a shared future?”
ECONI’s Director, David Porter set the context of the series saying,“If we’ve learnt one thing in recent years, it is that the task of peacebuilding is not easy. As Christians, it is our responsibility to commit ourselves to this challenge and to continue with it whatever difficulties arise. This must mean giving time to conversations that will inform and help us to change our community and be changed ourselves.”
This series of forums provided the space for an informed and lively engagement between the worlds of faith and politics and created a timely opportunity for participants to reflect on the relevance of Christian faith in these critical times.
Get Ready for
Action!
Ben Walker is currently working on the production of a new ECONI Action
Pack resource.
Amazingly enough, it is fifteen years this autumn since the publication of For God and His Glory Alone, and ten years since the ECONI Action Pack appeared. The Action Pack was originally designed to provide more in-depth reflection, Bible study materials and resources to help explore the ten biblical principles set out in For God and His Glory Alone. Given all that has happened since then and all that the future now seems to hold, we felt it was time to look at these topics afresh.
The aim is to develop material that draws out some solid biblical principles and has a pertinent reference and application to our situation in Northern Ireland. The new Action Pack is a resource aimed at a wide variety of groups that will not only challenge communities in their thinking, but also in their action.
It is hoped that this new and user-friendly resource will be both refreshing and challenging in its format, approach and insight and will help people throughout this land wishing to engage in thinking biblically – building peace. This new resource will be available in the autumn of 2003.
Through a Glass
Darkly - Changing Women, Changing Worlds Conference.
Fifty-eight women gathered at Edgehill Theological College on a bright
spring day, the Saturday before Mothering Sunday, for the Changing Women,
Changing Worlds Conference ‘Through a Glass Darkly’. The ECONI
learning team, Transforming Communities, developed this conference from
ECONI’s research and subsequent book Changing Women, Changing
Worlds: Evangelical Women in Church, Community and Politics. The issue
of identity in Northern Ireland has been central to ECONI’s work.
This conference extends our commitment to ‘thinking biblically and
building peace’ by addressing some of the perhaps less obvious fractured
relationships in our society.
Mary Evans, Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies at the London Bible College, assisted us in ‘getting a handle on things’ in the keynote address, ‘The Bible and Women: Which end of the sword are we at?’ Author of Woman in the Bible and co-editor of The IVP Women’s Bible Commentary,Mary combined her knowledge of biblical narrative and her fluency in storytelling to bring stories of women in the Bible into sharp focus, helping us to look again at the scriptures with our own eyes, as women.
In one of the day’s four seminars, Mary also teased out what women had identified as some of the thorny issues for women in the Bible, offering insight and encouragement ‘at the sharp end of the sword’.
Freelance writer and compiler of anthologies Veronica Zundel led a seminar on inclusive language entitled ‘Your Word Against Mine?’ as well as reflecting on the themes of the day through poetry.
A panel of local women contributed ‘Different Voices’ and perspectives on engaging with the church from both pulpit and pew.
And Fran Porter, who researched and wrote Changing Women, Changing Worlds, facilitated further exploration of that work in her seminar, ‘Gender: What is it and why does it matter?’
During the day artist Gillian Cooke collected ideas and observations in sketches and a series of 3D paper teapots reflecting women’s vision of past, present, future and eternity.
Read Veronica’s poem, inspired by the day and comments from some of the participants, here.
A further training course is planned for the autumn; contact Amy Ornée at 028 9032 5258 or amy@econi.org to register your interest. More details will be available soon.
Resource Centre
ECONI is pleased to announce the opening of its Resource Centre to the
public.
The library, located in ECONI’s Training Room, contains more than 600 volumes, as well as booklets, papers and periodicals on themes pertinent to Christian witness in Northern Ireland.
The Resource Centre will function as a reading room, with computer and internet facilities. It will be open to readers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, from 9.00 am to 12.00 noon and again from 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm.
To register to use the Resource Centre and for further details, please contact Amy Ornée on 028 9032 5258 or via email to amy@econi.org
More News for
Bookworms!
Did you know that if you order books online from amazon.co.uk via the
link on the ECONI website that ECONI gets a small percentage in commission
from Amazon? It’s worth bearing in mind next time you’re placing
an order and is another good reason to visit www.econi.org
New Resource Catalogue
available
A full listing of ECONI publications is contained in the new resource
catalogue, available on request.
 |
||
 |
 |
|