 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Editorial:
"Know Thyself"
Alwyn Thomson
Comment:
Illiberal Democracy
Alwyn Thomson
From
the Director: Good News People?
David W Porter
Balancing
on the Edge
Tony Davidson
Grateful
to God
David McMillan
Space
& Freedom
David Hewitt
Imaginative
Engagement
Keith Getty
No
longer at ease with this dispensation?
Mike Wardlow
Living
with our deepest differences
Os Guinness
Deep
Questions
Johnston
McMaster
Steady
presence
Cecelia Clegg
No
longer lonely
Joseph Liechty
Something
to give
Ingri Sakaria
Bible
study series: Faith in the future
David
W Porter
Review:
The Elusive Quest, Reconciliation in N I by Norman Porter
Bill
Brown
Review:
Journeying Towards Reconciliation, A Song for Ireland by Ruth Patterson
Lynda
Gould
Review:
Islam in Conflict:Past Present and Future by Peter G Riddell &
Peter Cotterell
Alwyn
Thomson
Review:
The R Option - Building Relationships as a Better Way of Life by
Michael Schluter & David John Lee
Anna
Rankin
Review:
Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman
Glenn
Jordan
Summer
School Poetry
Various
For
God and His Glory Alone:
Study 6: Truth
IMAGINATIVE ENGAGEMENT
GROWING UP AS A CHRISTIAN in Ireland can be an extraordinarily enriching experience. It is a country where we are taught to be aware of our heritage, to study our faith and to articulate it with all the energy God can give us.
That is all well and good, but as a Christian teenager I went through two major bumps on my march down the sure and anchored road of Ulster Protestant Evangelicalism. The first was leaving Northern Ireland – initially for university and then to build a business largely based outside of Northern Ireland. The second was pursuing a career in the area of arts and entertainment.
As I developed in these new and occasionally uncharted environments, I found new questions which threatened and challenged me to the core – serious questions about the traditions we had inherited, frustration at how our faith was expressed and frankly a harsh post-Christian reality for which my faith, with all its contradictions, had few answers.
It is one thing to struggle as an individual, but another thing completely to be able to really wrestle with the Bible, take stock of its radical truths for your generation and then ask the hard questions of both the church and society in a way where you risk losing the support of both. It is precisely this that ECONI has made its challenge, forging a way for others to follow. To this many of us owe a great deal.
As the "New Irish Arts" has developed ECONI has been supportive, wise and has asked serious questions of our intention. ECONI has also given us key support and we have enjoyed working together on events, most especially "I Witness," a production based on the Gospel of Luke, at the Waterfront Hall in September 2003.
In my own work as a modern hymnwriter a number of my greatest influences have been from within the leadership of ECONI as we have attempted to create a modern hymn which could engage the minds in a more challenging and edifying way.
Moreover, the general thinking has made me ask questions both about the history and future of this island in fresh ways, developing my vision, and has given us a resource that is much needed as we enter the next period.
My hope would be that ECONI can forge closer relationships with the churches, influencing ever-increasing circles of church leaders and provide material and forums through which more pew-based people can discuss the issues that are really going on. I would love to see ECONI work more with people involved in other disciplines such as those in the creative and performing arts and in fine art to find ways of stimulating the imagination towards authentic Christianity. I also pray that ECONI's voice in the media and in politics will have increasing effect – one which is salt and light in a truly blind and hungry world.
KEITH GETTY is a songwriter and musician who also produces, arranges and conducts.
 |
||
 |
 |
|