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Editorial:
"There's Nothing New About Change"
Anna Rankin
Comment:
Embracing the Stranger
Denise Wright
From
the Director: Change and Decay – so what's new?
David W Porter
Alwyn
Thomson
Ethel White
A
Changing Church
Chris Easton
Women,
the Church and Change
Lesley Carroll
Interview
with Noel Fallows: Multi-cultural Church Life
Anna Rankin
Urban
Grit
Ken Groves
Higher
Throne
Keith
Getty & Kristyn Lennox
2003
Conference: Reconciliation – Illusion or Elusive?
What's
Jesus got to do with Forgiveness?
Stuart Noble
Review:
Lost in Translation
Gareth Higgins
Review:
The Church Beyond the Congregation by James Thwaites
Claire Martin
Review:
A Time for Mission by Samuel Escobar
Ben
Walker
Review:
Against the Stream by David W Smith
Cheryl
Reid
Review:
Evangelicalism and National Identity in Ulster, 1921-1998 by Patrick
Mitchel
David Hewitt
Review:
I was a teenage Catholic by Malachi O'Doherty
Fran
Porter
NEWS
Transforming Communities
Requests for training, seminars and inspiration keep rolling in. We are
grateful to God for these opportunities and are encouraged that groups
and individuals are wanting to address difficult issues.
A shortened 'Journey in Understanding' course will run with a group from ForthSpring early in March. Working with a group from one project will enable us to shape the material to their particular context.
Helen continues to develop courses based on material from Changing Women, Changing Worlds and is currently leading a series of six discussions with a group of women in Armagh. We hope that this new material will be used widely in the future.
Our work is not usually focused directly on young people. Two notable exceptions were pieces of work with Youth Initiatives and Belfast City Centre Project. The tangible energy of the groups was a notable ingredient in this work.
The group from Youth Initiatives, drawn from two very different communities in east and west Belfast, met in Portrush in sunny November to 'deal with difference'. One ice-breaker game which this group favours is called 'Assassin' . . . nothing too politically correct about that and an interesting way to deal with difference!
It was a very responsive group and as usual the most poignant moments are not the intense or holy ones. My moment of remembrance of this week-end is of a very strong, fit young man who, in response to the request to share with us something which made him unique, said: 'I shouldn't really be here. A week before I was born the doctors told my mother that I was dead.' The way he said it and the silence that followed was one of those special moments of awe and thankfulness. He doesn.t know how that moment has stayed with me. No evaluation sheet can record things said and experienced, different things for different people, which will in some way make a difference.
If you are accustomed to walking around the City Hall you will have noticed the groups of young people who occupy the benches intended for tourists or retired couples. The youth workers who work with the different groups are part of the Belfast City Centre Project run by the BELB. They have completed a research and mapping exercise and are now building relationships with the different groups. Through contact with one of the youth workers we facilitated two sessions on the theme of conflict – some of the causes, reactions and methods of resolution. They were noisy, forthright, refreshing and funny, which is something not always experienced with churches.
The tiredness of middle age is felt when working with such groups but the level of energy evident is hopeful.
Over the next three months we are working in partnership with Ards Presbytery to deliver training for churches on creative ways to engage with their surrounding communities. Derek, Lynda and Helen will all contribute to a full programme embracing an overview of the role of the church, ways to map the community and practical things that a congregation can do to make wider connections with the surrounding neighbourhood and locality. This course is available for any church; it is not specifically Presbyterian. Contact Lynda (lynda@econi.org) if you are interested in exploring these ideas in your context.
Citizenship Education
One of the most creative and challenging things to come out of our work
in peace and reconciliation is the opportunity to work alongside other
organisations. We have been invited by NICIE
(Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education), Youth
Initiatives, Youth
for Christ, North
Down and Ards Institute and Belfast
Education and Library Board to contribute to their programmes and
the issues we all face as community relations organisations dealing with
division.
Teachers in Northern Ireland are anticipating a new curriculum area – Local and Global Citizenship. The new programme covers key themes which are addressed in local, national, European and global contexts. The key themes are:
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Equality and Social
Justice
- Democracy and
Active Participation
- Human Rights and Social Responsibility
The curriculum handbook describes these as 'contested concepts that are understood in varying, and often conflicting ways especially when related to specific issues'. Recognising that some of the key themes relate directly to the divisions in Northern Ireland and involve consideration of issues of current social and political concern and identity and cultural expression, we have begun looking at ways in which ECONI could and should support teachers as they begin to address these issues.
Our Volunteer Learning Assistant, Margreet van Boheemen, will be developing some resource material that we hope will be a valuable contribution to this new curriculum area. Initially she will compile a directory of organisations and contact people in the community and voluntary sector who have been working with these issues and collate the resources arising from our current work and experience. We are also looking for opportunities to talk to teachers about their hopes, fears, needs and expectations as the new curriculum is introduced, and are working with Scripture Union, the Association of Christian Teachers and Evangelical Alliance to find the best ways to do this. If you are a teacher and would like to be a part of this consultation please contact Lynda.
Summer School
Dates for this year's Transformation Summer School are 30th June - 3rd
July 2004 at Greenmount College, Antrim. Details from Claire Martin.
Community Relations
Week
Each year the Community Relations Council coordinates a Community Relations
Week, promoting 'good relations' projects which give the wider community
an insight into the many initiatives that are defined as 'community relations'.
This year the week of activities, running from 2nd - 8th April 2004, coincides
with Holy Week. ECONI has prepared a series of studies and reflections
on Luke's gospel, following Jesus from Jerusalem to Calvary and the garden
tomb to Emmaus. Difficult Paths promises to be a valuable resource
for individual reflection, small group study or for use by a congregation.
Copies will be available from 11th March 2004 – contact Anna Rankin.
The Church in
the Public Square
Over the past several months, ECONI has been conducting research into
the role of the church in public debate in Northern Ireland. The 'Church
in the Public Square' project explores the role of the church in three
areas: community relations, the political process, and the ongoing Bill
of Rights debate. Alwyn Thomson and John Kiess have interviewed a number
of activists, politicians and church leaders, including the director of
the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, Professor Brice Dickson,
the Police Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, South Belfast MLA Dr Esmond Birnie
and Tom Hartley of Sinn Fein. The project aims to capture public perceptions
of the church, tracing both how the church is viewed by others and how
it understands itself. The goal of the research is to open dialogue between
these various actors, to begin to dispel myths that prevent more active
engagement, and to encourage new networks and partnerships. The research
will culminate with a seminar in which the findings of the project will
be presented to all of the participants.
Programme for
Christian Peacebuilding
The Programme Team has undertaken a wide range of work in recent months
with local lay and clergy leadership throughout the country. This has
included clergy groups meeting in Belfast, Newry, Londonderry, Newtownards,
Comber and Dublin and the leadership teams of six local churches as they
consider their witness in a changing culture. This work seeks to help
congregational leaders develop a biblical theology for social engagement
and cultivate the skills needed for visionary leadership in a post-Christendom
society.
Of the many partnerships we have been involved in the Methodist clergy retreat in February was a particular privilege. A Methodist 'ConneXions' initiative, the ReCall retreat resonated deeply with the vision and priorities of ECONI.s leadership training programme. Working with Rev Des Bain (ConneXions) and Olive Bell (Edgehill College) Programme Director, Derek Poole, took part in a series of workshops. These explored the influence of past and present events in the life of local congregations and how our history can shape our response to change. The challenge of embracing or resisting creative change is a pertinent one and the ReCall retreat shows a courageous and imaginative commitment, on the part of the Methodist Church in Ireland, to church renewal and transformative leadership.
Working in partnership
with denominational leaders is a valuable learning experience for the
ECONI team and we are always open to conversations and mutual engagement
that will help us work together. For more information about ECONI's peacebuilding
programme or details of our leadership training modules contact Derek
Poole at the ECONI office. (email: derek@econi.org)
Politics Sunday
The Christians
in Politics (CIP) network is promoting Politics Sunday on 20th June
2004. Ideas and resources for marking Politics Sunday can be found on
the CIP website: www.christiansinpolitics.org.uk.
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