It was not planned that way, but so strong is the concern around the Church today with matters of reconciliation – between groups within the Church, between individuals, or between Churches – that every article contributed for this issue has something to say on the matter.
David Hewlett, who in his five years teaching in Braemor Park must have taught nearly half our clergy to think theologically, kicks off this edition with the proposition that we learn most and change most transformatively when we listen to those who are most different from us. William Olhausen follows up by challenging us to think and speak in a logical and disciplined manner – even in the sexuality debate!
Stanley Gamble follows by asking us, as we approach July 12th perhaps with some anxiety, to take a new look at the Orange Order, and what it can do and has done to promote peace in Northern Ireland. And David Godfrey, a longstanding member of the Corrymeela Community, reflects on what Corrymeela has taught us about the incarnational aspect of our “face to face” relationships with one another, as channels for Christ’s compassion and healing.
Healing is the theme of Iva Beranek’s article about another community that crosses divides in Northern Ireland – Restoration Ministries, founded by Ruth Patterson in 198??, and still offering a ministry of spiritual listening and healing to individuals and groups alike. It has taught her lessons that all our parishes could learn from in terms of allowing time to go deeper into past trauma so that painful scars can be erased in prayer. From another angle, Ian W Ellis looks at the potential for community reconciliation through shared education systems in Northern Ireland.
Lastly we come to healing of rifts between Churches, a topic of the moment now that mutual recognition of ministry has been agreed with the Methodist Church in Ireland. But this is nothing new! We have been in communion with the Lutheran Churches of the Nordic area for around two decades now, but few of us are aware of the depth of mutual recognition and cooperation between us. Helene Steed, originally from the Church of Sweden, and Ása Björk Ólafsdóttir from Iceland, have both been in parish ministry in the Church of Ireland for some time, and they offer respectively an outline of the developments and a personal story, to give us a sense of how such relationships proceed.
Our thanks to reviews editor Stephen Farrell and reviewers for a great and varied set of book reviews!
Contents
To be transformed, by the renewing of our minds
On 17th February 2014 to mark the 50th anniversary of theological education at the Braemor Park, the Theological Institute staff, past Theological College staff, current students, and the first ordinands to transfer there from the Mountjoy Square Divinity Hostel in 1964, met for prayer and celebration. The Revd Dr David Hewlett, with taught systematic theology at the College from 1985 – 1990 and is now Principal of the Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education in Birmingham, preached the following sermon.
Being reasonable about sex in the Church of Ireland
The worldwide Anglican Communion is continuing to work through a response to human sexuality in the context of Christian belief. Since 2012 the House of Bishops here in Ireland have called for a period of “discernment”. Discernment involves a number of related practices including at least the following: listening, praying, studying and reflecting. These are all essential to the process but we also need to debate and to argue for different positions or understandings.
The state visit of President Michael D. Higgins to the United Kingdom was another historic and welcomed step on the road towards ever improving relations between the peoples of these islands. The warmth with which he was received by members of British civic society and the general public mirrored that of the reception given to Her Majesty the Queen when she visited the Republic of Ireland in 2011.
The essence of human living is relational. If our relationships are harmonious and supportive, life will seem worthwhile and creative. If, on the other hand, our relationships are fraught, contentious or violent then life will not seem worth living. This is a guiding principle of the Corrymeela Community of Reconciliation, founded by Presbyterian minister Ray Davey in 1965,which continues to inspire Christians of all denominations in Ireland to work for understanding and reconciled diversity beween our traditions and between individuals.
Church as image-bearer of hope: healing in community and the wider Church
“Every so often on our earthly journey we are gifted with moments of awareness, of recognition where the veil is lifted ever so slightly and we have that ‘aha’ experience that transforms us a little bit more.” - Ruth Patterson
The potential of shared education in Northern Ireland
In the search for a more united, reconciled and shared society in Northern Ireland (NI) many have recognised that education can make an important contribution. NI is emerging from a difficult period in its political history, having endured a time of conflict known as “The Troubles”. The signing of the Belfast Agreement of 1998 led the way to elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, which although suspended over different times for the first few years has had devolved powers fully restored since 2007. A key challenge for the government is for the two main religious communities to find ways of living peacefully and harmoniously and to build a more cohesive society.
With interdependence of ministries recently approved between the Methodist and Anglican Churches in Ireland, readers are invited to consider another recent agreement, this time an international one between some Lutheran ad Anglican Churches. Helene Steed, a Swedish Lutheran who is currently Archdeacon of Clogher, steers us through its development.
During my fourth year at the Faculty of Theology in Iceland, I acted as a steward at a few international conferences. The one I enjoyed serving at the most, was the Porvoo conference in Skálholt, a place where one of the three bishops in Iceland is situated. That is when I learned that as an ordained servant in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland, I already qualified to serve in the Anglican churches of Britain and Ireland. As I had lived for some time in London years earlier, I instantly thought that would be a brilliant idea sometime in the future. The biggest difficulty would be to get ordained in Iceland as there were/are not many positions, and many candidates for each one of them.
