Offer of help with truth recovery process at Irish Council of Churches centenary service in St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast on Sunday, January 22nd, 2023

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on January 24, 2023, 12:03 pm1 Comment | Readers 0riginally published on Slugger O’Toole website

The Irish Council of Churches (ICC) — an all-island body with membership from Protestant, Orthodox, Reformed, and independent church traditions — marked its centenary with a joint service of worship at St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast. With the theme of “Celebrating our Reconciling Vision of Hope”, the special service also marked the 50th anniversary of the Ballymascanlon Talks, which led to the establishment of the Irish Inter-Church Meeting (IICM), the means by which the ICC continues to engage and collaborate with the Catholic Church.

The service was led by the Very Rev. Stephen Forde (Dean of Belfast Cathedral) and the preachers were the Most Rev. Eamon Martin (Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland) and Rev. Dr Harold Good (former President of the Methodist Church in Ireland).

Rev. Dr Harold Good (former President of the Methodist Church in Ireland). “Celebrating our Reconciling Vision of Hope”. Irish Council of Churches. St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast, Northern Ireland. © Frank Dillon Photography

Rev. Good asked all present, whether from church or state or civic society, “What can each of us bring to [our shared vision of reconciliation] of our sadly fractured community?” To those from the community of Christian faith, he suggested the words “humility” and “hope”:

“It is in humility that we as churches recognise … that we do not have a monopoly on the things which make for peace… All of us, from whatever sector we have come, have something distinctive to bring. And it is in humility that we confess we have not always been obedient to the Gospel entrusted to us. Too often we have been silent when we ought to have spoken, and too often we stood back when others fuelled the flames of sectarianism and strife.”

Rev. Good spoke of a culture of despair as a glum message not lost on young people when considering their options for the future. But he doesn’t want to counter this with a benign optimism which ignores the painful realities of the daily world: “Hope looks at the world as it is and responds with a determination to change it.”

To drive home this point, Rev. Good referred to Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, not on the day King delivered it at the Pool of Reflection in Washington, but months later, after a series of burnings, bombings, riots, and mayhem; King said, “I still have a dream!”

Congregation including Chris Heaton-Harris MP (Secretary of State for Northern Ireland), Councillor Christina Black (Lord Mayor of Belfast), and Simon Coveney TD (Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment). “Celebrating our Reconciling Vision of Hope”. Irish Council of Churches. St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast, Northern Ireland. © Frank Dillon Photography

An unresolved issue in Northern Ireland is how to deal with its troubled past. With the service attended by members of the public and government representatives — including Chris Heaton-Harris MP (Secretary of State for Northern Ireland), Councillor Christina Black (Lord Mayor of Belfast), and Simon Coveney TD (Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment) — Archbishop Martin mooted how the churches collectively may assist:

“Peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness on this island can only be progressed if we bring to light the truths about our troubled past that remain hidden and festering, and engage in respectful conversations across our communities about what we mean by a shared future. It may seem ambitious, but might we in the Churches offer to help develop an agreed truth recovery process to address the legacy of pain and mistrust that continues to hang over us? And might our Churches also work together to create spaces for dialogue at parish, congregation, and community level so that all voices can be fully heard about the kind of society and values we want for our children and grandchildren?”

Speaking after the service, Bishop Andrew Forster (ICC President) thanked everyone who attended the event to share the significant milestone in inter-church relations on the island: “In eternity, 100 years is but a blink of an eye, not even that, but in the context of our human story a century is a significant moment.”

Bishop Brendan Leahy (IICM Co-Chair) added, “I think those who attended each of these historic events 50 and 100 years ago would want us today to be grateful that after all that has happened on this island over the past century, we were able to join together to worship God… In humility, may we serve and love one another in and across communities, and in doing so, work for the common good.”

Very Rev. Stephen Forde (Dean of Belfast Cathedral), Bishop Brendan Leahy (IICM Co-Chair), Most Rev. Eamon Martin (Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland), Rev. Dr Harold Good (former President of the Methodist Church in Ireland), Bishop John McDowell (Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland), Bishop Andrew Foster (ICC President), and Bishop Sarah Groves (ICC Vice President). “Celebrating our Reconciling Vision of Hope”. Irish Council of Churches. St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast, Northern Ireland. © Frank Dillon Photography

NOTES

Irish Council of Churches

The Irish Council of Churches was founded in 1923 at the height of the Irish Civil War. It is the formal national body through which its member churches formally engage, dialogue, and act on a wide variety of issues. It was established by its member churches and funded by them.

The ICC Executive meets four times a year and is made up of church general secretaries and other nominated representatives from across the range of Protestant, Orthodox, Reformed and Independent church traditions. The President is the public representative of the Council and serves for two years.

Irish Inter-Church Meeting

In 1973 in the midst of the Troubles, the Council began historic talks in Ballymascanlon with the Catholic Church, which over the course of time became formalised as the Irish Inter-Church Meeting. The meeting is coordinated by a committee which also meets four times a year. This Inter-Church Committee is formed by the leadership of the churches and made up of 50/50 representation from the Irish Bishops Conference and the Council.

ICC Membership

The ICC constitution describes it as “Christian Communions in Ireland willing to join in united efforts to promote the spiritual, physical, moral and social welfare of the people and the extension of the rule of Christ among all nations and over every region of human life”.

This mandate stems from the original constitution that established the United Council of Christian Churches and Religious Communities in Ireland in 1922. There were seven founding member churches at the Council’s first meeting in January 1923 (Church of Ireland, Presbyterian Church, Non–Subscribing Presbyterian Church, Methodist Church, Moravian Church, Congregational Union, and the Religious Society of Friends/Quakers).

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster)

Peacebuilding a shared Northern Irish society • Editor @SharedFuture • Treasurer @NUJBelfast • Mastodon

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