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Presbyterian Peacemakers will be gathering in Dungannon this Saturday (08-11-97, First Dungannon Presbyterian Church 10am-3.30pm) to address the issue of 'Sectarianism in Ireland and the Presbyterian Church.'
The day long event is an opportunity for local congregational leaders to consider the issue under titles such as 'Understanding Sectarianism,' and 'Moving Beyond Sectarianism.' In group sessions delegates will discuss their own local experiences of sectarianism and how the Presbyterian Church can be involved in combating it.
'This is the second time we have held a conference on this issue,' explained Dr Donald Watts, Convener of the Presbyterian Peace And Peace Making Committee who have organised the event. 'In April representatives of over 70 congregations attended a similar event and because of the positive response we were asked to run it again by those who couldn't attend. A further conference has been planned for Magherafelt in January.'
These series of conferences are just one aspect of the work of the Peace and Peace Making Committee which promotes Peace Making throughout the Presbyterian Church in response to the Church's Peace Vocation adopted by the General Assembly in 1994.
The Peace Vocation includes the paragraph:
'We affirm that to be Christian Peacemakers on our situation: We must be initiators of programmes of action which will contribute to peace in our community. We must therefore provide resources and encouragement to enable congregations to move forward at the local level in the field of inter-community relations.''The Church's Peace Vocation commits us to be Christian peacemakers in our own situation,' added Dr Watts. 'People often ask what have the churches done to promote peace expecting to hear of high profile events and initiatives. The reality is different with the most effective peacemaking taking place quietly and without publicity. Conferences like this bring those people together - people deeply committed to peace who go about it in a quiet and effective way - and give them encouragement and help in implementing peacemaking activities."
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