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Amidst debate surrounding the St Patricks Day parade in Belfast, one Christian mission organisation have published 12,000 leaflets for distribution during the controversial city centre carnival.
The leaflet, "St Patrick, The Man and the message", has been published by the Belfast City Mission and states that there is "absolutely no doubt that Patrick is the most famous figure in Irish history." For Christians however, Patrick is Ireland's "pioneer evangelist" through whom God proclaimed His message of the Gospel.
Traditionally the Belfast City Mission, linked to the Presbyterian Church in Ireland work from halls spread across mainly protestant areas of the city, with one full time outreach worker based in the centre. This years St Patricks Day Parade offers the Mission, which was founded in 1827, an opportunity to engage with people from a different cultural and political background. Nearly thirty volunteers have offered to help with the leaflet distribution, meeting at Berry Street Presbyterian Church at 10.30am.
Executive Secretary of the Belfast City Mission Robin Fairbairn comments: "I think there is a sense in which the identity of Patrick has been 'stolen'. We believe it's time to 're-claim' not just his identity as a Christian evangelist but his purpose as a proclaimer of good news to all people irrespective of their background. It is our sincere hope that people participating in the parade will take one of our leaflets and think about the message that Patrick really had to share."
Issued by Martin McNeely, Presbyterian Information Services. Info@PresbyterianIreland.org
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