Peacemaking Programme

Peacemaking as Mission

On Tuesday, 27th January 2009, at 7.30pm, the Peacemaking Department and the Board of Mission Overseas co-hosted an event at Union Theological College on the theme of "Peacemaking as Mission" where the main speaker was Joe Campbell. Joe and his wife Janet are currently serving as PCI mission personnel partnering with the United Mission to Nepal and are involved in a variety of peace building initiatives supporting the country's transition to peace following a 10 year civil war. Rev. Uel Marrs of the Board of Mission Overseas and Laura Coulter of the Peacemaking Department also participated in the evening's programme.

Download audio files

Introduction by Deborah Erwin
Address by Uel Marrs (with comments from Laura Coulter)
Address by Joe Campbell
Questions with Joe Campbell

Click here for some photos of the event

Some personal reflections from Robin Tweed on the Peacemaking as Mission evening on 27th January 2009.

This excellent evening attended by 80 to 100 people was organised by Uel Marrs, Secretary of BMO (the Board of Mission Overseas of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland) along with Laura Coulter and Debs Irwin (Peacemaking staff of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland) at Union College, Belfast.

Helen Killick and Liz Hughes very appropriately led us in worship.

Uel Marrs' linking of the stories from Kenya, Sudan, Darfur, India and Indonesia was very real and helpful and illustrated well God's call to each of us to work for the healing of broken relationships and thereby transform situations of conflict.

The development of Thomas Leremore's peace building work in PCEA (Presbyterian Church in East Africa) in Kenya is a tremendous example of the possibilities available to make a real difference to a community recovering from violence and conflict.

The value of strong yet self-sacrificing leadership was demonstrated by the Moderator of the Evangelical Christian Church of Halmahera (Rev Augustus Eshe) who said to his people following terrible killing and reprisals "If anyone is going to kill another Muslim, he will have to kill me first". His example, reciprocated by his Muslim counterpart, reinforces for me the value of our Moderator and leaders standing and speaking out against those who plan and do violence in our communities.

The exchange of gifts between opposing and hurting communities in Halmahera, Indonesia, one giving a bell and one giving a gong, spoke powerfully to me of the value of symbols in healing wounds between rival communities.

Joe Campbell spoke powerfully from his experience in Nepal. He is a very able communicator. Joe's presentation not only told of the experience of his wife Janet and himself working as peacemaking advisors in Nepal but also spoke clearly and with great challenge into our situation and especially our complacency. Some comments especially remain with me.

     'Real peace building begins when the agreement is signed.'
     'Governments cannot heal people - healing broken relationships is a role for the church.'
     'Truce or transformation ... a pause in hostilities or a real peace.'
     'We believe in reconciliation because we believe that people change.'

The role of the outsider is: first to listen and listen and listen, second perhaps to tell a good story from experience and third to ask a good question.

The joint work being undertaken by ATEN (Association for Theological Education in Nepal) and UMN (United Mission to Nepal) with the involvement of Christians from African Enterprises and PCI (Presbyterian Church in Ireland) looking at forgiveness, reconciliation and trauma is wonderfully valuable and this pattern could be used well in our situation.

My renewed perspective from the evening is of seeking with greater passion and vigour to put peacemaking at the heart of God's mission to His world.

The scripture that remains with me is 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land."

I am certain that both Joe and Janet Campbell can have a valuable and prophetic role to resource our peacemaking as a Church and community when they eventually return from Nepal in around 18 months time.

CSI Ulster

Sam Quinn reports on the annual Autumn/Winter Conference held at the Jethro Centre, Lurgan - 8 November 2008

My initial reaction to the recent Peace and Peacemaking Conference in Lurgan was the title C.S.I. Ulster.

This I immediately linked with the C.S.I. Crime Series on Channel 5 which can be quite blood-thirsty in its content - however, the Lurgan Conference was enlightening and stimulating.

C.S.I. stood for "Cohesion, Sharing and Integration," and the content from the speakers opened my mind to realise that Peace in Northern Ireland is very fragile and, if it is not addressed on a wider scale in our community and our church, there is a real possibility of it breaking down.

One statistic which shook me was that, in North Belfast, there are 46 peace walls and 11 gates, with new additions in line. The main reasons appear to be insecurity and lack of trust.

We have a new milestone in the near future - the Eames Bradley Commission is to issue its report - how can we ever cover up the pain on each side? We need to pray consistently for peace and conflict resolution.

Effort as well as prayer equals to miracles. We were challenged to "be the miracle" as the dynamic for peace lies in us all.

Another vital consideration needs to be our youth, and how we assist them to address the need of respecting each other's culture and how they can contribute to peace in their future.

The speakers were all excellent and there were many examples of how groups and churches are reaching out to Roman Catholics and Ethnic groupings.

I am new to the McQuiston Peace Team and I feel that we must continue our current activities towards Peace and Peacemaking, and that we should reach out to others - particularly in East Belfast.

An enjoyable and enlightening day for me.

CSI Ulster: Cohesion, Sharing, and Integration

As a visiting researcher in Northern Ireland I was excited to get an invitation to the peacemaking panel's conference entitled, "CSI Ulster: Cohesion, Sharing, and Integration." At the beginning of the conference the keynote speaker, Dr. David Stevens, issued a challenge, "can we have a prosperous society without the transformation of relationships and positive dealing with diversity?" With this question in mind I was struck by a common theme throughout the later peaceworker presentations; that is, the transformation of relationships and dealing with diversity are best achieved through long term communication between children and adults from different communities in social outings, discussion sessions, and residential programs.

The communication that occurs in these events is both ordinary and extraordinary. We all engage in ordinary communication during our daily lives when asking a co-worker if their weekend was enjoyable, or inquiring an acquaintance about a recent holiday. Such seemingly mundane communicative acts-when conducted over a long period of time-help to foster personal relationships. Bringing adults and children together from disparate communities encourages this type of communication. But the peaceworkers also conduct pointed discussions with participants to highlight issues such as sectarianism, racism, and other types of stereotyping. This extraordinary-and often difficult-form of communication breaks down stereotypes that may continue to pervade personal relationships; indeed, a neighbour or co-worker may still be seen as threatening or strange because of their beliefs or where they were born. Openly discussing stereotypes helps people to see once menacing characteristics as enrichment to the diversity of Northern Ireland.

Overall, it was my impression that the peaceworkers at "CSI: Ulster" are indeed rising to Dr. Stevens' challenge by facilitating communication, and thus relationships, that are necessary for community cohesion, sharing, and integration.

For a copy of Dr Stevens article from the December edition of the Presbyterian Herald click here or to view some photographs of the conference click here

Peace-Making and Identity, June, 2008

Some 40 people gathered for this Seminar in Union College to hear Professor Stephen Williamson develop some ideas contained in his article on 'Making Peace and Shaping the Future' which appeared in the May 2008 edition of the Presbyterian Herald. The speaker later invited those present to discuss in small groups three questions about peace-making and identity.

Stephen had been struck by the number of students on the Youth Ministry Certificate course who had reported a deep interest in the question of identity.

Bringing a theological perspective to the connection between peace-making and identity, Stephen introduced, in sonorous Welsh tones, several related ideas:

Our prime identity is as Christians; the noun 'Christian' may then be qualified by adjectives such as 'Protestant', 'Roman Catholic', 'Irish' or 'Welsh'; implicit is that the adjectival part of our identity may be subject to change as our theological perspectives change or as we move about, without our inner core or sense of ourself being changed;

Paul's statement in one of his letters that 'Jesus is our Peace' -- this introduces a horizontal aspect of peace, which in New Testament times referred to peace between Jew and Gentile. The name 'Christian' replaces 'Jew' and 'Gentile' as the believer's core identity;

The concept of the 'Children of God', starting with Abraham and traceable through the Israelites, the Early Church and the Protestant Reformers among others down to the present; a vertical God-Man relationship that runs through time; closely related is the idea that it is as we recognise that we are loved by God that we realise our true value and identity (rather as Peer Gynt in Ibsen's drama found an identity after a life of wandering through the enduring love of Solveig -- and one might add a parallel from Showboat in which the drifter Gaylord Ravenal finds peace when he returns home and finds to his surprise that his deserted wife has brought up their daughter to treasure his memory);

The idea that a secure sense of identity is important if a person (or a people) is to be settled and at peace with itself and its neighbours; a horizontal aspect of peace and identity;

The question of whether the pursuit of peace is the same as the pursuit of justice, in connection with which Stephen noted the influence of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian who was driven against many of his principles to complicity in the July 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler, and whose writings contributed to the transformation of Polish society in the 1970s and 1980s.

Many of these thoughts were pulled together in the reflection that Christ shapes our identity in line with himself, integrating us under his Lordship. With his peace within, we should live in His Will as People of Peace in the World.

The 3 questions discussed in groups were:
          Is a Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Northern Ireland needed?
          Is Sectarianism the main barrier to peace?
          If someone says 'Jesus Christ has given me my identity', what does it mean?

A variety of answers were put forward by the groups. Not many present were convinced that a Truth and Reconciliation Commission would serve a useful purpose. Sectarianism was recognised as a long term problem in our society. Possibly answers to the third question are suggested in some of the ideas which Stephen outlined above.

Habitat for Humanity Day, January 2008

Earlier in the year PCI's Peacemaking Officers, Laura Coulter and Deborah Erwin, along with a few game volunteers, rolled up their sleeves, donned hard hats and mucked in with the builders on Habitat for Humanity's mid-Shankhill building site. It was a great opportunity to put faith into action by helping to build homes for people in need and contribute to regeneration and reconciliation in a local community. For more information on Habitat for Humanity check out their website at www.habitatni.co.uk and to help build homes for a day in Northern Ireland or for a longer period overseas find out more by ringing (028) 9024 3686.

Launch of Gospel in Conflict in Lisburn, October 2007

Pictured in the Mayor's Parlour last Monday afternoon (15th October) at the launch of the Peace and Reconciliation course 'Gospel in Conflict' are the Right Worshipful the Mayor, Councillor James Tinsley (seated) and L to R: Mrs Laura Coulter - Peace-Making Officer (Presbyterian Church in Ireland), Mr Joe Topping - Presbytery Peace Officer, Mr David Mitchell - Good Relations Officer (Lisburn City Council) and the Rev Gary Trueman - Moderator of Dromore Presbytery.

The Dromore Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church, supported by Lisburn City Council's Good Relations Programme and financially assisted through the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister, are offering running a Peace and Reconciliation course 'Gospel in Conflict' (Loving your Neighbour) in the city. Developed initially by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland as a single identity course to raise awareness of how the gospel speaks about of peace issues, the course, which was launched by the Right Worshipful the Mayor, Councillor James Tinsley last Monday afternoon (15th October) will run for five sessions on the following evenings: Monday 22nd October, Monday 29th October, Monday 19th November, Monday 26th November and Monday 21st January. Each 2-hour session commences at 7.30pm and takes place in the Island Civic Centre.

Launch of Gospel in Conflict, March 2007

Next Tuesday, 20 March at 11.00am in Church House, Fisherwick Place Belfast, the Presbyterian Church will launch a major peace building initiative entitled 'The Gospel in Conflict.' Press are invited from 10.15 for pictures and interviews.

The initiative will be launched by Presbyterian Moderator Dr David Clarke and the General Director of the Evangelical Alliance in the UK, Rev Joel Edwards.

"The Churches in Ireland can claim, with some justification, to have been a force for stability and tolerance during the decades of 'the troubles'," claims Dr Clarke. "Regrettably, we must also concede that we have not been as proactive as we might have been in the task of peacemaking. It is therefore encouraging that a greater emphasis is now being given to this dimension of our mission."

Funded to £250,000 by the International Fund for Ireland, the Community Relations Council, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Youth Link:NI, the Kennedy Charitable Foundation and the Presbyterian Church, 'The Gospel in Conflict' is a five week course that Presbyterian congregations are being encouraged to run either by themselves or with the help of trained facilitators.

"The Presbyterian Church has clearly expressed its commitment to peace building," explains Laura Coulter, one of two full time Peace Officers funded by the project and who has responsibility for the new initiative. "In 1992 the General Assembly agreed its Peace Vocation, then it developed a network of peace agents across the church to promote peacemaking in congregations and over the last five years the 'Preparing Youth to be Peacemakers' programme has been running very successfully among our young people."

Aimed at Presbyterians, 'The Gospel in Conflict' course reflects on peacemaking as an integral part of discipleship, focusing on the biblical mandate to love our neighbour and rooting it within the experience of participants. Five themes are explored: Living in a Divided Society, Exploring our Presbyterian Identity, Dealing with Disagreement, Relating to our Neighbours and Taking Steps in Building Peace. By considering how the early church dealt with conflict it helps those taking part develop ways in which the divisions they experience today can be dealt with from personal, church and community perspectives.

"'The Gospel in Conflict' aims to build up the confidence of Presbyterians in their own faith," adds Rev Liz Hughes, convener of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Panel. "It will encourage everyone to be involved in practical faith based peace building that will help create harmony both in our own lives and in our communities."

On Tuesday evening, March 20, at 8.00pm also in Church House, Joel Edwards will be the guest speaker at a further event to launch the course which is open to all. This will be introduced by Paul Clark and include worship lead by Ian Hannah, music, interviews and clips from the DVD that accompanies the course.