Doing, not saying
“There were ripples of apprehension over things to come…” This comment was made after PCI’s General Assembly, and although it could well apply to 2018’s, it was in fact the General Assembly of 1980.
The July/August edition of the Herald in 1980 makes for interesting reading and these comments from editor, Rev. Robert Cobain, reflect the mood following the Church’s decision to withdraw from the World Council of Churches. The description of the debate is an important historical record for our Church and clearly shows the agonising that the denomination went through before arriving at the decision to withdraw, not least evident because the debate lasted five hours!
There is no denying these have been difficult weeks for PCI, for all concerned, no matter what side of the debates they represent. The intense media attention has been unsettling. These are challenging times, and there are no easy answers.
However, 1980 reminds us that our Church has faced difficult times before. In his editorial Mr. Cobain also says, “The Assembly often seems to be preoccupied with the importance of its public statements, but people don’t want to hear official Church pronouncements – they want to know what the Church is doing, not saying, for they know that our actions speak louder than our words.”
This is an encouraging reminder because PCI is doing many great things, one of which is highlighted in this edition. Recognising the pressure that the farming community is under, Dromore Presbytery has been occupying a stand at the Balmoral Show for the past few years, reaching out with the gospel message to passers-by. As well as that, last month, the presbytery held a special service to register support for farming families, acknowledging that weather-wise it has been a particularly tough and stressful year.
Rev. Gareth McFadden, moderator of Dromore Presbytery said, “It’s about togetherness…often we fail to live as people of Christ in community, and that is our calling.” Mr. McFadden makes an important point, relevant for our Church as we move forward – more than any public comment, it will be how we choose to live in our communities that will determine whether people encounter Jesus or not.
Our new Moderator, Dr. McMullen, summed this up perfectly in his recent piece for the Newsletter when he said, “More than ever we need to show the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ. No outsider will believe in Jesus until an insider treats him or her as a brother or sister. Therein lies the challenge!”
The Presbyterian Herald is the official magazine of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. It provides a forum for debate and discussion on a wide range of topics and aims to challenge and encourage Presbyterians, as well as inform them about what the wider Church is involved in. It has a readership in excess of 25,000 and is distributed throughout Ireland.
To find out more go to www.presbyterianireland.org/herald