Offering personal reflections on faith and rural life, with a strong gospel message, the column featured in the first 2017 edition of Northern Ireland’s leading bi-weekly agri journal, as part of a rural initiative by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s (PCI) Council for Mission in Ireland.
In nearly 30,000 words over the past 100 weeks, the contributors - who include ministers, retired ministers and others from a rural or farming background – have written on various rural subjects. From tractor runs to judging at shows, lambing, silage and ‘a man’s best friend’, to the seasons, the weather, the rhythm of the farming year and the beauty of the countryside itself. And in every column, a call for each reader to know that they can have an eternal relationship with a loving God, through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Thanking the writers for their faithful contributions and the editor for her support, Rev David Bruce, secretary to the Council for Mission in Ireland said, “The land has always been important to the people of Ireland. As we have worked the land so we have come to respect it - it feeds us, clothes us, and looks after us as we look after it.
“Agriculture is at the forefront of our deep dependence upon the land. To landowners, farmers, farm workers, and the thousands who work in our agri-industry, we say ‘Thank you’. Presbyterians remain committed to you and the work you do. A Bible-writer has said, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it”. We take this to mean ‘everyone in it’ too.”
Talking about PCI’s commitment to the farming and rural community, David Bruce said, “Next year we plan to appoint a specialist rural chaplain who will work in support of people in the countryside. Meanwhile we will continue to publish Good News for the Countryside - for which we are very grateful – and may God bless you!”
Farming Life editor Ruth Rodgers, who attends a Presbyterian Church in Co Down, said that she had been aware of the outreach PCI’s Presbytery of Dromore undertakes at the RUAS Balmoral Show each year, and the column seemed a natural progression of that work. “When Rev Kenny Hanna first suggested the idea to me, I was delighted when it got the green light from PCI,” she said.
“Farming Life has a very unique position within the farming community here in Northern Ireland and it reaches many people each weekend who may often be working in isolated, or lonely circumstances, or who may be feeling the pressures of the industry.
“The paper is a vital read to help provide farmers with the information they need to make daily decisions in the running of their farming business. But I believe it is just as important that each fortnight they are given the message of hope through faith in the Saviour Jesus Christ. Every two weeks, since the start of last year, the writers of the column have done this through very interesting and relevant articles.”
Rev Kenny Hanna, of Second Dromara Presbyterian Church, and one of the columnists, thanked the editor for running with the initial idea. “This has been a tremendous opportunity to proclaim the Gospel and we are so very grateful to Ruth, for being so enthusiastic about it. At the start we hoped that readers would be encouraged by the column and many positive comments we have heard suggests that many have been, which is wonderful.
“Fifty thoughtful and thought-provoking articles every other Saturday is quite a feat to keep up and I would like to thank the team of contributors, past and present, for their amazing dedication, creativity and time that they give to this Gospel task. We are extremely grateful to all who read the column, pray for it, or commend it to others. May God receive all the glory for anything that is accomplished through it,” he said.
Each Saturday the column appears as a blog on the PCI website. You can read them here.
Ronald Annett, who works for a local animal feed company and helps out on his County Down family farm, has written the 50th column, and you can read it here.