The initiative hopes to draw congregations and their members together in God to express his life and witness in this moment. As Rev David Thompson, Secretary to the Council for Congregational Life & Witness (CCL&W) explained, a team is working together remotely from their homes to bring this to the Church as a whole.
“With the familiar rhythms of church life turned upside down, this special initiative involves a mix of specific material channelled through some existing PCI mediums of resourcing as well as fresh content that will be shared through new initiatives. ‘These three remain…’ draws its name from the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians and seeks to remind us how, in a time of widespread uncertainty in society, and change in our personal lives, the three core elements of Christianity, faith, hope and love remain,” Rev Thompson said.
To help congregations and their members continue to step forward in these days with faith, hope and love, PCI is seeking to support this in a number of ways. These include:
You can find these resources here on the new ‘These Three Remain…’ section of the PCI website.
The CCL&W Secretary also highlighted the forthcoming development of a new PCI Podcast launching this week which draws together practical examples of how congregations are responding to the unprecedented challenges of continuing ministry and mission.
“The Podcast will be called ‘These Three Remain: Stories of Faith, Hope & Love from the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’. The weekly podcast will last for 20-30 minutes and will include conversations with a variety of ministers and leaders within congregations. Regularly updated content will appear on the PCI website and social media platforms to resource the church for its continuing ministry and mission,” Rev Thompson explained.
Welcoming the initiative, the Moderator, Rt Rev Dr William Henry said, “Through persecution and trials of different sorts, the Church of Jesus Christ has faced many challenges down the centuries. Throughout all of these, the Church has become stronger as faith and personal reliance on Jesus strengthened.
“While we are all having to find new ways of doing what once seemed so straightforward, I welcome this new initiative and congratulate those bringing it to us and everyone in our denomination who are finding new ways to help and support one another.
“Meeting on-line as church is not perfect but it is an important connection that we continue to make each week, as we remind ourselves of the place of Jesus in our own lives and how he connects us to one another in the church.”
David Thompson concluded by saying, “In this moment, when our attention is drawn again to so many things in our lives we find that we have taken for granted, let’s quietly cherish the reappearance of the simple beauty and solid practicality of faith, hope and love. These three remain to be experienced, explored and expressed in fresh ways. As they continue to mark our lives, they will creatively mould us into the people God wants us to be in our changing and challenging circumstances. I hope these new resources will help us in that.”
A number of PCI congregations are providing devotional and worship resources, including adapted services via their websites or social media. You can find a special resource here that combines a number of these. The new podcast ‘These Three Remain: Stories of Faith, Hope & Love from the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’, was launched on 1 April. You can read the news story here.