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Recently about twenty of us with leadership roles in six different
denominations have also been meeting in succession with representatives
of different local political parties and both the Irish and British
governments to encourage movement, question them about their understanding
of the mood in and needs of constituencies other than their own
(which some of us are in much closer contact with), and seeking
to understand the pressures they face from their own constituencies
at this time and how that limits their movement. It has been a
fascinating and, hopefully, fruitful exchange. Each meeting reminds
me how little honest contact so many people have with those who
don't share their own point of view-and how important it is to
provide such opportunities.
Running alongside the collapse of the power-sharing Assembly
and negotiations aimed at getting it back on track has been a
very violent feud between different elements of the Loyalist Ulster
Defence Force paramilitary grouping. It has much more to do with
money, power, and the control of turf and drugs than political
differences. Nonetheless, it has resulted in eight deaths, numerous
shooting incidents, widespread intimidation in certain districts,
and higher levels of troops back on street patrols in certain
areas. This past weekend the main leaders on one side of the feud
were forced to leave Northern Ireland by a mob. Then on Monday
over 5,000 people attended the funeral of the latest feud victim.
All of this has been a scary reminder of the extent and strength
of paramilitary influence permeating this society.
Many of the men killed or exiled in this feud have clearly been
engaged themselves in very evil activities. As a result there
is not the same degree of horror in wider society at their death
or sympathy for their suffering that other victims generally receive.
However, it is important to remember that whole families experience
tremendous suffering at times like these and that "guilt
by association" easily leads to blatant injustices being
visited upon much less responsible targets. Two of our year-long
PC(USA) Young Adult Volunteers work at a church-sponsored community
center which has quite a few children, wives, and mothers of some
of those targeted in this feud participating in their programs.
Following the events of this week in the Lower Shankill, Lynda
Gibson, Presbyterian Deaconess at the Vine Centre, asked that
these prayer points be circulated:
- Pray for the safety of the families who have fled the area
because of intimidation.
- Pray for the safety of those left now without a male presence
in the home.
- Pray for those families under personal threat seeking temporary
accommodation.
- Pray for the safety of a traumatised community desperately
seeking peace.
- Pray that the statutory bodies would be awakened to the immediate
needs of a community at war with itself.
- Pray for protection and wisdom for those working at the Vine
Centre, that their practical service would emulate the love
of Christ.
- Pray for the men of violence that they would turn from their
evil ways to God.
Turning from the wider political situation to my own work in
Partners in Transformation, let me briefly mention three significant
developments. We recently took 27 key senior leaders from different
denominations and agencies working in the churches sector away
from Northern Ireland for a 24-hour residential. The purpose was
to explore the church's engagement with civic society and the
challenge of exercising leadership "in the public square."
The feedback has been wonderful and it appears that this will
be but the first in a process of such meetings under our guidance.
We have also been conducting a number of separate seminars with
clergy groups from two different Roman Catholic dioceses and two
Church of Ireland (Episcopal) dioceses around the challenges they
face in peacebuilding where they are and what a diocesan response
to these might look like. At their request, over the next few
weeks we will be arranging facilitated discussions between Catholic
and Protestant clergy in the two areas covered by these dioceses.
I have also been asked by the leaders of the four largest denominations
in Ireland (Roman Catholic Archbishop, Moderator of the Presbyterian
Church in Ireland, Church of Ireland Archbishop, and President
of the Methodist Church in Ireland) to convene a planning group
with representatives of all four churches for a major conference
they are sponsoring together at the end of April on "The
Churches Contribution to Improving Relations in Northern Ireland."
It will be an opportunity for a significant group of church leaders
to consider the churches' own role in responding to this task
and what it is the churches have to say to wider civic society
and the government in terms of a visions for the future and strategic
ways of moving toward it. We would welcome your prayers for our
work over the limited time available for planning and for the
event itself.
Underlying all three of these developments is a recognition by
at least some leaders in the churches that peacebuilding has to
be moved up the agenda if we are to live out the gospel message
in this setting and at this time. Your prayers for all of us as
we seek to do so are greatly appreciated.
Faithfully yours,
Rev Doug Baker
PC(USA) Mission Co-worker
The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 85
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