February 2008

Dear Friends,

We had very special visitors in church again last week.

Father Gerry Reynolds, founder of a group that crosses the "Peace Line" to visit Protestant churches.

In the late 1970s Father Gerry Reynolds, a native of the Republic of Ireland, came to work at Clonard Monastery, which is situated right on the “Peace Line” between Catholic/Nationalist and Protestant/Unionist districts in West Belfast. Clonard is home to a small community of priests and brothers belonging to the Roman Catholic Redemptorist order. Gerry was distressed by the divisions he encountered between different political groups and, particularly, those between different Christian traditions in Northern Ireland. He began taking whatever opportunities he could to meet clergy and lay leaders from different Protestant denominations. One of those encounters led to the formation of a small inter-church group made up of people who attend Clonard and members of Fitzroy Presbyterian Church across the city. Last year they celebrated their 25th anniversary. It has been my privilege to facilitate meetings between them on a number of occasions over the years as they have explored both similarities and differences in faith and political perspectives.

The positive experience of meeting with folk form Fitzroy encouraged Gerry and others associated with Clonard to look at where and how they might build other relationships for peace.  During all the years of  “The Troubles” they hosted small inter-church discussion and prayer groups at Clonard with clergy and lay leaders from Protestant and Catholic churches in areas of West Belfast wracked by violence and highly polarized in terms of political allegiances and aspirations.

After the 1994 ceasefires, Gerry and a small group of parishioners from Clonard began visits to Protestant congregations across the “Peace Line” in the neighboring Shankill district. By previous arrangement with the ministers of the Protestant congregations, they shared in the morning worship wherever they were welcome. Their motivation was simply to go humbly and reverently as pilgrims to the holy places where their brothers and sisters in Christ meet and express solidarity with them. Over the years, these visits gradually transformed relationships with a number of congregations. Old fears and prejudices melted away, and a sense of being at home with one another grew.

The visiting group from Clonard soon took on the name “Unity Pilgrims.” Their inspiration comes from the words of St Paul, “The eye can not say to the hand ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet ‘I have no need of you’” (I Corinthians 12:21). Their guiding principle is a conviction that the command of Jesus “Love one another as I have loved you” applies not only to us as individuals but also to congregations and denominations.

For decades one of the main ministries of the Redemptorist community in Clonard has been conducting spiritual missions in Roman Catholic parishes in Northern Ireland. Since 2003, whenever the Clonard parish mission team is working in a particular parish, unity Pilgrims from Clonard link up with unity pilgrims from that parish to join the morning service of Protestant congregations in the surrounding area. They always check with the minister first to see if this would be suitable, and only on one occasion has their overture been turned down. Last Sunday, during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we were glad to welcome once again Unity Pilgrims from St Colmcille’s to Stormont Presbyterian Church.

As these pilgrimages have spread, members of Roman Catholic parishes and Protestant congregations in various settings have witnessed barriers break down, suspicion and fear melt away, and people open up to one another. By going to worship with other congregations on the Lord’s Day, unity pilgrims are helping to transform ancient animosity and misunderstanding and contribute to a new future. The pilgrims see no excuse for the current generation passing on distrust and hostility to the generations coming after us.

In a number of settings this has led to shared social activities between parishes and congregations where more time around a meal or a musical evening allows for deeper contact. In some places the initiative has led to structured theological and political discussions between members of the two denominations.

The secret of the unity pilgrimages lies in their simplicity.  The motivation is simply to show love and restore relationship. Simple enough that you might consider adapting it in your own setting and being the ones who take the initiative.

Faithfully yours,

Doug and Elaine Baker

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 152