The God of Welcomes: St Patrick’s Day in Downpatrick, 17 March 2006

The address at the service in Down Cathedral was given by Rev. Roy Searle, leader of the Northumbria Community and President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain. He spoke of St Patrick’s message:

‘The gospel that changed people’s hearts and minds from hatred to love, harmony to healing, mistrust and suspicion to kindred communities, where fate and helplessness gave way to a passion that burned for God and brought life. The gospel spoke of a God of compassion, a God who reached beyond the boundaries of any prescribed religion, church or civic boundary or protocol to touch the hearts of all. A God of benediction and blessing. A God who welcomed the stranger, the exile and the refugee. The God whose very nature is community – Father Son and Holy Spirit – unity in diversity. A God who created and celebrates diversity and challenges any notion that something different is deviant and therefore needing to be excluded. A message that transformed and informed Patrick’s mission and led him to crusade against injustice and the exploitation of the poor and marginalised.’ … ‘In the midst of the many changes facing Ireland there is the emergence of people coming from different nations. In the last 48 hours I’ve waited in a queue behind a young lady from Poland in a book shop, been served in a supermarket by a young Slovakian woman, and sat next to a Nigerian on the bus up the Saintfield Road. … ‘May the God of Welcomes be expressed through the people of God to strangers and exiles in our midst, for in doing so we reflect the mission of Patrick.’

Some quotations from speakers at the All Ireland Churches’ Consultative Meeting on Racism (AICCMR) conference, Challenged by Difference: Threat or Enrichment at Dromantine, November 2005.

Part of the opening remarks of Michael Jackson, Church of Ireland Bishop of Clogher:
Our concern is … that it is vital for members of churches in Ireland today to develop what I might call a fresh theology of hospitality. This is something generous, something practical and something for others. We exist for those whom we do not know every bit as much as for those whom we do know. The church of God has never been only for those on the inside. That attitude is and remains a scandal and an affront to God and neighbour alike. I say this for Biblical reasons. The direct question which Jesus answered in the life He lived, which became the Gospel, was the following very open question: And who, then, is my neighbour? Not only is the question open but so is the answer. The only person not to pass by on the other side is the noble but despised Samaritan. It is our conviction – and we have indeed been given every encouragement to think so – that what we are embarking on today is not just another thing which the church is picking up from what others are doing round about but is, in fact, part of its core identity. And it is just that because it is for all of us a journey of self-understanding and of a new self-definition in those three virtues: faith, hope, love.
All Ireland Churches ’ Consulatative Meeting on Racism (AICCMR) conference, Challenged by Difference: Threat or Enrichment [pdf] at Dromantine, November 2005.

Rev. Dr Sahr Yambasu, Methodist, keynote speaker from Galway whose talk was entitled ‘Challenged by Ignorance: Responding to the Strangers in our Midst’:
Part of a longer analysis of the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collecter:
In the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, Jesus put his finger on what I believe is the perennial issue at the heart of human responses to other humans beings as different: the uncritical acceptance of our own particularities as normal and essential while we seek to deny or ignore or even label other people ’s boundaries as abnormal, and wish, consciously or otherwise, that their own differences should give way to our own. …
Jesus recommended the self-view of the Tax Collector not, I would suggest, because he was better or worse than the Pharisee in actual fact; but because he had the attitude of mind and heart that in the end, mattered most.
His disposition characterised him as a man open towards new ways of seeing and being. In this man reposed the humble recognition that he is nowhere near being what he could be as a human being created in the image of God. In this man was real hope for change for the better. You see, we never begin to be good till we can feel and say that we are bad.
The Pharisee, on the other hand, no longer saw anything good in different others to emulate; at least not in the Tax Collector whom he perceived as being below him; perhaps not even in God because he sounded totally self-liberated and self-dependent. He had arrived so to speak. His standard was himself, and no other. The Pharisee saw himself as the master exemplar that everyone else must imitate. Such a person would find no reason to learn from others, or change for the better.
This Pharisee, I would say, had the stuff from which ethnic, national, religious, gender, age, economic, cultural, political, and skin colour discriminations, exclusions, and conflicts are made. The stuff is called ‘superiority complex’. It is the ‘I am better than you’ syndrome that has always plagued this world and continues to do so. It is the attitude that says unless you are like me, or until you become like me, I am not prepared to value you as a human being like me, nor the way of life you represent. …
All Ireland Churches’ Consulatative Meeting on Racism (AICCMR) conference, AICCMR conference Challenged by Ignorance [pdf] at Dromantine, November 2005.

Rev. Arlington Trotman Churches’ Commission for Racial Justice spoke on ‘Being, Identity and Belief: A Christian Basis for Pursuing Racial Justice’.
The challenge for any society divided along the lines of ethnicity or people group (race), religion, sexual orientation, gender and culture, is the recognition that politically, economically, socially and spiritually, that society becomes and remains poorer. Yet, these are essential differences which make up the identity of each person.
As Christians, whose existence is fixed by faith in a loving God, we battle against the overt and hidden causes and forms of racism. If this endeavour is to be redemptive and sustainable, two principles are vital: One, it is imperative that we resist the mild form of ‘neo-colonialism’ of merely ‘doing-on-behalf-of’ marginalized people, despite its importance, and harness the strength of our oneness in Christ as the basis for ‘identifying-with’ them in all our work to defeat racism. You see, the victim and the perpetrator of racism are fellow human beings. …
All forms of racism are ultimately unsustainable because they are not only evil, but racism tries to subvert the essential identity of all human beings. We as Christians must embrace difference and be ‘richer’ by undergoing a measure of cultural integration, recognise our human interdependence, promote social and economic redistribution, and pursue ethnic harmony, so that our Being is being-in-love-for-one-another’. This does not entail ‘giving up our identity’, which … is impossible.
All Ireland Churches ’ Consulatative Meeting on Racism (AICCMR) conference, Challenged by Difference: Threat or Enrichment at Dromantine, November 2005. Being, Identity and Belief - A Trotman [pdf]

Rev. Philip T Sumner, Oldham, England, whose talk was entitled ‘Affirming Identity to Create Community’.
For a person to enter into healthy relationships requires the ability to believe that he is loveable. If a person’s self-esteem is significantly low then he either avoids entering into a relationship or he tries to control the relationship so that he believes he cannot be hurt. The same applies to cultural communities. For there to be good relations between communities, each community has to believe that it is highly estimable. Then, as bridges are built, there have to be good foundations on each side. People from both cultures need to know who they are and be proud of who they are. Sometimes, in multicultural settings, one community can become too fearful of expressing its own identity for fear of upsetting other communities. Again, people do not build good relationships by hiding their real personalities …
Stereotyping takes place when someone thinks he knows the particular needs of a community but has failed to check his ideas in this regard with the community itself. We all have a responsibility to engage, as soon as possible, with people of other cultural identities entering into our localities. Real engagement helps to dispel any myths and to discover the particular needs of those communities. This takes time and there are no short cuts! We have to learn how to communicate in a way that demonstrates our esteem for those with whom we engage. In this process, we may discover that some of our language with regard to other communities may be inappropriate. We may make mistakes and have to seek forgiveness. …
Each cultural grouping has to feel that it is somehow part of the very fabric of the wider community and not an exotic decoration that can easily be discarded at whim. …
All Ireland Churches ’ Consulatative Meeting on Racism (AICCMR) conference, Challenged by Difference: Threat or Enrichment at Dromantine, November 2005. AICCMR conference: Affirming Identity [pdf]

Rt Rev. Ken Newell’s talk ‘Racism in Belfast: Up-front and Ugly’
Some months ago a friend who had just got out of hospital was reading the papers about the upsurge of racist attacks in South Belfast. He felt so angry, ‘It’s only a matter of time, Ken,’ he said, “before somebody gets killed. Some of the Filipino nurses who looked after me in the Royal were the ones chased down the Donegall Road by a pack of thugs’. It was this kind of incident that led The Guardian to label Belfast ‘The Race-Hate Capital of Europe’. Sadly, there are chilling statistics to back that up. While racial attacks in England and Wales were running at 12.6 per 1000 of the ethnic population, in Northern Ireland the figure for the same period was 16.4.
All Ireland Churches ’ Consulatative Meeting on Racism (AICCMR) conference, Challenged by Difference: Threat or Enrichment at Dromantine, November 2005. AICCMR conference: Racism - Up Front and Ugly in Belfast [pdf]

Renewing Hope: Christians taking Responsibility 22 May 2005

A group of Christians from across the denominations in Northern Ireland has come together to focus on bringing about a society where everyone can enjoy freedom, politicians and people take responsibility and healthy relationships flourish. One facet of this is recognising the challenges of diversity:
“To build good relations in a diverse society, we must continue to confront sectarianism and racism where they manifest themselves, and stand alongside those who feel threatened by bigotry. This includes a realistic recognition of difference, tolerance in place of hostility, inclusive celebration of our varied cultural heritages, where possible, and an honest engagement regarding aspects of other cultures and ideologies that we find threatening or disturbing. Within this land there is increasing ethnic diversity, to add to the long-standing cultural, political and religious division. This raises new kinds of fear, resentment and intolerance.

Such diversity, however, can contribute to our economic and cultural vitality, and should be a measure of our openness to new ideas, perspectives and people. It offers us a foretaste of the heavenly Kingdom, which will include people from every earthly nationality. (Revelation 7:9) Minority ethnic communities are vulnerable fellow citizens, often literally strangers in a foreign land, and as such God’s people are commanded in scripture to protect and support them. (Leviticus 19:34)’ …

Churches have a crucial role to play, creating spaces that foster hope and imagination. In the negotiating of difference and living together we must acknowledge both our rights and our responsibilities, and that we can claim no rights or privileges for ourselves which we are not prepared to share with our fellow citizens of other traditions. In doing so we live out Paul’s advice to the Philippians, ‘Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.’ (Philippians 2:4)”
More of this reflection and the statement on which it is based can be found at www.renewing-hope.org.

A view from the South: General Synod of the Church of Ireland May 2005

Rev. Katherine Poulton. (Dublin Diocese) ‘spoke of the “boost” to inner city parishes of the arrival of immigrants. Congregations, she said, had “stepped outside their own comfort zones to embrace new arrivals from many different cultures and backgrounds.’ Church of Ireland Gazette 20 May 2005.
Canon Desmond Sinnamon (Dublin Diocese) reflecting on the numbers of refugees and people seeking asylum in the south, said that in the past 10 years:
‘Ireland has been enriched, and … our church life in certain areas has been revitalised by increasing numbers from other church cultures. … Canon Sinnamon called on local churches to be places of welcome and hospitality and “to be a bridge to help and support our newcomers.”’Church of Ireland Gazette 20 May 2005.

Archbishop Sean Brady speaks out on Racism in Northern Ireland
“The number of incidents against people from other countries is shameful. Of course it is linked to our reluctance to welcome difference whether it is different religion, different race or different colour of skin. Racism is a disgrace wherever it happens, especially when followers of Christ do it, but it is part of this fear of people who are different and a lack of appreciation of their dignity in the sight of God. … We have to try and change attitudes and improve our appreciation of the value of every human being. In God’s eyes we are equal. We are not the same – or else the world would be very boring – but we are equal in dignity.”
From an interview with Anna Rankin, editor of Lion & Lamb and EMBRACE committee member, Lion & Lamb, Spring 2005. Article in full

‘Silent Racism’ in the Church
Former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Dr Ken Newell wrote :
“It would be wrong to exaggerate the overt racism in our community … but there is a silent racism just under the surface. Recently some Indian friends phoned me in distress. They had gone to live in one of our neatly-kept villages. They told me that in the previous 18 months nobody had knocked their door to welcome them to the neighbourhood. I had encouraged them to visit local churches, naively convinced that they would receive a warm welcome. ‘We tried that, Ken.’ They said. ‘We visited the Presbyterian church, the Church of Ireland, the Catholic church and a few others, but nobody said hello or asked us how we were. Even the ministers were disinterested, except for one.’ Eventually they asked a man in a local shop why people were distant. ‘I don’t like to say this to your face,’ he replied, ‘but you’re black and people round here don’t like black people.’ Their final question still haunts me, ‘Why are church people here so cold towards my wife and me? They’re our brothers and sisters. Aren’t they?’ Lion & Lamb, Autumn 2004. Article in full

Ministry for a Multicultural Church
It is important that the issue of the many cultures in one Church never be addressed as a problem to be solved that, once solved, will go away forever. The many cultures in the one Church is a potential blessing, an enrichment of our communities and our humanities. It is an invitation to expand our horizons and nurture new relationships. Keeping that in mind will keep us from seeking technical solutions that get us no farther than reducing conflict (as valuable as that may be), and help move us along a pathway that will bring us closer to respecting the right to culture and the development of culture, about which Pope John Paul II has spoken so eloquently. It is in that vein that we can turn to some of the striking biblical images of cultures coming together: the event of Pentecost, the coming together of every tribe and tongue, people and nation in the Book of Revelation. Ministry in a multicultural Church must be such that it does knit the members of the body, diverse as they may be, closer together and loser to the Head of the Body, Jesus Christ. It is these bold visions which we must hold before us as we struggle to become more faithful to call to ministry in a Church so varied and so rich.
Robert Schreiter, CPPS Ministry for a Multicultural Church
For the full text see www.sedos.org/english/schreiter.htm

Sectarianism and Racism in Tandem
Bishop Michael Jackson, Church of Ireland Bishop of Clogher, said, “members of other world faiths and ethnicities are our neighbours. … “There is evidence that active sectarianism and active racism are running in tandem in Ireland.” He went on to speak about the need to: “dig deep within the spirit of the Gospel to ensure that the words and the actions of Jesus Christ live today, in the daily lives of Christian people in Ireland, in simple and practical ways which are consistent with the radical compassion of Jesus Christ. ’ 16 August 2004

Fortress Europe
Archbishop Sean Brady, in a speech to an Irish group in Manchester, spoke of the dangers of a ‘fortress Europe’ attitude: In the words of His Holiness, Pope John Paul, “How can we say we welcome Christ if we close the door to the stranger in our midst? The presence among us of people from a variety of cultural and religious backgrounds is a gift for us, in that it enables us to broaden our experience of Church, to see that God calls all of mankind into one family, and to realise that the earth is given for all.” October 2003

Exile
Paul Surlis - People deprived of familiar rootedness in family, culture, tradition and geography deserve the next best thing, which is welcome, hospitality and compassionate concern in their new environment. ‘Exile’, Furrow, April 2000