Tearfund Partner Church is a Good Neighbour; Os Guinness – Public Lecture in The Hub Belfast; “Soul Sisters” series at TCD; Discovery Anniversary Service; Parish Vision Day
Tearfund Partner Church is a Good Neighbour
Last week, local MLA Chris Lyttle helped to launch a new DVD telling the story of Knocknagoney Parish’s journey alongside the community as they seek to live out their mission with their neighbours.
In the film, members of the church, local residents, the head teacher of the local primary school and local MLA Chris Lyttle talk about the needs of the community and the transformation which has taken place there over the last few years as people have drawn together to work alongside each other.
John Beattie, the Development worker at Knocknagoney Parish in the Diocese of Down, is being supported by the charity Tearfund over a three–year period. He has built excellent relationships within the community and worked hard on the ground to support the residents. John feels that, “The key to good community development is putting others before self.”
MLA Chris Lyttle has been a part of the process of supporting the transformation and development and will be speaking at the launch. Chris says, “Working together the forum has not only helped to improve community facilities and support older and vulnerable people but has also built a real community spirit in the area”.
Serving the community of Knocknagoney for over 20 years, Canon David Brown can see how powerful, prayer and practical support can be when they go hand in hand. He explains, “Scripture is filled with God’s call to his disciples to come alongside people, to help them and bless them as Jesus would. Prayer and loving care for others cannot be separated the lack of one diminishes the other. Practically we join with our friends from Garnerville Presbyterian church each Friday morning, to support the community through prayer and bless them.”
The Knocknagoney Community Forum is the mechanism through which the community groups, the school, the churches and the local businesses work alongside the statutory agencies. The tangible results of this for the local community have been:
• An improved community spirit
• A winter emergency plan for older people
• New youth organisations
• Reductions in anti social behaviour
• Improvements in education
• Grit boxes
• New community artwork
• Improved lighting
• A Community garden
• Improvements to the play park
• Plans for a new football pitch
• A flood emergency plan
John Beattie urged churches who wanted to get alongside their communities to, “Start with something small.” adding, ”Don’t do it on behalf of the community, because it won’t work and the community won’t want it. Do it with the community.”
Bishop Harold Miller, a Tearfund Vice–President, attended the launch and spoke of his excitement at seeing the project ‘coming from the grass roots up’. “What’s happening here is a model for other places,” he said, “and I hope that people viewing the video will be inspired to collaborate with their own community to see it transformed.”
Os Guinness – Public Lecture in The Hub Belfast
Dr Guinness will speak on – A world safe for diversity – living with our deepest differences in an age of tension and conflict. A reflection on the challenges facing religion in the public square, on Thursday 29th November at 7.30pm at 22 Elmwood Avenue, Belfast, BT9 6AY
Dr Os Guinness is an expert in faith, public policy, and international relations. He received an undergraduate degree from the University of London and a D Phil in social sciences from Oriel College at the University of Oxford. Dr. Guinness born in China and lived through the Chinese Civil War and the Chinese famine, both of which were influential in his formative years. He left China for England in 1951, where Dr. Guinness has worked as a freelance journalist for the BBC and as a scholar at the Brookings Institute and the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Affairs. He has written and edited more than 25 books, he was a drafter of “The Williamsburg Charter,” a bicentennial celebration of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Dr. Guinness was also the primary drafter of “The Global Charter of Conscience,” published at the European Union Parliament in Brussels in June 2012. He founded the Trinity Forum in 1991, and served as Senior Fellow until 2004. Os Guinness has written or edited 30 books. He currently lives in McLean, Virginia with his wife Jenny.
The Student Centre of the Church of Ireland and Methodist Chaplaincies at QUB, 22 Elmwood Avenue, Belfast BT9 6AY 028 9066 7754
“Soul Sisters” series at TCD
The “Soul Sisters” series continues in Trinity College Chapel. The speaker this Sunday November 18, is Dr. Cathríona Russell, School of Religions and Theology, TCD (18 November). The series aims to celebrate inspiring women and runs until early December in the context of Sunday morning Choral Eucharist at 10.45 am. All are welcome. Full details of the series and recordings of the addresses are available on the TCD Chaplaincy website: www.tcd.ie/chaplaincy.
Discovery Anniversary Service
The Discovery Anniversary Service takes place in Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday November 18 at 3.30 pm.
Parish Vision Day
Fifty parishioners from Ahoghill and Portglenone (Connor) gathered in Portglenone Parish Centre for a Parish Vision Day on Saturday October 27.
The event was led by Canon David and Mrs Hilary McClay.
The following day, Sunday October 28, 177 shoe boxes were presented for the Samaritans’s Purse Christmas Show Box Appeal during the Family Service from the joint Parishes.