So here it is:
"I have been serving here for a month. The words seem strange
to me as I utter them, and as I realize that I have been here in Belfast,
Northern Ireland for nearly half of my time given to working with this
congregation. Through Candler Advantage I’ve gotten the opportunity to spend 10
weeks with Skainos and the congregation of East Belfast Mission (and reaching
beyond).
This place is unique. As a Methodist Mission it is the
umbrella organization that encompasses Hosford House transitional housing,
Stepping Stone employment guidance and training, Compass community and family
outreach, the East Belfast Mission Congregation, Re:Fresh Café social economy
café, and countless Re:Stores and charity shops around the city of Belfast.
This place is also unique in that it is housed in a new building and the new
Skainos Square, which is focused on the idea of shared space. With architecture
based on the vision of the tent of meeting, there are apartments, classrooms,
offices for other organizations such as Tearfund, AgeNI and New Life
Counseling, a dance studio, a sports hall, roof terraces and vertical gardens,
and plenty of space for use by anyone who needs it.
Now, this idea of sharing is unique because it is very
unconventional here in Northern Ireland. So…some history…Northern Ireland is
still in the peace process that began with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998
that marks the end of the ethno-national conflict that is well known as “The
Troubles” that took place from 1969-1998. This conflict was political with
religious undertones, based simply in the idea of nationality. The Protestant Unionist
Loyalists and the Catholic Nationalist Republicans had different ideas of
whether the country of Northern Ireland should be Irish or British. Paramilitary
groups of the IRA, INLA, IPLO, CIRA, RIRA, UVF, UDA, RHC, UR, and LVF fought
each other with car bombs, petrol bombs, guns, fire, and even rocks and bricks.
With over 3,000 deaths and approximately 47,000 injured throughout the near 30
years of conflict, many scars were left in the community…particularly here in
Belfast.
Now that’s the history, but here’s the present: today there
are “peace lines” that run through pieces of Belfast, separating the Protestant
Loyalist and Catholic Nationalist neighborhoods. These are walls resembling the
peace walls separating Israel and Palestine. I look out my office window and
see Union Jacks and 1913 UVF Flags (Ulster Volunteer Force) flying. I am in UVF
territory. Murals are on nearly every corner. The one directly to my right
under those flags says “We owe it to the future and the victims never to forget
the past.” A few streets down there is a UVF mural of two men in balaclavas
poised to shoot, with the statement “We seek nothing but the elementary right
implemented in every man: the right if you are attacked to defend yourself.”
The whole city is filled with murals, ranging from peaceful and celebrating
Belfast to violent imagery. You become conditioned to seeing them and walking
straight past each day. The mentality that exists here is still separate and
unequal. Each side believes the other has something they don’t, and the peace
process is difficult. But the thing is, you can walk into town, go into
Victoria Square and not know the difference from one person to another. There
is no visible difference between the parties, they are the same, but have
different political and religious leanings. It is when one party begins to
march, to protest, or to riot that you can see the tension that underlies the
everyday life of all these people who look the same.
Part of the ministry and mission here at Skainos and East
Belfast Mission is to be a safe space for all walks of life and every part of
the political and religious spectrum. This is to be neutral ground. With this
mentality, the building is host to Irish Language Classes. Nearly every day of
the week, members of the community come to learn the language of their
heritage, the language that is readily seen in Catholic communities, and the
language that I now know very few verbs in…and I can only tell you things I did
in the past tense. The building is also host to children and youth from the
community, home to FridayFusion for primary aged children and Drop-In on
Wednesday and Friday nights for the teenagers of the community. Women’s Group
combines with a women’s group from a local Catholic church, and kidzGAP is a
safe space for moms and tots from the community (and a few dads). The outreach
programming here is endless. While I participate and help with a handful of
these, I realize the congregation of East Belfast Mission is far beyond the
group that meets for church on Sunday morning, but is rather the entire
community of East Belfast, and every person that comes through this building
and can feel the effects of its ministries.
But for that congregation that does meet on Sunday mornings,
the transition into Skainos Square has been a difficult one, sacrificing the
old church building, making shared space a necessity, and creating some
insecurity about ownership of the church within this space. Part of my job as a
response to this is to administer a congregational survey that seeks to hear
from every voice of the congregation, understanding how they feel in this place
and what can be done in the next year to help with the process of settling in.
This is a big undertaking in the final 5 weeks of my time here, but I have
become a part of the congregation and I am invested in letting each one of them
understand that their voice matters and is important. This is the body of
Christ, feeling the pains of change and transition, feeling the pains of trying
to be open and accepting in a city that is so divided. And even while the body
may be feeling some growing pains, this does not deflate the meaning of 1
Corinthians 12:14-31. Each person making up the fuller body of Christ plays an
important role, and I am working to empower this congregation in the knowledge
that their roles are truly important.
This is a difficult task, but as the G8 summit meets here in
Northern Ireland this week, and Obama has given the youth of Northern Ireland
the message to keep up hope and to keep reminding everyone that this place is
dedicated to peace, we can look hopefully toward the future for the
congregation, for Skainos and East Belfast Mission, for Belfast, and for the
country of Northern Ireland.
Thanks to Candler Advantage I am able to be in this place
and see how communities can react to the ideas of sharing space and embracing
change and peace. I look to my third year at Candler hopeful that I can bring
my experiences back and look at community development in the United States with
a new perspective and vision. Until then, and until I’m back in Hot-lanta in
August, cheers!"
So the new things since last time too:
1. When it decides it's going back to rain here, it REALLY rains. And then you get soaked and you freeze at an outdoor concert event.
2. The cupcakes are HUGE. And when they have pink frosting with edible glitter...they are going to taste pink and glittery.
3. Those stairs still smell like sunscreen.
4. Joanna and I made our own custard last night. Success!
5. Guinness is truly better here.
6. You can just walk straight through a protest surrounded by riot police...I've done it now.
7. You can get Haribo Rhubarb and Custard Splats sweets at Tesco Metro...and your life will be endlessly better.
8. There is just as much hype about Obama here as there is in the states.
9. American iPhones are useless in foreign countries without wifi capability...but they make a lovely slim camera.
10. Fish n' Chips with garlic sauce from the Bethany are like crack.
That's all for now folks, and I'll blog again soon(ish)...or when Drew reminds me that I need to post another blog.
Cheers!
Carrie
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