| Methodist Church In Ireland |
Article Index for Methodist Church |
Website Links For Methodist Church |
Information AboutMethodist Church In Ireland |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT METHODIST CHURCH IN IRELAND | |
| christianity in ireland | |
| christianity in northern ireland | |
| methodist denominations | |
| SHOPPER'S DELIGHT | |
|
The Methodist Church in Ireland has approximately 80,000 members across both Northern Ireland and the Republic Of Ireland . It is the 4th largest Christian denomination in both jurisdictions. In recent years the Methodist Church in Ireland has began to run against the trend in Christian churches and has experienced a large and significant increase in membership, especially in urban areas which have long been a focus of the church. The governing body of the Methodist Church in Ireland is the ''Annual Conference''. HISTORY John Wesley crossed the Irish Channel forty-two times, and spent six years of his busy life in the island. The bells were ringing for church when he first entered Dublin Bay, on Sunday morning, August 9, 1747. Twelve years before Wesley visited Ireland Bishop Berkeley had advocated the very methods which Wesley used for reaching the hearts of the Irish people: the employment of lay preachers taken from the people, speaking their tongue, and "well instructed in the first principles of religion." The Established Church was feeble, and spiritually paralyzed, and Thomas Jackson, in his life of Charles Wesley, was justified in claiming that even the forms of Protestantism would at this day be extinct in most of the country had it not been for the new energy that was infused into the Irish Protestant churches by Wesley and his helpers. Recent scholarship has been reassessing Wesley's theology. To the Anglican criteria of scripture, tradition and reason, Wesley added experience. Human experience cannot always be fitted into a logical system, and it is now being argued that Wesley's experiential approach may offer a more effective way for the Christian church to communicate with those outside. It has been suggested that nobody who lived in the 18th century has influenced more people in the years since than John Wesley, and in the dissemination of that influence Irish people have played a significant role. METHODIST BELIEF The Methodist Church as part of the worldwide church shares those core beliefs passed down from the time of the Apostles. Those beliefs are founded on the Bible and are summed up in the creeds, which are regularly used in Christian services of all denominations. It is widely accepted that the Protestant Reformation focused on three main matters of belief: the supreme authority of scripture; salvation by faith through faith in Christ, and; the priesthood of all believers. The Methodist Church continues to affirm the importance of these matters. John Wesley (the founder of Methodism) believed that certain aspects of the Christian Faith required special emphasis. Methodists today still hold to these emphases. There is no more simple or indeed better way of presenting these than by using the four statements that collectively are called the 'Four Alls'. Although this is a 20th Century creation it admirably represents Wesley's mind and is certainly more comprehensive than any single statement of his:
STRUCTURE The Methodist Church in Ireland works on a democratic structure. There are no bishops or ordained hierarchy. Authority in the Church is vested in the Annual Conference and the trustees. Classes The small group (or 'class') has always been the lifeblood of Methodism... They have different names now, whether an Alpha Home group, prayer triplet, Bible study, or whatever: but the aim is the same - to encourage one another in the Faith. Societies and Circuits These small groups gather, along with other people, to worship God together on Sunday and to work and witness in the community throughout the week. These congregations (or 'societies') can be linked with up to six or seven other congregations in the local area to form a 'circuit'. The direction of a circuit is guided by the Quarterly Board, composed of one senior minister ('Circuit Superintendent'), other ministers, local preachers and a group of leaders from the member congregations. Districts There are 73 Methodist circuits on the island of Ireland, which have been gathered into eight 'districts' to co-ordinate and motivate at a more general geographical level. Each district appoints a Superintendent and a Secretary to oversee the work and provide pastoral support to clergy. Conference Our annual conference, usually held over the second weekend of June, brings people from all over the island together to worship, administrate and be inspired. There are several boards and departments which work at the Connexional level to serve individuals and the Methodist Church in Ireland as a whole... by pooling our resources we can do so much more! Reports from these departments are presented at Conference. Each year Conference elects an administrative and representative president for 12 months. SOCIAL AND EDUCATION The Methodist Church has made a large contribution to Ireland both through education and social action. =Social The church has always had an emphasis on social action and helping those in need in society. One of the church's mottos is that the organisation is "Friends of all, enemies of none". This desire to help the needy has manifested itself in various ways, the most prominent of which is the establishment of City Missions. The City Missions of the Methodist Church in Ireland are very visible expressions of social and communtiy concern by local congregations. There are five City Missions in Belfast, Newtownabbey, Dublin and Derry. While all churches are encouraged to be involved in the life of their local communities, the City Missions have been given the "mission" status because the main thrust of their work is outwards - seeking to provide care of various kinds to people in the surrounding communities. Work carried out by the City Missions includes listening services, homeless help, retirement and nursing homes and various other self-help groups. Stongly emphasised is that the relief of social and personal needs are addressed irrespective of creed. The Methodist Church also makes a proactive contribution to society as a whole through its Council on Social Responsibility, World Development & Relief Committee and Home missions department. The Church has also made an enormous contribution to the peace process in Northern Ireland (See below) =Education The Methodist Church maintains two large and prestigious secondary schools in Ireland, one north and one south. Methodist College Belfast has made a significant contribution to the life of Ireland an internationally, with many distinguished past pupils including Ernest Walton . Its counterpart in the Republic, Wesley College Dublin has a similarly prominent reputation. It has also contributed immensely to Irish society including government ministers. Famous past pupils of Wesley include George Bernard Shaw and Senator Gordon Wilson . More important than past pupils and specific contribution of alumni of these two colleges is their firm Christian basis rooted in the Methodist tradition. They are both committed to the raising up of young leaders of their respective societies with a strong sense of purpose and clear Christian values. The Methodist Church also maintains a number of primary schools in both the Republic and Northern Ireland. Furthermore the church owns a prominent agricultural college in the Republic of Ireland called Gurteen Agricultural College. Edgehill, the theological college of the Methodist Church in Ireland, is a Christian community which welcomes people from every denomination and seeks to equip them for mission and ministry. Edgehill Theological College has been serving the Methodist Church in Ireland for over 80 years. Edgehill is a constituent college of the Queen's University, Belfast and provides a series of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in theology, part time courses in faith and worship and other areas of church life as well as correspondance courses and seminars. Edgehill is also the ministerial training college for the Methodist Church in Ireland =Youth Work Methodism has had a strong tradition of organised youth work for generations, the current organisation in charge of youth work is DYCW. The Department of Youth and Children's Work has been in existance Methodism many years. The first full time General Secretary was appointed over thirty years ago. It exists to make meaningful links between the Church and children and young people. DYCW aims to facilitate a two-way process of communication across the generational boundaries so that every generation in church life is appreciated, listen to and affirmed. This involves representing and advocating youth and children's issues within the whole life of the Church, it means training and supporting ministers and youth and children's workers in the task of ministry to all generations and organising youth and children's events and programmes throughout Ireland. DYCW achieves these aims through a variety of structures and events. It offers a year out discipleship and evangelism programme known as Team on Mission (TOM) which is currently in its 17th year; TOM succeeded the older programme known as YET. Each year a number of young people commit to a year out and participate in various activities around the country, leading youth groups and services, both growing themselves and teaching the Good News. The department also runs a number of flagship events such as Autumn Soul (for ages 12+) and Soul Mates (For primary school age). Various activites are also organised through IMAYC (Irish Methodist Association of Youth Clubs) such as retreats and sports weekends. CONTRIBUTION TO NORTHERN IRELAND The Methodist Church and its members have made an enormous contribution to the peace process in Northern Ireland. It has often been said of the Methodist Church that of all the denominations the Methodist Church have caused the least obstruction and arguably the greatest contribution to healing in The Troubles . This is however, nothing to boast about, but a clear and encouraging sign of what can be achieved when a committed group of people work through their conviction to God in order to help their society. Dr Eric Gallagher is such an example. As president of the Methodist Church in Ireland he was the first Protestant churchman who met with IRA/Sinn Fein representatives in Feakle, County Clare in the 1970s to unsuccessfully try to broker a peace. The meeting was broken up by the Irish Police, but the fugitive IRA men had already left. This was a marvellous sign from a church leader displaying the "enemies of none" philosophy running through Methodist belief. =Gordon Wilson Further committment to the Peace Process was achieved in the most disasterous of circumstances in 1987. Gordon Wilson , a committed member of the Methodist Church was the father of Marie Wilson, one of 11 victims of the Enniskillen Remembrance Sunday Parade bombing by the Provisional IRA. He came to national and international prominence with an emotional television interview he gave to the BBC the same evening in which he described his last conversation with his daughter, a nurse, as they both lay buried in rubble. Mr Wilson declared at the end of his interview that he forgived his daughter's killers and urged loyalist paramilitaries not to take revenge for her death. This was seen as a turning point in the peace process, that somebody so soon after such a disaster was able through his love for Jesus to forgive his own daughter's murderers. His contribution was honoured when he was invited to take a seat in Seanad Eireann by request of the Taoiseach in 1993. =The Peace Process Today In recent years the Methodist Church has been attempting to address the hurts which have been caused in Irish society as a result of The Troubles . The Church established a specific Ministry of Healing body to deal with this which has since published a special 'Healing the Hurts Service' for those affected by violence and trauma as a result of hurts on both sides of the community. In 2005, The Church was once again thrown into the centre of the Peace Process as a former president of The Methodist Church in Ireland, Rev Harold Good, was asked to be an independent witness for the historic decomissioning of IRA arms. INTO THE FUTURE The Methodist Church in Ireland has recently embarked on a period of reflection on its position within Irish Society which it called 'Dreaming Dreams'. Although in many areas of the country the Church is increasing in numbers it is aware that as a whole numbers are decreasing in church membership across the country in every denomination. The Methodist Church does not believe that this necessarily means a lack of interest in faith but rather that a new approach to reaching those who are leaving the church must be adopted. The church has since published its 'ConneXions' plan. The core vision of ConneXions is that each local Church will reflect the life of Christ in its own area. Each church was asked to participate in a community survey so as to find a policy in each church which will best match the needs of its locality. The Methodist Church hopes that this plan when fully implemented will put the entire connexion in a strong position for regrowth and redevelopment in the 21st Century whilst holding fast to the emphasises of the Weslyan tradition on which it was formed. A strong element of the Methodist Church's view on the future is to remain firm to its beliefs but also being able to change itself for the times in which it lives. A sign of this which has created much focus in recent years is the Church's attempts at greater Christian unity. In 2002 The Methodist Church in Ireland signed a covenant for greater cooperation and potential ultimate unity with the Church Of Ireland . This was a sign of the Church's commitment to ecumenism which has been in existance since the early days of Methodist. The church is also firmly committed to creating new and innovative ways to worship. An example of this has been the Methodist's strong commitment to the emerging 24-7 prayer movement. The church has recently opened 24-7 prayer rooms and is encouraging as many churches as possible to do so. It aims that the whole nation of Ireland may one day be praying 24-7. |