Today is my first full day in Belfast, as I flew in from London yesterday afternoon. Today was a beautiful, blue-sky day, something folks in this part of the world don't take for granted, and really enjoy. Thus, a lot of folks were out on the streets today, and late this afternoon my hosts and I enjoyed a nice walk about the Northern Ireland Assembly building at Stormont (pictured below). This morning I went to the offices of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland to visit the Presbyterian Historical Center. I saw their displays, including some interesting objects (including the "mould" on the top right photo for making communion tokens! If you don't know about communion tokens, look them up on the web!). I had a nice talk with the woman who was working in the office, and may have made off with a few books as well... Afterwards, went to a wonderful bookshop in Belfast, the Evangelical Bookshop, a Reformed bookshop just around the corner from the Presbyterian Church's building. Wonderful place...
After lunch and some walking around in Belfast, I took the tram back to the manse of the Belmont Presbyterian Church, where I am staying with Nigel and Antonia Craig, and their dog Vazier. On Sunday, I will preach the morning service at Belmont, and am humbled and flattered at Nigel's invitation to preach.
Northern Ireland is a unique spot both in the United kingdom and on the island of Ireland. It is a part of the United Kingdom, and has a "complicated" history. Many of us in the USA are descended from "Scotch-Irish" Presbyterians who came to the colonies before the American Revolution, and Scotch-Irish Presbyterians played a major role in the American Revolution, something they were led to do because of the difficulties they faced as Presbyterians living in Ireland (where they were "dissenters," since the established state church was Anglican). Many of us old enough to remember the news know about the "Troubles" in Ireland, from the 1960s into the 1990s, revolving around the religious, cultural, and political divisions in Northern Ireland. Thankfully, things are much better now! But folks here are watching all the "Brexit" issues in the news, because the sticking point in the UK's negotiations to leave the European Union revolve around issues related to the border between the Republic of Ireland (a different country) and Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland is also unique, and different from both the rest of the United Kingdom as well as the Republic of Ireland in one other major point. It remains the "Bible Belt", both within the United Kingdom, but also on the island of Ireland. In this respect, Northern Ireland is much like the South in the USA. Churches here are much stronger than most anywhere in western Europe. Yet, that is not to say that they are without challenges. In addition to the unique challenges of Northern Ireland, the province faces strong secularizing forces in the culture. This is compounded both by pressures from the Republic of Ireland and from the United Kingdom as a whole. In fact, in recent years the churches in Northern Ireland, Protestant and Roman Catholic, have often found themselves speaking together regarding shared concerns about the cultural pressures (secularism, LGBT issues, abortion, etc.). As in the USA, church attendance is declining in Northern Ireland, though nothing like it has in Scotland.
Over the next week I will be having meetings with ministers in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, as well as with professors at their theological training college/seminary. And, of course, I'll have more to report as well.
Grace and peace!
Walter Tayor
After lunch and some walking around in Belfast, I took the tram back to the manse of the Belmont Presbyterian Church, where I am staying with Nigel and Antonia Craig, and their dog Vazier. On Sunday, I will preach the morning service at Belmont, and am humbled and flattered at Nigel's invitation to preach.
Northern Ireland is a unique spot both in the United kingdom and on the island of Ireland. It is a part of the United Kingdom, and has a "complicated" history. Many of us in the USA are descended from "Scotch-Irish" Presbyterians who came to the colonies before the American Revolution, and Scotch-Irish Presbyterians played a major role in the American Revolution, something they were led to do because of the difficulties they faced as Presbyterians living in Ireland (where they were "dissenters," since the established state church was Anglican). Many of us old enough to remember the news know about the "Troubles" in Ireland, from the 1960s into the 1990s, revolving around the religious, cultural, and political divisions in Northern Ireland. Thankfully, things are much better now! But folks here are watching all the "Brexit" issues in the news, because the sticking point in the UK's negotiations to leave the European Union revolve around issues related to the border between the Republic of Ireland (a different country) and Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland is also unique, and different from both the rest of the United Kingdom as well as the Republic of Ireland in one other major point. It remains the "Bible Belt", both within the United Kingdom, but also on the island of Ireland. In this respect, Northern Ireland is much like the South in the USA. Churches here are much stronger than most anywhere in western Europe. Yet, that is not to say that they are without challenges. In addition to the unique challenges of Northern Ireland, the province faces strong secularizing forces in the culture. This is compounded both by pressures from the Republic of Ireland and from the United Kingdom as a whole. In fact, in recent years the churches in Northern Ireland, Protestant and Roman Catholic, have often found themselves speaking together regarding shared concerns about the cultural pressures (secularism, LGBT issues, abortion, etc.). As in the USA, church attendance is declining in Northern Ireland, though nothing like it has in Scotland.
Over the next week I will be having meetings with ministers in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, as well as with professors at their theological training college/seminary. And, of course, I'll have more to report as well.
Grace and peace!
Walter Tayor
