Part 2

Well, I hate to disappoint you Carla, but this one isn't happy-go-lucky either :) But I promise to have some hilarious stories on the way. And I've tried and tried to get pictures to work, but so far in vain. I'll press on. Here we go!

Sundays

I love Sundays here. Maybe it’s just because I’m away from my closest friends and family here, but I really cherish the time I get to spend in church and with believers on Sundays. It feels like an actual Sabbath.

Morning services usually start between 10:30 and 11:30, which means we have time to wake up without feeling frantic, and also don’t have the option of choosing the earlier service in order to “get it out of the way.” After church, we go to someone’s house for Sunday dinner (which is actually lunch, but it’s a lost cause trying to change their vocabulary). It’s usually quite a feast and almost always involves potatoes. Could you imagine having a Thanksgiving dinner EVERY WEEK? It’s amazing! After lunch we sit back and hold our bellies and groan about how stuffed we are until we have tea or coffee a few minutes later, and dessert (which they call “pudding," even though there’s NO PUDDING INVOLVED. I tell ya). To you, this might seem really formal and like a lot of work, but it’s not. Just relaxed and nice. Most of the prep for lunch is done the day before, and big home-cooked meals are so common that it’s really not a big deal. After that we might just talk, or take a walk or play a game or go do something fun. This often lasts up until the evening service, which starts around 6 or 7. This service is quieter, with fewer kids, and more reflective. It’s a really nice way to end the day – it always reminds me of the evening service at Bethany, or the Compline Service at St. Marks. So things turn out great.

This whole plan relies heavily on community, and the fact that others are committed to the same type of day. At home, it would be really hard for me and other busy, efficiency-oriented Americans to do this. I really don’t blame Americans for this, and I won’t romaticize the Irish for the fact that they seem to focus more on relationship and fellowship, although I think it is a beautiful thing. At the end of the day, most of us do what our culture and tradition teach us to do. However, I don’t think I would mind seeing this aspect changed in my own life when I come home. Could you prepare yourself to come over for a meal after church and not rush off? Could I commit to relaxing with you if you stayed for hours just chatting? We’ll see if it works out, but I think it could be nice.

The Aged

I’m not sure why it is, but older people seem to be the best and worst thing for the Church in Ireland. There’s a huge lack of young people involved in and living a faithful life. As Bill and Jean noticed when they visited, it’s often old men in suits trying to do street evangelism to younger people. They stand on the sidewalks handing out tracts, often positioning themselves outside of pubs on Friday and Saturday nights and to give the tracts to students coming in and out. It’s a really, really good thought and I think a lot of the men are genuinely burdened by God for the souls of these young people and trying to be obedient to Him. But I don’t know if it’s the most effective thing to do. It’s just my opinion, but I think that young people would be most effective in reaching out to their peers – which is hard when there aren’t many young people who know Jesus to begin with.

So maybe for Belfast, church ministry isn’t absolutely effective, but I can see that relational evangelism has huge potential. As I mentioned earlier, Protestant Christians here are very community-oriented. I would guess Catholics might be the same. This means that if one person invites a person into their group of friends, and the group accepts them as one of their own, they’re immediately surrounded by a crowd of Christian witnesses trying to live out the Gospel. I don’t know if this is true on a wider scale, but I’ve seen it within my roommate’s group of friends, and it feels really natural and healthy and authentic.

Another interesting thing – non-denominational Christian-run community centers. Some are run by Christians but actually function as non-profits, like by running soccer clubs and support groups. Another type is more one-on-one: The Belfast City Missions, which I talked about a few days ago, are located throughout the city and mostly run by men like the ones described above. They visit and get to know the people in the neighborhood in which they’re located, do their weddings and funerals, take them to the hospital, etc. Nicola opined that the older men in suits image might be beneficial because people would need to trust and respect people in order to let them into their houses and lives, and appearance definitely plays a role in building that type of relationship. Not having been affected by a Missioner in that manner, I can’t say whether or not she’s right. But the general idea of this type of ministry is intriguing– would it be possible for us to be so involved in the lives of our neighbors, but in an unofficial capacity? I’m not sure if it would work without the structure of an organization lending authority to our actions, but hmmm….

When I talk to people like Marie, who is in her 60s and volunteers full-time for The Way In, I can see that her heart is absolutely genuine and how she sacrifices everything to reach out to her community. There are a lot of stunning people like her found amongst tradition-laden religion and outright rebellion against false concepts of God that comprise Northern Ireland’s religious scene. Beautiful cathedrals with absolutely dead congregations, and saints and martyrs in ordinary houses. I’m really lucky to be exposed to stereotype breaking people and experiences.

Catholics

I wish I could give you more of a picture of what the other side of the religious divide looks like here, but the way things have turned out, I’m pretty immersed with a Protestant take on things. I work with people who grew up Catholic, and we have great conversation and banter. In actual practice, the divide between individuals who might be Catholic or Protestant is not nearly as great as the physical divide between church buildings and neighborhoods here in Belfast.

I hope that wasn’t confusing. Feel free to ask me questions that will help me question my environment here in different ways.