Bringing Reconciliation Home - 2007/2008 Programme
"Bringing Reconciliation Home" describes the theme which joins together the work of St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace and St Martin-in-the-Fields in London with the Corrymeela Community from Northern Ireland.
This programme examines the experiences gained by ourselves and by others in reconciling the sources of conflict and division in our own lives and throughout the world, so that we may be better able to apply this learning to our own situations. Although the events are independently organised by separate institutions their themes are linked in a way which develops and expands this experience.
The Autumn education series organised by St Martin-in-the- Fields considered how we deal with the divisions within ourselves and in the world around us. The Corrymeela Friends Weekend on "the Gift of the Stranger" at Barnes Close near Birmingham extended this outreach by exploring how we may enrich our lives and those of others by welcoming the diversity of the stranger instead of withdrawing in defence. The workshop on "Understanding Reconciliation" brought together those working in the area of reconciliation to reflect on, explore and synthesise our understanding of reconciliation in the context of UK society today. The conference at St Ethelburga's on Truth Discovery in Divided Societies built on the experience of reconciliation work in Northern Ireland, the Solomon Islands South Africa and the United Kingdom. It concentrated on examining how this understanding can be applied to the mainland UK situation. It identifed actions that need to be taken to ameliorate the effects.
These events are intended for members of all faiths and all ethnic groups who are interested in or engaged in the work of reconciliation.
Click Here to download the Programme Series Leaflet. Everyone is welcome, you do not need to be a member of any of the
organising institutions to come to any event.
Please scroll down or click on a link below for full details of each event.
Love
Your Enemy? Autumn Education Series - October and
November 2007
Understanding Reconciliation: Bringing Reconciliation Home - Thursday 22 Nov 10am – 4pm
Other Activities
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Love Your Enemy? Tuesdays at 7:00p.m. in October and November 2007
St Martin-in-the-Fields
Autumn Education Series
Tuesdays at 7:00 pm
in St Martin-in-the-Fields
Trafalgar Square
London WC2N 4JJ
All were welcome at these events. There was no need to book.
This event was one of a series of events on "Bringing Reconciliation Home"
Click Here to download the Programme Series Leaflet.
Tuesday 16 October "Love your Enemy within a Divided Church?"
Rev Giles Frazer
Tuesday 30th October "Love your Enemy within a Divided Self?"
James Alison
James Alison is a Catholic theologian, priest and author. He has studied, lived and worked in Mexico, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile and the United States as well as his native England. Having lived with the Dominican Order between 1981 and 1995, James currently works as an itinerant international preacher, lecturer and retreat giver, accompanying a wide variety of people, through academic lectures, undergraduate, postgraduate and professors' seminars, adult catechesis courses, and retreats for priests, and parish groups.
He is the author of Knowing Jesus (London: SPCK 1992); Living in the End Times (SPCK 1998); The Joy of Being Wrong (Crossroad, 1998); Faith beyond resentment: fragments catholic and gay (DLT, 2001); and most recently On being liked (DLT, 2003).Undergoing God: Dispatches from the Scene of a Break-In DLT, 2006) and many articles.
James Alison is one of the most lucid, original, exciting and intellectually astute voices in the church writing on religion and violence, on gay/straight issues and the recovery of an authentically catholic vision of life.
Tuesday 13th November "Love your Enemy within a Divided World"
Bruce Kent
Bruce Kent needs little introduction. He is perhaps the country's most well known and prominent peace campaigner who first became involved in the peace movement in 1958, working with Pax Christi. Educated in Canada and Brasenose College, Oxford, Bruce Kent was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest at Westminster in 1958. He was Catholic Chaplain to London University (1966-74). In 1980 he was elected General Secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Under Bruce Kent, CND became a very active force. Kent became CND Chairman in 1987, the year he resigned his Ministry. He was President of the International Peace Bureau (1985-92) and the National Peace Council (1999-2000), President of Abolition 2000 UK, and a member of Amnesty International. His tireless work has ensured his position as an internationally renowned speaker on issues centred on justice and peace.
Tuesday 27th November "Love your Enemy within a Divided Community"
The St Ethelburga's team.
In 1993, St. Ethelburga’s church in the City of London was almost completely destroyed when a massive IRA bomb exploded nearby, devastating Bishopsgate and causing an estimated £1bn worth of damage. The church was rebuilt and now houses the St. Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, which organises programmes and many public events exploring the relationship between faith and conflict, as well as inter-faith dialogue and training. It is also used for private meetings to reconcile people in conflict. It’s team are devoted to bringing people together promoting understanding. The lecture at St. Martin’s drew from the wealth of experience they have gained in this vital work.
Details of the St Ethelburga's programme can be found on its website www.stethelburgas.org
All are welcome at these events. There is no need to book.
Further information on St Martin-in-the-Fields can be found on the website http://www.smitf.org
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Corrymeela Friends Weekend
at the Community for Reconciliation,
Bromsgrove near Birmingham
Friday November 2nd to Sunday November 4th 2007
The theme for this weekend was “Reconciliation - an interfaith perspective: The Gift of the Stranger"
Conference Proceedings
The Proceedings of the event will be published on this Website
Conference Information
This event was one of a series of events on "Bringing Reconciliation Home"
Click Here to download the Programme Series Leaflet.
Click Here to download the Leaflet for the Event.
This weekend, which was led by a variety of speakers involved in Interfaith Work, challenged us to look at what reconciliation means in our communities today. Does reconciliation necessarily lead to cohesion and integration? And where do we start in seeking to relate to those whose understanding of the world seems so different from ours? Throughout the weekend and of course on Sunday morning particularly, there was also be an opportunity to hear about the political situation in Northern Ireland, to hear about the contribution of Corrymeela to the continuing work of reconciliation and to consider how the lessons of Northern Ireland may be applied in our own communities.
The Chairman and Facilitator for the weekend was Professor Mark Johnson, a longstanding friend of Corrymeela who declares that he “married into Corrymeela with Moira!” He has been researching race and ethnic relations in Britain for over 25 years and now runs a Research Centre at de Montfort University in Leicester which looks at issues of diversity in relation to health and social care.
Dr Helen Reid, Programme Director of Bradford Churches for Dialogue and Diversity. Helen has much experience of grassroots peace building work in Bradford and has worked nationally for “Faith to Faith” focusing on research and training. The vision of the Bradford Churches for Dialogue and Diversity is to build up Christian Communities in multi faith areas through providing opportunities for sharing together in education and training, prayer and reflection.
The Revd Diane Johnson. Diane Johnson is in the process of retiring from an Anglican Parish in Leicester where she worked closely with the local Muslim community in the setting up of a Christian/Muslim Women’s Dialogue Group.
Dr Gurnam Singh, whose topic will be “Religious Fundamentalism and Inter Faith Relationships”. "Dr Singh has been an academic for the past 20 years and currently works in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at Coventry University. He has spent much of his professional life researching, writing, lecturing and campaigning on issues associated with inequalities and human rights abuses. He came to the UK in 1962 as a 2 year old from the Punjab and grew up in Bradford. From an early age he developed a curiosity with the apparent capacity for faith to transform the lives of individuals and communities, mostly for the better, but sometimes not so! Although he grew up in a secular family, around the age of 17, mainly due to its emphasis on equality, justice, service, ecology and spirituality, he was attracted to Sikh faith and decided to adopt an orthodox Sikh way of life. Subsequently, he became actively engaged in interfaith work in West Yorkshire and more recently the West Midlands. The recent growth of religious fundamentalist violence and so-called 'ethnic cleansing', a term euphemistically coined to disguise genocide against targeted populations, has been a cause of great concern for Dr Singh and this has prompted him to focus his work in this area. His talk explored the challenges that these new fundamentalisms pose for proponents of interfaith dialogue and reconciliation.
Dr David Stevens. David has been Leader of the Corrymeela Community since January 2004 and involved in the community since the 1960’s. He served as General Secretary of the Irish Council of Churches from 1992 to the end of December 2003. He is a founding member of the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council and a current member.
Jacynth Hamill. Jacynth is well known to Barnes Close visitors! She is Editor of the Corrymeela Community worship book (Travelling the Road of Faith) and she once more led the worship sessions.
Friday 2nd November
5.30pm Onwards: Arrival
6.30pm Evening Meal
8.00pm Opening session and introduction to theme – Dr Helen Reid, Programme Director of Bradford Churches for Dialogue and Diversity.
9.30pm Worship (Jacynth Hamill)
Saturday 3rd November
8.30am Breakfast
9.30am Worship
10.00am Session 2 – Dr Helen Reid
11.30am Coffee
11.45am Session 3 – The Reverend Diane Johnson.
1.00pm Lunch
2.00pm Free time
4.00pm Afternoon Tea
4.30pm Session 4 – Dr Gurnam Singh.
6.30pm Evening meal
7.45pm An evening of traditional Irish music is planned.
9.30pm Worship
Sunday 4th November
8.30am Agape Breakfast
10.00am Session 5 – Dr David Stevens
11.30am Coffee
12.00noon Final Session and closing worship
1.00pm Lunch and end of weekend
Saturday Evening… Traditional Irish music.
Further information on Corrymeela can be found on the website www.corrymeela.org
Conference Centre Location:
Barnes Close,
Chadwich,
Old Malthouse Lane,
Nr Bromsgrove,
Worcestershire,
BB1 0RA
Most rooms are twin bedded either with hot and cold running water or with private shower and WC. A very few single rooms are available. Please bring your own soap and towels. Cost £90.00 per person for the weekend. Rooms with private shower and WC attract an extra charge of £4.00 per room per night.
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Understanding Reconciliation : Bringing reconciliation home
Thursday 22 Nov 10am – 4pm
A Participative Workshop
at the St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace
78, Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AG
Workshop Information
This event was one of a series of events on "Bringing Reconciliation Home"
Click Here to download the Programme Series Leaflet.
What are our societal conflicts in London and the UK and what needs to be reconciled? Is faith a factor in these conflicts and in what ways can it help us work with them constructively? How can insights gained from conflicts elsewhere help us in London?
This participative workshop brought together past contributors to St Ethelburga’s dialogues and others working in the area of reconciliation to reflect on, explore and synthesise our understanding of reconciliation in the context of UK society today.
Philip Lewis (Department of Peace Studies, Bradford),
Malcolm Duncan (Faithworks),
Sister Anita Cook (Community of Sisters of the Church, Ham Common).
Martin Hayward (International Centre for Reconciliation, Coventry Cathedral).
This event was free of charge, but donations were welcome.
More details can be found on the St Ethelburga's Website www.stethelburgas.org
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Truth Discovery in Divided Societies: 2nd February 2008
A conference which explored how the lessons learned in these societies may used to reduce the build up of conflict and ethnic tension in the United Kingdom.
10:00am at the St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace
78, Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AG
The conference was organised as an event for members of all faiths and all ethnic groups who are interested in or engaged in the work of reconciliation.
Please click on the required item:
Speaker's Biographies and Conference Programme
Conference Papers
Richard Carter: Lessons learnt from methods of peacemaking in Solomon Islands, with particular
reference to the role of the Melanesian Brotherhood and the Religious Communities.
Wilhelm Verwoerd: Truth, Justice and Reconciliation? Inclusive remembrance and the South African
Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
David Stevens: All Sorts of Peace.
Proceeding of this event will be published on this website
Conference Information
This event was one of a series of events on "Bringing Reconciliation Home"
Click Here to download the Programme Series Leaflet.
Click Here to download the Leaflet for the Event
Civil conflict has often been resolved by some form of peace process which involves some compromise being made. This allows people to move forward once a new perspective has been gained. However this has only taken place after a long and protracted period of violence where exhaustion and stalemate allows people to accept the changes required. The conference considered how the lessons learned may be applied to other developing conflict situations, including those in the UK, to remove the build up of violence and tension that occurs.
This conference built on the experience of reconciliation work in Northern Ireland, the Solomon Islands South Africa and the United Kingdom. It examined how that understanding can be applied to the mainland UK situation and it identified actions that need to be taken to ameliorate the effects.
David Stevens is the Leader of the Corrymeela Community in Northern Ireland. He is also a member of the Northern Ireland Community
Relations Council and of the Faith and Politics Group.
Richard Carter is a former Chaplain to and member of the Melanesian Brothers, an Anglican order of Christian brothers
known for their peace work throughout the South Pacific and beyond. He is currently a priest in St Martin-in-the-Fields.
Wilhelm Verwoerd is a grandson of Hendrik Verwoerd, who is regarded by many as the architect of Apartheid. Disturbed by the injustices of Apartheid, Wilhelm however became a member of the ANC, and he has worked to address the legacy of suffering it has caused. For two years under Nelson Mandela's government of national unity he served as a researcher for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Later he became a lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch. He now serves as a program coordinator for the ex-combatants program at the Glencree Centre for Reconciliation in Ireland.
Alf McCreary is the Religion Correspondent of the Belfast Telegraph, and also an award-winning journalist and author. He graduated from Queen’s University, Belfast with an honours degree in Modern History, and he is a part-time tutor in writing at the Institute of Lifelong Learning at Queen’s, and also at the Irish Writers’ Centre in Dublin. The first of his 35 titles Corrymeela – The search for peace was published in 1975. His recent books include the acclaimed biographies of Senator Gordon Wilson, published by Harper Collins, and Archbishop Robin Eames, Published by Hodder and Stoughton. He was appointed MBE in the 2004 New Year Honours List.
Inderjit Bhogal is a Methodist Minister and is a former President of the Methodist Conference. He is currently working as Director of the Yorkshire and Humber Faiths Forum. He has a special concern for Asylum Seekers and is founder and Chair of City of Sanctuary, a movement to create a culture of welcome and hospitality for Asylum Seekers. He is also Chair of "Set All Free", the Churches Together in England project focussing on the abolition of slavery. Inderjit has been a friend and supporter of Corrymeela for 30 years. In 2005 he was awarded the OBE for his work in interfaith relations.
Huda Jawad is the UK Director of Forward Thinking, a registered charity that acts in the UK to facilitate dialogue and promote understanding between faith-based Muslim communities and the British Establishment.
The conference considered how ethnic conflict develops. It then examined how the appropriate methods of conflict resolution may be applied to the current situation in mainland Britain. The theme of each presentation is given below..
Conflict Development
David Stevens examined current developments of conflict theory and research, using the experience gained in Northern Ireland to show how this can explain the self sustaining nature of conflict dynamics. The speaker employed this knowledge to identify the strategies required.
Social and Spiritual Dislocation in Conflict Situations
Richard Carter discussed the spiritual and social dislocation that takes place when violence occurs and experience in the Solomon Islands will be considered. This includes the empowerment of people that others in their communities rally to because they claim to provide their defence. Often these are people who previously had little power or status in their communities. A major change in power structure takes place and the implications of this were considered.
Media Impact and Patterns of Communication in Conflict Situations
Alf McCreary examined media influences. He considered how reporting may promote a victim/victor mentality and the consequences that can arise from the way in which the protagonists then become labelled in the fight. Consideration will also be given to how rumour and communication can lead to the scapegoating of individual communities when these create the impression that the typical is represented by the extreme. The speaker also considered how this can be avoided and how the media and reporting may be used to promote reconciliation instead.
The Role of Truth and Justice in Conflict Situations
Wilhelm Verwoerd considered the role of truth and justice in conflict situations. Conflicts are often driven through the demand for justice by one side or another but the experience of Northern Ireland, South Africa and South America show that compromises with the pursuit of justice eventually have to be made to escape from conflict situations. This is also seen in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa and the amnesty processes in Northern Ireland. The presentation considered how reconciliation can proceed given the hurt and ill feeling that these compromises involve.
Discrimination and its Development
Inderjit Bhogal concentrated on the development of discrimination. For some people discrimination is unintentional since every step along the road to active discrimination can be taken by reasonable people taking rational acts which protect their own interests. Discrimination can therefore be practiced by people who do not intend to be unfair but who come to see a view of their opponents through the glasses that prejudice creates. Other people will seek to discriminate for purposes of personal gain or political advantage. Tribal identities are reinforced by discriminatory action.
Experiences of the Minority Communities
Huda Jawad discussed how the Muslim community is responding to perceived and real outside attacks on its integrity and identity. The response within the community was also considered including the actions of some sections by asserting their identity through defiance instead of seeking relationships with the host and other communities in the United Kingdom.
Workshops
A series of workshops were held. These discussed how the information from the presentations impact on their own situations and identified the actions that need to be taken to ameliorate their effects. A set of prepared questions will be provided to facilitate the discussions. The discussions will also be written up and published with the proceedings of the event.
Final Plenary Session
A final Plenary Session was held during which points for future action were discussed. This will be chaired by a conference facilitator who will be asked to draw the conclusions of the conference together and produce a subsequent paper on the outcome which will be published with the proceedings.
Click on the title for the
Speaker's Biographies and Conference Programme
For online booking and information go to the website: www.stethelburgas.org
One of the most common experiences in divided societies is the difference between what each group supposes about the other and what the other really believes. The perceptions of fear make us erect barriers to communication which reinforce the barriers that already exist. This conference built on the background of previous events and it concentrated on examining how these experiences can be applied to the mainland UK situation.
Experiences in Northern Ireland and in South Africa were considered at a conference on the 12th March 2005 held in the St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace in London. A further event was held at St Ethelburga's in March 2006. The remit of both events was to examine the nature of peace processes and the dynamics of conflict, and to consider how the lessons learned may be applied to mainland Britain and elsewhere.
The different communities in Northern Ireland live close to each other and are often intermixed, but the things not talked about between the two groups are precisely those topics which could permit a greater understanding to develop. At an institutional level, the policy of apartheid in South Africa placed structural barriers which prevented any possibility of this communication occurring. Even without any structural intervention or without any physical difficulty in communication, we all put these divisions in place. The understanding that each side has of the other become ever more based on rumour and fear until violence erupts and civil structure breaks down.
In the previous events two areas in particular were addressed. One examined how such conflicts are driven by the individual and collective relationships we make and how we use these relationships to fundamentally define who we are. There is cyclical progression of rivalry, imitation and possessive desire. This takes place to the extent that any real perception of the cause of the conflict is lost and the blame for the conflict is transferred to a symbol instead. The symbol becomes the scapegoat to reject. This act of rejection then increases the cohesion of the rejecting group. Truth becomes a casualty of the dynamics this creates and the rejected group sees itself as a victim of the injustice that has been done.
Another area considered was the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa and the Healing through Remembering Project in Northern Ireland. Both of these are intended to enable people in a post conflict situation to move forward from positions of discord to a position of peace. Enabling individuals to admit and take responsibility for the violence they have done to each other and have supported in their own sections of society can provide a means for reconciliation, but it also causes difficulties through the compromises with justice that
are necessarily involved.
Truth Discovery is essential at all stages of a conflict but this must be used to provide mutual understanding and to transcend the barriers we create. If there is no attempt to see behind the symbols then what people believe to be true becomes a means of driving the conflict, and a weapon of blame.
Communication is equally important. A multicultural approach to society may aim to rejoice in the richness of different traditions but without attempts to build bridges the isolation increases. Social class and poverty also intrude. This is true in Britain today where tensions between the different ethnic groups can be greater that those between each ethnic group and the host community. On the other hand a policy of integration can result in each community coming to believe that its values and identity are under threat. The consequence of the London bombings and other terrorist activity means that the Muslim Community may be perceived by others in Britain as a threat. Some members of that community respond by emphasizing their allegiance to the values that identify their society and set them apart.
The experiences of Northern Ireland and South Africa have identified methods by which truth discovery can be used in an appropriate way. However these have mainly been applied to post violence situations. The challenge is to identify how these can be used in ways that prevent conflict developing. This might be done by identifying strategies for truth discovery which undermine the conflict dynamics.
This is the theme of the current conference.
Ian Gilchrist 3 February 2008
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Other Activities
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London Book Launch: 17th October 2007
In War and Peace
The Story of Corrymeela
Alf McCreary
6:00p.m.17th October 2007
at the St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace
78, Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AG
Special Guest Speaker: Lord Eames
Former Primate of Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh.
New Corrymeela Book a ‘Timely’ publication.
The London launch of this book took place on 17 October 2007 at 6pm in St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace in the City of London. It was attended by the author Alf McCreary, Lord Eames the former Church of Ireland Primate of Ireland and the leader of the Corrymeela Community, Dr David Stevens. The book is titled "In War and Peace" and is published by the Brehon Press.
The publication of a new book on Corrymeela is ‘most timely’, according to the author, the award-wining journalist and author Alf McCreary, who is currently Religion Correspondent of the Belfast Telegraph. "This book was commissioned some two years ago and the final manuscript was sent to the publishers several weeks before the historic and unexpected Stormont Agreement took place in 2007 between the leaders of the DUP and Sinn Féin. This marked, hopefully, the closing of one dark chapter in Northern Ireland’s history, and the beginning of a brighter period. My book, which marks 40 years of Corrymeela, is therefore being published at a most opportune time."
"The book was also timely because nearly all of the major players in Corrymeela’s development are still around and they have enjoyed the benefit of having had time to reflect on the Community and on the part they played in its evolution. I am particularly delighted to have been able to talk to my old friends Ray and Kathleen Davey who played such a crucial role in Corrymeela, and to benefit still from their wisdom and experience."
A strong motive in writing the book was to tell the story in its full dimension. Alf McCreary said "Some people think that peace-making is easy, but in my experience it requires toughness and resolution, as well as sympathy and integrity. I have tried to underline this in my story of the development of Corrymeela. There is a hard edge to this work, and it needs to be shown as well ...".
The Reverend Dr Ray Davey, Founder of Corrymeela has also said. “ Alf McCreary is ideally-placed to take an independent view of Corrymeela over the past 40 years. What a story he has to tell!”
The price of the book is £8.99 plus postage and packing
To order your copy or copies please email info@corrymeela.org or telephone 028 9050 8080 and ask to speak to Bernie Magill.
Alf McCreary is the Religion Correspondent of the Belfast Telegraph, and also an award-winning journalist and author. He graduated from Queen’s University, Belfast with an honours degree in Modern History, and he is a part-time tutor in writing at the Institute of Lifelong Learning at Queen’s, and also at the Irish Writers’ Centre in Dublin. The first of his 35 titles Corrymeela – The search for peace was published in 1975. His recent books include the acclaimed biographies of Senator Gordon Wilson, published by Harper Collins, and Archbishop Robin Eames, Published by Hodder and Stoughton. He was appointed MBE in the 2004 New Year Honours List.
Corrymeela welcomes over 6000 people each year who take part in individually designed residential programmes at the Ballycastle Centre. A further 1,500 participate in day programmes or come as visitors. These people are local, national and international. Over 400 volunteers help to run these programmes during the year. Further information on Corrymeela can be found on the website www.corrymeela.org
Alf McCreary Book Launch
St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace
78, Bishopsgate,
London EC2N 4AG
Telephone: 020 7496 1610
Fax: 020 7638 1440
Website: www.stehelburgas.org
Email: enquiries@stethelburgas.org
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Document Prepared by Ian Gilchrist rec@crestcons.org.uk Updated 2 February 2008
