19.06.2014
Christians of Many Traditions Engaged in First Ecumenical Bible Week
The first Ecumenical Bible Week, which took place in Dublin and surrounding areas between Pentecost and Trinity Sunday, has been declared a success with people from a wide range of Christian backgrounds joining the programme. People turned out in significant numbers to the various venues in Dublin, Arklow and Leixlip to listen and engage with speakers on a range of Bible–related topics.
The Revd Ken Rue, Vicar of Wicklow and Killiskey and vice chairperson of the organising committee, says that it is hoped that the week will take place again next year. He said the committee had received positive feedback and people liked that the programme took place in a number of different venues.
“The committee feels that it has lived up to their expectations. We had no idea of how it would be supported and we are delighted with the level of engagement. We have taken a number of suggestions on board and we hope to be able to do it again next year,” he stated adding that there had been a great spread of different Christian traditions reached during the week.
One of the highlights of the week was the ‘Thinking Allowed’ session which featured church leaders, including Archbishop Michael Jackson and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, speaking about what the Bible means to them. The other panellists were the Revd Lorraine Kennedy–Ritchie (Presbyterian), Mrs Gillian Kingston (Methodist), Sean Mullan (3rd Space) and Fr Mikhail Nazonov (Russian Orthodox). Before a crowd of over 200 people in All Hallows College, they were interviewed by Philip McKinley who posed the question: “How have you come to appreciate the Bible in your journey of faith?”
Archbishop Jackson, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, was first to the stand and said he had read the Bible from an early age and had been given space to engage with it. He said that Scripture could be a lonely place but he was in a position where he could converse with people worldwide. There was a lot of pressure to lead from the front, he said but it was evident from the Bible that followership was also important. Pointing to the Good Shepherd, he added that the idea of shepherding was as important as leadership and followership.
The Revd Lorraine Kennedy–Ritchie, Moderator of the Dublin and Munster Presbytery, spoke of growing up in South Africa and getting to know the Bible in a conservative, evangelical setting. As children they were given Bibles and expected to read and know them. This meant she had an early relationship with the Bible. Through her academic learning that relationship had changed and reading the Bible was not for pleasure but for learning. Now, she said, he can read and reflect on Scripture as part of her job and for pleasure again and often Biblical images have helped her in her life.
Gillian Kingston, vice President of the World Methodist Council and former lay leader of the Methodist Church in Ireland, recalled her childhood memories of her mother reading the Bible to her in Nigeria. She started at the beginning and remembers being wowed by the language and images of God creating everything. Later on, while in school in Cork, she said they had to learn passages of Scripture, which they all disliked. But she said she was glad of it now because it had stayed with her. She said that knowing that all Scripture is God–breathed was magical for her.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, said his growing up was different. He knew his Catechism off by heart but not the Bible. He said that very often the language of Jesus was outrageous in its exaggeration and this was particularly the case when it came to God’s mercy. God does not put a price on offering his forgiveness and mercy which, the Archbishop said, could take us by surprise wondering how our church could become so harsh and so judgemental. He said that Pope Francis had recently spoken about the problem of the self–referential church and suggested that if we forgot about our own perfection and thought about the defects of Jesus we might be inspired.
Sean Mullan, 3rd Space and formerly of the Evangelical Alliance Ireland, said his earliest memories of the Bible dated back to the 1970s and reading about he Bible on leaflets. Later he was given a Gideon’s New Testament which he brought with him when he was heading off to sea to train as a navigation officer. He said he was sharing a cabin with someone who was new to the Bible and who was reading it enthusiastically. He said this stimulated him to look at the Bible again and the Gideon’s New Testament with the tiny print became a means to his engagement with God and spirituality. This continued until he decided to move from his career to study theology so that he could teach the Bible to others. He said that the Bible must have a reality and must make a difference.
Fr Mikhail Nasonov, Rector of St Peter and St Paul’s Russian Orthodox Church in Harold’s Cross, outlined his early days in the Soviet Union where, like all Soviet children, he had never read the Bible. At the age of 18 he read ‘Crime and Punishment’ where he learned of the story of Lazerus and remembered being shocked by this incredible text. From that moment he began to search for a way to read the Bible. He added that it was possible for everyone to find the words they needed in the Bible to meet each crucial need in life.
Photo caption: The panellists at the ‘Thinking Allowed’ session in All Hallows: Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, the Revd Lorraine Kennedy–Ritchie, Sean Mullan, Gillian Kingston, Fr Mikhail Nazonov, Archbishop Michael Jackson and Philip McKinley (interviewer).