30.05.2017
Archbishop and Lord Mayor of Dublin Visit Jerusalem
Archbishop Michael Jackson and the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Brendan Carr, are currently on a joint visit to Jerusalem. They are being hosted by the Archbishop of Jerusalem, the Most Revd Suheil Dawani and they have visited St Paul’s Church in Jerusalem, St Andrew’s Church in Ramallah and Bethlehem. Archbishop Jackson also facilitated a session on Dublin & Glendalough’s Come&C discipleship programme.
The visit arose out of Dublin & Glendalough’s diocesan link with Jerusalem and Archbishop Dawani invited the Lord Mayor when he was in Dublin last December. The Lord Mayor mentioned that he had hosted Kids4Peace at an event in the Mansion House. The organisation was established by Archbishop Dawani in Jerusalem in 2002 and it is now a global movement of Jewish, Christian and Muslim youth, dedicated to ending conflict and inspiring hope in divided societies around the world. They visited Kids4Peace Jerusalem yesterday.
Today the Lord Mayor presented a copy of the Dublin City Interfaith Charter to Dr Miriam Feldmann Kaye of the Three Faiths Forum Middle East. The presentation took place after a discussion of the work being undertaken by Dublin City Interfaith Forum and the Three Faiths Forum Middle East to further people’s understanding of different faiths.
The Dublin charter was launched by the Lord Mayor last December and was signed by Archbishop Jackson along with many other Dublin faith leaders. This ground breaking document was brought forward by the Dublin City Interfaith Forum and deals with issues including religious freedom, interfaith dialogue and the promotion of religious diversity in the city. The charter provides a platform for educating and encouraging people of different faiths to dialogue and act together in challenging all forms of injustice and discrimination. It also encourages people to live confidently with religious diversity and dispel fears of difference. This charter is intended to be used by all faith communities and can be found at https://www.dublincityinterfaithforum.org/resources/
Archbishop Jackson preached in St Paul’s Church in Jerusalem today (Tuesday May 30). The church was the first Arab Anglican church in the region and was consecrated in 1874. It was in regular use until 1948 when members of the congregation found they could not easily get there as it was on the west side of the green line dividing East and West Jerusalem. It was reconsecrated in 2011 and is now used by other Christian worshipping groups as well as Anglicans.
In his sermon, the Archbishop said that the new life and energy of St Paul’s Church was something for Christians worldwide to celebrate as its congregation are sent to abide and witness in that part of Jerusalem. “The community of baptism, of teaching and of nurture – The Second Mark of Mission of the Anglican Communion – exists to equip ordinary people to be sent to proclaim and to strive for an ever more inclusive and ever more universal community of God’s kingdom – not simply to be bigger or louder than it was last year. Numbers are not the definition of mission,” he said.
Drawing on the readings [1 Peter 4.7–11; St John 15.26–27, 16.1–4] the Archbishop focussed on the phrases ‘let us abide’, ‘let us witness’, ‘let us be apostolic’ and ‘let us pray’. He concluded: “You have been called to abiding, to witnessing, to sending and to praying – and to suffering. You who are The Living Stones by God appointed are an inspiration to all of us worldwide. As we have been invited to Come and See, so we are commissioned to Go and Tell. May God continue to bless you, together with the Christian church world–wide. As children of Pentecost you in a very special way await the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost as you pray”.
You can read the Archbishop’s sermon in full here.
