On a crisp sunlit Saturday morning at the foot of the Mourne Mountains in the Slieve Donard Hotel, Newcastle, County Down around 400 people gathered to seek new insights and to find encouragement for the work of healing and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. The packed programme of worship and workshops was set around the theme ‘A Time to Heal’.

The delegates and their guests represented 47 parishes in the Church of Ireland Diocese of Down and Dromore as well as numerous other churches and organisations involved in community relations.

As the Rugby World Cup final kicked off and as golfers set off down the first fairway on the nearby Royal County Down links, Bishop Harold Miller marvelled that so many people had decided to spend their Saturday at the conference.

In welcoming everyone Bishop Miller cut to the purpose of the day with a robust call to put aside complex definitions of reconciliation. “Just do it!” he said. “This conference is an opportunity for parishes, groups and individuals to find out how to do it. As the evangelist D L Moody said: ‘I prefer my way of doing it to your way of not doing it.’”

The keynote speaker Rev Jerome Munyangagu, a native of Rwanda and Rector of Killyleagh, who first came to Ireland as a missionary in 1995 after training in Tanzania and India, set a challenging question. “Do we want to be healed?” he asked.

In a deeply moving and sensitive address Jerome touched on the terrible ‘troubles’ that had afflicted his homeland. He recalled that in a three month period more than three million people had been slaughtered. He had lost his sister and many friends.

However in recent years he has been encouraged by the growth of the church in Rwanda. He told stories of how different churches were learning to work together and that out of the horrors of the past twenty years there was hope of reconciliation.

He said: “Archbishop Tutu once defined reconciliation as ‘a miracle’. It is just that because it is a gift of God that we are invited to receive and to let flow into us and to others. It is a miracle that frees society from fear and suffering.”

He urged the conference to see other people, even people we don’t like, as God sees them. “The Church is a place of reconciliation and healing. All God’s people are called to participate in the restoration of broken communities. The binding hand of God can create unity out of fragments.”

In conclusion he appealed for everyone to show compassion in seeking reconciliation. “We are carriers of the message of Christ’s love for all, for the whole human family. We are not going to win reconciliation by theological acumen but by love.”

In more than 30 workshops delegates explored a range of topics including how to help victims of trauma, how to understand differences in churchmanship and how to cultivate peacemaker skills. There were also plenty of opportunities to simply get to know others and to share experiences in community work.

In the meantime the golfers lost a few balls in the sand dunes and England won the Rugby World Cup. One guest from the Moravian Church who had dressed for the occasion in his England jersey was delighted and full of praise for the conference organisers. He said: “The morning coffee break coincided with the period of extra time. I saw England win. It was great!”

Delegates at the conference, including the keynote speaker
the Revd Jerome Munyangaju