Diocesan News
Reform, Reformation and Renewal Examined at Dublin Churches Forum
Almost 500 years after the Reformation, members of the Dublin Council of Churches gathered in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains to consider the church today. The annual Churches’ Forum Day, which took place in the Quaker House in Rathfarnham last week focused on the question ‘Church Today: In Need of Renewal – Reform or Re–formation?’
As the 500th anniversary of the Reformation approaches in 2017, the morning aimed to stimulate reflection and conversation among its patrons, the Dublin church leaders and guests on the ongoing legacy of the Reformation in the humbling context of the 21st century. The guest speaker was Dr Margot Kaessmann, ambassador for the Reformation Centenary 2017 of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and former Presiding Bishop of the EKD.
Other speakers included the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson; the former Clerk of Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and President of the Irish Council of Churches, the Revd Dr Donald Watts; Fr Kieran McDermott, PP Dundrum and Episcopal Vicar of Ecumenism and Evangelisation with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin; Ms Rachel Bewley–Bateman of the Religious Society of Friends; and Archpriest Mikhail Nasonov of the Russian Orthodox Church. The event was chaired by Mrs Gillian Kingston of the Methodist Church in Ireland. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr Diarmuid Martin, was also present.
The scene was set with an introductory historical presentation by Dr Graeme Murdock, Reformation Historian at the Centre for Early Modern History at Trinity College.
Dr Margot Kaessmann said the reformers could not imagine a world where people would have no faith and asked in the 21st century – ‘how do we talk about God in a world that has forgotten about God?’
Looking to the future she related Reformation to current day churches in a secularised society. She said Reformation was a learning process, churches have to be open for ecumenical dialogue and see the creative power of confessional difference and there must be interfaith dialogue. She concluded that it was necessary to find ways of translating faith in our times.
A number of strands emerged from group discussions in the morning. These included: the need to make the truth relevant, the need to find languages to speak with a world that already belongs to God, the need to be an affirming, encouraging and a serving people who speak the truth in love, the need to be united in Christ and deal with the critics together, the need to find authentic words and deeds about God in order to invite people into a way of life and not just a passing adherence to an institution, the need to demonstrate unconditional love and the need for the church should build communities.
The forum drew its attendance from a variety of denominations including the Religious Society of Friends, Russian Orthodox Church, the Church of Ireland, Lutheran Church, the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Roman Catholic Church, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Christian Aid, Scripture Union, the Salvation Army, Antiochian Orthodox, the Evangelical Alliance of Ireland, the Romanian Orthodox, the Korean Church, Trinity Church Network, and the Irish School of Ecumenics.
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