Around 60 people attended the 99th Annual General Meeting of the Irish Council of Churches on 31st Match 2022 at the Skainos Centre, East Belfast Mission.

The MCI Group included the President, General Secretary, Gillian Kingston, Dr. David Clements, Roy Cooper and Emma-Jayne Speers, Methodist youth and family worker in Woodvale Methodist.

The key note address, “The Unfinished Work of Peace” was given by the Rev. Dr. Tony Davidson, minister of 1st Armagh Presbyterian Church. In the course of his address Dr. Davidson asked, “What more has to be done if we are to have a genuinely shared future?”

Dr. Davidson gave us much to think about; among them – tackling paramilitarism, support for victims and how to collectively remember the past and deal with legacy. The question we were left with was, “who will help us all to find our way to the shared future we long for?”

The newly elected President of the Council, the Rt. Rev. Andrew Foster, Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, reminded us that 2023 would mark the centenary of the Irish Council of Churches.

He spoke of the emergence of the Irish Inter-Church Meeting formed in 1973 at the hight of the Troubles.

The ICC sought to be a prophetic voice – turning suspicion into trust, moving from a silo mentality to co-operation, and from feelings of ill-will - to relationships growing in grace.

Bishop Sarah Groves (Moravian) was elected and installed as Vice President of the Council.

Tributes were paid to the Rev. Brian Anderson now a past President of the Council for his years of service as an Officer of the Council.

The Methodist Church in Ireland has been a member of the Irish Council of Churches since its inception in 1923.

As well as Rev. Brian Anderson, the Rev. Edmund Mawhinney and Mrs. Gillian Kingston have served as President of the Irish Council of Churches.

ENDS

5/4/2022

Issued by:
Rev. Roy Cooper

Press Officer
T: 07710 945104
E: pressofficer@irishmethodist.org