The Presbyterian Church in Ireland has established a network of "peace agents", at both presbytery and congregational level, as a contribution to peace. The announcement was made during a submission to a conference this weekend, "A Believers' Enquiry", at the Glencree Centre for Reconciliation. Presbyterian delegates said it was hoped the network would be a forum for the exchange of ideas, and stimulate thinking.
An example of its work is the invitation to congregations to encourage people to sign the church's Peace Vocation after Drumcree 1996, as a statement of their own commitment to peace.
Over 100 congregations took part and up to 6,500 church members signed.
The Peace Vocation underlines the church's commitment to peace and to the encouragement of peace. It was adopted by the Presbyterian General Assembly in 1994.
The church has also organised conferences to discuss topics such as "Identity: who are we?" and "Sectarianism in Ireland and the Presbyterian Church". Two further conferences on similar themes are to take place in coming months.
The Believers Enquiry, involving all the main Christian churches on these islands and organised by the Centre for Reconciliation at Glencree in Co Wicklow, will continue in early November. Its purpose is to look at ways in which the churches might contribute to peace.
Various church groups have been invited to present submissions to a panel, and answer questions on the submissions. This weekend the inquiry received a submission from the Conference of Religious in Ireland (CORI).
CORI said it recognised that the voice of the religious had not always been heard for peace, and that in the past the structures of religious life had militated against getting involved socially and politically, but that this was no longer the case.
There was a need for religious to pool resources and network, and CORI was helping to do this, as well as to give a united voice to the religious congregations.
CORI had facilitated political dialogue and lobbied on policing and criminal justice issues. It also favoured greater integration in education while recognising the dilemma this presented for some.
It felt there was a need "to face our own sectarianism and ask ourselves the question, `What have I inherited and what have I done with it?' "
The panel at the inquiry comprises Prof Terence Brown of Trinity College Dublin, Ms Mairin Colleary, a council member at the Glencree Centre for Reconciliation, Dr Geraldine Smith, director of the Irish Council of Ecumenics, Ms Sally Shiels, former president of the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO), and Mr John Shiels, a consultant on overseas development.
The church groups which have agreed to make submissions to the inquiry are the Irish Commission for Justice and Peace (ICJP) of the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), the Evangelical Contribution On Northern Ireland (ECONI), the Conference of Religious in Ireland (CORI), and the National Conference of Priests in Ireland. Inter-church workshops have also been organised.
The inquiry's organisers said that though not all religious believers in Ireland are Christian, it was decided for practical reasons to limit submissions, for the meantime, to Christian denominations.
Both a recording of the proceedings and a report on them will be issued at a later date. At the request of participants the proceedings are being held in private.
