Skip to main content

Worship

Of all the things I expected to love about being here, attending community worship was not one of them. Living and working in an open, Christian community sounded to me as if it would be the most challenging aspect of my time here since I am not a religious person. Thankfully, I have already been successfully challenged in my views and genuinely look forward to this aspect of the rhythm of life here.

Worship takes place in the Croi (pronounced Cree) every morning and most evenings and whilst it is not compulsory to attend, I find myself there more often than not. The 'worship' is facilitated by community members and the nature of it changes depending on who is running the session. 
Obviously, being a Christian community, some of the sessions are related to God and the central tenants of Christianity but generally speaking it is a space for contemplation and reflection on a topic, providing an excellent way to start and end the day.
Last week was the anniversary of the Enniskillen bombing, usually marked as one of the turning points of the Troubles, and a colleague used the story of Gordon Wilson to explore the nature of forgiveness in peacebuilding and in everyday life. It was a particularly deep and moving session which stayed with me throughout the day and has since led to several discussions about the value of restorative justice processes.
Other examples of worship might be a session facilitated by a German on what freedom means on the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, a session on committing to 'do better', or a session on homophobia and gay rights following the recent referendums on gay marriage in several US states. These kinds of 'worship' encourage attendees to think about their own understanding of these issues and challenge viewpoints by providing alternatives. I feel I can confidently say that every worship I have attended has made me think in new ways and helped me explore in my own mind how I understand and through that develop as a person. The next challenge for me will be actually leading a worship so that's another thing to ponder on. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fun things

These are the times when I love my current role. Part of my job is helping people de-stress and recharge by helping to organise fun things and doing little trips to places. I can’t go with them for all of them but I do get to help make them happen. If you don’t have a car the North Coast can be a challenging place to visit as the public transport system is dire (unless you’re heading to Giant’s Causeway that is) so I get to help make those little trips happen to places you can’t get to unless you’re planning to walk everywhere for a very long time or have a car. I’ve taken people to watch the sunset at Kinbane Head, dropped people off at Murlough Bay to walk back over Fairhead, gone to explore some caves in Cushendun and many other things. This may all seem pretty irrelevant but actually helps people unwind when the entirety of living and working at full capacity gets tiring. It’s about saying we care about helping you de-stress and we heard the wish when you said you’d love ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Programme Videos

Here are the videos from each ICS team from the January-April group: Chardakatia: South-West Sat Vaia Para, Khagrachari: Chittagong Afjalpur: North-West
Post a Comment
Read more

Goodbyes, farewells and welcomes

One of the most challenging things about this place is the goodbyes. It’s part of the rhythm of life here and whilst you anticipate the dates, it doesn’t make saying those goodbyes any easier. The summer is a particularly challenging time for the lived community as people come to volunteer for short periods of time and can have a huge impact, and then there are goodbyes to the people who have lived here for a year or more. There are things about living here which are hard to explain to those who’ve never experienced the intensity of it. The impact a small group of people can have on your sense of yourself, your personal growth and professional development is astounding. The ways that I see the world have been challenged again and again this last year and whilst there are people I have shared experiences with who I will probably never see again, there are also those I know will be some of the closest friends I have for years to come. It’s strange to anticipate another year here ...
Post a Comment
Read more