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Every nation, tribe & people Ruth Garvey-Williams explores racism and inclusion in PCI.
fter this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb… And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’” (Revelation 7:9–10) Three years ago, I was at a meeting of Presbyterian church leaders discussing the challenges faced by multi-ethnic congregations. Some shared the trauma and pain their church members had experienced. Others talked of the difficulties of helping newcomers to integrate into church life. Still others wondered how Christians from other ethnicities could contribute in meaningful ways. “Could we do some research to find out more?” one leader asked. Sitting next to me was Damian Jackson from the Irish Council of Churches. We
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Herald March 2022
formed a partnership to carry out this research, not just for PCI but across all Christian denominations in Ireland. We wanted to deepen our understanding of the experience of, and attitudes towards, racism and discrimination in churches. We wanted to explore the potential for unity, integration and inclusion and to examine how the church can lead the way in tackling racial injustice where it occurs. Damian said, “We believe that every person is a bearer of God’s image and that part of our calling to love our neighbour requires us to have concern for barriers to belonging and flourishing in our churches. We need to respond to racism, discrimination and exclusion in Ireland, and in order to do that effectively
52% of Presbyterians have never heard a sermon on this topic.
and with authenticity, we need to begin by looking at ourselves.” VOX magazine and the Irish Council of Churches launched an all-island survey in 2021 with support from PCI, the Evangelical Alliances of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and Tearfund Ireland. The survey collected over 1,000 responses from a wide spectrum of denominations. In this special report for the Presbyterian Herald, we look at the 245 responses from people who described themselves as Presbyterian. Of these, 51% were living in Northern Ireland, 38.5% in Dublin or other parts of Leinster, 1.5% in Munster and 9% in Connacht or the border counties of Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal. The majority were over 50 years of age (58%) with 31% aged between 35 and 50 and 11% aged between 18 and 35. 92% of Presbyterian respondents described themselves as committed Christians, with 70.5% “active and fully using my gifts” and 20% “active but not fully using my gifts”.
