Monday, June 17, 2013

A whole month!

This is the blog post that will appear on the Candler Admissions Blog "Enthused" tomorrow afternoon, but I figure that it is perfectly relevant here, and I will add a bit at the end as well...and I guess I can give you some pictures as well.

So here it is:


"I have been serving here for a month. The words seem strange to me as I utter them, and as I realize that I have been here in Belfast, Northern Ireland for nearly half of my time given to working with this congregation. Through Candler Advantage I’ve gotten the opportunity to spend 10 weeks with Skainos and the congregation of East Belfast Mission (and reaching beyond).

This place is unique. As a Methodist Mission it is the umbrella organization that encompasses Hosford House transitional housing, Stepping Stone employment guidance and training, Compass community and family outreach, the East Belfast Mission Congregation, Re:Fresh Café social economy café, and countless Re:Stores and charity shops around the city of Belfast. This place is also unique in that it is housed in a new building and the new Skainos Square, which is focused on the idea of shared space. With architecture based on the vision of the tent of meeting, there are apartments, classrooms, offices for other organizations such as Tearfund, AgeNI and New Life Counseling, a dance studio, a sports hall, roof terraces and vertical gardens, and plenty of space for use by anyone who needs it.

Now, this idea of sharing is unique because it is very unconventional here in Northern Ireland. So…some history…Northern Ireland is still in the peace process that began with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 that marks the end of the ethno-national conflict that is well known as “The Troubles” that took place from 1969-1998. This conflict was political with religious undertones, based simply in the idea of nationality. The Protestant Unionist Loyalists and the Catholic Nationalist Republicans had different ideas of whether the country of Northern Ireland should be Irish or British. Paramilitary groups of the IRA, INLA, IPLO, CIRA, RIRA, UVF, UDA, RHC, UR, and LVF fought each other with car bombs, petrol bombs, guns, fire, and even rocks and bricks. With over 3,000 deaths and approximately 47,000 injured throughout the near 30 years of conflict, many scars were left in the community…particularly here in Belfast. 

Now that’s the history, but here’s the present: today there are “peace lines” that run through pieces of Belfast, separating the Protestant Loyalist and Catholic Nationalist neighborhoods. These are walls resembling the peace walls separating Israel and Palestine. I look out my office window and see Union Jacks and 1913 UVF Flags (Ulster Volunteer Force) flying. I am in UVF territory. Murals are on nearly every corner. The one directly to my right under those flags says “We owe it to the future and the victims never to forget the past.” A few streets down there is a UVF mural of two men in balaclavas poised to shoot, with the statement “We seek nothing but the elementary right implemented in every man: the right if you are attacked to defend yourself.” The whole city is filled with murals, ranging from peaceful and celebrating Belfast to violent imagery. You become conditioned to seeing them and walking straight past each day. The mentality that exists here is still separate and unequal. Each side believes the other has something they don’t, and the peace process is difficult. But the thing is, you can walk into town, go into Victoria Square and not know the difference from one person to another. There is no visible difference between the parties, they are the same, but have different political and religious leanings. It is when one party begins to march, to protest, or to riot that you can see the tension that underlies the everyday life of all these people who look the same.






Part of the ministry and mission here at Skainos and East Belfast Mission is to be a safe space for all walks of life and every part of the political and religious spectrum. This is to be neutral ground. With this mentality, the building is host to Irish Language Classes. Nearly every day of the week, members of the community come to learn the language of their heritage, the language that is readily seen in Catholic communities, and the language that I now know very few verbs in…and I can only tell you things I did in the past tense. The building is also host to children and youth from the community, home to FridayFusion for primary aged children and Drop-In on Wednesday and Friday nights for the teenagers of the community. Women’s Group combines with a women’s group from a local Catholic church, and kidzGAP is a safe space for moms and tots from the community (and a few dads). The outreach programming here is endless. While I participate and help with a handful of these, I realize the congregation of East Belfast Mission is far beyond the group that meets for church on Sunday morning, but is rather the entire community of East Belfast, and every person that comes through this building and can feel the effects of its ministries.




But for that congregation that does meet on Sunday mornings, the transition into Skainos Square has been a difficult one, sacrificing the old church building, making shared space a necessity, and creating some insecurity about ownership of the church within this space. Part of my job as a response to this is to administer a congregational survey that seeks to hear from every voice of the congregation, understanding how they feel in this place and what can be done in the next year to help with the process of settling in. This is a big undertaking in the final 5 weeks of my time here, but I have become a part of the congregation and I am invested in letting each one of them understand that their voice matters and is important. This is the body of Christ, feeling the pains of change and transition, feeling the pains of trying to be open and accepting in a city that is so divided. And even while the body may be feeling some growing pains, this does not deflate the meaning of 1 Corinthians 12:14-31. Each person making up the fuller body of Christ plays an important role, and I am working to empower this congregation in the knowledge that their roles are truly important.

This is a difficult task, but as the G8 summit meets here in Northern Ireland this week, and Obama has given the youth of Northern Ireland the message to keep up hope and to keep reminding everyone that this place is dedicated to peace, we can look hopefully toward the future for the congregation, for Skainos and East Belfast Mission, for Belfast, and for the country of Northern Ireland.

Thanks to Candler Advantage I am able to be in this place and see how communities can react to the ideas of sharing space and embracing change and peace. I look to my third year at Candler hopeful that I can bring my experiences back and look at community development in the United States with a new perspective and vision. Until then, and until I’m back in Hot-lanta in August, cheers!"

So the new things since last time too:

1. When it decides it's going back to rain here, it REALLY rains. And then you get soaked and you freeze at an outdoor concert event. 
2. The cupcakes are HUGE. And when they have pink frosting with edible glitter...they are going to taste pink and glittery. 
3. Those stairs still smell like sunscreen. 
4. Joanna and I made our own custard last night. Success! 
5. Guinness is truly better here. 
6. You can just walk straight through a protest surrounded by riot police...I've done it now. 
7. You can get Haribo Rhubarb and Custard Splats sweets at Tesco Metro...and your life will be endlessly better. 
8. There is just as much hype about Obama here as there is in the states.
9. American iPhones are useless in foreign countries without wifi capability...but they make a lovely slim camera. 
10. Fish n' Chips with garlic sauce from the Bethany are like crack. 

     

              

That's all for now folks, and I'll blog again soon(ish)...or when Drew reminds me that I need to post another blog. 

Cheers!
Carrie




Friday, June 7, 2013

Day 20...


This week hasn't flown by like the last one, but the weather here has been beautiful...I even said it was pretty hot one day, so you know all the people who are Northern Irish were rocking shorts and beachwear while I was still in jeans and had a cardigan on. But it really is lovely, which makes the square fill with people for lunch and to hang around outside. It stays buzzing with noise and activity that way, which means that the social economy pieces of the centre do pretty well. I've taken a liking to doing lunch in re:fresh cafe along with the masses as well.

Other than the beautiful weather, I've been working to get everything up and ready for my project that will (hopefully) consume the rest of my time here. I say hopefully only because we're asking for 100% participation from a congregation...so we'll see what happens. I've gotten the materials all made up and worked out for this congregational survey focusing on the areas of spiritual life, worship, fellowship, energy and ownership in a time of transition. I'm looking forward to launching it next week if the church council is all on board. Along with this work, I've also had the regular scheduled programming of kidsGAP with some super cute beebies, Friendship Circle with some super cute pensioners, and a Drop-In field trip to an aquatic complex with the teens. It was a really cool little place with slides and a wave pool, and it was a place where they could just go and be kids. It was nice to see.

Some of these girls were the same ones I taught dance last week...and yes, a few of them embraced it and have been showing me some of their practiced moves. They're looking forward to finishing a whole song, and they even wanted to show off their skills to some of the other leaders when we were done. Of course far more of the group absolutely loved Zumba and the dance that was made up to "Grease Lightning"...it got far more attention than contemporary dance...but that's all cool, because it's great when they get invested in something and you can really tell that they enjoy it and want to put their energy into it...again, it was nice to see too. 

It's been a fun week getting to know my roommates better as well, lounging about and going out with them to have some fun. Although it's sad that Andy, Ryan, and Maria have moved out of the apartment, we did gain two more American interns as of Wednesday (because the Americans are taking over...of course) and so we're back at full capacity, and all ladies. It should prove a fun group to go through the rest of the summer with. 

Belfast is an interesting place, with Honey Chili Chicken and Fish n' Chips (with really good garlic sauce at Bethany), and fantastic sweets, and cake in custard, and Fanta made with real fruit, and black currant flavored everything (not my favorite flavor in the world but it's ok). It's got fake store fronts for the Queen, contrasted with Victoria Square Mall that holds the Hollister (where the workers speak with American accents). I've met lots of wonderful people here, and I've seen every type of Converse All-Stars ever made (I want them all...), and I've gone to Irish language classes (and boy does it not look like it sounds, and half of it sounds crazy anyways...but you pick it up). Apparently this is where tea complements everything, and Indian spices can be used on anything. 

Well I guess my strange insights made it into non-list form this time...and yes...the stairwell still smells like sunscreen. I can't figure it out. 

Until next time...
Carrie