Editorial: Spring Fever
Anna Rankin

Comment: What is Reconciliation?
Michael Whitley

From the Director: Ireland is changing and so are we!
David W Porter

The Whole Gospel for the Whole World (and beyond...)
Johnston McMaster

Rwanda Ten Years On
Earl Storey

Anglo-Irish Relations
Russell & Katherine Norton

The Hard Gospel
David Chillingworth

Interview with Robin Eames: RECONCILIATION - A View from Armagh
Anna Rankin

Interview with Sean Brady: RECONCILIATION - A View from Armagh
Anna Rankin

Church-based Peacebuilding
Maria Power

Evangelism & Reconciliation - are they irreconcilable?
Patrick Mitchel

Dogville and the Drama of Redemption
John Kiess

Blessed are the Peacemakers?
Drew Gibson

Review: Bitter Fruit
David Buckley

Review: The Colour of Darkness
Jacqui Livingstone

Review: The Lost Message of Jesus
Ben Walker

Review: The Futures of Evangelicalism
David J Montgomery

Review: Evangelicals in Ireland: An Introduction
Stephen Cave

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ANGLO-IRISH RELATIONS

“I’M DELIGHTED to hear that you’re going out with Russell. Just one question though, is he English?!” This question was put to me, Katharine, when I wrote from England to a friend back in Ireland with news of my boyfriend. It was not her anti-Englishness that prompted the question, but rather her concern about my own nationalistic tendencies!

We are now 16 months married. This paper looks at how we, a Dublin woman and a man from southern England, have faced up as Christians to the troubled relationship between our countries. This is our story so far...

Acknowledging our Cultures and History
We made a study of these things while at Bible college together last year (2003-4) where we were directed to Love Across Latitudes (Fraser-Smith 1993), a workbook for those either in, or considering, a cross-cultural marriage. The book helped us highlight the distinctive cultural and historical perspectives that we each bring to our marriage.

We found contrasts, such as English tending to stick to the rules while Irish lean towards a more flexible application of rules, and between Irish group culture and English individualism. We also acknowledged among the Irish a sense of victimisation and only very recent emergence of national pride, and among the English, both ethnocentrism and a crisis of identity.

Katharine recognised that her understanding of the colonisation of Ireland by the English was idealistic and emotional and Russell recognised that his understanding of this aspect of history was limited. So for us the next step was to read what historical accounts we could to inform ourselves on the facts of the situation.

Much of what we read fills us with sadness. We feel it important not to ignore this and to grieve appropriately for the sins and hurts of our countrymen and women. Since we are both musical, we intend to do this by composing some laments together. Parker (2001) suggests lament as a suitable biblical response once the pain of conflict has been acknowledged. Katharine, as an ethnomusicologist who has helped Christians in Africa to express their heart to God, is keenly aware that lament is often absent from our contemporary Western worship, but is something from which we can benefit.

Walking Away from Hostile Attitudes
In our discussions we observed that there are British and Irish attitudes today that perpetuate the hostility of the past: anti-Englishness on the part of Irish people; attitudes of superiority and ethnocentricity from English people. We saw that we could walk away from these things in our lives and marriage for the sake of reconciliation with each other and those whom we encounter. So, Katharine decided that when England are playing in international sport, instead of supporting the opposition, as the Irish tend to do, that she will support England (unless it’s against Ireland, of course!). Russell avoids ethnocentric comments and gently challenges his compatriots when they presume to talk with authority about Ireland, inviting Katharine to share her perspective.

Marriage as a ‘Third-Culture’ Zone
Our cultures traditionally mock one another or try to marginalise each other, but in our marriage, we want to give the other room to express their Englishness/Irishness. The other culture is intrinsic to the one we love, and we each want the other one to flourish. Marriage itself creates a ‘third culture zone’ (Fraser-Smith 1993:52-53) where we can explore the best of both cultures and allow them to mix in new and creative ways. We explore each other’s culture through films (e.g. Bend It Like Beckham, The Madness of King George, Passage To India, Michael Collins, The Field), reading (e.g. Frank O‘Connor short stories, Pride and Prejudice), food (e.g. Irish soda bread, potato cakes, tea brack, Avoca salads, Cornish pasties), and music (e.g. Iona, The Corrs, The Secret Garden).

We made a point last year of celebrating St Patrick’s Day together, even though we were in England at the time. Then we were asked what we were doing for St George’s Day! This seemed harder to do as Englishness is not celebrated in this way. It struck us that the English are unsure how to celebrate their identity without appearing superior and imperial again. However, we wanted to celebrate the positive. First of all we had to find out when St George’s Day actually is! (It’s April 23rd.) The only celebrations we could find on the internet were drink-related, so we came up with our own ideas. We decorated the house with red roses, went out for fish and chips, and because we learned that St George was martyred for objecting to the cruel treatment of Christians in the Roman Empire, we decided to use his day to pray for the persecuted church.

Rooted in Celtic Christianity
As we have looked back into the history of our islands, we have found ourselves looking beyond the 700 years of colonialism and oppression to the rich heritage of early Celtic Christianity. Here we find a rich Christ-centred heritage that spans our different backgrounds. Patrick, who brought Christianity to Ireland in AD 435, is understood to have been a British Celt. Later, Celtic Christians left the shores of Ireland for Iona, and from there travelled on foot throughout England, bringing the life and love of Jesus to everyone they met. Aidan, the Irish saint who led the evangelisation of England, worked in friendship with Hilda, a Saxon abbess. Also, since Russell is half-Cornish, we note that other Irish saints brought Christianity from Ireland to Cornwall.

Ray Simpson, of the present-day Community of Aidan and Hilda, has said that going back to the roots of the Celtic Church can make healing of our divisions possible (Simpson 1994:230). This applies to us. We have discovered a positive common heritage which we are celebrating together. We enjoy reading what we can about these remarkable people and have visited sites of Celtic Christianity in both Ireland and England. In addition, we are learning many good things from Celtic spirituality that we can imitate for our own wholeness in our missionary life: e.g. a rhythm of work and prayer, hospitality, identifying with a culture in everything except sin, worshipping God in every aspect of life, following the call of the Spirit.

Conclusion
We feel like we are on an exciting journey as we begin exploring these things and notice that our marriage has been enriched by tackling these issues rather than avoiding them. As we now go to live and work in East Africa, we pray that we can share our experiences with people there who struggle with division and inter-ethnic hatred, or with the memory of colonialism.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Janet Fraser-Smith, Love Across Latitudes: a workbook on cross-cultural marriage. (Loughborough: Arab World Ministries, 1993)

Russ Parker, Healing Wounded History: reconciling peoples and healing places. (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 2002)

Ray Simpson, Exploring Celtic Spirituality – historic roots for our future. (Stowmarket: Kevin Mayhew, 2004)

KATHARINE (nee TRAVERS) and RUSSELL NORTON work with Wycliffe Bible Translators, (although the views expressed are their own). They met at the Wycliffe training centre in England, and married in September 2003. They can be contacted via the Centre for Contemporary Christianity in Ireland or lionandlamb@contemporarychristianity.org

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