The 27th Irish Inter–Church Meeting took place in Mount St. Anne’s Retreat Centre, Portarlington, Co. Laois on Thursday 27th November. Delegates representing 15 Christian denominations across Ireland gathered to reflect upon the theme Together Towards Life: Mission and Evangelism in a Changing Irish Landscape.
Following a formal welcome by Rev Dr Donald Watts, ICC President and Co–chair of the IICM, the keynote address was delivered by Professor Kirsteen Kim, Professor of Theology and World Christianity at Leeds University. In her capacity as Vice–Moderator of the WCC’s Commission for World Mission and Evangelism, Professor Kim was instrumental in the drafting of the WCC Together Towards Life document from which the Meeting’s theme was derived.
Delegates spent the remainder of the day attending a choice of workshops to consider the following:
- Ecumenism as Mission, led by Dr Mary McCaughey
- Mission as the Pursuit of Justice, led by Kate McQuillan, Trócaire
- Mission as Evangelism, led by Rev Andy Carroll
- Mission and the Reconciliation of Creation, led by Kathy Galloway, Head of Christian Aid in Scotland and formerly of the Iona Community
Insights gained during the workshops were then fed back and further discussed at a plenary session in the afternoon, before the meeting was officially brought to a close by Most Rev Dr Brendan Leahy, Bishop of Limerick and IICM Co–Chair.
