Christ Church, Lisburn, Northern Ireland

Just People gave new direction and purpose

Christ Church is situated in the centre of Lisburn, Northern Ireland. Since 1863 the Parish has been served by 47 curates and 12 rectors. The present Rector, the Rev Paul Dundas, attended a Just People workshop in October 2009 and then ran the course in November 2009.

There were about 30 people who participated in the Just People course. It ran on a Tuesday night in a coffee bar setting. Rev Dundas was hugely encouraged by the experience he and others drew from Just People.

“Just People gave the group a new sense of direction and purpose. There was fruitful discussion and an increased understanding and appreciation of God’s word. The course homework also gave the group a place to start from at the beginning of each session and it served as an opportunity to reflect and share”.

For the day of action, an integral part of the course, they did some work for the Simon Community Hostel in Lisburn. They had given financial support to the hostel before, but had never been actively involved with it. Seven members of the group cleared out a room in the hostel which allowed for more beds to be put in – enough for 5 additional residents. They also provided soup and bread for the residents. The group is now looking to make regular donations of food to the hostel and some of the group participants are going to offer their time to volunteer at the hostel.

In addition to this, calls were made to various establishments in the community to try and make links with the community influencers and also to identify the real needs of the community. They also linked up with a local politician to explore possibilities for community involvement.  As Rev Dundas said,

“It was hugely encouraging to see people getting fed with the vision of a church that serves its community. For us it is about taking small steps ongoing, to ensure that we implement God’s word in our community.”

Rev Paul Dundas has since attended a Discovery taster day and is looking forward to taking the church taking more steps along the community mission journey.

Suzie O'Brien, February 2010

For more information about Christ Church visit www.christchurchlisburn.com