Extract from “Ecumenical Communities in Northern Ireland 1980-1999” by Maria Power for Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool as a chapter of her PhD thesis.
The Columba Community in Derry was modelled upon South American Basic Communities; however, despite this its theological roots did not set it apart from the other ecumenical communities, as they did not greatly influence the development of the Community's work. Thus, in the growth of Columba we see a pattern and methods remarkably similar to its counterparts in Belfast.
The Columba Community was founded because of
its members' experiences of praying together but unlike the communities in
Belfast, this group was established as a direct response to the violence that
was increasingly controlling the city during the early 1980s as its members
wanted to experience a Christian lifestyle as an alternative to this. The main
impetus for the foundation of Columba came from a Catholic Priest, Fr Neal
Carlin, who felt that there was a need within the city for an alternative to
membership of the paramilitary organisations and to aid those who had been
affected by the conflict: 'Some have suffered severe torture at the hands of
legal forces. Others have promoted physical violence. Only in a loving
Christian community with prayer and counsel can these memories be healed.
(Neal Carlin, Freedom to Captives) They thus found a house in the centre of
Derry which the_ bought and renovated for £20,000 with the help of a benefactor
and other volunteers.
The Columba Community saw their role as five fold incorporating prayer, community, evangelisation, repentance and reconciliation and thus presented the most developed founding aims of any of the peaceline communities. (Columba House information leaflet) Their aims stem from the desire to establish a basic community along the lines of those seen in South America and they see themselves as:
As a group with a
common experience of being "held captive" in prison cells or
by the forces of anger, guilt, fear
and hatred, we are learning to appreciate each other's weaknesses and needs as
well as developing each other's talents and gifts. We see Christian Community
as a network of interpersonal relationships based on our common relationship
with Jesus Christ as Rock and Cornerstone.
ibid
Thus, like the other ecumenical communities
they are aware of the need for internal strength in order to carry out their
work successfully and whilst these aims and vision have not changed since 1980
their means of expression have.
The work of the Columba Community focused
entirely on the Gospel's desire for reconciliation based upon the notion that
Jesus 'requires much more from us than platitudes and gestures at charismatic
meetings and during the church unity octave each year’. (Repentance Service
‘85) Thus, through their engagement with the local communities, Columba were
essentially trying to portray a living example of Christian reconciliation
whilst simultaneously and consciously representing an alternative form of ecumenism
to that practiced by the National level churches at the time by seeking to
improve community relations rather than concentrating upon points of theology.
Prayer was central to their ideal of reconciliation and was the main stay of
their work, consequently, they followed the classic pattern of engagement with
the local community starting unobtrusively with prayer and outreach eventually
intermingling it with cross-community relationship building, finally moving
into social action projects once the opportunity presented itself.
Columba's prayer and outreach ministry began in
1980 with an inter-church prayer group for prisoners. Although it was quickly
realised that such a scheme was too ambitious, the experience gained through
this programme has greatly affected the direction of Columba's work prompting
the foundation of their counselling services, which represented the
continuation of their outreach and Christians Together, an interdenominational
prayer group which signalled a move towards cross - community relationship
building. The counselling service has been one of the Community's most vital
contacts with the local area and was offered to all those who had been
traumatized by the troubles. By the mid-1990s the Community was able to secure
funding for the service and it was consequently expanded through their work
with other groups in the area. 'The Community have actively participated on the
trauma advisory panel and we work in co-ordination with a number of groups
around the town specifically trying to address not only the spiritual needs but
we are also open to those of differing or no spiritual or religious
belief.' (Interview with Alex Bradley
17/1/2000) Counselling was thus a vital tool in the Community's work towards
reconciliation as it offered an opportunity for the emotional and spiritual
healing which they saw as the key to reconciliation.
With the foundation of Christians Together in
1983 came an early attempt by Columba to move into cross-community relationship
development as discussion between Protestants and Catholics played a key role
in this programme, which culminated with a service of repentance in Derry on
Good Friday. However, as one of the participants points out, its value lay not
only in that symbolic act but also in the preparation for it as by coming to
know one another the participants felt more equipped to pray together, thereby
achieving a spiritual reconciliation which was central to the ideal of Columba.
The experience gained from this exercise was continually put to use by the
Community from 1985 onwards and because of this desire to fuse prayer with
outreach and reconciliation a retreat centre was built in Donegal where guests
could receive spiritual direction and join the Community in prayer.
However, with the advent of new methods of relationship-building occurring in the 1990s, Columba began to seriously consider their role as community relationship builders: a change in method which highlighted a shift from their single minded focus upon prayer as a means to reconciliation towards one where an understanding of different traditions was developed in conjunction with the ability to pray together. They planned their methodology carefully preferring a proactive approach rather than the reactive schemes used by the other peaceline communities. They, thus employed a reconciliation officer, funded by the Community Relations Council, to put their plan into action. The courses were started in Catholic parishes laying the foundations for a cross community course to be established some eighteen months later. These courses were seen by Columba as another means of emotional release for their participants, a necessary step on the way to reconciliation, according to the ethos of the Community.
Furthermore, these programmes were carried out
with the help of pre-established services:
What we did find from the groups
of people who took part on the actual reconciliation programme were those who
had been wounded physically and sometimes emotionally by the events of the past
thirty years and the Columba Community have always had a counselling service
here at Columba house and it was I suppose addressing a need to further develop
that that we've provided ongoing counselling
for those who have been traumatised.
Interview
with Alex Bradley .
Columba's approach to this work illustrates
clearly the way in which they were able to weave new techniques in with the old
in pursuit of the accomplishment of their vision as, through their use of new
methods of relationship-building, Columba tried to achieve a marriage of their
original aims of repentance, prayer and reconciliation with their practical
work. By 1998 the Community had embarked upon planning another project, which
represented a fulfilment of their original objective of ministering to the marginalised
of Derry: Northern Ireland has a high instance of drug and alcohol addiction
and the Community therefore decided to establish a rehabilitation centre, the
White Oaks Project, to serve the area. As with most of the SAPs in Northern
Ireland, this project has been run in conjunction with the Social Services who
refer people to it.
However, despite the involvement of outside agencies, the project has retained the spirit and Christian ethos of the Columba Community.
Despite the constant growth and change in the
Community's methods of working, its management and membership structures have
remained almost constant since 1980, only being formalised when funding
conditions required it. Membership is restricted to those who feel that they
can commit to the Community's prayer life for a year at a time. Members have
always taken an active role in the management of the Community, with
responsibilities being decided at the annual AGM.
The performance of the Columba Community is
hard to quantify, they have certainly provided support for those around them
becoming a lighthouse for those in trouble but they have been reluctant to
publicise their success stories, thus their success can only be measured by
their practical achievements. One of their members sums up the evolution of
their work thus:
'Our work is a Christian outreach: at one time to prisons and
prisoners, later to reconciliation among denominations and more recently to
alcoholics, but at all times towards the healing of society through the Gospel
message and appropriate action.'
Email from Tommy McCay to Author
10th February 2002.
The Columba Community have fully utilised the
methods available to them to facilitate each of these forms of work, which
have, with the exception of the prison work, been long lasting and well
received in Derry and have been successful in remaining committed to their aims
and vision, whilst using any innovations that were occurring within Northern
Irish reconciliation work to their full advantage. They have thus become a place
of prayer and reconciliation through their outreach and relationship building
eventually finding new means of incorporating the marginalised back into
society through their rehabilitation centre.