{"id":611,"date":"2012-10-15T10:12:12","date_gmt":"2012-10-15T15:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.janicebyrd.com\/?p=611"},"modified":"2012-11-15T22:08:47","modified_gmt":"2012-11-16T03:08:47","slug":"irish-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/irish-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish Culture and Evangelism"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Janice Byrd\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 February 2008<\/em><\/p>\n

Christianity came to Ireland around AD350, but one hundred years later Saint Patrick returned to Ireland as a missionary and changed the world forever.\u00a0 Patrick had been born in England and kidnapped by Celtic pirates as a young man.\u00a0 Isolated in the wilderness herding cattle, he meditated on the scriptures he\u2019d learned in catechism, prayed, and encountered God in nature.\u00a0 After six years, Patrick was lead by God through a dream to escape to France.\u00a0 He became a priest, and twenty-five years later returned to the place of his captivity as history\u2019s first missionary bishop.<\/p>\n

Patrick knew the language and the culture, but his way of evangelizing was very different from the Roman (Catholic) way which demanded that the people be civilized (Romanized) first.\u00a0 Instead, Patrick and his disciples would move near a tribal settlement and befriend the king and other leaders.\u00a0 The team would meet with people, pray for the sick, mediate conflicts, tell stories, sing songs, engage in drama, counsel and answer questions.\u00a0 Typically they would spend months ministering as a faith community, bringing the Gospel to the people in forms they could understand.<\/p>\n

By the time Patrick died twenty-eight years later, he had baptized tens of thousands of people, planted about 700 churches, and ordained 1000 priests.\u00a0 These indigenous Christian churches multiplied and sent out missionaries to all of Europe.\u00a0 Irish Christians initiated social and legal reforms, and, indeed, \u201csaved civilization\u201d by preserving literature and Biblical manuscripts, which were being destroyed by the invading Vikings during the Middle Ages.<\/p>\n

During the sixteenth century, King Henry VIII of England, who broke from the Roman Catholic Church because it would not permit him to divorce, forced the Irish chiefs to surrender their lands.\u00a0 Henry\u2019s successor, Elizabeth I, tightened Britain\u2019s hold on Ireland by establishing Scottish settlers on the lands Henry had seized.\u00a0 By 1704 the first of the Penal Codes were passed restricting Catholics from owning land, and banning Catholics from voting, attending schools and military service.<\/p>\n

One Irish leader after another was killed in the process of rebellion and in the fight for independence.\u00a0 Ireland officially became a part of Great Britain in 1800.\u00a0 Two million people died during the potato famine in mid-century and a mass emigration, largely to the United States, began.<\/p>\n

The Irish Republican Brotherhood\/Army (IRA) was finally successful in creating an Irish free state in 1921.\u00a0 Six counties in the North, whose English descendents from the Protestant settlers of centuries past, chose to remain with Great Britain.\u00a0 They became the country of Northern Ireland with Belfast as their capitol.<\/p>\n

The Catholics in the North continued their terrorist efforts against the Protestants and the British.\u00a0 Rioting, hunger strikes, and violence escalated in the 1970\u2019s.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t until 1998 that a peace agreement was signed, and it was just a few years ago that the leaders of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland actually agreed to cooperate.\u00a0 Tensions have lessoned, but in Belfast, the emotional baggage and talk of \u201cthe troubles\u201d still permeates daily life.\u00a0 The Irish mafia and other radical groups operate underground for the most part.<\/p>\n

In truth, the British would rather not have any part of Ireland.\u00a0 Prime Minister Tony Blair tried unsuccessfully to disengage, but Northern Ireland has enjoyed prosperity, and does not want to leave the security that is Great Britain.\u00a0 Only now are tourists and the first wave of immigrants coming to Ireland.\u00a0 New home construction and economic development are beginning in the Republic of Ireland.<\/p>\n

The Protestant churches, including Baptists, were never divided between Northern Ireland and the Republic.\u00a0 All Protestants, including non-evangelicals and evangelicals, make up only four percent of the population.\u00a0 Ninety-five percent of the people of the Republic of Ireland are practicing Catholics.\u00a0 The new immigrants are not, and they are establishing and growing large, ethnically segregated Baptist churches with no connection to the Irish people.<\/p>\n

Evangelicals are reaching out to the Irish Catholics by connecting with the Bible.\u00a0 Unlike the younger post-moderns who reside in the few large cities, most Irishmen acknowledge the authority of the Bible although they have never read it.\u00a0 They know that they should know what it teaches, and many are curious enough to ask questions, search the internet, or even join a Bible study group.\u00a0 In his book, The Celtic Way of Evangelism, George Hunter talks about how the ancient Celts initiated a relationship by connecting with people\u2019s common beliefs.\u00a0 The Bible is a good starting point for a spiritual discussion in Ireland.<\/p>\n

Churches in the cities are trying to reach out through \u201creconciliation\u201d programs, which basically means lots of conversations, singing, storytelling, social service, youth and children ministries, and just getting to know people.\u00a0 The Irish love Americans which is rather rare with Europeans these days.\u00a0 They welcome visitors into their homes, even strangers.\u00a0 Expect a \u201ccuppa\u201d strong Irish tea to be served.<\/p>\n

The weather of Ireland influences their culture in every way, making possible the golf greens, misty moors, and peat bogs of our stereotypes. \u00a0The countryside is breathtakingly beautiful!\u00a0 The harbors house a host of colorful boats; the sheep rule the roads, and it is always so gloriously GREEN.\u00a0 An Irishman once told me to look up at a nearby mountaintop as a surefire way of predicting the weather, \u201cIf you can see the peak, it is going to rain soon,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cIf you can\u2019t, it\u2019s raining already.\u201d<\/p>\n

Irish pubs are a way of life.\u00a0 Unlike the bars found in America, pubs serve as community recreational centers, family restaurants, cafes, convenience stores, and meeting places.\u00a0 Of course, they do serve alcohol all day long, and late at night you might find patrons who had imbibed too much.\u00a0 Pubs are a place to hang out for people of all ages and walks of life, and they are a natural place to strike up a conversation about anything.<\/p>\n

Irish food can be described in word\u2014potatoes.\u00a0 They eat potatoes with every meal, and often several types of potatoes are served together.\u00a0 Traditional \u201cmeat and potato\u201d items like shepherd\u2019s pie, pot roast, lamb chops, steak-and-kidney pie, as well as \u201cfish-\u2018n-chips\u201d and casserole items are common fare.\u00a0 The Irish like locally produced food which means fruits and vegetables are seasonal.\u00a0 \u201cOrganic\u201d is nothing new to them, and just another way the Irish have of being GREEN.<\/p>\n

The Irish government is encouraging the use of the Gaelic\/Irish language.\u00a0 Proficient students can get extra credit for learning it.\u00a0 In the Republic, all the road signs are written in English and Gaelic.\u00a0 Irish poetry and proverbs seem to be written on everything, including sugar packets, shirts, and ceramics.<\/p>\n

Our common heritage and mutual admiration unite Americans and the Irish, making spiritual conversations natural and friendly.\u00a0 We depend on the national Believers to make the connections to their friends and family with whom they have a relationship.\u00a0 We work in partnership, church-to-church.\u00a0 The Irish churches expect to have an ongoing relationship with you and your church.\u00a0 They will often return your visit.<\/p>\n

Because they speak English (sort of), they will often talk with you about their personal problems, things they could not discuss with their fellow church members.\u00a0 A lot of ministry takes place in the homes where we stay.\u00a0 God has a remarkable way of matching up hosts and guests.\u00a0 One thing is for sure, just like the song says, \u201c. . .they\u2019re sure to steal your heart away.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Janice Byrd\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 February 2008 Christianity came to Ireland around AD350, but one hundred years later Saint Patrick returned to Ireland as a missionary and changed the world forever.\u00a0 Patrick had been born in England and kidnapped by Celtic pirates as a young man.\u00a0 Isolated in the wilderness herding cattle, he meditated on the scriptures […] Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-europe","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":879,"href":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611\/revisions\/879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}