Podcasts from the Presbyterian Church in Ireland

Over the past few weeks, much attention has been drawn to the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement with many visiting dignitaries and special events across Belfast and further afield. 

In this podcast episode, Karen Jardine (PCI’s Public Affairs Officer) is joined by Rev Dr Tony Davidson (Convener, Peace & Reconciliation Panel and recently retired from First Armagh), Rev Dr Marty McNeely (Ballykeel), and Jack McQuillan (Eglinton) to reflect on the unfinished work of peace 25 years on from the Agreement.

Together they will explore the role of PCI in peace and reconciliation across the island of Ireland, and whether peace-making is still part of the mandate of the church today – as a denomination, in congregations, and as individual members.

The world is a different place now than it was three years ago. Church is not the automatic place to come to for community and relationship building. No longer does the mantra of “if we open the doors, they will come” hold true. There are many children and families who have connections with our congregations and come to organisations during the week but are not part of our Sunday morning church family.
There is a growing realisation that new approaches are needed to reach and develop relationships with those on the fringe of church life. There are many challenges involved in imagining and implementing this creativity in the midst of busy church calendars, but these days are a new beginning and give us the opportunity to try new things.
In this podcast episode, Ruth Bromley (PCI’s Children’s Development Officer) is joined by Rev Corrina Heron (Dunmurry Presbyterian), Rev Stuart Morrow (Portstewart Presbyterian), and Rev Jimmy Warburton (High Street Holywood Presbyterian) to talk about how their congregations have tried different approaches to connect with children and families in their communities and encourage them to be a part of the church family on a Sunday.

Ahead of Presbyterian Women’s Annual Conference, this podcast considers the conference theme, Being Transformed which is based on Romans 12:2 - “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” 
We want to consider ways in which we can be transformed in Christ as we study God’s Word, take it to heart and put it into practice.  
We will think about how can we get into God’s Word for ourselves and what are some of the obstacles and pitfalls.  We also want to think about how we can live transformed lives that make a difference in our broken world.

Contributors: Ali Calvin, Esther Parker, Louise Davidson and Pauline Kennedy (PCI’s Women’s Ministry & PW Development Officer)

In Matthew 4:19, Jesus calls his first disciples: “follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”. Since this first invitation to follow, be transformed and commissioned into the mission of Christ, billions more people have sought to follow Jesus. Featuring Rachael Gamble (Discipleship Facilitator, Sloan Street PCI), Colin Neill (Waringstown PCI) and Trevor Reaney (First Holywood PCI), this podcast explores key principles and practices that can help both individuals and local congregations towards living a life of faithful discipleship in the 21st century.

This episode also highlights a number of Discipleship resources from PCI for use personally and in small groups, including: 

Inspirations – a resource for women’s ministry filled with engaging, relevant and thought-provoking content.

Essentials – a multi-session small group or midweek course that aims to help followers of Jesus reflect on and live out the essentials of discipleship.

Expressions – an eight session film series that seeks to connect themes from Scripture with the real lives of church members to open up conversations on how their faith expresses itself in everyday life and witness.

Proximity – these three booklets exploring relevant and challenging content on “Seasons of Life”, “Life in God’s Story” and “Habits of a Lifetime” are ideally suited for one-to-one discipleship or small groups. 

Tides – a daily devotional delivered straight to your inbox containing a section of God’s word to read, a short reflection sharing what this could mean for your life, and a simple way for you to respond.

The first podcast episode of 2023 explores how many Presbyterians have a deep relationship with Christ but find themselves tongue tied in talking about their faith with friends, colleagues and neighbours. Philip Houston (Ballykelly Presbyterian), Phyllis Linton (West Church, Ballymena) and Neil Harrison (Congregational Witness Development Officer) explore the challenges for evangelism today and share some suggestions to grow in confidence in talking about the good news in everyday life.

Being a parent of a teenager has never been easy, but many parents are seeing additional challenges and stresses for their young people and may wonder how to do the best job of supporting them at this time. This podcast begins with the voices of young people, sharing their challenges and opportunities, and what they most appreciate about their parents. Then Graeme Thompson is in conversation with people from three different perspectives - teaching, youth work, and psychology – about what is going on for young people these days from educational, emotional, relational, and spiritual perspectives. The conversation concludes with some practical thoughts on how parents of teenagers can walk with them and support them most effectively.

Children’s discipleship is nothing new but in light of the last two years and looking to the future, it is something that we need to prioritise more in the months and years ahead. Teaching children Bible stories, facts about God, and how to behave in church is important but it is not enough to help them to live out their faith from Monday to Saturday, at home, in school, and with their friends. We need to help them understand how to apply what they know about God to their everyday life.
In this podcast episode, Ruth Bromley (PCI’s Children’s Development Officer) is joined by Rev James Rogers (Ballynure Presbyterian) and Aisling Pitt (Scripture Union NI’s E3 School’s worker for East Antrim) to talk about how as congregations we can disciple our children well and about how we can support them and understand more of the opportunities and challenges as they live their faith out in school.

We are in a strange, kind of, in-between moment just now. On the one hand we feel like we have edged well out from the worst days of the pandemic and the lockdowns and the restrictions on what we were able to do. Whilst on the other we find ourselves asking questions about getting back together again ­– rebuilding the worshipping and fellowshipping community of the church among members – and getting going again – in terms of our organisations and activities aimed at connecting to our local community and reaching out to others. 
To reflect on the steps congregations can take to get their life and witness back to more regular patterns as we edge out from under the shadow of the interruption of the pandemic, we are joined by David Thompson (Secretary, Council for Congregational Life and Witness) and Neil Harrison (PCI’s Congregational Witness Development Officer). 
The podcast also highlights a short booklet around being Back Together Again (available for purchase here), a series of blog posts on Getting Going Again, as well as some upcoming events and training programmes: 
Youth Ministry Clinic Webinar on Thursday 10th November at 7.45 pm. 
RESTORED: Tending the soul in the wake of the pandemic in Assembly Buildings on Tuesday 15th November at 7.30 pm.
Sharing Faith Evangelism Training in-person and online in Spring 2023.
Stepping Forward: Stepping Up training for new and younger leaders, in-person and online in Spring 2023.

The last two and a half years have been hard on all of us. Since the emergence of Covid-19, Presbyterian churches across Ireland have been faced with the significant challenge of how to biblically and pastorally respond well to the avalanche of psychological, emotional, and spiritual traumas experienced by many church members of all ages. As we recommence more regular rhythms of church life, how can we continue to tend the souls of ourselves, our young people, and those on the fringes of our congregations?

To reflect on this, we are joined by Dr Angela Minion (CEO, The Big House Ireland), Catherine Hillcox (General Secretary, Bible Society NI), and Neil Harrison (PCI’s Congregational Witness Development Officer).

The podcast also highlights an upcoming PCI event, RESTORED: Tending the soul in the wake of the pandemic in Assembly Buildings on the evening of Tuesday 15th November 2022. Sign up here: www.presbyterianireland.org/restored 

Ministry in urban centres and housing estates presents unique challenges and opportunities for the church to show and share the love of Christ to a community in need. PCI’s Urban Mission Network seeks to support and encourage those ministering in these areas. To explore this we hear from Felix Aremo (Training Manager, London City Mission), Rev Richard McIlhatton (Christchurch, Dundonald) and Jason Sime (Community Outreach Worker, Alexandra). At the end of this conversation is a short interview with Mary Leshi from PCI’s congregation in Galway, who was part of PCI’s Impact programme in August which sent teams to serve different urban churches around Belfast.