Schooling,the Protestant churches and the state in Northern Ireland: a tension resolved

In 1998, Byrne and McKeown examined the churches’ roles in Northern Ireland’s (NI) schooling system. NI was then governed by direct-rule from the UK’s Westminster Parliament. The authors concluded that the desire of the Protestant churches to re-establish their influence in schools was ‘unlikely to succeed’. This was contrasted with the ‘success-story’ of Catholic influence in schooling. This article tracks the fortunes of the Protestant churches in NI’s educational policy developments in the last 18 years. Of particular interest are the government’s proposals to establish an Education and Skills Authority (ESA) under a new Education Bill. A careful reading of the Protestant churches’ annual education reports indicates the alarm with which these proposals were met. In the early years of the new millennium it seemed that the conclusions of the 1998 paper were prescient. However, extensive lobbying by the Protestant churches in a changed (devolved) political context secured almost all their demands. This article concludes that the ‘tension’ (claimed in the 1998 paper) between the Protestant churches and the state has largely been resolved. The article evaluates the significance of recent developments for the Protestant churches and their involvement in schooling. More critically, the propriety of these developments is questioned asking if they mark an advance for the Protestant churches and/or schooling in NI.     

Defiant spirituality: Care traditions in the black churches

Conclusion I have tried to demonstrate that black church defiant spirituality is a complex, multi-dimensional phenomenon. In essence it represents the quest of exiled African peoples to experience ontological harmony with God and all of creation. In the context of a racist society, it has adapted itself to the exigencies of survival and gradual liberation. Specifically, it has sought to reconstruct reality by religiously affirming God's sovereignty over the just and unjust. Also, it has negated black invisibility, subverted political anemia, and now struggles to resist and conquer an encroaching spiritual despair in post-industrial society.I have identified three basic treasures which the black church may offer to other cultures, namely, that care and discipline are the responsibility of every Christian, that authentic Christian worship nurtures commitments to individual and social transformation and it offers a full sensory experience. I close with words from one of America's greatest twentieth century poets, Langston Hughes (1974)—entitled Mother to Son: Well, son, I'll tell you: Life for me ain't been no crystal stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor—Bare. But all the time I'se been a-climbin' on, And reachra' landin's, And turnin' corners, And sometimes goin' in the dark Where there ain't been no light. So boy, don't you turn back. Don't you set down on the steps 'Cause you finds it's kinder hard. Don't you fall now —For I'se still goin', honey, I'se still climbin', And life for me ain't been no crystal stair. (p. 187)     

Embedded Figures Test compared with clinical tests of abstraction and memory in intellectual impairment

Results on a batter of memory and concept formation tests were compared with performance on the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) and the Visual Gestalts Test for 50 psychiatric patients with intellectual impairment (35 males and 15 females, aged 25–69 years). The EFT only correlated with the concept formation tests and the Visual Gestalts Test. Furthermore, an interrelationship between the EFT results and the degree of intellectual impairment was found. Also, the patients' performance on the EFT was significantly impairment was found. Also, the patients' performance on the EFT was significantly poorer than that of normal individuals. Thus it was concluded that the EFT should be considered as a visuo-spatial test of abstraction, sensitive to intellectual impairment.     

Cloning humans from the perspective of the christian churches

The announcement of the birth of Dolly the cloned sheep evoked widespread response from the Christian Churches. These responses are identified, organized thematically, and discussed critically. The churches have viewed reproductive human cloning either with unqualified opposition or with grave suspicion. Some statements have discussed animal cloning, generally granting limited approval, and nonreproductive human cloning, either in opposition or expressing an openness to entertain specific proposals as the technology develops. This paper is based on a presentation at the 164th Annual Meeting of The American Association for the Advancement of Science (1998), Philadelphia, in the session entitled The Rights and Wrongs of Cloning Humans, February 13, 1998.     

The Old Catholic churches of the Union of Utrecht

Abstract

The Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht have different historical backgrounds. The Dutch Church has her roots in the Catholic Counter‐Reformation, the German‐speaking Churches in the protest‐movements against Vatican I, and the Polish Churches in the problems of emigrants to USA. However, they adhere in common to the conciliar and synodical tradition of the Catholic Church. They lay stress on the relative autonomy of the local church, the episcopal apostolic succession, and the Eucharist as the manifestation of the Church. The autonomy of the local church is not seen as detached from the universal Church or the responsibility to stay in or to restore Church unity. This leads to an ecumenical engagement which has resulted in full communion with the Anglican Churches and a doctrinal consensus with the Orthodox Churches. Reference back to the undivided Church is a key feature of Old Catholic ecclesiology, though this does not lead to uncomplicated ecumenical solutions.     

Views of the West: Transnationalism in contemporary Ukrainian Baptist churches

Abstract

Ukrainian evangelical churches of all kinds are intimately connected with churches, people and religious ideas in other parts of the world. Because of the close relationship between Ukrainian Baptists and churches in the United States, and also because of the perceived ubiquitous nature of American culture worldwide, including in Ukraine, the idea of ‘the West’ is a strong one in Ukrainian church life. This article, based on research carried out in four Ukrainian Baptist churches over a ten-month period, examines how Ukrainian Baptists view ‘the West’. During focus group discussions and individual interviews, Baptists portrayed the West as an object both of admiration and of distaste; as a place from which help had come for Ukraine, as well as a force that had caused problems in the Ukrainian church and in Ukraine more generally. It was described as a place of freedom, wealth, sin and opportunity; as a factor in intergenerational church conflicts; and as the place that entices church members to emigrate and abandon their home churches. Developed out of a larger study on the geographies of identity among Ukrainian Protestants, this article shows that the contemporary Ukrainian Baptist church is in part defined by a transformation from a relatively insular religious community into one that is open both to Ukrainian and western outsiders. To church members, this shift is to blame for a host of changes ushered in by transnational connections between their churches and churches in the West.     

Pipe organs and satsang: Contemporary worship in Shimla's colonial churches

This article explores two seemingly contrasting types of Christian worship (one led by the pipe organ and the other by satsang), which I repeatedly experienced (between 2006 and 2010) during my fieldwork in Shimla, North India. Although it is often assumed that the pipe organ speaks more to colonial worship and satsang to postcolonial worship, this article demonstrates that both of these styles of worship are actually postcolonial attempts to negotiate colonial history. This suggests a need to complicate contemporary external discussions of the inculturation of Christian worship in India. Furthermore, by focusing on the way that contemporary Christians work with missionary histories to create living landscapes of worship, this article demonstrates that Christian worship is central to the identity of many non-Christian residents and tourists, who are also central to the formation of Christian landscapes of worship. The article concludes by suggesting that these groups also need to be brought into debates about the nature of Christian worship in contemporary India.     

The attitude of the Moscow Patriarchate towards other Orthodox churches

Abstract

The Moscow Patriarchate is a transnational subject of political relations which acts both inside and outside the Russian Federation. It has specific goals: to maintain the integrity of its canonical territory and to gain dominance within the Universal Orthodox Church. It is in competition with the Patriarchate of Constantinople, it makes alliances with Slavic Orthodox churches and it pursues diplomacy. The activity of the Moscow Patriarchate is of interest to the Russian government. This article examines relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and other Orthodox churches and their significance for Russian foreign policy.