GUARDIANS

Dave and Jill Hines work for the Methodist church in south Belfast, in an area called Ballynafeigh off the Ormeau Road. They are imagining what a new community could look like in the most ethnically diverse part of a city not famed for it’s diversity. Before this they lived in India for 8 years and dreamed up ways to build up a Community Development NGO in Calicut and Ooty in Kerala and Tamil Nadu in south India. Before that they developed an award winning cafe in Belfast called Common Grounds and were part of leading a church called City Church Belfast. Throughout their marriage they have found a way to build fires of community while being schooled in the tradition of Wesley, Brennan Manning and Amy Carmichael. They bring a perpetual bright eyed idealism with open arms of embrace to everyone, all the time. In many ways they epitomise the idea of being Guardians of the Flame. Dave and Jill are lifelong friends of Jonny and Jenn Clark and it was a privilege to create space for them to tell their story.

Borderlands is an experimental attempt to create space for people from within the Christian faith tradition and those outside. It is trying to be a safe place at a time when many people are looking for spaces of gathering, belonging and a faith that speaks of doubt as well as hope, of values as well as belief. Jenn Clark has spent a life time helping people feel that they belong. She is an expert at making people laugh, leading spaces of community and serving people through food. She is also a storyteller. This is a story she wrote around the theme of “Sacred Space” for our Belfast-based event called Borderlands. Borderlands meets on the second Tuesday of every month, usually in the Pavilion Bar and is described as a Brave Space for Sacred Stories.

Borderlands is an experimental attempt to create space for people from within the Christian faith tradition and those outside. It is trying to be a safe place at a time when many people are looking for spaces of gathering, belonging and a faith that speaks of doubt as well as hope, of values as well as belief. Azadeh Sobout is someone we could describe as both an academic and an activist. But her words have a quality that leave the listener feeling that they are listening to a mystic. Azadeh is an Iranian Muslim who speaks here movingly on the theme of “Sacred Space” for our Belfast-based event Borderlands. Borderlands meets on the second Tuesday of every month, usually in the Pavilion Bar and is described as a Brave Space for Sacred Stories.

Borderlands is an experimental attempt to create space for people from within the Christian faith tradition and those outside. It is trying to be a safe place at a time when many people are looking for spaces of gathering, belonging and a faith that speaks of doubt as well as hope, of values as well as belief. Fr Martin Magill is a parish priest in Belfast who is also the co-founder of the Four Corners Festival among many other projects. Fr Martin is a passionate activist for reconciliation in our divided society. In spite of his very public voice, he is someone who embodies the best of the priestly vocation, the capacity to express vulnerability, devotion and to value the individual in front of him. Jonny Clark interviews Fr Martin about everything from his unique interest in Belfast street names to the vocation of being a priest. Notably Jonny discussed with Fr Martin the funeral of Lyra McKee which he spoke at. Lyra was an LGBTQ+ activist and also journalist who was tragically killed by dissident Republican paramilitaries in April 2019 in the city of Derry/Londonderry. Fr Martin in his sermon, powerfully challenged our perpetually gridlocked local political leaders with words acknowledging the gestures of unity and reconciliation after her death but asking “why…in God’s name…does it take the death of a 29 year old woman with her life in front of her to get to this point.” These were some of the most powerful public words we have heard in a long time in Northern Ireland. They received a standing ovation in St Anne’s Cathedral and in living rooms all over the country. Fr Martin was creating a Sacred Space, which was the theme of our Belfast-based event, Borderlands that night. Borderlands meets on the second Tuesday of every month, usually in the Pavilion Bar and is described as a Brave Space for Sacred Stories.