New Wine, the largest Christian family conference in Ireland, ran from Sun 14th July to Fri 19th July and was attended by some 2,000 people including Day visitors. It more or less takes over the Institute of Technology in Sligo for the week. There was an outstanding Bible Teaching every morning from Gavin and Rev. Anne Calver from London.
I had the privilege of leading two Seminars. Both were really well attended and more seats were needed for both. The first was Evangelical Catholic – an Oxymoron? It asked and answered the question: Can one be an evangelical Christian and a faithful Roman Catholic?
Annmarie from Co. Down and Theresa Cronin from Cork, who is the Alpha Regional Coordinator for Cork and Waterford and myself all helped answer this question. Each of us shared how we came to know Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. I shared some of the ways I see the Holy Spirit moving in the Catholic Church in Ireland. There is
– a new humility, which is key for Revival,
– an increased yearning to evangelise
– a growing desire to build relationships with Pentecostals and Evangelical Christians,
– the emergence of effective youth ministries and
– a move towards revived Catholic Parishes
– we highlighted two books, Rebuilt and Divine Renovation, which are testimonies of a revived Catholic Parish in Baltimore, USA and Nova Scotia in Canada. These two books are becoming inspirational to many evangelical Catholics in Ireland.
The second Seminar was: Healing the Original Schism in the Church and Dr. Richard Harvey, a Messianic Jewish Scholar from the UK shared it with me. We highlighted how the Holy Spirit is moving in an amazing way among the Jewish people and how the Messianic Jewish Movement is re-emerging. The first split in the Christian Church was between Messianic Jews and Gentile Christians. But Jesus promised that before His return there will be one fold, one shepherd. Jesus prayed “Father, that they may be one”. Richard a Jew and I a Gentile demonstrated how we find real unity when we find Jesus or Yeshua (the Hebrew name).
Next year’s Irish New Wine conference dates are 12th to the 17th July 2020
P. Monaghan
