Bringing people
together [extract from Accord,
October 2003]
The NNPM has only existed since 1996.
it's raison d'etre from the start has been for Christians
of different traditions to learn from each other through experiencing
the different ways we worship and sing. At that first conference three
speakers of different denominations were given these questions to
answer:
What is the place of worship in the mission of the Church?
What is the place of music in that worship?
Their answers were published
in Music
in the Mission of the Church which is still in print.
Since then we have
repeated the experience [on alternate years]. ... I personally have
found it a liberating experience to be able to sing and pray with
Christian sisters and brothers and not think of the things that divide
us, except for the painful experience of the Sunday mornings when
we go our separate ways for the Eucharist. In the end, what unites
us is much greater than what divides us.
This is a slowly and
painfully won realisation, though, in my own lifetime I have seen
a climate of mutual suspicion, if not something worse, between catholics
like myself and 'non-catholics', being broken down to the point where
we are happy in each other's company.
I hope that the NNPM
is still thought of as a place where all are welcome, as long as they
put God first rather than our own disputes.
Stephen Dean [President
NNPM]
