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Who cares?The story of Belfast City MissionGripping accountWHO CARES? This is a gripping account of the growth and crises of Belfast and its Mission between 1827 and 2002. The Mission was and is to the poor, from the early handloom weavers to women working in the big linen mills, and men in the huge shipyards, who never attended church. Its converts were the roughest of drunks and gamblers. The Mission cared for those who poured into Belfast from a countryside stricken by the long potato famine of the 1840s, and the widows and orphans of the 5,500 men of the Ulster Regiment killed on the Somme in 1916. The Mission was at the heart of the great 1859 revival, when churches were filled with 'a tangible, almost terrifying sense of the presence of God', and meetings were held every night of the week 'so that seeking souls could find a Saviour'. The 1920s saw another spontaneous revival, mainly working class, under a local minister, W.P. Nicholson. It helped the thousands whose homes round the docks and factories were destroyed by the WW2 blitz. In the 1990s, its street friendships helped it to sort out conflict between Unionist factions. The book shows, above all, how practical love can win the classes seldom reached by the church. Fred Catherwood© Evangelicals Now - June 2004 |