The 2016 annual Aontas Conference took place in March in Abbeyleix, Co. Louth. ‘Aontas’ is the Irish way of saying ‘Together’.
It was formerly known as the Association of Irish Evangelical Churches. Aontas exists to further the gospel in the Republic of Ireland, to foster close cooperation between Bible-centred churches and to share resources.
Precious fellowship
Evangelical churches make up about 1.5% of the religious landscape and so it is good for us to meet together and enjoy teaching from God’s Word. These precious times of fellowship with like-minded believers provide an opportunity to hear about new works and to encourage one another.
Our speakers this year were John and Ann Benton of Chertsey Baptist Church, Guildford in England. In the morning session John spoke on ‘Encouraging small churches’. This was a relevant and helpful session.
Small churches
Many churches in the South of Ireland are small, growth is slow and the work can be hard. So we were heartened to hear that our great God takes pleasure in using ‘smallness’ and this was well illustrated from many Bible passages. For example, we were reminded of how God started the nation of Israel with two very unlikely people, Abram and Sarai, and how God greatly reduced Gideon’s army so that no one could boast that they had accomplished the victory. It seems that this is God’s preferred way of working and of advancing his own glory. John helped us to see ways in which small churches can make an impact in the towns and villages in which we live.
Seminars
The afternoon seminars were on the subjects of ‘Raising teenagers’ by both John and Ann, and on ‘Social media and websites’ by Johnny Pollock. There was much to help and encourage in these sessions. In the ‘Raising teenagers’ seminar it was clear that we were not hearing from experts or people who had got it all worked out, but rather from those who had weathered the storm and who had applied God’s Word to their own family life. Proverbs 1–9 provided the biblical background for these sessions. Stress was placed upon teaching our children to seek wisdom and the fear of the Lord in order to be able to handle life with all its pitfalls. These qualities were to be prized above all the other things we might want for our children. The sessions made me resolve to go over these vital chapters in our family worship times.
Long live the Aontas Conference!
