Letter: Evangelical Alliance survey will hopefully lead to many bridges of friendship between Christians in different churches

The key question is how can bridges be built, anchored on His Word, between born again Christians in all the churches? We have to learn to understand the different terms we use to express our common faith in Jesus.

An evangelical Protestant may say “I am a born again believer.” A Catholic may say “I have come into a living personal relationship with Jesus.” Both will have come to faith in Christ. Both will be ‘known by their fruits’.

In a divided society, the most recognisable fruit is practical love across the barriers. We owe this in obedience to our One Lord.

In their survey, Evangelical Alliance found that 38% (160,000) of practicing Catholics consider themselves evangelical.

For them, ‘evangelical’ would mean loving and living by Scripture as the Word of God, accepting Jesus as personal Lord and Saviour, and manifesting the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

In welcoming the 38% finding, Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh commented: “Personal encounter and friendship with Jesus Christ is central to the Catholic evangelical outlook, conforming one’s life more and more with the life of Christ, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.”

EANI acknowledges in their publication that “much theological agreement has been achieved between the Catholic Church and Reformed, Pentecostal and Messianic Jewish Christianity in recent years. We would be keen to encourage and facilitate new conversations among these evangelicals across the wider church in Northern Ireland”.

Since Vatican II there has been increasing focus by the Catholic Church on evangelisation. Many Catholic parishes, north and south, run Alpha courses.

Last year 5,200 went through Alpha in the Republic, 50% of them 16-year-olds.

There were 78 Alpha Youth courses in transition year in secondary schools.

A brief sample of two evangelical Catholics’ testimonies were included in the publication:

“I grew up in Belfast during the ‘Troubles’ in a traditional Catholic family. During A levels I began to read a Gideon’s Bible and encountered the presence of God. In my early 30s I was led to fully surrender to the Lord, trusting in Christ Jesus as my only Saviour and Lord.

"The Scriptures came alive and I received an assurance ‘by grace you have been saved through faith’ (Ephesians 2:8).” (Fergus McMorrow, director of Divine Healing Ministries, Belfast).

“I grew up in Belfast in a beautiful yet nominal Catholic family. I didn’t know the Lord. My life changed when I joined Youth Initiatives. The Christian staff made an impact on my life.

"A year later, as a 17-year-old, I had an encounter with the love of Jesus. From that moment I knew I would never be the same again.” (Fr. James O’Reilly PP, Toombridge, Co Antrim).

Congratulations EANI for commissioning this survey. May it lead to many bridges of friendship between Christians in different churches.

May we together proclaim, in word and life, north and south, the good news of Jesus, Saviour and Lord.

Paddy Monaghan, Evangelical Catholic Initiative