The last few weeks before Christmas are busy ones in the life of the church as people prepare for this special season. Much of the programme at this period is related to practical caring. It is a time for family reunions and parties, and the church gives special thought to those who have no close relations, or whose health prevents their sharing in much of the jollity. In every circuit throughout the church particular thought and care are offered to them, but it is specially so at the City Missions in Dublin, Belfast, Derry and Newtownabbey. In each of them social programmes are arranged to mark the festive season.
But for the churches, Christmas is not just a time for party-going; it is the celebration of the coming into his world of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. So in the churches, Methodist and others, Advent is a time of remembering the significance of that event, and the story of the preparation for his coming retold in readings, sermons and carols.
It is a time when the wellsprings of charity are opened more fully than usual, and all charities raise a high proportion of their funds at this season. One such is Protestant Aid, the leading Protestant agency relieving financial distress throughout the Republic on a non-denominational basis. This year it expects to distribute more than £70,000 to people for whom Christmas would otherwise be a cheerless time, made all the more so by the increased amount of spending in which the rest of us are apt to indulge.
In the midst of this season of celebration, the Methodist Church in England and the Church of England have issued a report of their formal conversations, and announced their recommendation of the acceptance of an Anglican-Methodist Covenant. This would bring the two churches into a new relationship, and be a step towards "the full visible unity of the church".
Independently of this, the Methodist Church in Ireland and the Church of Ireland have over the past twelve years been discussing their relationship. Last May a similar Covenant was presented to the General Synod of the Church of Ireland, and last June to the Methodist Conference, and found a majority acceptance, though there were some reservations and questions in the minds of members of both churches.
In the intervening months these have been addressed by the Joint Theological Working Party which both churches commissioned to the task, and a further report and recommendation will come to the Synod and Conference in 2002. The Irish documents have adopted the phrase "to make unity more visible".