Mags GarganMags Gargan meets Ireland’s new Lay Mission Coordinator
Finding a way to utilise the skills and enthusiasm of returned lay missionaries in Ireland is the challenge set for Jim Farrell, and one that he seems to have embraced with a passion.
“Lay missionaries have an untapped talent, vision and experience and my role is to pull that together and to be a conduit in some way to help people to engage in either social justice issues or pastoral work or some kind of mission here in Ireland,” he says.
Jim is originally from Co. Leitrim and was a missionary priest with the Kiltegan Fathers. He worked in South Sudan until escalating violence saw him suffering a bullet wound during an ambush and he was moved to Northern Kenya.
“I worked in Torit diocese in Southern Sudan but when violence escalated in 1986 I moved to Turkana desert in Kenya for eight years in mission work, pastoral work and development work. It was a unique experience – learning languages and interacting with a new culture and being out of your comfort zone. That is one thing that I learned, when you are out of your comfort zone, you learn about yourself,” he says.
Solutions
“Missionaries are being challenged on a daily basis, but they make things happen and respond as best they can. You look at things differently, you try to find solutions and you don’t give up because you find it difficult. There is a lot of resilience there. Of course there is resilience in Ireland too, especially with people working on the frontline. It’s about bringing that energy and vitality together.”
Jim got married in 1995 and moved to Australia where he worked with the Australian Refugee Association in Adelaide delivering employment services and with Indigenous organisations in the Northern Territory. He was also director of a Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre in Alice Springs for a number of years. He says he “learned a lot about what motivates people and I hope to bring those skills to this role”.
Since 2004 Jim and his family have settled in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal where he became involved in setting up the Diocese of Raphoe Justice and Peace group in 2014 which has examined issues such as climate justice and human trafficking. He says through working with this group that he “felt drawn to” the role of Lay Mission Coordinator when it was advertised.
The role was created as a result of the formation of Lay Mission Union Ireland (LMUI), a support group for lay missionaries both at home and abroad to lobby on their behalf with the Irish Church and to raise awareness of their role. The new union was formed by VMM International (Volunteer Missionary Movement), Viatores Christi and other faith-based sending groups and it is being supported by the Irish Missionary Union (IMU).
The union is still in its initial stages and will hold its first strategic planning day next week, Friday, September 25, which Jim says will “give the LMUI a focus and articulate what exactly is our aim. This is the first phase.”
Since his appointment last July, Jim has been dividing his time between Letterkenny and the IMU offices in Dublin. He says he is “enthusiastic” and “not fazed by the tasks ahead”.
“It is exciting, because it is a blank sheet of paper and there is no baggage. I am new to this but I have experience of being overseas and have relationships in Ireland. The goodwill is there, it is just a matter of getting people together, getting them to buy into it, starting off small, setting achievable goals and building it from there.”
One of Jim’s first goals is to create a support structure for returned lay missionaries coming back from overseas. “I want to try and identify some outlets for people coming back who want to get involved. My experience from talking to people is that this is difficult unless someone is interested in what you have done overseas and is willing to help you,” he says.
“To do that I am going to work with dioceses across Ireland and set up a bit of a hub or conversation around that and to create some structures. Some lay missionaries come back after 15 or 20 years overseas and don’t really have a lot of financial support. Religious missionaries would have a back-up that lay missionaries don’t.”
Jim also wants to raise awareness of the role of laity in the Irish Church and plans to lobby for greater recognition and for more lay people to be involved in leadership roles. “With the declining numbers of religious and priests in Ireland there is no doubt that lay people are much more involved the Church. Maybe the Lay Mission Union could be a vehicle to promote that and help other groups in dioceses to activate that or increase activity,” he says.
While this may be a challenge, Jim believes once he gets the conversation moving into practical applications a momentum will build. “People say it sounds great, but when it comes down to brass tacks people find it hard to know where to begin. You need to break ground – create the furrow.
“It is about establishing relationships and harnessing enthusiasm. My belief is that you find people who are passionate and you put people together and things happen,” he says.