Day Twenty-Eight: County Leitrim
Thursday 28 May
The annual VOX magazine Finding Faith Tour looks very different this year. Instead of a 7-day road trip around the island, this year VOX editor Ruth Garvey-Williams brings you highlights from all 32 counties (one per day plus one for each of the 31 days in May). Contact Ruth if you have a story to share.
Day 28: What Matters Most
One of Ireland’s newest churches is in Carrick-on-Shannon in Leitrim. I caught up with Pastor Jeremy Burke from Lakeland Elim Church to find out more.
“Groupon has a lot of answer for,” smiled Jeremy over our Zoom chat. While Jeremy was studying at Bible College, his wife Lesley booked a weekend away in Sligo using a Groupon voucher. “We went to Sligo just for a break, with nothing else on our minds. We went for a walk up the street and the only way I can describe it is that God gripped our hearts for Ireland.”
It took a while for doors to open but eventually Jeremy and Lesley moved “lock, stock and barrel” to Carrick-on-Shannon in January 2017.
Gradually building relationship with local believers, the couple ran a mid-week Bible study in their home for several months before launching a Sunday service.
“We are a rural community and a rural church. Our people dotted around a 25 KM radius of Carrick and we are blessed with a wide age range,” Jeremy said.
“COVID-19 didn’t catch God by surprise.”
Jeremy believes that the pandemic has the potential to be one of the most “seminal” moments in the life of the church in Ireland. “The scattered church is still able to focus on everything that matters to God - things like prayer, Bible study and worship. That is a message to the church - we don’t need all the other stuff and perhaps it is time to lay off the things that don’t really matter.”
Fellowship is one of the hardest things to maintain during lockdown but Lakelands Elim has held regular Zoom quizzes and church members are checking in with one another to provide support and care. In the future, and especially in rural Ireland, Jeremy believes greater flexibility will be needed around what church looks like (keeping the fundamentals described in Acts 2 but not dependent on four walls and all the traditions we have adopted - whether ancient or contemporary!)
One of the Bible verses that has been very much on Jeremy’s heart is 1 Corinthians 15:58: “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.”
“Nothing is a wasted effort and Jesus is worthy of everything!” Jeremy said.
