This Thursday, polling stations will open throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland as the two nations in which our Presbyterian Church is located give themselves to the process of democracy.
Such processes are highly valued by many nations, and rightly so. In democracy, power rests (ultimately) with the people. They are the ones who matter. The political process is important to the health of any nation and it is critically important in Ireland at present. Politics does matter, but, as Bill Hybels puts it, "politicians only rearrange stuff on the surface of life". He says: "They enact legislation, spend money, and draw attention to a cause. But they cannot bring fundamental transformation into the life of one individual. They cannot order genuine reconciliation between two estranged human beings" - to which we could add "let alone estranged communities". Yet this is what Ireland, North and South, desperately needs.
Tensions continue to bubble to the surface and, despite progress in many areas, some things never seem to change. Despite the political process in these islands, and the best minds of able people, deep things, the fundamental things, seem to follow an unending cycle of mistrust, recrimination, tension, bitterness and, eventually, violence. Political process alone is not the hope of the world. I believe that hope is the church. Not a stale church that does business as usual, with no clear idea of why it exists or what it is supposed to be doing. But a church with vision. Not one that just talks about vision, but a church that is seeing its vision become reality. Nothing is more important to the future of this land than the local churches through which God works, touching and changing local communities. People matter to God.
So, as Moderator, I set before the Presbyterian Church in Ireland a vision, one of how church ought to be. One for each local congregation. It is not a vision for the sake of the church, the people of God, the "insiders". It is a vision for all the people of our land, the vast majority of whom are "outsiders".
Our Gospel vision is good news for the whole world - beginning here at home. But the problem is that most people either do not know this or do not care. Yet that does not change the fact that people matter to God.
Our vision of worship should not just be church on Sunday. Worship is the offering of ourselves to God in service. It is not just "loving the Lord our God with all our hearts and soul and mind and strength". It is also "loving our neighbour as ourselves" and proclaiming God's love, by word and deed, here and throughout the world.
We need in our congregations to develop a process to enable every member to find a place of meaningful service. We need to find creative ways to make connections with local communities around us. We need to get involved, to serve people, to show that we care, that God cares.
They will not hear what we say unless and until they see the local church prepared to get its hands dirty with them in an attitude of servanthood. And even if then they do not want to hear, or will not hear, we need to go on serving them in the name of Jesus, because people matter, and they matter to God.
For an effective church vision, we need a clearer understanding of self, of life, and of other people, from God's perspective. We need an alignment of our values with God's values.
I firmly believe that church must not be just a place to attend, but a place to belong, a place to be accepted, where forgiveness and love are practised, where the hurting, the depressed, the frustrated or the confused can find help, hope, forgiveness, guidance, support and encouragement. In other words, congregations must become biblically functioning communities.
We are called to practise and model the good news of Jesus Christ and to engage the attention of our communities for God so that they discover that the love of God is for them.
God's grace has reached into our lives in Jesus Christ to change us, despite the marred image that was and is still there. He did it to renew the image, to restore it one day to pristine condition. So we despise no one and respect everyone.
Do we have this vision? To see it fulfilled, I believe our churches must be marked by freshness and reality in worship, by an overwhelming spirit of gratitude and adoration of a God who can touch and change lives for all eternity. People matter to God and they must matter to the church as well.
Right Rev Dr Alastair Dunlop is Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland