Philip McKinley of the CMSI shares below why he does what he does in misson.

1. How you came to be involved in what you are doing?

I became involved in immigrant ministry following a trip to Uganda in 2001 with CMSI. Having received such a warm welcome from Ugandans in Africa, I was horrified by the cold reaction which Ugandans and other Africans had received upon their arrival in Ireland. I volunteered for
4 years with the Vincentian Refugee Centre, in St Peter's church in Phibsboro. This gave me a very clear benchmark for the kind of work that other denominations were offering the growing immigrant population in Dublin in particular. Following this I joined an ad hoc group to look at Anglican responses to immigration. This group later became the Discovery initiative.

2. An indication of the rewards, and some indication of challenges that had to be overcome.

I think the greatest rewards are not booklets, guest speakers or big concerts, the greatest reward has been new or renewed relationships; relationship with God and relationship with new friends. The Discovery initiative founded African services, primarily to offer a space where Irish and African can meet, share and befriend one another. However on a personal level I have found the diversity of Discovery services an extremely rich context for faith development. There have been challenges in making the services inclusive for all ages, all churchmanship’s and all nationalities. The short term solution would be to simply arrange ghettoised 'Nigerian', 'Polish' or 'Chinese'
services, but the long-term goal must be integration. There have also been sheer time and resource pressures. The harvest is rich but the workers are few. Until this year we have all been a voluntary group and have had to deal with extraordinary changes and demands, which have been difficult.

3. What motivates you?

A sense of the Kingdom of Heaven motivates me. Although it's a little crass, I do like the line from U2's 'I still haven't found what I'm looking for' which says 'I believe in the Kingdom come, when all the colours will bleed into one'. I think so often of the Early Church's challenges to bring this image about, to reach a place, by God's grace, where there are no more barriers that can keep us apart.

4. What message you would leave for people that would have similar latent abilities?

I have found that the most profound faith experiences I have had have been when I am challenged to move beyond my comfort zone and meet and love new people. Ministry to the International Community is not an exclusive exercise. At its heart is relationship building. There is nobody incapable of doing this.

5. What influence does the Church/your beliefs have on what you do?

The United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough have been magnificent structurally in their support of this ministry. I believe that God commands us to reach our arms as wide as they can go. God has no favourites and neither should we.