McElroy or Mickelson? 
Reverend Brian Stewart of the Parish of St George’s Belfast.
By: Alexander Hutcheson
St George’s has a history as the oldest Anglican Church in Belfast and boasts a wholly diverse congregation thanks to its tolerant nature, which kept its doors open whilst many other churches in the area were being closed.
What were you doing when you were my age?
When I was 22 I was working as a motorcycle technician, an engineer in MG motorcycles in my home city of Derry. In the late eighties, a year after I set up my own business in motorcycle engineering, which I ran for 5 years, I had a growing sense of vocation and call to the priesthood. After discussing it with the Bishop and a long process of discernment and interviews over a period of 3 years, I was sent to Dublin for a selection conference. After 5 days of interviews I was selected, sold my business and started my studies in September 1988.
How did you get to where you are today?
It was fairly straightforward. I completed my 3 years ordination training at Trinity College Dublin and became a curate assistant in the parish of Ballywillen, better known as Portrush. Once ordained in 1991, I spent 3 very happy years as the curate of Portrush and then, quite unexpectedly, I was approached to allow my name to go forward for this parish of St George’s Belfast. At this stage I hadn’t anticipated going into a parish as a rector, I had actually anticipated going back to Dublin. With trepidation I allowed my name to go into the hat and, once again quite unexpectedly, it came out. I became rector of St George’s in 1994, so this is my 15th year here.
Who was the most influential person in your life and why?
It’s very difficult to say, obviously I have to say God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, but in terms of people that I have encountered in life, at certain times certain people have been deeply influential; In my past, a number of clergy that I knew but also writers such as Kenneth Leech, an Anglican theologian. His work has influenced my thinking, spirituality and life because he is a scholar, he is radical, very left of centre, very outspoken and one of the most original thinkers still around today in the Anglican communion. The former Archbishop of Armagh, Archbishop Simms, who I had the great pleasure of knowing personally, would also be a major influence and if the Church of Ireland has produced a saint in the 20th century, he is undoubtedly first in that category. Of people still alive, my sister Ann is a person who has inspired me greatly by her personal example of overcoming great difficulties in her own life.
What do you value most in life?
Well, when I was younger in my business life, I would have put a lot of store by hard-work, establishing a reputation for doing what I did extremely well and having people know me as a trustworthy and reliable person. That would have been top of my priorities, now I value people and relationships more than those ideals. I care more about the quality of relationships and friendships. Loyalty, compassion, integrity, justice, mercy and tolerance – I think all of these are summed up by the gospel commandment “Love God and love one’s neighbour as oneself”.
What advice would you give to a young university graduate from Northern Ireland?
Very simple, get out! If you decided to stay here to study, then get out of Ireland. Travel, experience life in another country, in another culture and meet people. Ireland has changed enormously, it has become a very cosmopolitan place but still I feel it is important for young people to get out of here and that way they learn to truly appreciate the best of what Ireland, both north and south, has to offer. If they do come back, and God willing they will, to live and settle here then they bring those experiences from overseas and use them to improve our society here.
St George’s has a history of being a forerunner; the first Anglican Church in Belfast, the first in Ireland to introduce the Christmas Midnight Eucharist and in May the church once again broke new ground in its defence of gay people. Whilst many Churches simply condemn homosexuality or attempt to distance themselves from the matter, what led you to make St George’s the exception?
I was approached by Changing Attitudes Ireland to hold a service marking the International Day Against Homophobia, this was the first time the day had been observed in Ireland by the churches. I put the matter to my church wardens and vestry and they agreed. Upon my installation as rector of St George’s, I was told by a member of the vestry that St George’s has a tradition of fierce tolerance, which I myself have seen during my time here. We organised a typical Church of Ireland service in which we wanted to counter the homophobic remarks so frequently churned out by others and to send out a clear signal that irrational prejudice, hatred and bigotry against homosexuals was wrong and not to be tolerated in any way. We wanted to show that just as Anti-Semitism against Jews or prejudice in former times against African or Asian people were and still are wrong, so is the irrational hatred of gay people.
“People are prepared to accept diversities that exist not just in a religious capacity but in sexual and in social capacities as well” – Colin McCormick said of Northern Ireland after the service held at St George’s. In light of the recent shootings of army and police officers, the murder of Kevin McDaid, and Iris Robinson’s inflammatory remarks regarding homosexuality, to what extent would you agree with this statement?
I think Northern Ireland has changed an awful lot, as has the Republic. Who would have thought 20 years ago that the Republic, where it was illegal to sell a condom in public would be where it is today. However there is still a long way to go as there remains a deep seated hatred and prejudice against gay people in particular. It is not as bad as it once was for sure, but Northern Ireland has been a very insular place and has a long way to go to losing its own fears because that is basically what lies at the bottom of it - fears of those who are somehow different from what we regard as the “norm”, if there is such a thing. Therefore people from Eastern Europe, people of a different skin colour to the indigenous population here, people who have a different religious upbringing to one or another community here, people of a different sexuality – all these groups are regarded with a certain degree of scepticism and suspicion and it will take time for Northern Ireland to fight this struggle.
The Church of Scotland is currently embroiled in a debate over the appointment of a gay minister. Although the majority of his congregation support his appointment, a petition of over 5000 signatures has been submitted to the Kirk in opposition. Where do you stand on gay people in the clergy?
I don’t want to say anything on the Church of Scotland, they have their own processes and own structures. The Church of Scotland is Presbyterian, whereas the Church of Ireland is Anglican and governed by laypeople, that is Bishops and Clergy meeting together. The two are very different. I am quite in favour of gay people being ordained into the church but only on the same basis as anyone else. There should be no discrimination in the clergy, just as there is no discrimination on skin colour or ethnicity, for example. The call to ordination is a call from God and if the church discerns the spirit of God active in a person’s life as a call to ordination, then the church should respond to that and welcome the spirit of God wherever and amongst whoever it is to be found. Gay people should have the same opportunities to pursue a vocation as anybody else but of course, there is no automatic right to ordination for anyone whether male or female, black or white, gay or straight. The same criteria, the same rules and the same processes should apply to all without favour or distinction.
Having grown up in Northern Ireland and witnessed the results of a conflict in which religion was, and ostensibly still is, a major cause of division, I must admit that my view of religion is rather negative. In consideration of the troubles and negativity toward religion, how do you view the role of the Church and religion in general in Northern Ireland in the future?
In the future I hope it can be a reconciling and healing influence, although at times the portents for that aren’t very good. The biggest thing that I am critical of is the church’s involvement in education. None of the churches, I feel, should be directly involved in running schools or having a say in education. We shouldn’t have a segregated education system in this province, or on the island of Ireland for that matter. The churches shouldn’t be involved in that; it should be taken care of in its entirety by the state. Churches may be asked to provide people to assist with religious instruction but that’s about the height of it. I am in favour of a totally integrated education system the length and breadth of Ireland. I am also in favour of a comprehensive education system and if people want to have private schools or schools of a particular denomination or ethos, then they should fund those entirely out of their own pockets. The state should not in any way be funding private schools of any description.
And finally, St George’s is a place of historical significance in Belfast and succeeds in maintaining traditional practices, yet manages to remain contemporary in its views and diverse congregation. Would you then agree that religion has to adapt and change to suit the climate in which it is practiced?
Yes, of course. Religion always has to be incarnated in the culture in which it finds itself. This is what the church has done for 2000 years at its best; at its worst of course it has accommodated itself to the culture and taken on board aspects of it, as the medieval church did and as the church in Nazi Germany did when many church leaders supported Hitler. It takes the prophets and the heroes of the faith to speak out against these things. I suppose if I could think of people today who have done that and who inspire me by their outlook, not only Kenneth Leech but also someone who is probably much better known, Desmond Tutu - a former Anglican archbishop of Cape town, South Africa. He has been a fabulous example of someone who has taken the radical approach, who has spoken up in the face of evil and hasn’t allowed himself to simply be bound down by the culture in which he found himself, a culture of apartheid, repression and discrimination but he has stood up for the truth of the gospel for the way of peace. I think he has been a fabulous example of how churches should meet the challenge for diversity in the face of discrimination, hatred and intolerance.
