pat loughery

Chapter 1 of George Hunter’s “The Celtic Way of Evangelism” sets the historical framework for Patrick’s interaction with the Celtic peoples in the British isles.

As you’re perhaps aware, Patrick’s story goes like this: An Englishman born into an aristocratic Christian family, Patrick and other villagers were captured in a midnight slave raid by Irish pirates and sold into slavery. Patrick served as a slave in Ireland, learning the language and customs, while also experiencing a deepening relationship with his God amidst the beauty of creation. Six years into his slavery, he heard a voice in a dream telling him that he was to go home; his ship was ready. Patrick escaped, walked a hundred miles to the coast, negotiated his way onboard a ship, and after some time, finally returned home. He settled into a the priesthood in England.

At the old age of 48 (ha!, but also past the life expectancy of a 5th century person), Patrick received another dream calling him back to Ireland. Patrick was ordained a bishop to Ireland and returned.

Patrick’s return to Ireland was remarkable for many reasons: first, that he would willingly reject a life of comfort and return to the people who had enslaved him; second, that the Church would allow him to go to a “barbaric people”.  From the second century until this event in the 5th century, no mission had been sent to the “barbarian” peoples.  They were presumed to be impossible to reach; the Celtic peoples – like the Goths, Visigoths, Huns and Vikings were illiterate, uncivilized, uncultured and unpredictable.  And Christianity, the Church believed, required a civilized host.

Somehow, Patrick was able to convince his superiors that the Celtic peoples were worth reaching.  Without a doubt, Patrick’s experience among the people was a positive factor – he knew the language, culture and customs.  Quite probably as well, Patrick’s career path, having begun late after missing out on the traditional education, made him expendable.

Several  factors probably had to do with Patrick’s remarkable success.  The Irish philosophy was accustomed to paradox, which prepared them for Christianity’s central truths.  They were fascinated with the number three, allowing discussion of the Trinity to embed into the cultural consciousness.  They felt deep love for heroism, stories and legends.  The Irish deeply loved nature and felt the closeness of the divine.  And while Druidism was infused with secret knowledge, as opposed to the open wisdom of Christianity which was available to all hearers.

Patrick’s mission presented Christianity to a culture prepared to receive it.  His method appears to have been something like this:  travel with an entourage of a dozen or so people, including priests, seminarians and women.  When arriving at a tribal settlement (note that Ireland at this time had no central authority but was comprised of regional tribal kings), Patrick would engage the king and other leaders, camp near the people, and form a faith community adjacent to the tribal settlement.  They would meet the people, have conversations, pray for people who were sick or possessed, counsel people and mediate conflicts.  Frequently the team prayed for natural events, such as the restoration of ruined wells, or for streams to produce harvests of fish.  Patrick’s team practiced the way of peace.  They incited the peoples’ imagination with art, songs and stories.  They would often receive the peoples’ questions and collectively discuss those questions.  The team would spend time with people who were receptive and with their friends and families.   Patrick’s team would usually spend weeks or months in each community before moving on.

If receptive people were found, a church was built in the community; one of Patrick’s disciples would stay behind to continue the spiritual formation of the new community, and often one or two people from the community would join Patrick as they moved to the next location.

The churches which were planted were remarkably indigenous.

Patrick used this basic methodology for 28 years until his death.  they baptized many tens of thousans of people, planted about 700 churches, ordained some 1000 priests, and in Patrick’s lifetime, 30-40 of Ireland’s 150 tribes became substantially Christian.

In addition to the planting of churches, Irish society changed.  Murder and intertribal warfare decreased.  Patrick was the first to speak out against slavery, and within his lifetime, the Irish slave trade ceased.