(1) I myself have often said that Northern Ireland suffers just as much from religious indigestion as it does from religious hunger. A result of this is that the conventional language and ideas of religion are not 'new news' to anyone, nor indeed are the caricatures of the convictions and practices of people who try to live a religious way of life.
The first suggestion which I have as a role for the churches is that they or we, if we are part of them, be honest about the chain reaction, and often the causal link, between denominational conviction and rank sectarianism. One of the big, bad scary words in today's society is: pluralism.
But if religions embed themselves in exclusivity as a primary definition of who they are and what they do, then their shelf-life is limited when people generally are no longer looking instinctively to religion or to religious practice to enhance their understanding of their own self-respect.
One of the basics of Christianity is that, in a primary way, it exists for others and for those outside the church. In technical terms, this is called mission. Too often mission has been understood as little more than recruitment of someone else to a set of religious practices and ideals, the philosophy behind which is already obvious to you yourself.
Such an exercise has also frequently suffered from that fatal practice of comparing the best expression of one's own tradition with the worst expression of someone else's tradition.
The unchallenged articulation of exclusive certainties diminishes trust between individuals and erodes cohesion in society. While we luxuriate in a sophisticated two-party denominationalism, there is an Inter Faith reality to be addressed already in our midst. My first role for the churches is one of generous humanity in this new society.
(2) Religion needs not only to do an autumn tidy-up in its own garden but needs to be confident about presenting to the emerging generation what it has to give in terms of what people now call 'value added' to the people of Ireland.
If I may indulge myself with another modern cliché, I do not think that the church as an institution in our societies is 'no longer fit for purpose.' But it does have to re-focus after a radical re-appraisal.
In a post-modern world, political correctness has the capacity to draw out of people both defensiveness and aggressiveness.
Those who feel that things which matter are slipping away from them in the new marketplace of ideas become increasingly protective, not knowing what is next for the shredder.
Those who are impatient to 'set out their stall' feel that every opportunity for a fresh expression or a new make-over needs to be taken.
Appropriate dealing with the past is a casualty of both scenarios. And so we can move into a situation where - dare I say it once again - the churches bicker with one another and other people wonder why they cannot offer any recognizably common Christian witness to the world around them and beyond them.
