Jean Gordon and In-Yong Lee.
Wednesday, March 26, 2025 11:41 am
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For more than half a century, outstanding protestant ministers and theologians from all over the country and world have come to First United Methodist Church (FUMC) in Rutherfordton as guests at the annual Logan Preaching Mission.
The preaching mission was begun in 1963 by Dr. F.W.H. Logan for the purpose of bringing "outstanding protestant ministers" to the church, to the town of Rutherfordton and the area. Dr. Logan established a trust at the church for the purpose of having a regular preaching mission and it is continuing today.
This year's Logan Preaching Mission is Sunday, April 13 through Tuesday, April 15 with guest speaker, Rev. Dr. Gary Mason of Ireland, said Dr. In-Yong Lee, pastor of FUMC, where all the services will be held.
"He is a renowned leader in peacemaking and deeply involved in Ireland peace," Lee said.
Dr. Mason is one of 18 pastors in the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church who are the "Peacemaking Group" working together with Bishop Ken Carter. In September, 2023, Dr. Mason came to Lake Junaluska and gave lectures to the group. In April, 2024, the group traveled to Northern Ireland and toured the historic sites for "The Troubles" in Belfast and listened to the very people who had taken part in the 30-year "Troubles" from both sides of the conflict. Dr. Mason is one of the keynote speakers at the Peace Conference April 4-6 at Lake Junaluska.
"I took advantage of inviting him to speak to us, while he's in the United States," said Lee.
"Can theology actually make a difference in today's sophisticated modernized world, or is it a fusty, musty, dusty relic that should be confined to the dusty spaces of outdated churches, cathedrals and is part of a religion relevant to a bygone age?" Dr. Mason asks. "Recent research has highlighted that when religious leaders are present at the table, that more peaceful and holistic communities can thrive even in conflicted and polarized spaces" he said.
Dr. Mason is a Methodist minister and directs a conflict transformation organization based in Belfast called "Rethinking Conflict." Prior to this he spent 27 years as a Methodist clergy person in parish ministry in Belfast and has played an integral role in the Northern Irish peace process. Part of Gary's peace work in Belfast includes establishing Skainos, a world class urban center developed in a post conflict society as a model of co-existence and shared space.
He holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Ulster, completed his theological studies at Queens University and has a Bachelor's in Business Studies from the University of Ulster. Gary was awarded an honorary doctorate from Florida Southern College for his work in peace building in Ireland. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Edward Kennedy Institute for Conflict Intervention at Maynooth University in Ireland. He is a visiting Professor at Emory University in Atlanta and is an affiliated expert and partner to the Negotiation Strategies Institute, a Harvard University program on negotiation for Israelis and Palestinians and international diplomats. He is also on the board of Bridging Insights, a Harvard based research project, building a research driven model for conflict resolution for the Middle East.
Dr. Mason is an international advisor at the European Wasitia Graduate School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at the University of Flensburg in Germany. He is an advisor to the Woolf Institute at the University of Cambridge and a consultant to the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, on political and religious polarization.