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History of the Ulster Project
Albert Thomas ("Kerry") Waterstone, pastor of St. Catherine's Anglican Church in Tullamore, Republic of Ireland, is the original founder of the Ulster Project on the Irish side. In 1974, there was an exchange of pulpits between Fr. Waterstone and another Anglican priest in the United States. Following his return to Ireland, he received a request from tow large churches in Manchester, Connecticut (St. Mary's Episcopal and St. James Roman Catholic) asking him to form a plan by which they, working together, might help ease the tensions in Northern Ireland. In forming the original guidelines for the project, Fr. Waterstone focused on the area of the in built prejudices, which have acted as a root cause of the bitter strife, under the nominal form of a Catholic-Protestant animosity. He specified an age group old enough to profit from new experiences, but young enough to be still uncommitted to any underground militant group. With these teens, hoped to seed the next generation of Ulster with friendship and communication across ancient barriers. First obtaining official permission from church and state, he traveled into Northern Ireland where he secured the cooperation of a few clergymen willing to help in the implementation of the plan. He personally conducted orientation sessions with parents and youth. As the project has expanded, Fr. Waterstone continued to do this. He has since retired, and Canon Walter Quill of Castlederg and Father John Forsythe of Belfast are co-chairmen. There are currently 26 participating cities in 17 states.
Cincinnati Project History The Cincinnati Ulster Project came into being in 1989. Marybeth Kantner was the driving force behind the project coming to Cincinnati when her husband Karl was transferred to Cincinnati. Marybeth had been involved with the Milwaukee Project (1979-83) and DuPagae Project (1983-86). With the help of the Crestview Presbyterian Church, where the Kantner's were members, Marybeth contacted the Waterstones and the Presbytery Office and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese. In Oct of '87 an International Conference was held in Massillon, Oh and Dave McHenry accompanied Marybeth to the meeting. While at the Conference they learned that Dan and Chris Bissmeyer, formerly of the Lafayette, LA project, had moved to Cincinnati. Kerry and Edie Waterstone accompanied Kantner and McHenry back to Cincinnati for meetings at the Archdiocese and Presbytery offices, local churches and two public forums. The 1989 project took place with the town of Enniskillen, NI under the umbrella of "Enniskillen Together." Due to a great deal of detailed pre planning by highly competent committee members, and the arrival of two energetic and ecumenically minded counselors, with the 16 teens, the first Project went exceptionally well. Fine-tuning has taken place since the first year, and Marybeth continues to be a benefactor of the Project in Cincinnati.
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Last update: Saturday, April 8, 2006 at 8:10:33 AM. |
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