Presbyterian Herald June 2024

A man of His Word

6 - 12 JULY 2024

Exploring how the gospel is totally counterintuitive: Christ’s strength and power does not rest upon the brightest disciple or biggest church, but in weak followers of Jesus who rest in Him.

Your legacy of hope and care - a gift in your Will.

A gift in your Will could not only help your loved ones but can leave a legacy of hope for generations to come.

In Northern Ireland four in ten adult deaths are caused by chest, heart and stroke illnesses. We’re working hard to change this by funding life-changing research and caring for those who are affected by devastating health conditions every day.

We’ve been helping local people for 75 years, and with your help we can continue to be there for people who need us now, as well as those who will need us in the future.

Please visit nichs.org.uk/giftsinwills for further information on leaving a gift in your Will to NICHS or call us on 028 9032 0184.

Simon Genoe

David Cassidy

John Risbridger

Editor: Sarah Harding

Subscriptions and

CONTRIBUTORS

Will

is a

Deborah Sloan is a member of Bloomfield. She has four teenage daughters and has recently left a career in academia to pursue her lifelong dream of being a writer. Rev Karen

Rev Uel Marrs is PCI’s Secretary of the Council for Global Mission and a member of Knock Presbyterian Church, Belfast.

The views expressed in the features, news reports, letters and book reviews of this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor. Editorial comment and signed articles do not necessarily contain the official views of the Church, which can only be laid down only by the General Assembly. Acceptance of advertisements does not imply endorsement of the goods or services. Advertising will not be included if the product or service is deemed to be in conflict with the Church’s official views, or if it is inappropriate for a church magazine. It is not Herald policy to include any editorial content along with adverts. The editor reserves the right to decline any advertisement or letter without assigning any reason. Letters may be edited for publication. No correspondence can be entered into regarding nonpublication of advertisements or letters. The Presbyterian Church in Ireland is a registered charity in Northern Ireland (NIC104483); registered charity in Republic of Ireland (20015695).

On the move with God p34

From every nation? p16

A night to shine p14

Cover photo: Jamie Trimble

EDITORIAL LETTERS

Life-changing love

Rev Richard Murray will be installed as PCI’s next Moderator at the General Assembly later this month. During his interview with Will Leitch, Richard shows him a prize he won as a child, presented by the Robins in 1971, which he still holds dear – a Psalter, with the inscription: “For his eagerness in everything”.

How we are treated when we are children can have an enormous impact on us, and here the church can play a pivotal role for good. Encouraging and nurturing young people will plant seeds of faith that can later grow into fruition.

This month we report on a lovely story from Granshaw Presbyterian, a church that partnered with Young Life to run a special prom for teenagers with additional needs. Minister Mark Brown highlights the significance of the event: “Many young people with additional needs…go through their whole lives without ever feeling celebrated, valued, or loved…nobody should miss out on the lifechanging love of Jesus Christ, no matter who they are.”

This is also true for those in the neurodiverse community. Deborah Sloan reflects on an event run by East Belfast Presbytery on how to include and support those with autism. Speaking at the event, current Moderator Dr Sam Mawhinney said: “When we see the needs around us and move towards people in love and support, we are doing what Jesus wants us to do.”

Moving towards all people in love is important, and that includes those from other cultures and nationalities. To help churches do this better, the Irish Council of Churches has produced a resource, From Every Nation?, which offers advice and guidance. Karen Campbell makes it clear that this resource is relevant for all churches: “Whether you belong to a congregation that reflects one culture or many, becoming a church that is anti-racist should be important.”

It is exciting to remember that we are part of a global church and there is a richness in the diversity among believers. Rev Uel Marrs writes about his recent visit to one of PCI’s many partners around the world – the Church of North India. He reports on the vibrancy of faith and worship there, saying “…there was a hunger and expectancy for God.”

As the world around us continues to evolve and societal pressures change, it is important to have unity of hope with other believers as we reach out to those who don’t know Christ. Richard Murray recognises there is an increasing challenge to be faithful to Scripture. In the year ahead his aim is something we should all aspire to do: “… to speak the truth in love. It’s not just what you say, it’s the tone – how you say it.”

General Assembly

Dear Editor

As this month’s General Assembly gets closer, my to-do list gets longer, and one of the items to get done is this letter, for which I am very grateful to the editor for publishing.

As many Herald readers will know, the General Assembly will see ministers and representative elders from over 500 congregations from across Ireland, along with others, come together to discuss and debate issues that are important to the Church, and quite often, to society as well.

In recent years the General Assembly has undergone some important changes, and this year will see three further significant changes. While the Clerk wrote about these in last month’s edition, I think that it is important to highlight them again.

Firstly, the Moderator, Dr Mawhinney, will formally constitute the General Assembly during a service of worship, when he will preach. This takes place at 10am on Thursday 20 June, the opening day of the Assembly – and not the evening before. As in past years, all are welcome to attend the public gallery.

Secondly, you are also welcome to attend the installation of his successor, Rev Richard Murray. This will take place in front of invited civic guests at 4.30pm on Friday during a service of worship. The third change is that the General Assembly Communion service will take place on Saturday 22 June at

12pm, prior to the Assembly’s close.

Each will be a wonderful opportunity to lift our God high with songs of praises, as will the Thursday evening celebration, when we look forward to hearing John Risbridger, chair of the Evangelical Alliance Council. Again, all are welcome.

Please take note of these changes, and if you if you are unable to be with us in the public gallery, log on to the livestream at www.presbyterianireland.org

Rev Roy Mackay Convener, General Assembly Business committee

Barnabas Aid

Dear Editor

I represent Barnabas Aid in Ireland. We have recently opened a new warehouse in Drumbo, Lisburn, in order to expand our food.gives project in Ireland (www.food.gives/ gb/). We are seeking to find volunteers to help us process and pack food boxes that will be shipped to Christians in need in situations where sending money is not an option.

So far, we have shipped more than 74 million servings to 23 countries (including 30+ tonnes from Ireland).

If any readers would be willing to help with this work, please get in touch with me directly by emailing: Neville. McCormack@barnabasaid.org

Neville McCormack Church engagement manager (ROI & NI) Barnabas Aid

Coming soon…The Review

A resume of key decisions taken at this year’s General Assembly, plus news and photos from the annual event, will be available week commencing 1 July in a new resource. Called The Review, it can be downloaded by scanning the QR Code, or by logging onto www.presbyterianireland.org/ga24review

Full coverage of this year’s General Assembly will be in September’s Herald as usual.

It is a strange political moment in the Republic of Ireland. The economy is healthy, with almost €10 billion euros in surpluses predicted for this year and technical full employment. But the electorate is uneasy. The housing and homelessness crisis tops the polls as the major factor of discontent. Even when Ireland was at its poorest, there was always enough housing. Now, the official numbers of homeless have risen consistently for almost a decade, and over 4,000 children are unhoused.

Kevin Hargaden reflects on what’s been in the news recently….

How do you reconcile such abundance with such abject poverty? But if you look below the surface, there is an even deeper unrest. Across social media, and sometimes exploding in street protests and acts of criminal vandalism, there is a rising and quite extreme anti-immigrant fervour to be found. It is a disparate movement without any clear leadership or clear agenda. There is certainly an absence of clear thinking since so much of the state’s economic vitality relies on migrant labour. Immigrants to Ireland are overwhelmingly employed in the essential frontline caring and maintenance tasks that we need to conduct our daily lives or in the highly skilled sectors of information technology and pharmaceuticals. While this movement sometimes uses the language and iconography of Christianity, it is deeply pagan. How could a Christian in Ireland oppose immigration when across the denominational spectrum, it is the newcomers to our lands that have rejuvenated our churches? And how ironic is it that Irish people – a nation that resorted to economic migration for centuries – should now think they have a right to oppose the same dynamic from elsewhere?

How could a Christian in Ireland oppose immigration when… newcomers…have rejuvenated our churches?

medics, ethicists, and activists came and shared their wisdom with the Dáil about euthanasia. Although the Irish psychiatrists and palliative care doctors are largely opposed to it, the committee has recommended that Ireland introduce such laws. In a Minority Report published by three of the committee members, it was suggested that the decision to introduce the laws was taken by the majority of members in advance, and they did not properly weigh the expert evidence from those on the frontlines of this complex issue. There are connections to be drawn here. Both the anti-immigrant fervour and the move to euthanise people are explicitly in contradiction to Christian values. But perhaps there is a common source at play? There is a sort of democratic deficit whereby ordinary people feel like the decisions being made have very little connection to what they want. Their voices on the basic issues of education, health, and, most importantly, housing are largely unheeded. So, they express frustration through the avenues that are available – the Far Right agitators are happy to exploit such exasperation. And the parliamentarians have a vision where things like the freedom to end your life is central and they do not think they need to heed the warnings of doctors, nurses, and ethicists, nevermind ask the wider population if this is what they want.

Christians can, of course, take a variety of different positions on policy related to immigration. But the one thing we cannot compromise on is a concrete and real welcome to the stranger in our midst. Leviticus still binds us when it teaches: “Don’t mistreat any foreigners who live in your land. Instead, treat them as well as you treat citizens and love them as much as you love yourself” (Lev 19:33–34).

Attracting much less attention, but perhaps even more alarming for Christians, has been the recommendations that have come out of a parliamentary sub-committee looking at ‘assisted dying’. Over months of consultation, various lawyers,

Local and European elections are imminent. There will be a General Election within a year. The media discourse will focus on the clickbait of immigration, will largely disregard the complex questions around euthanasia, and the housing crisis will deepen even while the surplus accumulates. Are we saying too much to suggest that the uneasy place Irish society finds itself in has more to do with a lack of vision for what it means to be human, to cultivate a common good, to care for each other? It turns out, we need more than just a booming economy.

Kevin Hargaden is an elder in Lucan Presbyterian Church. He is a theologian whose work focuses on Christian ethics. His most recent book is called Parish as Oasis

NEWS | IN THE ROUND

General Assembly

20–22 June 2024

Timetable

THURSDAY 20 JUNE

10am Opening of the General Assembly

10.45am Reception of visiting delegates 11.30am Business committee Presbytery reports

12pm Council for Congregational Life and Witness

2pm General Council Section 1

3pm Council for Public Affairs

4.30pm Council for Global Mission

5.30pm Memorials transmitted

Evening celebration Thursday 20 June at 7.30pm

Speaker: John Risbridger (chair of the Evangelical Alliance Council)

FRIDAY 21 JUNE

10am General Council Section 2

General Council Section 3

Councils and Commissions not presenting verbally

(Council for Mission in Ireland/General Assembly Trustees)

2pm Listening to the Global Church

2.45pm Judicial Commission

(Code Republishing task group)

4.30pm Installation of the new Moderator – Rev Richard Murray

7.30pm Linkage Commission

Reports not presented verbally

(Council for Social Witness/Council for Training in Ministry)

General Council Section 4

SATURDAY 22 JUNE

10am Private session Judicial Commission Public session

General Council Section 5 Overtures

Lapsed business (if any) Business committee (final report)

General Assembly Communion service Saturday 22 June at 12pm

Three important changes to the General Assembly

The opening of the General Assembly

The opening of the General Assembly will take place on Thursday morning at 10am – and not Wednesday evening – when the Moderator, Dr Mawhinney, will constitute the Assembly and give his address.

Installation of the new Moderator

The Moderator-Designate, Rev Richard Murray, will be formally installed as Moderator during a service of worship and address the Assembly on Friday afternoon, starting at 4.30pm.

Assembly Communion service

The General Assembly Communion service will take place on Saturday at 12pm.

RE curriculum judged not to breach human rights

The Court of Appeal has found that Christianfocused religious education and collective worship in Northern Ireland’s primary schools does not breach the European Convention of Human Rights, as there is the right to opt out.

Commenting, chair of the Transferor Representatives’ Council, which represents the interests of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Methodist Church and Church of Ireland, Dr Andy Brown, said: “The teaching of RE is a vital component of the primary curriculum in Northern Ireland… RE gives space for children to learn about faith within the Christian ethos of our schools, which encourages and promotes the importance of recognising and respecting the different views of those of other faiths and none.

“We will continue to work together with all relevant agencies to ensure that children and young people across Northern Ireland have access to high quality religious education, which will enrich their learning and understanding of the world in which they live.”

Moderator at immigration meeting

Presbyterian Moderator Dr Sam Mawhinney recently met with other faith leaders and members of both Houses of the Oireachtas, to discuss the subject of immigration to Ireland.

The special event, ‘Faith communities and parliament in cooperation, to address the challenges and opportunities which immigration presents’, took place in Leinster House.

Dr Mawhinney said, “The meeting came at a time when there is increasing discussion in the country around immigration, and political and diplomatic disagreement on the matter, which can feed into tensions that already exist.”

He said that in many of PCI’s congregations, north and south, the Church is seeing and welcoming an increasing number of people from overseas. He referred to his own church, Adelaide Road in Dublin, which has a diverse congregation; Tullamore Presbyterian being recognised as a ‘Church of Sanctuary’; and the work of the International Meeting Point in Belfast as examples. “As Presbyterians it has always been important for us to play our part, not only in our local communities, but also in wider civic and public life,” Dr Mawhinney said.

Care for those most in need drives evangelical engagement in politics

Evangelical Christians in the UK care about politics, with 93% of those surveyed stating they would certainly or most likely vote if there was a General Election tomorrow, according to a research report conducted by the Evangelical Alliance.

Called ‘Thinking faithfully about politics’, the report also found that the biggest factor influencing how evangelicals will vote is the impact that their vote will have on others.

Director of advocacy, Danny Webster, says: “The findings are both encouraging and insightful. There’s great diversity in how evangelicals vote, the issues they care about and how they put this into practice. The results of our survey revealed, there’s appetite for more engagement in politics, but also distrust of politicians and frustration with political parties.”

Train station closure

Those attending this year’s General Assembly should note that Great Victoria Train Station is now closed. Europa Bus Station remains open.

The rail line will remain open throughout Belfast, but passengers should now use alternative stations. A revised timetable is also operating.

Further information is available at www.translink.co.uk

Serving schools

“The two constants in any community, no matter how small, are the local church and the local school,” Dr Andy Brown noted as he opened the first in a series of ‘Preparing for Reconstitution’ events for clergy, school governors and church members held just after Easter.

The Transferor Representatives’ Council’s roadshow, in Lisburn, Coleraine and Enniskillen encouraged Church of Ireland, Presbyterian and Methodist congregations to choose good candidates for the role of governor, as the reconstitution of boards of governors approaches later this year.

Controlled schools have been well-served by the three Churches over the last century, following the transfer of most of their schools into state control. Whilst there is a clear missional opportunity and rights are enshrined in legislation to promote, maintain and defend our schools’ Christian ethos, TRC chair Dr Brown reminded attendees that we are there to serve our schools and communities.

Setting the scene in a keynote address, Evangelical Alliance’s Northern Ireland director, David Smyth, outlined some major trends that are shaping society and the opportunities to make a difference in the communities which churches and schools both serve.

pupils are always “doing their best in the amazing schools that we have here.”

A significant proportion of Northern Ireland’s population still identifies as Christian –79.7% in the 2021 Census, compared with 46.2% in England and Wales in the same year. Evangelical Alliance’s surveybased research report, Good News People, published in February, found that one in two people in Northern Ireland described themselves as practising Christians, and 57% agreed or strongly agreed that faith should have a role in education.

For many people here, their lives are shaped by a very different story than what is told by secular culture – one which “provides redemption and forgiveness far beyond what is offered by the world around us.” Mr Smyth asserted that churches have great opportunities to shape the moral formation of young people, in its widest sense, advocating for what is true, good and beautiful.

Governors can be the channel for random acts of kindness from your congregation.

“We are living in a moment where it is very hard to keep up with life,” Mr Smyth remarked. He said three words can help to sum up a prevailing attitude in society: individualism, consumerism and materialism.

There’s a widespread desire to find fulfilment in possessions, such as a slightly better house or car, although a desire to put broken things right also shows “a good and healthy yearning for justice and redemption”. The internet and social media have dramatically changed education and employment, and a sense of ‘perma-crisis’ confronts young people – who experience crises around identity, truth, trust and relationships as they try to find their way in a changing world.

Wider society is forming our children and young people “in ways that we are only beginning to understand,” he said. Trust in civic institutions is lower, debates on a range of contentious issues continue, and budgets are under immense pressure in a region which has lacked political leadership in recent years. He added that amid these challenges, teachers, principals and

At each event, a local school principal shared some ways in which transferor governors strategically, practically and pastorally help their schools – with examples including: a supportive and sympathetic understanding of the complexity of the principal’s role; being aware that schools pick up the consequences of problems that other public services in society are unable to deal with; a ‘joined-up’ approach to service with other community partners; training in health and safety, finance, and child protection; looking around creatively for funding sources; helping families to find help with living costs – groceries, fuel, and small, simple gifts; and pastoral and spiritual support with the principal and members of staff.

Governors can be the channel for random acts of kindness from your congregation – from end-of-term boxes of chocolates to remembering times when staff will feel under particular pressures, and asking about their wellbeing.

The principal, as the leader of the school, has a key role in relationships between churches and schools so it’s essential that he or she trusts their governors. And the best approach, Dr Brown related, is for churches to pull their sleeves up and “go in and give, and ask for nothing in return.”

To find out more about the TRC, please visit its website: http://trc-churcheducation.org

Dr Peter Hamill (TRC Secretary), Ian Ellis (Church of Ireland Bishop of Clogher), and Dr Andy Brown.

IN THIS MONTH... June 1995

Dipping into the archives to take a look back at what was making Presbyterian headlines and news in history.

Sex, politics and Church House

Sex and politics are always contentious issues for any Church to deal with, but on Wednesday 3 May, this was the mix served up to the media by the Presbyterian Church.

The Prime Minister and his entourage rolled in through the front door of Church House to meet a Moderatorial delegation, while invited guests and the media arrived at the Howard Street entrance to attend the launch of ‘Loving in the Real World’, a booklet on sex education produced by the Youth Board, Board of Social Witness and Board of Education.

John Major became the first British Prime Minister to visit Church House, and following a meeting with a delegation led by the Moderator Dr David McGaughey an invitation was issued to continue the talks at Downing Street.

Dr McGaughey…said that he had been able to make the Prime Minister aware of some of the concerns of Presbyterian people. “Time was short, but the Prime Minister reiterated again the guarantees that he has already given that Northern Ireland will remain part of the UK for as long as its people wish.”

…The visit of the Prime Minister to Church House was the lead story in press coverage…

Drug education: The genuine article

The News Letter made this comment: “As the largest Protestant denomination in Northern Ireland, the Presbyterian Church is a very important player in the whole equation here. In London there is an irritating tendency by some to confer special status on Primates and Bishops. However, it seems that John Major is aware that in Northern Ireland, it is the Moderator who carries more clout within the Protestant community.”

Barney’s Big Day Out

Moderator Dr David McGaughey

joined 8,000 other Presbyterians in Gosford Forest Park for Barney’s Big Day Out on Saturday 6 May and ended up helping Brenda Graham from the Crescent Arts Centre face painting Kathryn McNabb, a member of First Limavady.

Also from June ’95

Laurence Kerr, Alcohol and Drug Education committee

As the drug problem increases, it is particularly important that parents are reassured that educators are doing everything possible to stem the tide of interest that leads to use. It is a predictable sign of our times that the mind- and moodaltering properties of drugs have become so compelling. The minds of many young people have been shaped by television and computer fiction. Some fiction raises human limitations to the level of supernatural gods of energy, paranormal powers, wisdom and wellbeing.

The pushers of these works and the pushers of drugs find the conforming young and immature easy targets… The increasingly competitive nature of the school curriculum, workplace demands, consumerism, unemployment and social degradation all influence wider use. Whether it is a downer or upper, legal or illegal, drug use is seen to promise a better than normal experience…

Robson and Jerome top UK chart with Unchained Melody

Ireland qualifies for Rugby World Cup quarter-finals

John Major resigns as leader of the Conservative Party

Erin Wilson tells her story of working on a PCI summer Impact team.

Impacting young people

Growing up, my summers were always chaotic going to back-to-back summer camps. And I loved every moment of it. But some of my fondest and potentially most spiritually forming weeks were whenever the PCI team came to my home church to run holiday Bible clubs and various youth events.

These weeks were so vital in my spiritual development, and the team only really came when I was in my late teens. My friends and I benefited greatly from having these slightly older role models get alongside us, not only for the week, but throughout the year.

Some of the team members did a wonderful job of following up with us, visiting our church and checking in. I am still in regular contact with some of my leaders, and for that I am so grateful. They showed me what a real relationship with Christ looks like and helped me wrestle with how to daily submit to Jesus’ lordship over my life.

the team. Serving a local church in this way is a great joy and honour. One of my highlights in serving is simply chatting to members of the congregations whilst washing dishes. It is such a sweet time of fellowship where you get to hear wonderful stories of God’s faithfulness in other people’s lives.

The greatest joy, for me, was watching the young people from my church grow in their love of evangelism.

As these leaders took me under their wing, they gave me opportunities to learn from them, to teach the Bible, lead small groups and organise activities within church life. They trained me and spent time really investing in me. When I look back at my life, it is one of the ways in which I can really trace God’s grace in leading me to my role as youth and children’s worker in Richhill Presbyterian Church (RPC) today. I am also massively thankful to my home church family, for how they helped me grow in the Lord, for the opportunities they gave me as a young person and the prayer and support they still give me today.

Because of the spiritual impact the PCI teams had on me as a young person, my love for this type of mission in local churches (partnering with the local church, not replacing it) has grown and grown. When I lived in Derryvolgie Halls (DV) I was given the opportunity to go to a different congregation to be a part of a PCI team, and then the following year ended up having the privilege of leading

Last year, I led one of the PCI Impact teams in Belfast, taking some young people from RPC with me. With the new Impact set-up, I really wasn’t sure what the week was going to look like. I was a little apprehensive about not staying in the actual church hall (as much as I was looking forward to being back in DV). But it worked really well. It was helpful to have the other team leaders on hand. However, the greatest joy, for me, was watching the young people from my church grow in their love of evangelism. Hearing them pray, teach memory verses and lead from the front was a massive encouragement. It was so cool watching them try out things they’re maybe a little too scared to do at home; they discovered they were able to do it, with God’s help, and then transferred those skills back home in our regular children’s ministries.

Summer teams

PCI has two summer ‘Impact’ teams this year.

The Londonderry Hub will be based in Kilfennan between Sunday 21 July and Sunday 28 July, while the Belfast Hub will see team members serve in Friendship House, Abbey, Monkstown and West Kirk between Saturday 27 July and Saturday 3 August.

This summer I am leading the team to Friendship House and I am buzzing for it. As a student I spent a lot of time in Friendship House and in the Sandy Row area. I am looking forward to partnering with Robert Dalzell and the team in Friendship House, assisting the local church in their evangelistic ministries. Please pray for us as we plan for the summer. Pray that our team will be spiritually prepared for the week, for unity and safety. Pray that the Holy Spirit would convict of sin and bring to light the truth and power of the gospel. Finally, please pray that in all things God’s name would be glorified. “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness” (Psalm 115:1).

Encouraging the healthcare chaplains

PCI’s healthcare chaplains were thanked for the “indispensable, special and caring frontline role they play across the island” at a PCI-run conference recently. It also discussed some of the various ethical challenges that chaplains may need to navigate, from both a theological and medical perspective.

Rev Robert Bell, convener of PCI’s Chaplaincy committee, welcomed the opportunity to bring the healthcare chaplains together and said, “We have around 30 chaplains, full and part-time, men and women, who work in hospitals and other health settings across the island. Today was an important opportunity to bring many of them together for fellowship, a time of prayer, teaching and discussion.”

He added, “It was also an opportunity to say ‘thank you’ for the indispensable, special and caring frontline role they play across the island in bringing Christ’s love and compassion to patients and families. They often go above and beyond the actual hours for which they are employed – which are often not sufficient for the task – with many combining the demands of healthcare ministry alongside other commitments in local congregations and elsewhere.”

During the conference, the chaplains heard from former Moderator, Dr David Bruce, and Dr Tim Huey, an elder in Whiteabbey Presbyterian Church and GP working in Templepatrick. Among the issues discussed were end-of-life palliative care and patient autonomy, as well as abortion, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

“Being compassionate and holding onto biblical truth while navigating the tensions in these issues, is not easy, but were an important part of our deliberations today,” said Dr Huey.

Trainee

deaconess applications open

Applications are currently open for new trainee deaconesses to begin training in September 2025. The closing date is 6 September. An information morning will be held on Saturday 1 June at Union Theological College, Belfast.

Update on World Development Appeal

The total amount contributed for the World Development Appeal 2023 currently stands at £464,966.

The lead project being supported is a Christian Aid programme in Sierra Leone, reaching out to people who are displaced. Donations given by PCI congregations and members are making a significant impact, helping women provide for their families through a small savings and loan scheme.

Other projects benefiting from giving by PCI members include Tearfund’s work in Bangladesh, partnering with local churches to equip communities as they seek to reduce the impact of climaterelated disasters such as severe flooding.

Please continue to pray for the people impacted by these very difficult situations and for PCI’s development partners as they channel our gifts. The opportunity is still open to contribute towards the 2023 Appeal. To find out more go to: www.presbyterianireland.org/ worlddevelopment

Gathering in County Meath

A gathering for Home Mission ministers was held in Co Meath recently. Pictured are Home Mission ministers who attended from across Ireland, along with Bishop Ken Clarke (speaker), Moderator Dr Sam Mawhinney, Karen Mawhinney and Rick Hill (Council for Mission in Ireland Secretary).

Blaze prayer calendar

Children, leaders and families across PCI are being encouraged to pray for global mission through the ‘Blaze the bee’ initiative.

In June, we are praying for Edwin and Anne Kibathi who are serving in London. To download the Blaze prayer calendar and other resources, go to www.presbyterianireland.org/blaze

Dr David Bruce; Rev Robert Bell and Dr Tim Huey.

Rev Robert Bell chairs the Q&A session with (left to right): Michael McMillan of the Northern Ireland Healthcare Chaplains Association; Dr Rebecca Stevenson, PCI’s public affairs officer; and Dr Mathew Doré, palliative care consultant at the Northern Ireland Hospice and Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.

Serve as an apprentice

Would you like to explore the opportunity of engaging your head, heart, and hands by serving in the life of a local PCI congregation?

If you are 18 years or above, an active member of your church, seeking to grow in Christian discipleship, desiring to test out and grow your gifts, and passionate about spending one year serving in the ministry of a local PCI congregation, then Apprentice is the ideal opportunity for you.

PCI congregations are inviting individuals like you to serve alongside them in a variety of Apprentice roles in 2024–25, such as children’s and youth ministry, local mission and evangelism, preaching and pastoral care, chaplaincy, worship, and lots more.

To check out available opportunities, go to www.presbyterianireland.org/apprentice/serve

News Events

Coffee shop at university chaplaincy opens

A new coffee shop has recently opened in the Queen’s University Belfast chaplaincy building in Elmwood Avenue. Sojourn Coffee, which aims to serve amazing coffee, fresh bakes and offer a warm welcome, has already seen busy footfall.

Presbyterian Women’s conference

Best-selling author and theologian Dr Amy Orr-Ewing was guest speaker at the Presbyterian Women annual conference, held in Assembly Buildings, Belfast recently.

Almost 1000 women gathered for the event, which also saw Ellen Hillen take over the reins as president and two special projects unveiled, to support the work of the Women’s Guild in Zambia by aiding the development of a leadership programme and resource, and Prison Fellowship Northern Ireland.

With an important missional focus, the Presbyterian Women raised around £380,000 last year to support the work of PCI’s deaconesses at home, the training of new student deaconesses, the work of South Belfast Friendship House, and PCI’s 29 global mission workers in 11 countries.

Last call for young leaders residential

If you are a young adult (aged 21–30) who is currently serving in a leadership role within your congregation, then we would love to welcome you to ‘Emerge’, which runs in Derryvolgie Hall, Belfast from 6pm on Friday 14 June to 6pm on Saturday 15 June.

Through a mix of Bible engagement, workshops, community, discussion, reflection, and keynote addresses from Phil Knox (evangelist and missiologist at the Evangelical Alliance), Emerge will help you to explore some of the key aspects of leading in the church today, and equip you to lead well where God has placed you.   Scan the QR code to check out a recent conversation featuring four leaders from across PCI sharing their stories and experiences of leading in PCI today.

This is the last chance to sign up for Emerge. To book your place, follow the links at www.presbyterianireland.org/ emerge

DIARY DATES

June

Emerge Derryvolgie Halls, Belfast –Friday 14 to Saturday 15

General Assembly Assembly Buildings, Belfast –Thursday 20 to Saturday 22

July

Impact

Londonderry Hub – Sunday 21 to Sunday 28

Belfast Hub – Saturday 27 to Saturday 3 August

Resources

New series for PCI devotional

PCI’s daily devotional, ‘Tides’, has a new three-week series starting on Monday 10 June, which will explore the many beloved promises of God, seeking to understand how Christ makes them certain and how they shape the future glory we will one day receive at his return. If you aren’t already signed up to Tides go to www.presbyterianireland.org/tides

Ann Wilson (left), outgoing president, hands over the specially commissioned presidential brooch to her successor, Ellen Hillen.

Moderator, Dr Sam Mawhinney, with his wife Karen, who attended the annual conference, are pictured with Ellen Hillen (president of Presbyterian Women), guest speaker Dr Amy Orr-Ewing, and PCI’s women’s ministry and Presbyterian Women development officer, Pauline Kennedy.

Thompson House celebrates 40 years

Forty years of Thompson House was marked at an event held in Assembly Buildings recently.

PCI Moderator Dr Sam Mawhinney, Rev John Stanbridge (convener of PCI’s Specialist Services committee) and Thompson House director David Farrow joined managers, staff and stakeholders for the event, where tribute was paid to staff and those who had established such an important work on behalf of the Presbyterian Church.

First opened on 28 April 1984, Thompson House works in cooperation with the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI) and Supporting People to provide a facility where men subject to probation supervision can be assessed, supervised and managed in the interests of protecting the public, reducing reoffending and promoting rehabilitation. Only referrals from PBNI are accommodated – allocation meetings take place weekly, and in emergency cases PBNI, can contact the hostel directly.

to access government grants to refurbish the building. During the refurbishment we had to relocate temporarily to Centenary House for 18 months. On 5 November 2012 we returned to the building which was modernised to 21st-century standards – all residents had an en-suite bedroom, plus four self-contained flats to encourage independent living skills for when the residents moved into their own accommodation.”

…we…want to present the residents with the hope and truth of Jesus Christ.

He adds, “Other changes have been the increased drug use in Northern Ireland. When I started in 1990 it was rare to have a resident who used drugs. It would now be the norm for up to 80% of our residents to misuse heroin, cocaine and non-prescribed medications. Staff in Thompson House have been trained in Trauma Informed Practice. The knowledge we have gained through this training specifies that people who have suffered at least four adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are affected long term.

The director, Mr Farrow, says of working in Thompson House: “I started working in Thompson House on 1 February 1990 and I’ve seen a number of changes over the years. In 1984, we were only able to accommodate 11 residents in 428 Antrim Road, Belfast. In 1992, we were able to purchase 426 Antrim Road and renovate the building and add an extra seven beds.

“The houses were built in 1872 and were beginning to show wear and tear, to the point where there were many repair issues which could not be fixed; there were leaks in the roof and water ingress in the kitchen. By 2010 the building was no long fit for purpose. The Council for Social Witness approached a number of housing associations and Helm Housing (now Radius Housing) agreed to buy the two houses – they were able

“Research indicates exposure to trauma is ‘more prevalent among Northern Irish youths compared to other UK nations’. Within our context it is worth noting people suffering trauma from ACEs are 20 times more likely to suffer imprisonment, 16 times more likely to use heroin (as a coping mechanism for coping with trauma), 11 times more likely to have used cannabis, plus various health problems.

“It is against this background that Thompson House seeks to commend the Christian faith and way of life in an open accepting manner. In the 1990s, Rev Jackson Buick and a member of the management committee, Bryan Marshall, first introduced voluntary Bible studies to the residents. This legacy carries on to the present day with fortnightly Bible studies offered to residents on a voluntary basis. We are greatly encouraged that currently four residents and two ex-residents attend a fortnightly Bible study. All residents have a Gideon’s Bible in their rooms and are offered UCB Bible notes quarterly. Whilst Thompson House seeks to offer a high standard of service through social work staff and project workers, we also want to present the residents with the hope and truth of Jesus Christ so that they can hear the message that for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

PCI Moderator Dr Sam Mawhinney with David Farrow (director) and Caroline Yeomans (regional manager).

David Farrow and Caroline Yeomans with representatives from the Probation Board, Stephen Hamilton and Liz Arthur.

PERSONAL VIEW

Life lessons

Dr Rebecca Stevenson

PCI’s public affairs officer

I grew up in Lisnarick, County Fermanagh, with my parents, Leslie and Diane, and my older brother David. I attended Enniskillen Presbyterian Church, where I still attend today and went to Enniskillen Collegiate Grammar School. After leaving school, I went to Dundee where I studied Law.

After I left Dundee, I decided that I would never study again, but after a year of working in retail, studying seemed like a great idea! So, I decided to do a master’s degree in Environmental Law, then I got offered the funding to do a PhD, also in environmental law. While studying my PhD, I developed an interest in policy and policy development, so when my funding ended, I started to look for policy jobs. I was really blessed to get a job working for CARE, initially as their NI policy officer and then I went to London and worked on human trafficking policy.

My background has shaped me to be the person I am now in lots of different ways. My dad was ill for a long time and I think his illness taught me patience and the privilege that it is to care for someone. Growing up in rural Fermanagh I loved the countryside, I think that’s why I studied environmental law; and I remember my mum studying an MBA when I was little so I thought it was normal to just keep studying.

My favourite song is Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me by City Alight. I remember when I was considering if I could study and work for CARE, we sang this song in church and I prayed that with God’s grace I would be able to do both. I feel like it’s now my life’s motto.

I love to bake. It’s one of my favourite ways to relax and I love to bake for others.

As the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s public affairs officer, I seek to represent PCI’s views in the public square. To do this I work with the Council of Public Affairs and the various committees and panels within it to establish and articulate PCI’s position on public affairs issues such as assisted dying, education, welfare and wellbeing, peace and reconciliation etc.

It seems to me that Christian principles and biblical truths are constantly being squeezed. Christianity is countercultural and is becoming unpopular, due to its position on issues. We need to learn how to remain true to the gospel and disagree well and respect others.

I love that church is an extension of my family. They have celebrated my achievements, grieved with me and I know that they pray for me. I also love that these friendships are intergeneration – we do life together.

In 2021 my dad passed away suddenly. I was really close to my dad and it was a really difficult time. However, throughout everything, I felt God really close – through the actions of others, kind words and people’s prayers.

My greatest achievement is finishing my PhD. I found it really challenging and wanted to quit approximately 10,000 times, but God really blessed me with a great supervisor and patient family and friends, who were encouraging and brought snacks –it takes a village and my village prayed me across the finish line.

In 2022 I moved to London for nine months and it was tough and really forced me out my comfort zone, both professionally and personally. It really forced me to grow up. London is a wonderful place to visit, but it’s very different living there.

I recently read Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools by Tyler Staton and I could not put it down. It was easy to read, articulates the importance of prayer and deals head-on with issues like unanswered prayer. It reminded me that prayer is expression of devotion to God. I would highly recommend it.

My parents bought me a Mini for my 17th birthday and it started my lifelong love affair with Minis. I still drive one today and I don’t care that it’s not practical.

The hardest lesson I’ve had to learn is that God’s timing and my timing do not always align. I trust God and I know that his timing is perfect, but sometimes I lack patience.

A night to shine

Mark Brown, minister of Granshaw Presbyterian Church, describes an unforgettable night when teenagers with additional needs were treated to a special prom in the church.

Granshaw Presbyterian Church, like many churches, is playing catchup when it comes to working with kids with additional needs. There is a deep-rooted belief within Granshaw that the joy of the good news of Jesus is for everyone on the planet and that includes those with additional needs. So, to help us make Jesus available to all, including those whom the church has struggled to share Jesus with, Granshaw partnered with Young Life International (YLI), which has a ministry for teenagers. YLI is a worldwide organisation, working in over 100 countries, seeking to share the good news of Jesus with young people in areas where

Many young people with additional needs…go through their whole lives without ever feeling celebrated, valued, or loved.

the church has failed or failed to go. Granshaw, with the aid of Craig and Sonia Mawhinney (Young Life staff), started up a Young Life (YL) club in Granshaw. This club has grown and grown over the years and had to be split into two clubs: WyldLife (ages 11–13) and Young Life (ages 14–18). This, coupled with the YL summer camp in Scotland, has led to dozens and dozens

of young people from Granshaw giving their lives to Jesus Christ over the years. We just expect young people to become Christians every summer at camp, with many becoming part of our church family.

What came next

We wondered what we could do to share Jesus with these kids in a way that was relevant to them. After a conversation with our youth worker and YLI, we made our halls available for Young Life’s ministry to teenagers with additional needs, called ‘Capernaum’.

It would be wrong to think that Capernaum is a ministry of Granshaw. It is staffed by young adults from many different churches, all with a passion for working with these amazing young people. Each young person has a dedicated helper or buddy. The group meets every second Saturday morning from 10am–12pm. The joy and laughter from the young people is infectious and the sense of value placed upon them is powerful. All this is possible because of the YL volunteers.

What about a formal?

In Granshaw we run a formal called ‘Ball in the hall’ every New Year’s Eve. Our young people love it and lots of dickie bows and formal dresses go on display for a night most never forget. When we think of where the kids could be on New Year’s Eve, we wanted to make a wonderful and safe environment to make memories, celebrate and have fun together.

Many young people with additional needs never get to experience something like this and often go through their whole lives without ever feeling celebrated, valued, or loved. This is where a ‘Night to Shine’ came in!

With a little help from our friends

With YLI being a global mission, there are lots of friends who wanted to help.

Tim Tebow, a famous American football player and Christian, set up a foundation called ‘Night to Shine’ some 10 years ago that set out to support local churches to host a prom for people with additional needs; providing an event where they feel loved, valued and celebrated as image bearers of Christ. YL Capernaum applied and received a grant and a thick booklet on how to run the whole event. Lots of advice on what to include at the event was in the booklet – everything from limousines, red carpets, photo booths, crowns and tiaras, right through to a fully equipped sensory room and, of course, music.

A night to shine

On 9 February this year, we partnered with the Tim Tebow Foundation to make ‘A Night to Shine’ become a reality. Most of the young people could not wait for the night to come around. There was some debate about whether a church hall might put un-churched folk off. But an organising team transformed the hall with drapes, balloons, lighting and decorations.

…nobody should miss out on the life-changing love of Jesus Christ, no matter who they are.

The hall was prepared, the tables were set, the goodie bags were in place and now the nervous leaders and buddies just waited for their friends to arrive.

At 5.30pm our VIP guests started to show. The boys were looking and feeling like James Bond, the girls were looking and feeling better than Taylor Swift! As they stepped onto the red carpet they were greeted with cheers and shouts from family and friends; tears started to flow. The first stop was the photo booth just inside the door. The kids got photos with their buddies for the evening. The feeling that they were special was written all over their faces. I said to one of the girls, “Wow, you look so beautiful.” Her answer was priceless: “Of course I am beautiful, just look at me!” Corsages and buttonholes were collected; sparkling drinks were served, and hair and nails were adorned. The party continued as our guests had an unforgettable experience being chauffeured around the local area by two limousines.

The food was served, which went down very well indeed, and was followed by games and entertainment, but that was just the warm-up act for what was about to follow. The music started and tables and chairs were pushed out of the way as an invasion of teens and buddies charged for the dance floor. I looked around and no one was sitting down – everyone was on the dance floor. No inhibitions or embarrassment, and boy could they dance! Not only was there dancing but each guest was asked to supply their favourite song and there was karaoke as well. My favourite song of the night was when I saw some of my young people from church get up on stage leading the actions to My Lighthouse by Rend Collective.

I moved from the action to sitting in the other hall, watching all the dancing on the big screen through a live feed, where the parents were sitting. I was chatting with Stephen and Louise when Louise jumped up and said: “That’s our daughter Rose, and she’s singing at the front.” Tears and laughter were really what the night was all about. Parents watched their kids participating in song and dance, some for the first time. It was so special.

Tim Tebow and his wife sent a video to all 720 ‘Night to Shine’ events that were going on worldwide, ours being only one of two across the UK and Ireland. He told the young people how incredible they were and that they were made by God to be special. He finished with saying John 3:16 and invited everyone to share their faith in Christ.

A night that truly shone By 9pm it was all finished. All I heard from the kids was: “When can we do this again?” It was an incredible success. One parent asked why a church group would put this on for her child. The answer was simple: Granshaw, Young Life and Capernaum believe nobody should miss out on the life-changing love of Jesus Christ, no matter who they are.

From every nation?

Karen Campbell highlights a new resource that is aimed at helping congregations to be more welcoming to people from different cultures and nationalities.

In 2022, I was pastoring a city church in Grand Rapids. For the past 40 years, our congregation had made an annual commitment to sponsor a number of refugee families as well as running the largest ‘English as a Second Language’ programme in the state of Michigan. Sunday mornings were burgeoning with up to 20 different language groups worshipping together. It resulted in a joyous, messy, kaleidoscopic mix of songs and dances. Yet most of the time, even in such a diverse climate, we tended to live out our small-town lives, clustering in our own cultural comfort zones.

In April 2022, we watched the sickening video footage of a young Congolese man, Patrick Lyoya, detained by the Grand Rapids Police Department and when he struggled for freedom, he was shot dead at close range. Patrick was a close friend of many of our Congolese families.

As we gathered a few days later, on Easter Sunday morning, we invited one of our Congolese brothers to lead the prayers of intercession. The palpable grief dealt a blow to our small-town concerns and politics. Medard stood weeping at the lectern and before he prayed, he posed the soul-penetrating question: “Why is it that our lives seem to be of less value than the White man’s life?”

In response, our leadership team knew we had to become more intentional in

dismantling racism and invited the whole congregation to make a commitment to actively seek friendships with people from different cultures. We no longer wanted to be full of token gestures.

Returning to Ireland last year gave me the opportunity to share some of my learning in the book: From Every Nation?

A handbook for a congregation’s journey towards welcome and belonging.

How did this book come about?

In partnership with VOX magazine and with the active support of Evangelical Alliance in both Ireland and Northern Ireland, the Irish Council of Churches conducted a survey in 2021 on the experiences of people from ethnic minorities in Irish churches and the attitudes of the majority ethnic group to increasing diversity in their churches and communities. Over 1000 responses were collected. Stories and examples ranged from the painful…

“Being Black in Northern Ireland is traumatic: on a daily basis, racist acts

Whether you belong to a congregation that reflects one culture or many, becoming a church that is anti-racist should be important.

such as name-calling, people waving banana skins from cars, people crossing the road to avoid you, are common experiences. The five Black young adult men I know are reluctant to leave their homes and struggle to stay in (all-White) workplaces.”

To the challenging…

“I work with youth [in church] and I overheard a conversation between some of the kids explaining how segregation was good and that ‘mixing’ of races was always bad, that one should keep to their ‘own’ kind.”

To the realistic…

“The radical individualism of the present age allows us to say, ‘I’m not personally racist, so everything is fine, and I’m not responsible for whatever privileges I might have accrued in a racist society.’”

And the aspirational…

“We worship in a congregation that has recently welcomed refugee families…but I am sure we can do better in welcoming them…”

90% of respondents believed it was important for churches to engage in conversations about race and racism, but 55% of clergy interviewed said that while talking about race is not a taboo subject, “We don’t talk about it much.”

This book emerges from the compelling realisation that by the time Jesus was of school age, he had already experienced the slur of being an immigrant as part

Illustrations Maurice Pierse. Design

of a minority culture in a foreign land. Jesus would have faced daily choices of what was the appropriate language to speak, according to which cultural group he was present with.

Who is this book for?

You may think this anti-racism handbook is for congregations that are multicultural. However, I would suggest that this book is as much for monocultural congregations as multicultural ones. Whether you belong to a congregation that reflects one culture or many, becoming a church that is anti-racist should be important. Think of the football team your child or grandchild supports and the diversity present there. Consider how we all seamlessly traverse racial barriers on social media. Reflect on how young people are plunged into global villages through university experiences. We may not see this diversity present in the one hour of worship on a Sunday morning, yet by cultivating greater awareness of our attitudes towards others, we step into God’s ultimate plan of seeing a kingdom of disciples who worship from all nations. Sometimes when we hear or see examples of racism, our antenna goes up but if it does not directly affect us, we switch off again. The purpose of this book is to raise awareness in such a way that we are not just light switches to racism, that easily switch on and off, but rather smoke detectors, constantly alert to how others experience or do not experience God’s love in the world.

How to use this book

It can be all too easy to feel guilty that we are not doing more in terms of welcoming others. However, this book

From Every Nation handbook

intentionally starts with God’s vision for creation at the beginning and end of time as a means of showing that it is not intended to guilt you towards action but invite you towards wholeness. The book is divided into 10 short sections. This is so that leadership teams or small groups

This book…is not intended to guilt you towards action but invite you towards wholeness.

may read and reflect on small portions together. The handbook helps identify places where congregations can often get stuck on the anti-racist journey, like when unity gets confused with uniformity or when there’s a tendency to deny or minimise difference. It also provides biblical examples of how early Christians navigated cross-cultural differences – like at the council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, or when Jonah had to overcome his bias against Nineveh. At the end of each section are ‘arc’ questions: A = awareness: how are you becoming more aware of issues to do with race? R = relationships: are there ways you might be able to continue cultivating cross-cultural relationships? And C = commitment: what commitment might your church be able to make that helps take the next step on becoming an anti-racist congregation? When I think about the blessings of multicultural ministry, I remember the many widows that were in our Grand

Rapids congregation who trusted God to provide enough money for food, nappies and petrol. I was inspired by ladies from countries as hostile as Iran and Iraq becoming such close friends, they counted each other as sisters. In

Luke 4 when Jesus entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day to pronounce his fulfillment of the Jubilee vision, he quickly transitioned to describing the widow of Zarephath. This widow lacked capacity because she was a foreigner who had no land rights and yet Jesus was making the point that through faith in God, she now not only belonged but had a kingdom inheritance. In a society which impetuously demands we choose single identities and competitive sides; this Jubilee vision is welcome. When we embrace and live into this multicultural vision of church, we are truly living the upside-down kingdom where kingdom birthright may be claimed by people from every nation, tribe and tongue. It is too tempting to live diminishing lives of scarcity where we blinker ourselves to deep connections with the stranger. The tragedy of what happened in Grand Rapids in April 2022 is that both the police officer and the victim were Christians. Yet racial barriers meant that what should have been a simple traffic stop deteriorated into a fatal tragedy. It is our calling to live out a different vision for society. The beauty of the Christian faith is that it resurrects and makes visible some of the eternal connections of kingdom family that transcend the deeper conflicts of this age.

Rev Karen Campbell is good relations officer for the Irish Council of Churches and Irish Inter Church Meeting.

If you are interested in getting a handbook, please contact the Presbyterian agent: Rev Helen Freeburn at: hfreeburn@presbyterianireland.org You can also download a copy at: www.irishchurches.org/cmsfiles/From-Every-Nation-.pdf or by scanning the QR code.

For anyone interested in learning more about how to use the book in your congregation and to hear stories of transformation from other local congregations, please sign up to the webinar on 12 June at 12pm by sending an email to: megan@irishchurches.org

Eagerness in everything

Will Leitch interviews the Moderator-Designate, Rev Richard Murray.

Richard Murray is both excited and a little apprehensive.

Although he becomes Moderator in the third week of June, he is already thinking ahead to the autumn.

“One of my first jobs is going to Maynooth to open the new church there, and that’s in September,” he tells me. “It’s really exciting.”

We are sitting in Richard’s study in the manse at Drumreagh Presbyterian Church, just outside Ballymoney, on a disappointingly dull early spring afternoon. He also knows he has to step away from serving his own church day to day, for a year. As all the details gradually fall into place, it is inevitable he will worry about it a little.

As we talk, we glance out across a busy rural road to the church which has been Richard’s charge since 2016. It amalgamated with Dromore Presbyterian Church, his other charge, last year. Beyond the speeding traffic lie the fields which run down to the lower Bann and the townlands of Agivey on the other bank.

I grew up a matter of miles away, and I am curious to meet the man who has been ministering there for almost eight years, and will be the new Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.

This is a rural County Antrim congregation, and yet Richard is thinking both of it, and the rest of Ireland. It is an Ireland where a great deal is changing.

“When John Woodside first went south, on one hand you could count the number of gospel congregations, not just PCI, but any kind of denomination,” he reflects.

“Now there’s a whole island phenomenon, where the church is growing, but not in the traditional Methodist, Presbyterian or Church of Ireland sense. But growing fellowships, like the Westport Calvary fellowship that I’m familiar with.”

We talk for a while about the new Presbyterian congregations across Ireland with their many nationalities, ethnicities and cultures.

I bring his thoughts back to Drumreagh and its modern buildings for a moment, and his face lights up. He describes it as an active, high-energy church that never sleeps, with the

I am looking forward to it and the opportunities to bring God’s Word into certain situations…

church and its halls being used morning, afternoon and evenings, most days.

There are 360 families, and like many other places, attendance dropped during Covid. However, the practice of

live streaming services on the internet brought many new families to the fellowship when things started to return to normal.

Just beyond the tiny village of Bendooragh, Drumreagh is close to Ballymoney, a small town of 5000 people with around 10 churches. Richard points out that his congregation is filled to the doors every Sunday, with attendants bringing in chairs most weeks and setting them out around the back, because so many people have come out.

Richard and wife Lynn

He explains, “It’s a small regional town, but in some ways it’s a place apart. Other churches are closing or shrinking, and drastically shrinking – the Presbyterian Church has shrunk so much.”

I point out that as Moderator, he will have to be ‘hands off’ Drumreagh for a year.

“That’s the official advice,” he smiles. “Hands off for the year. But honestly, some of the ex-Moderators have said you can’t sit in your house, if something’s going on over there. It’s going to be difficult. We’re going to miss being around the people we love, people who are really warm-hearted and spiritual. But they will be praying for us.”

The thought of becoming Moderator still makes Richard remember the early days of his marriage to his wife, Lynn, who is a GP in nearby Coleraine. His father-in-law, Very Rev Dr David

…his congregation is filled to the doors every Sunday, with attendants bringing in chairs most weeks and setting them out around the back…

McGaughey, was Moderator 30 years ago, and passed away in 2021.

Richard knows it would never have crossed his own mind that he would ever want to be Moderator in those days. Now it is happening. The 179th Moderator since 1840.

We discuss the different aspects of the calling, such as representing the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, going to the big civic events. He also identifies a pastoral role, not within congregations but with church leadership, PCI staff and their families. He also knows he will have the increasingly important but also really difficult job of speaking to society, because he will be the figurehead for the Church. A Church which some people think is completely irrelevant.

“But you don’t go looking for a fight, I think that would be the way to put it,” he adds.

A recent survey by Evangelical Alliance Northern Ireland, suggests that around half of people in the north consider themselves to be practising Christians, and around 20% think of themselves as evangelicals. Yet almost 60% of the population never go to church, and half of those people say they would never consider it. Richard is aware of the report and is still digesting its findings.

“If people come to me for interviews, or for quotes, I’ll always give them a biblical point of view. I see my role as being an interpreter of Scripture,” he explains.

“I’m not there to be pontificating on all sorts of issues and just giving my opinion on them, because who cares about my opinion? What does the Bible say? That’s what I’m going to be trying to bring to issues; I’ll be seeking to find a portion of Scripture that provides teaching.”

Richard believes the church used to be seen as good, then was seen as neutral and is now often seen as bad for society.

“With the social changes that have come in over the last 30, 40, or 50 years, there’s a challenge as well to try and be faithful to Scripture, but to speak the truth in love. It’s not just what you say, it’s the tone – how you say it.”

Richard pauses as he thinks about the issue, and I notice a car drive carefully around the manse as Lynn returns home. It seems a good moment to ask about his family and his upbringing.

Although Richard’s parents weren’t Christians, he was baptised in Broadway Presbyterian Church on the Falls Road, and the family moved to Suffolk because they wanted their children to grow up in a mixed Catholic/Protestant environment.

Richard’s first memories of church were in Suffolk Presbyterian, where he vividly remembers crawling and sliding under the pews! He pauses, searches for something on his desk, and hands me a tiny battered dark blue book.

“That’s my first hymnbook,” he says. It’s a Psalter, presented to him by the Robins in 1971. In the flyleaf, written in longhand, in light blue ink, it says his prize is “for his eagerness in everything”. I chuckle, and for a while we chat about the kind of prizes folk in their late 50s remember getting at church

when they were little, in the early 1970s. For the League of Church Loyalty, a red hymnbook one year and a black authorised version of the Bible, the next. For Sunday school attendance, some ‘suitable’ children’s fiction, which I confess I rarely ever read.

I carefully hand the sober-looking Psalter back.

“As a six-year-old you get that as your prize,” he smiles, shaking his head at the memory and putting the book away carefully.

The Murrays eventually moved to Finaghy because of the Troubles.

“There was a policeman who lived in our street and his house was shot up and we had to move.”

The family joined Lowe Memorial where the minister was Rev Alan Flavelle.

“There was a man who was very, very serious about God. It really left a very big impression on me, you know, not in terms of converting me. But a big impression.”

After a wilderness period as a teenager, Richard committed his life to Christ, and acknowledges the impact of the preaching of the late Derick Bingham at ‘Tuesday Night at the Crescent’ in Belfast.

…there’s a challenge… to speak the truth in love.

After Wallace High School in Lisburn, he worked at Arthur Guinness & Co in Belfast as a distribution clerk for three years, and later for Ulster Bank. In 1989 he went to Queen’s University, Belfast where he graduated in 1992 with a BA in Ancient History and Social and Economic History. Union Theological College followed, and in 1995 Richard was licensed as a minister in Lowe Memorial.

He then served as assistant minister in Terrace Row Presbyterian in Coleraine for three years before being ordained in Hilltown and Clonduff Presbyterian Churches, near Rathfriland. In 2005 he was called to Connor Presbyterian Church near Ballymena, where he served for 11 years, before the call to Drumreagh.

Lynn grew up in Kilkeel, where her father, David McGaughey, was minister of Mourne Presbyterian. She and Richard met at CSSM and were married in 1992. Their son Andrew runs his own audio visual business and is married to Erin.

I ask how the Murrays relax from the daily demands of work and ministry. It turns out they love to walk along the north Antrim coast, mostly around Portrush or Ballycastle. Another favourite spot is Antrim Castle Gardens.

“Walk and talk,” says Richard.

“Walk and talk. And if it’s raining, we go into the coffee shops.”

In recent months, when Richard lifts a book to relax, it will probably be about the American Civil War. He also keeps an interest in the Middle East Reformed Fellowship and has taught with them briefly in Kenya. A recent plan to go and teach there some more was paused by Covid.

Already the afternoon is drawing on, and I am conscious that Richard has more to do with his afternoon than chat to a curious journalist. As I take my leave, we return to the year ahead as Moderator.

“I am looking forward to it and the opportunities to bring God’s Word into certain situations,” says Richard. “I will get to meet people I would never meet if I stayed in Drumreagh.”

He pauses for a moment.

“People say to me, ‘This is your year’, and there’s a sense in which it is. But you just don’t know what can happen.”

Will Leitch is a freelance journalist and broadcaster who previously spent 33 years with the BBC. He co-presents the podcast series The Commission Files for Commission Christian Radio. He serves as an elder in Knock Presbyterian Church, Belfast.

There are significant changes being introduced to this year’s General Assembly. To read more about them, see page 6.

For more details about this year’s General Assembly, please visit: www.presbyterianireland.org/ga2024

Celebrating in June

Jonny Frazer

Aside from parents who will be wondering how to fill two months, June as it comes and goes, brings with it a sense of celebration. There will be those teachers and pupils who will celebrate the beginning of the school holidays; the students planning their summer adventures; the hard workers who will get some summer holiday; and the many others who celebrate the wonderful weather we’re bound to get again this summer (who may live solely in hope alone!). There are many people and reasons to celebrate in June as we approach the summer months, as individuals, families and even the church. There are opportunities for special events of celebration such as the annual Children’s Day, or the General Assembly for some.

For the Jewish community, the month of June is also a month of celebration. In the middle of June is the festival of Shavout, an annual festival to celebrate God communicating the 10 Commandments to Moses at Mount Sinai. During this two-day celebration, Jews will light candles each night, hear the 10 Commandments during synagogue services, and eat festive meals, some of which may include dairy foods. One other way in which they’ll celebrate is to stay up all of the first night studying the Torah, the most common reason being that the Israelites overslept on the morning they were supposed to receive the Torah, so staying up all night ‘fixes’ that missed opportunity.

communicates, reveals and pledges himself to them and does so in written form.

For many of us in the Reformed tradition, we take the words of God seriously also, we devote ourselves to them, reading them privately and publicly, but we too, like the Israelites, can be quick to forget them. At best these words guide our path, direct our steps and become a powerful weapon to live our lives with; at worst they become an idol, a tool or even a handbook which has no impact on our daily lives and discipleship other than to refer to when we need something, or to win an argument in our favour.

…we celebrate that God by his grace has communicated, revealed and pledged himself to us…

This moment in their history, the part that brings them into a real and tangible understanding of the God who had liberated them from oppression in Egypt, is indeed a moment that is to be celebrated for the Jewish people. Some Jewish sages have compared this moment to a wedding between them and God because on that day God swore eternal devotion to them, and in turn they pledged everlasting loyalty to him.

We know the rest of the story however, and as we read from Exodus 19 and get towards chapter 32, we see God giving to Moses the tablets with the 10 Commandments and over the course of 40 days leading him into an understanding of what this everlasting devotion and loyalty would look like. We also can read from chapter 32 on what happens next and the short time frame between the promise of loyalty and the practice of idolatry! It isn’t long before Moses has to retrace his steps back up the mountain for God to listen and forgive his people, before he descends 80 days later with another set of tablets.

Despite the immediate failing, Shavout retains a special place as it marks that moment at which God, by his grace,

Each year, I read through the Bible using a chronological version, and have produced an audio version available as a podcast (I’ll see if the editor can get a review for another issue!). It takes about 12 to 13 minutes a day, and if you read it in this way, it takes 273 days to read through the Old Testament, meaning that if you start on 1 January, you won’t begin the New Testament until 1 October. That’s quite a large chunk of a year, and quite a chunk of our Bible that is taken up by the Old Testament, which is the story of the Israelites. I have heard some people ask why we need to bother with the Old Testament when the story isn’t ours, why not start with Jesus and his life, death and resurrection? I often compare it to a favourite TV programme or series. I could begin watching that programme or series three quarters of the way through and I may be able to catch up quite quickly and come to understand what the show is about, but I would miss out on a huge chunk of the back story; I wouldn’t appreciate most of the current storylines and I may not fully understand some of the characters or what they’ve been through or done. In the same way, the Messiah Jesus comes from a culture and a context that in mid-June (it would’ve been Sivan for him) would celebrate Shavout, and because he celebrated, so should we. We don’t celebrate simply that we have the words of God, we don’t celebrate that we have a nice way to live, we don’t even need to stay up all night or light candles; we celebrate that God by his grace has communicated, revealed and pledged himself to us through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection – that is reason to celebrate!

Mission Connect

New life, new people, new places

Mission news from workers around Ireland and the world.

Every aspect of our Church’s mission depends to some extent on United Appeal. Hundreds of projects and programmes at home and overseas are helping to advance God’s kingdom, showing God’s love in action to hundreds of thousands of people.

New life, new people, new places

Neil Harrison

When God fuses side projects into something new Volker Glissmann

The changing of the seasons Eleanor Drysdale

A time of challenge and opportunity

Rev Alastair Dunlop

Sunny days are here again Eddy Kerr

Waiting… Diane Cusick

Including June prayer diary

New life, new people, new places

Neil Harrison PCI mission development officer

Whilst some may believe we have too many churches in PCI, wide research shows that “planting new churches is the most effective evangelistic methodology known under heaven” (missiologist C. Peter Wagner). Why is church planting crucially important? Firstly, it is a biblical mandate: Jesus’ call in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19) is not just to make disciples but to baptise, which implies the establishing of a community of faith. Similarly, Paul’s direction to Titus was a strategy to “appoint elders in every town” (Titus 1:5).

Planting new churches is part of PCI’s identity and strategy…

Research across various denominations has proven that new churches best reach new generations, new residents and new people groups and that is apparent in PCI’s recent church planting experiences as seen in the following stories.

Grace and Hope Community Church was planted by West Kirk Presbyterian and began weekly services in 2022. Located close to Carlisle Circus in Belfast, it offers a warm welcome to anyone in the local community, including internationals. Through partnership with the International Meeting Point, many newcomers to the city are attending Sunday worship and midweek fellowship groups, with approximately 15 different nationalities being represented. Some attended churches in their home countries but for others this is their first experience of a Christian church due to persecution in their home country. The minister, Rev Peter Burke writes: “It’s a privilege to see God gathering people from vastly different backgrounds together to enjoy him through Jesus.”

Maynooth Presbyterian began in 2003 to reach a rapidly growing commuter and university town in north Kildare. It has grown steadily over the past two decades through faithfully serving the community in practical ways that have drawn people into the

church family where they have discovered the love of Christ in the gospel. Through much prayer and generosity, both locally and from the wider denomination, the congregation is about to move into its new church building, surrounded by recent housing, to begin the next phase of ministry and witness in Maynooth. The minister, Rev Keith McCrory writes: “It has been such a privilege to watch as God has grown our community from its small beginnings as a home group. We hope what God has done in our story will be an encouragement to others as they seek to start new works elsewhere.”

As it has been for generations, planting new churches is part of PCI’s identity and strategy and it is encouraging in recent weeks to hear of two ministers being called to develop new churches in Buncrana (Rev Marty McNeely) and Wexford (Rev David Curran). We trust that with God’s help, we will see new life in Christ develop through their work, and in other new places on this island.

Please pray:

• That Grace and Hope will continue to put down deep roots into Christ and the community, in order that it may share the good news of hope in Jesus with grace and compassion.

• That the additional funds needed will be raised to complete the church building for Maynooth and that it will be a catalyst for new opportunities to witness in the town.

• That congregations and presbyteries may consider where God might be calling them to plant a new church.

• That individuals will discern if God might be calling them to be a church planter.

When God fuses side projects into something new

Volker Glissmann

Global mission worker, Southern Africa

Iam nerdily interested in the extension of all forms of theological education (TEE). We describe the idea as theological education for everyone – everywhere. Over the last few months, several of my disjointed side projects have been finding a new home.

Years ago, I started collecting a Guatemalan newsletter from where TEE started. A few months ago, a book project challenged me to start a small independent publisher for TEE material. A discussion with a friend prompted us to start a TEE network to promote, research and develop TEE further. We started a website to serve and support the global TEE movement.

God continues to surprise me greatly by opening doors where there were no visible doors previously.

end of the meeting, we decided to write a course together that will be globally available through our new network (one of the appeals for collaboration was that we have a platform to share these courses globally). Additionally, we have consolidated the input for the course from several people who work in different African countries.

We are not doing this alone, but with others who are interested. That week, I received two emails from two different people in the Philippines who are involved in TEE and who reached out to us. We had a special concern that many TEE practitioners, who often work in remote places worldwide, don’t have access to books, even books about TEE. This prompted us to think about open publishing and e-books. A few months ago, I reached out to a former missionary to Ethiopia who had been involved in TEE since the 1970s. He had told me he had written a book on course writing for TEE. He had planned to publish it in Ethiopia. In the end, his Ethiopian project fell apart, and now we publish the book together. Then, someone reached out to donate a whole set of TEE courses to us so that they could continue to be used. We are currently preparing the courses to be published on the website.

Two months ago, I talked to someone with vast experience in theological training, especially those with low education. At the

God continues to surprise me greatly by opening doors where there were no visible doors previously. God even opened doors where I did not even know that doors could be. God connects all these loose ideas into a new something. Then, God brings people together to donate material, advise, and join collaborative writing projects for new courses. God is doing something here. It is humbling how God suddenly arranged all of this and how the individual was so prepared and eager to be part of what we do. God shows that he is our co-editor and co-publisher. He is the key organiser, and we just marvel at how things develop.

Please pray:

• Give thanks to God for prompting small initial projects and then pulling them together into a large side project.

• For us as we overcome technical challenges to make these projects work.

• For wisdom as we start being approached about other projects in other nations.

The changing of the seasons

Eleanor Drysdale Deaconess in Wellington, Ballymena

This is a period of transition. Some organisations that I am involved with have finished for the year, others are about to finish, whilst leaders are beginning the process of preparing for September. My main area of work is pastoral and so that never changes: challenges continue on a daily basis, with highs and lows, joys and tears.

The women’s Bible study is coming to an end, as we complete a short study on some of the women of the Bible. A main area of focus now is working with our women’s ministry team. Over the past year, we have followed the Presbyterian Women’s theme ‘Being transformed’. We began with a breakfast, reminding the women how God can transform us by his power working in us, changing hearts and renewing minds. We gave each woman a daffodil bulb and encouraged them to plant it, watch it grow and transform into something much more beautiful – a yellow flower.

Change doesn’t happen overnight, but there is a joy and an excitement for what God is going to do.

grow the team. We have set a date to develop these expectations and shape our programme under the new theme ‘Entrusted’. We have been inspired by Dr Amy Orr-Ewing, speaker at the Presbyterian Women conference, and are using the 2024/25 Inspiration resource for women’s ministry. Change doesn’t happen overnight, but there is a joy and an excitement for what God is going to do.

I get the joy in not just working with our own group of women, but also visiting other Presbyterian Women’s groups.

The process of preparing for a new season has begun. We have spent time reviewing last year’s programme, reminding ourselves of our purpose for meeting – to encourage women to live for Jesus, to grow as his disciples and to reach out to others. We have met with our church discipleship leader Peter, and Pauline Kennedy (PCI’s women’s ministry development officer) to look at ways of developing our leadership team and draw in future leaders. They asked questions like: What is your heart for women’s ministry in Wellington? Can each one of the team identify and come alongside potential future leaders? Out of this process we set two main expectations for the team as a whole – to pray together the Sunday before each meeting and to intentionally

This past year I’ve been to Second Ballyeaston, Second Castlederg, Dungiven, Bannside, Loughmourne and Poyntzpass. It’s brilliant to have the opportunity to both share and learn from these women and to be able to acknowledge and thank them for their financial giving and prayers for the work. On my last deputation in Poyntzpass, one of the women prayed for our ‘Hope Explored’ event happening in Wellington two days later, because she had seen it on PCI’s ‘Let’s Pray’. Then I listened as Peter shared about how good Hope Explored had been and I could smile and say women from Poyntzpass and beyond were praying for it. So, thank you for the joy of being a deaconess!

Please pray:

• For the leaders as they enjoy a much-needed break, but also plan for future programmes of work.

• For the members of Wellington’s Presbyterian Women team as they identify and come alongside potential new leaders.

A time of challenge and opportunity

Rev Alastair Dunlop

Howth and Malahide Presbyterian Church (Fingal County)

According to the 2022 census, the population of Fingal County grew by more than a third (+37.7%) between 2006 and 2022, the fastest of any county in Ireland. From 2016 to 2022, Fingal’s population grew by just over 34,000 people, and is expected to increase by approximately 73,000 people by 2031. The need for church planting and evangelism is obvious.

One of the challenges we face in this context is that ministry can feel like a revolving door –people come and go.

One of the challenges we face in this context is that ministry can feel like a revolving door – people come and go. In recent years we’ve said goodbye to people moving to Albania, Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, Ghana, Malaysia, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, UAE, USA and Wales. In the providence of God, work had brought them to Ireland, and (almost always) work took them away again.

But the move is not always to another country. One family moved to a church plant nearby. It’s not Presbyterian, but our friends in Irish Church Missions are the next best thing. We thank God for the vision and growth. Other people have moved to the south side of Dublin for work and school. Cheaper housing, well beyond the city, has also drawn people away. It’s getting harder to find affordable housing. (The old manse in Howth – no longer our property – was on the rental market a couple of years ago for €2K per week! That is not a typo.)

Yet it’s encouraging to think of the Howth and Malahide diaspora that is serving the Lord Jesus in many other places. We thank God for the privilege we’ve had to invest in them for the sake of the gospel. Thankfully it’s not all goodbyes. Over the same period,

we’ve had the pleasure of welcoming new people from Brazil, Canada, England, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Philippines, South Africa, USA, and yes, Ireland too. It sounds like a big crowd, but the truth is that we’re small and struggling in a massive mission-field, and when we’ve grown it’s been from transfer, not conversions. We need to pray more.

And yet our heavenly Father continues to do among us what he alone can do. Through the ordinary means of grace, we see him strengthening his people. In times of heartache and trouble, he holds us fast. His wider church is also a huge blessing – our new youth ministry this past year (Rooted) is in partnership with four other churches. Yet another team from Edenderry CE (Portadown) is set to join us this summer for our kids’ camp called ‘Going Bananas’. And a very kind gift from Ballywillan Presbyterian Church, Portrush, is another reminder of God’s lavish generosity. May our faithful God increase our faith, lead us in repentance, and grant us a new obedience.

Please pray:

• Give thanks for the partnership opportunities with the wider church which is blessing Howth and Malahide’s youth and children’s ministry.

• That the Lord would continue to use the congregation of Howth and Malahide to be salt and light – a constant in a changing population.

Eddy Kerr

Sunny days are here again

Regional manager, Council for Social Witness

No two care homes are the same and no two people living in a care home are the same. The uniqueness of people is no surprise to anyone reading this, but sometimes we do try to fit everyone into the same mould and believe that it will work out for the best. Living in a care home is often not a personal choice for many of the residents but rather it is something which is borne out of necessity and circumstance.

Life in a care home is varied and is an opportunity not just for health needs to be considered but is a place for greater social interaction opportunities and social events. One of the key people in a care home is the activities coordinator and in the Council for Social Witness we are very blessed to have a number of excellent such people in our homes.

maintained is essential. Delivering a programme of interest and appeal is what makes it all worthwhile.

Upon my return to Sunnyside, as the regional manager and over a decade later, I was very taken with the variety of programmes offered by Janine each day. Janine not only ensures stimulation of the body and mind, but also guarantees that the spiritual ministry is very much a part of all that happens over the course of each week.

Life in a care home is varied and is an opportunity not just for health needs to be considered but is a place for greater social interaction opportunities and social events.

It is important that we attract, recruit and retain people of Janine’s calibre and ensure that they are equipped to meet the needs of our residents as much as the other caring professionals in our homes. Both Janine and myself are committed to ensuring that ‘God’s love’ is something which is seen every day through all our interaction with residents and their families.

I was the manager of Sunnyside House in Bangor back in 2008 and I have just returned to work with the Council of Social Witness. Upon my return to Sunnyside, I was greeted at the door by Janine Vanucci. Janine is the activity coordinator there and was recruited by myself during my time there as manager. The longevity of service is something which is to be celebrated, but what is more important for us to recognise is the impact that Janine has in the home.

Providing daily stimulation and sessions of interest for the residents means a lot of forward planning and research. Researching what is of interest to the individual residents is critical. Completing risk assessments to ensure safety and wellbeing is

Please pray:

• For Janine and Eddy, and all staff working in PCI homes, as they seek to live out the love of Christ in their very practical ministry of service in these much-needed settings.

• That residents will feel their individual needs met with PCI’s homes.

Waiting…

Diane Cusick

Global mission worker, Zambia

“Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10).

It is now two months since I came back to Ireland after having a scan in Zambia which showed some abnormalities, and I returned on the advice of the doctor in Zambia. However, I am still waiting to see, or even speak to a consultant. I am feeling physically fine, but am getting very frustrated at the wait. The Lord reminds me to “be still and know that I am God” as I patiently wait.

I should have been having a workshop with our early childhood teachers in May. I will instead, send them some work to do on their own as I wait to return to Zambia in person.

Zoom calls to Zambia are proving challenging –not because of the network in Zambia, but the network here cuts out now and again!

I am currently working on helping the Zambia Synod to write up their strategic plan document for the next five years, which they hope to roll out at the Synod meeting in August. I am also doing some early childhood development (ECD) work from home too, although I would much rather be doing it in Zambia. Zoom calls to Zambia are proving challenging – not because of the network in Zambia, but the network here cuts out now and again!

The good news from Zambia is that the toilet block in Mazabuka has begun. The minister of the congregation is great at sending updates and I look forward to the children having toilets at their ECD centre. This will improve the health of the children, as they will not only have toilets, but running water to wash their hands. This will also be a great help to the teachers who have to collect water in buckets currently.

Please pray:

Thank you for your continued support. Keep updated with my life and work by checking my blog: www.dianecusick.blogspot.com

• For Diane as she continues to wait to see a doctor regarding her medical issue. Please pray that she may see someone in person soon or at least be able to speak to one of the consultants on her medical team. Pray for patience and peace as she waits.

• For the building team in Mazabuka, that they will do a good job of building the toilet block. Pray that the building will be finished in reasonable time so that the children will have good toilets at the ECD centre.

• For the teachers in the Synod’s ECD centres, that they will have passion and commitment to work with the children, and that some of the children may come to know Jesus personally through their work.

• For the children and parents who come to our ECD centres, that they would realise learning through play is helping their children to develop in more ways than they thought possible.

n RURAL CHAPLAIN – For the rural chaplaincy team as they interact with people at the different farming marts and agricultural shows in the summer months. Pray for opportunities to share Jesus’ good news.

n PRISON CHAPLAIN – For Lesley Ann Wilson (Woodlands Juvenile Justice Centre) and all of PCI’s prison chaplains as they share the message of Christ with those in prison. Pray that they would know the Lord’s strength as they support inmates.

n COMMUNITY OUTREACH – For Tori McClelland, community outreach worker in Movilla. Pray summer activities will build links between the church and the congregation.

n STEPHEN AND ROSIE KENNEDY

n DEACONESS – For Heidi England, deaconess serving in Railway Street, Lisburn. Pray for wisdom and guidance for Heidi in her pastoral visits and that the love of Jesus would be evident in each encounter.

n DIANE CUSICK – For the ministers in Mazabuka and Kabushi congregations in Zambia as they oversee the projects of building a toilet block and an Early Childhood Development centre. Pray that both projects will soon be completed and help to overcome the challenges in each community.

– Remember the Kennedy family during this season of transition back to life and service in Northern Ireland; for Steve in his new role as minister of Enniskillen Presbyterian Church, and for Rosie and the girls, as they remain in Cluj until the end of the school year.

n URBAN MISSION – For St Columba’s, Lisburn, that members of the congregation would know a strong sense of unity and fellowship between each other.

n TRAFFICKING – For those living in Northern Ireland who have been trafficked to work in forced labour, domestic servitude and the sex trade, that they would be rescued and helped to rebuild their lives.

n HEALTHCARE CHAPLAIN – For Norman Harrison, that he will be filled with the love and compassion of Jesus as he cares for patients and their families in the Royal Group of Hospitals.

n EDWIN AND ANNE KIBATHI – Give thanks that Edwin was able to attend the PCEA General Assembly in Nairobi. Pray for Edwin and Anne, that God will grant them strength and wisdom in their roles. Pray for the congregations currently raising support for the emergency response for victims of May’s heavy rains, flooding and landslides in Kenya.

n KINGHAN CHURCH – Give thanks for the witness of the Kinghan Church throughout the generations and for the church committee, asking God to give its members strength and wisdom.

n LAWNFIELD HOUSE – Located in Newcastle, County Down, Lawnfield House is a residential and respite care home for older people and those with disabilities. Pray staff and service users will know God’s presence in their daily routines.

n COMMUNITY OUTREACH – For Mark Annett, community outreach worker in First Rathfriland. Pray that the local community would be drawn to the Lord Jesus through the witness of the congregation.

n PEACEHAVEN TRUST – Based in County Wicklow, Peacehaven Trust has three residential properties for adults with a learning disability. Pray for Michael Williams (manager), staff and especially the residents, as they look forward to the summer months.

n FORCES CHAPLAINS – For PCI’s forces chaplains, particularly those currently on deployment. Pray they would know the presence of Jesus with them.

n SOUTH BELFAST FRIENDSHIP HOUSE – For the summer outreach activities, that these will be a way of engaging with new people in the Sandy Row area.

n CSABA AND ILONA VERES – For Csaba and Ilona as they continue to build new friendships in Bodaszőlő, Hungary. Give thanks for the women’s group and ask that those participating would be built up in the Word of God and find new ways to serve in their community.

n GRAY’S COURT – Situated in north Belfast, Gray’s Court provides longer-term supported housing for those in the early stages of recovery from addiction. Pray for those in the early stages of their recovery.

n HOME MISSION – For the congregations of Drum, Cootehill and Kilmount, that members would be drawn deeper into the Word of God through preaching and Bible study.

n NESSL – For the ongoing efforts of the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon (NESSL), with the support of international partners, to show Christ’s compassion to communities in the north west of Syria who, having been impoverished by war, still suffer in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in February last year.

n SPECIAL MINISTRY IN WEST BELFAST –For the continuing work of the team in west Belfast as they serve people and develop a weekly Bible study in this area.

n DEACONESS – For Eleanor Drysdale, serving in Wellington, that as she serves, she will know the Lord’s equipping and guiding.

n INDIA – That God would protect our brothers and sisters in Christ in the Church of North India, together with Christian communities throughout the country, especially at this time when General Election results are due, and in the face of many advocating for India to be a Hindu-First nation.

n HOME MISSION – For the congregation of Tullamore. Pray that God would equip Rev William Hayes and the kirk session to lead the congregation and to encourage them into deeper discipleship of Jesus.

n INTERNATIONAL MEETING POINT – For the staff and volunteers in the International Meeting Point in both north and south Belfast, that they will be able to signpost those in need to the relevant services, and that migrants and refugees would see the love of Jesus in action.

n COMMUNITY OUTREACH – For Ben Day, community outreach worker in Kilbride. Pray for a deepening of relationships that have developed with the local community and that people would be drawn to Christ.

n MYANMAR – Presbyterian Church of Myanmar properties and the homes of members have continued to be bombed and destroyed in recent months. Pray for God’s protection and provision for the hundreds of families internally displaced and for the PCM leadership reaching out to them.

n UNIVERSITY CHAPLAINS – Give thanks for all of our university chaplains at this time, as they review the year and start to plan for the next academic year.

n KENYA – For every effort by Presbyterian Church of East Africa congregations to support victims of the heavy rains, floods and landslides in Kenya. Pray especially for those grieving and for the homeless attempting to rebuild their lives.

Tori McClelland

Csaba and Ilona Veres

TALKING POINTS

A God-honouring lifestyle

Norman Hamilton considers the issue of food provenance in our consumer-driven society.

Iknow that it may be something of a minority sport, but I usually enjoy supermarket shopping. However, my pleasure was seriously challenged recently when buying the vegetable mix for a stir-fry. I was horrified to see that all the ingredients had come direct from Kenya. These included carrot, red cabbage and scallions, which were readily available from local growers on other shelves a few metres away.

This ‘discovery’ prompted me to check out where other items had come from. Wait for it... grapes from South Africa; bananas from Nicaragua; raspberries from Morocco; biscuits from Italy and prawns from Honduras. At least three of these products had been flown thousands of miles to satisfy the demands of ordinary people in Ballymena, and many other places as well. So much for environmental concern! We want all foods to be available all of the time. Indeed, my local family greengrocer lamented to me his dismay that we no longer seem content with locally produced food in its proper season.

I can’t help but ask if this is what God had in mind when he told us in Genesis to “subdue” the earth? Some of what we find in our supermarkets seems much closer to exploitation of what the earth can produce. I do of course fully accept that we are, and indeed must be, dependent on harvests across the world for a lot of our food. For example, our climate simply does not allow us to grow the volume of wheat we need for our bread, or the fruit we need for a healthy diet, or the tea and coffee we consume. I also fully accept that growing food for world markets does provide employment and much-needed income in some of the neediest communities on earth. Yet I struggle to justify the environmental costs in satisfying our food choices, and the rising concerns about the exploitation of many workers across the world. There is real danger that ‘out of sight’ means ‘out of mind’, for we are shielded from so many harsh realities by the availability on the supermarket shelf.

hit a peak of 470 calories per week during the third national lockdown in 2021 “and has hardly come down since”, the IFS said. Alongside this, it is reckoned that around two thirds of people in Britain are considered overweight or obese based upon their Body Mass Index.

The Bible is clear that our bodies matter – we are not just spiritual beings confined to a rather useless body. We are made in the image of God and for Christian people our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6). It cannot be honouring to the Lord to feed ourselves so much with fast food.

To demonstrate our idolatry of food, a major multinational food producer has recently brought us “the Mashup We Didn’t Know We Needed: ‘Barbiecue Sauce’… As a salute to Barbie’s 65th anniversary, the sauce straight out of Barbieland gets its signature pink colour from the addition of beetroot extract.” Personally, I’ll skip this delight!

We want all foods to be available all of the time… we no longer seem content with locally produced food in its proper season.

You may well think that this article is rather over the top, and not really of much relevance to having a God-honouring lifestyle. I would dispute this, not least because a missionary family back home on leave told me that they were horrified by the availability and prominence of pet food in our supermarkets, given the food deprivation they had been seeing overseas. And one day I personally counted 57 different ways of buying water in my local supermarket… big bottles/middle-sized bottles/ little bottles. Glass bottles/plastic bottles. Sport caps/ordinary caps. Still/sparkling. Single bottles/multiple packs. Different brands from budget to premier. And this does not count the soft drinks or the fruit juices.

In a word, I do want to suggest – and suggest strongly – that a God-honouring lifestyle will seek to avoid exploitation of God’s earth and its food resources. Not easy to do, but my conscience simply wouldn’t let me buy that Kenyan stir-fry. I bought a locally produced one instead.

As I was writing this article, two other food related stories came to my notice. The first was a very sobering and detailed report on our increasing addiction to fast food. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), a ‘takeaway’ surge during Covid led to many of us consuming 50% more fast food than before the pandemic. Analysis of our food consumption showed that the increase in popularity of takeaways caused by successive lockdowns continued. Back in 2019, households consumed an average of 270 calories each week from fast food outlets and takeaways, accounting for around 31% of their total ‘out-of-home’ food intake. This surged during the pandemic and

Norman Hamilton

Very Rev Dr Norman Hamilton is a former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.

Including those with autism

Deborah Sloan reports on a recent event, organised by East Belfast Presbytery, looking at how the Church can better welcome and support people with autism.

Every Tuesday from 6pm to 8pm, in all of their stores across Northern Ireland, Lidl provide ‘Autism Aware Quiet Evenings’ for their customers. Lighting is reduced, no music is played, till scan sounds are lowered and in-store announcements are paused. As well as priority queuing, extra staff are on standby and assistance dogs are welcome.

“If that’s what supermarkets do, how are churches welcoming those with autism?” was the question asked at a recent awareness and training event on ‘autism in the church’ organised by East Belfast Presbytery. “If we are going to be serious about inclusion, we have to specifically include those who are excluded.”

Autism is an increasing challenge for the church. The statistics are stark. Currently, 1 in 20 children in Northern Ireland have an autism diagnosis, with 6% attending 1 of the 39 special schools in NI and 18% in mainstream education. In addition, approximately 25% of children are receiving some form of SEN (Special Educational Needs) intervention. There is also a huge rise

in those being diagnosed with autism in later life and whilst many churches run groups for children with additional needs to attend with their parents, it was emphasised at the event that “children do not stay children forever”. With much less for adults, there is a growing requirement for churches to welcome those of all ages with autism.

Many parents of autistic children can sit on the sidelines of church life…

“If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism,” is often used to describe the variety of experiences of those on the autism spectrum, ranging from individuals with low support needs who can live independently to individuals with high support needs who require round-theclock supervision and a high level of care to keep them safe. At the event, attendees heard the stories of Erin Burnett, a Christian writer who has low support

needs, and Rachel Briggs, a SEN teacher whose five-year-old twin daughters have high support needs. They were joined by Anita Conkey, special needs coordinator for Scripture Union NI, and Ruth Bromley, PCI’s children’s development officer, who both shared resources available to equip churches.

Now in her 20s, Erin realised there was something different about her when she started secondary school. Whilst her academic ability was well above her peers, her social ability was well below. An autism diagnosis in sixth form helped her to understand why she was struggling to fit in. Erin, who completed a Theology degree at Belfast’s Union College and has written a book on pastoral care for adults with autism, highlighted how those with low support needs can have hidden struggles which the church should be aware of. Alongside sensitivities to light and sound, many have difficulty socialising and can feel they are surrounded by people who speak another language. Small talk is challenging, and coffee time can be busy, loud and disorientating. While those with autism

want to make friends, they just don’t have the skills to do so, leading to loneliness and isolation. Because of a lack of peer pressure, many benefit from multigenerational friendships and get on better with older people. They also find one-to-one conversations, places where they can share their specific interests and fellowship through smaller gatherings, such as prayer meetings and walking groups, helpful.

For Rachel, getting through a church service can be incredibly stressful. Asking her daughters to be quiet and not run up and down the aisles is impossible. She described how she lives in a constant state of high alert as her girls have no sense of danger. Many parents of autistic children can sit on the sidelines of church life, unable to commit to attending organisations and meetings because of difficulties finding childcare. Even catching up with someone for a chat on a Sunday morning isn’t feasible as they are always keeping an eye on a potential escapee. In addition, parents can be grieving the loss of the dreams and aspirations they had for their children and coping with the impact on siblings who can’t have a natural relationship with their brothers or sisters. Rachel finds it particularly useful to have a quiet place at church to access if her children need time out. A pop-up tent filled with sensory equipment can offer respite. Having a bag of fidget toys and ear defenders readily available is another practical way that churches can help. But what Rachel appreciates most is people getting to know her daughters. Paying her a visit at home and asking what they enjoy or offering to look after them for 15 minutes on a Sunday morning so she can have a cup of tea is a lifeline. Even more important is people committing to pray for her family. But it’s not just social inclusion that churches need to focus on. Many with autism can also feel theologically excluded. Black and white thinking is an attribute of autism and nuance

…it’s not just social inclusion… Many with autism can also feel theologically excluded.

can be problematic for the autistic brain. As Erin explained, seemingly simple statements such as “love God with all your mind” can be hard for the autistic mind to process. Having a personal relationship with Jesus can be complicated because of a preference for logical and scientific explanations over feelings. As faith for Erin is more actionorientated than feeling-orientated, she finds it easier to connect with God in tangible ways such as outside in nature on her motorbike. Autistic people are naturally curious and say things others are afraid to say, so being part of a supportive faith community which is open to questions is vital. A Bible study specifically for adults with autism can provide a safe space for discussion.

As her daughters are non-verbal and unable to express their emotions, Rachel has continuing concerns about how to address their spiritual needs. But even though what they understand is unknown, she knows she can rely on God to communicate with them and sees how they are benefiting from being embraced by their church family.

The Bible confirms that all are made in the image of God and for both Rachel

and Erin, celebrating the uniqueness of those with autism and appreciating the specific gifts they bring to the church is key. “Autism is not a death sentence. My girls live full and happy lives,” says Rachel. “I view my autism as my ability not my disability,” says Erin.

Rev Dr Jim Campbell, one of the organisers of the event said, “We were overwhelmed by the number of people who wanted to come today but had to limit our attendees to 100. There is obviously a real demand for people to find out information and receive support. We would love to see people being offered an opportunity to attend something similar in every presbytery in Ireland.”

His comment was echoed by the Moderator of the General Assembly, Dr Sam Mawhinney, who also attended the event. He said, “When we see the needs around us and move towards people in love and support, we are doing what Jesus wants us to do.”

Useful resources

www.asdinchurch.com (a Northern Ireland based website helping the church engage with those with autism).

PCI video on ‘Including children with special needs’ vimeo.com/ presbyterianireland/ includingchildrenwithspecialneeds

Care for the Family guide for churches –‘Supporting families of children with additional needs’: bit.ly/3UR9KPQ

Erin’s book With All Your Mind: Autism and the church can be purchased online.

Ruth Bromley, Rev Stephen Moore, Rachel Briggs, Dr Sam Mawhinney, Erin Burnett, Rev Jim Campbell and Anita Conkey.

On the move with God

Touching down in Ahmedabad, Gujarat State, along with Global Mission Council convener, Rev Stephen McCracken, I couldn’t help but wonder what had changed for the Christian community since my previous visit to India, the world’s largest democracy and soon to overtake China as the world’s most populous country.

We had seven days in Gujarat, at the invitation of Rt Rev Silvans Christian, Bishop of Gujarat Diocese, Church of North India, and it was a great opportunity to strengthen long-standing church to church relationships. On the first morning we met at the Bishop’s office with the Diocesan Secretariat and executive committee, and were warmly greeted with beautiful garlands and gifts. Over the next week, from dawn to dusk, our feet would hardly touch the ground as we travelled the length and breadth of Gujarat, visiting locations and congregations that would have been very well known in PCI households in generations past: Ahmadabad, Prantij, Anand, Borsad, Vyara, Ghogha and Rajkot.

Everywhere, we were overwhelmed by such a warm welcome and generous hospitality. In each location, people came

from what seemed like all directions to meet and greet us, older church members who remembered with much affection the PCI missionaries who had served in Gujarat half a century earlier, and children who had been told so many stories about them.

We thought about the 180 PCI missionaries who had served so sacrificially in Gujarat, indeed 22 are buried there, although these figures do not include wives and children, whose names do not always appear on records. We reflected on the journey of the Church over a period of 180 years, from the first convert up to now, with more than 100,000 members, 434 congregations and more than 160 pastors and evangelists.

Each day we were privileged to bring greetings, share Bible teaching, children’s talks, and to pray at many church gatherings. During my first visit over 20 years ago, I was the one carrying the camera trying to capture each moment, but now the tables were turned; I was the one under the gaze of the dozens of

…there

was a hunger and expectancy for God.

camera phones! I soon realised – people didn’t just want a picture, they were asking us for prayer, be it for a family member, a job, an illness, indeed there was a hunger and expectancy for God. Early on in the visit we travelled to Prantij to catch up on a ministry known as Jivandwar which means ‘The Door of Life’. It was started in 1972 by a PCI missionary, Dorothy Shannon, and a Gujarati pastor, Rev Albert Carpenter, as together they reached out to people suffering from leprosy. Their work provided an open door to many leprosy sufferers and their children. Still today, Jivandwar remains a place of enthusiasm, cheerfulness and activity, and it was so moving to hear testimonies of some whose lives had endured the terrible stigma and ostracism of leprosy, but came to see their lives transformed at Jivandwar. Today the work focuses on care for young boys from families suffering with leprosy, and is now developing a ministry of care for the elderly.

On day two, we set off early for Anand and were welcomed by the executive leadership of the Gujarat Christian Service Society (GCSS), established to look after church properties such as

Uel Marrs reports on a recent trip to Gujarat, India, a place that has long held associations with PCI. He discovers a vibrant worshipping community that has a hunger and expectancy for God.

manses, church halls, schools and hostels. It was exciting to visit a new school building being constructed for the Anand Girls’ High School, which when finished will accommodate some 600 girls, providing places for those from poorer Christian communities, not least from the tribal areas. We were also taken to an impressive nursing college just recently opened at Borsad.

On one evening, we had the joy of attending a special outdoor celebration at the Gujarat United School of Theology (GUST) along with the faculty, students and supporters. Principal, Rev Sanjay Malaviya, shared his vision for the future of GUST. The Church’s leadership is youthful, with around 80% between the ages of 25–45, so there is a significant need for ongoing theological training. Last year, five students graduated with Bachelor of Theology degrees, preparing to be pastors, while another 12 students graduated with diplomas.

Our visit coincided with the Hindu festival of Diwali which meant that schools were on holiday and the Diocese seized the opportunity to launch a week of vacation Bible school. We had opportunity to visit vacation Bible schools just as they were getting underway in three different Ahmedabad congregations. It was a joy to see the children coming together with such expectancy under the oversight of dedicated, wellorganised leaders.

Travelling across Ahmedabad to a multi-storey building, we ascended several floors to see around a wellstocked Christian bookshop run by the Diocese. On the top floor we stepped into a spacious room with a great view over the city. This was the Diocesan Prayer Tower, a vision of Bishop Silvans, and a place

…the church in Gujarat, while a tiny minority, is nonetheless on the move with God!

where people could come along, fill out a prayer card, receive prayer or engage in intercessions for city or nation. It was clearly a vital ministry for which there was great passion, especially given the challenges currently facing Christians, just 2.4% of India’s population. There are anti-conversion laws in Gujarat State, such that to be baptised or to erect a new church building are very much legal matters. Also, the current political leadership is pressing for India to be a Hindu-First nation and so we reflected on the words of Oswald Chambers: “Prayer does not equip us for greater works – prayer is the greater work.”

It was great to reconnect with Rev Julius and Anita Khristy. I first met them in Belfast 25 years ago when they spent a year training in preparation to set up the first ever Christian counselling centre in the state of Gujarat. Over the years

they have been able to provide a whole range of counselling services, reaching thousands of people, and providing crucial counselling support through very difficult times, such as the trauma and grief of the Gujarat earthquake in 2001, and more recently through the Covid pandemic. Anita’s reflections on counselling stuck with me long after the lunch we shared together: “Listening is a lovely way to love”, and “People just need to be themselves; everyone is an original, not a copy!”

While PCI’s last missionary in Gujarat completed service there some 50 years ago, today the Gujarat Diocese commissions its own missionaries. On our final morning, we met with the 37 missionaries of the Gujarat Missionary Movement (GMM) which had recently celebrated its 40th anniversary. In addition to theological training, there is much focus on the need for a zeal for the Lord. GMM’s missionaries serve passionately, living lives of dedication, simplicity and prayer. What a privilege on our final day to be invited to pray with them as they prepared to return to their field of service.

These are but a few highlights of our visit, but hopefully reveal that the church in Gujarat, while a tiny minority, is nonetheless on the move with God! While wonderfully expressive of its culture and context, it distinctively reveals the character of Christ – vibrant despite, or perhaps because of, adversities faced. One might say, “It’s just being itself, an original, not a copy.” In the course of the week, our feet had hardly touched the ground, yet surely our hearts had enjoyed a foretaste of heaven.

Rev

Uel Marrs is the Secretary of PCI’s Council for Global Mission.

Julius and Anita Khristy

Church in Ghogha where the first missionaries landed.

Supporting the bereaved

Pascoe explores how we can help those who are facing loss.

We will all experience bereavement at some point in our lives, but that does not mean it is easy to face. Losing someone close to us is difficult. It is estimated that on average five people are deeply impacted by each death (for example, those who are a partner, parent, sibling or child of the person who has died). With around 600,000 deaths each year in the UK, this means that three million people are significantly affected by bereavement each year. How can we help to bring comfort to friends, family or church contacts who are facing loss?

‘I don’t know what to say’

Though other people’s ill-chosen words and actions can cut deeply when we are grieving, the kindness of sensitive friends and relatives can also help in our healing. However, the culture in much of the

Western world actively avoids talking about death, which can make it very hard to offer meaningful support. We genuinely do not have a shared cultural language for talking about grief, so we may feel that we falter in our attempts to be helpful.

We might also be scared of upsetting those who are grieving, whether out of genuine concern or being uncomfortable with raw emotion. As a result, we can refrain from talking about the person who has died, but this may come across as ignoring the person’s loss, which

…the Western world actively avoids talking about death, which can make it very hard to offer meaningful support.

can be very painful. Even if we have experienced loss ourselves, we can still feel awkward about having the right words to say.

Author and speaker Brené Brown has spoken widely about empathy and why it has such a great impact: “Empathy is feeling with people… Rarely can a response make something better. What makes something better is connection.” She observes: “Empathy is not connecting to an experience, it’s connecting to the emotions that underpin an experience.”

So we can be encouraged that whether or not we have been bereaved, and however different someone else’s experience may have been to our own, we can be a support to those who are grieving, if we are willing to take the time to get on their emotional level and connect with them.

Sonya

…people

around them understandably get back to ‘normal’, but they are left feeling anything but normal.

Practical support

Often, we find ourselves saying, “Let me know what you need!” and the offer of help is sincerely meant. But it can be hard for someone who is grieving to take the initiative and take us up on our offer. It will often be far more helpful to step in with a specific offer of support. Arranging to take the children out for an hour, bringing round a casserole, walking the dog, making a phone call or visiting – these concrete actions are usually far more useful than a vague promise of assistance.

As time goes by Bereaved people will often find that they receive a lot of support immediately after their bereavement and around the time of the funeral. After the first few weeks that can change and the support they were receiving can fade as people around them understandably get back to ‘normal’, but they are left feeling anything but normal. If we can be there for people as the weeks and months go by, it will speak volumes. Perhaps we can make a note of

specific days that might be hard for them, such as their loved one’s birthday or an anniversary, and reach out to them at those times.

Questions of faith

When we face the loss of someone close, we can find ourselves struggling to make sense of what has happened. We might ask ourselves: “Why did God let this happen?” “Does God care?” These are completely understandable questions and a normal response to the loss of someone close, especially if the death was in some way unexpected or traumatic.

Many people will find comfort in the message of God’s love, but glib statements such as, “They are in a better place”, are unlikely to help. We naturally want to make things better or give answers, but there may be no answers that can be given, this side of heaven. It can be helpful to acknowledge their feelings and recognise them as valid –perhaps saying something like, “It is understandable that you feel angry with God.”

Bereavement Care Awareness Training

‘Bereavement Care Awareness Training’ is a half-day session which will equip you with a deeper understanding of the grieving process, ideas for the practical and emotional support you can offer someone in the weeks and months after the funeral, practical skills to carry out supportive listening, and advice and tips on ways your church can support bereaved people in your community. Find out more at cff.org.uk/bca

The Grief Journey

John Wyatt, a specialist in the medical care of newborn babies, says: “Suffering is not a question which demands an answer, it is not a problem which requires a solution, it is a mystery which demands a presence.” The most important thing is that you are accompanying someone on their journey of grief. It’s not always comfortable to be with someone in their distress, but by listening you are creating a safe place for questions to be asked and emotions to be expressed.

Making a difference

Coping with the pain and heartache of a close bereavement is always difficult – not least when it’s accompanied by a sense of loneliness and a feeling that no one understands. As we provide a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, and appropriate practical help, we can help those who are living with loss to discover hope for the future, and the strength to rebuild their lives.

Sonya Pascoe is bereavement care awareness coordinator at Care for the Family.

The Grief Journey is newly published by Care for the Family. Written by Sarah Rowlands and Claire Musters, it is an accessible, compassionate guide for those who are bereaved, particularly for the early weeks and months. Including topics such as: taking care of yourself; coping with others’ responses; managing family relationships; and much more, there are also practical tips, quotes and stories that bring the personal touch. Retailing at £7.99, those who wish to purchase multiple copies to give to others can buy 10 for £50 via the Care for the Family website: cff.org.uk/shop

Transformative prayer

Lois Bailie outlines how much Tearfund appreciates and values prayer for its work around the world and highlights various ways we can get involved in prayer support.

Iwas seven years old when I began regularly praying for global mission: I met Anna, a Korean missionary, at the home of some family friends. She gave me a prayer card with her name and picture on it which I kept at my bedside, and I prayed for her every night.

This regular commitment shaped me, much more than I imagined it would at the time. There is something special about praying for people outside of your own context; even as a young child, I believed that my prayers could have an impact. Later in life, as a Geography student at Queen’s University in Belfast, I used Tearfund’s prayer diary, relishing the opportunity to look beyond myself and play a part in supporting brothers and sisters around the world, working to alleviate extreme poverty in some of the most vulnerable places on Earth.

And now, in my role as Tearfund’s church and supporter engagement lead in Northern Ireland, I am as passionate as ever about the transformative power of prayer.

Tearfund is in the business of transformation, working in the world’s 50 most poverty-stricken countries, through our local church partners.

Our objective is to support whole-life transformation, which means alleviation from physical poverty, yes – but also the spiritual, emotional, social flourishing of individuals and the communities they are a part of.

The church at the centre

Which vessel is best placed to promote, empower and support this change? The church, of course! Tearfund’s ‘theory of poverty’ suggests that poverty exists as a result of broken relationships with God, ourselves, others and creation. The church can play a key role in helping to restore these four broken relationships, bringing whole-life transformation to individuals and communities.

Tearfund does this through our ‘Transforming Communities’ programme.

Tearfund is in the business of transformation, working in the world’s 50 most poverty-stricken countries…

We provide innovative Bible-based training through local churches around the world, who already know their communities inside and out, and in the event of a disaster, can be first on the scene. What we see happen is communities using their own skills and resources to lift themselves out of poverty through what they learn in Scripture –for some, that may mean saving together to build a well or a school; for others, lending money to members so that they can start climate-resilient farming as a means of ensuring the safety and flourishing of all in the future. Our bespoke community training brings hope and belonging through the local church. And when people in poverty realise their God-given potential, we see whole communities transformed.

Tearfund has a vision to reach 250,000 churches with our Transforming Communities programme in the next seven years. This is what gets me up in the morning! Don’t we long for our churches across the globe to be centres of transformation, fulfilling our calling to be the “light of the world”, “a city on a hill [that] cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14)? Indeed, our vision is far bigger than

what we can achieve alone, but we believe in a loving God who hears and responds to our prayers, and it’s our relationship with God and understanding of who he is that drives our prayers of petition and intercession.

Prayer changes things

In the New Testament, Paul repeatedly asks for prayers and also teaches that we should “carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). We know God’s plan is to restore this world, and through Jesus’ blood shed on the cross, to “reconcile all things to himself”. Creation groans, and we are so aware of the brokenness both close by and around the world. So as Paul urges us to, let us pray for people who are struggling. God is already at work. And we have the privilege of being able to partner with him by praying alongside our global neighbours.

The prayers of God’s people can, and do, change things.

We feel the power of supporters’ prayers every day and rejoice in sharing stories of transformed lives, like those of the 287 school children who were kidnapped in Nigeria: we sent out an urgent call to prayer, and were delighted to share not long ago that all of the children have now been restored to their families. As Sarah Harding, the Presbyterian Herald editor, wrote in May’s edition: “Our view of prayer can be greatly changed when we witness its power.”

Not only do our supporters, many in Northern Ireland and within PCI churches, respond to God’s call to “give generously to the poor” in a financial sense for which we are so grateful, they also give of their time through volunteering (we have a fantastic group of speakers who visit churches throughout NI, for example), and in prayer, which is at the heart of all we do. In a recent UKwide survey, 64% of our supporters said that they find prayer an important way to support and stay connected to the work of Tearfund.

Prayer changes us

But prayer isn’t only about looking outward: it has a direct impact on us, too. Intercession changes us. When we bring others before God, our attitudes begin to

shift as our hearts become more aligned with God’s plan for the world. We get a glimpse of how God sees the world – how much he loves individuals and creation – and our relationship with God and others can become deeper as a result.

You may not see answers to prayer immediately, or see the effect your prayers are having on people’s lives, but you can be assured that God is at work. Your prayers will be making a difference and changing lives. There will be times when situations seem impossible, but we are praying to a God who can do even more than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). We are praying to a God who healed the blind, parted the seas, and who created the entire Earth. So – please! –pray your biggest and boldest prayers.

In our survey, most supporters said they felt overwhelmed when praying for global poverty and injustice. When we are tired, or unsure of what to say – when the situation feels too big – we can remember that “the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans” (Romans 8:26). Our prayers can take the form of silence, sobs or even shaking our fists and stamping our feet at the injustice in the world. Pete Greig, a Tearfund ambassador and founder of 24-7 Prayer, recently told us about his own practice of praying for justice: “I try to begin by sitting quietly,

holding the situation before the Lord. In these moments, I may sigh deeply, allowing the situation to affect my own heart. Becoming aware that God is neither distant nor dispassionate.” God listens. God understands. God cares.

So what can you do?

I recently spoke to Trevor Reaney, who is a member of our Holywood prayer group which meets regularly to intercede for particular situations around the world. He said: “Prayer is such an important part of God’s work on Earth, including for Tearfund, and I am delighted to be involved in prayer ministry as part of a regular Tearfund prayer group. I sometimes wonder why we should keep on praying when the world always seems to be so full of trauma and evil. I am reminded of what Tom Tarrants (from the C.S. Lewis Institute) has said: ‘Why pray? Because the Sovereign God, who is indeed omniscient, omnipotent, and good, has established prayer as the means by which we receive what he has promised and help fulfil what he has ordained.’ The wonderful stories of God at work through Tearfund staff and partners are so encouraging. Let’s keep on praying!”

We would love to support you in prayer for global mission and justice. One way of connecting with us is through our One Voice emails, weekly pointers of specific things to pray for which highlight answered prayer, too. We also send out a prayer diary with each edition of our supporter magazine, Tear Times. You can sign up for these on our website: http://tearfund.org/pray. Or why not consider joining or starting a prayer group, like Trevor’s. Email ni@tearfund. org to get the conversation started. The prayers of God’s people can, and do, change things. Thanks be to our God who graciously and willingly listens to our pleas, our groans, our petitions: as Trevor says, let’s keep on praying.

Lois Bailie is Tearfund’s church and supporter engagement lead in Northern Ireland.

Lois Bailie

REVIEWS

Soul Survivor Premier Christianity

PODCAST

This podcast explores allegations against Mike Pilavachi, leader and founder of Soul Survivor, a UK evangelical movement which was established in the 1990s.

The series unpacks the circumstances surrounding the allegations, talking to young people who were there during the 90s and early 2000s and analysing the culture of the environment and the character of Pilavachi. It raises an important issue for the church to reflect on, especially highlighting the danger of putting anyone in leadership on a pedestal, which can then mean that any concerns raised are dismissed.

The podcast also shows the extra care that is needed when young people are involved. Pilavachi was accused of inappropriate behaviour, as well as the psychological and spiritual abuse of putting people down or ignoring them. However, many of these young people, although uncomfortable with his actions, did not recognise it as abuse at the time. They were trusting of this mentor and tended to blame themselves for any discomfort or mental anguish they experienced.

One of the most striking episodes features worship leader Matt Redman. Given Matt’s high profile as a worship leader, his willingness to come forward and call out the inappropriate behaviour of Pilavachi is powerful. Above all, listeners will be left with the conviction that accountability in the church is of paramount importance.

Unless otherwise stated all resources are available from your local Faith Mission Bookshop or online www.fmbookshops.com

How to be (Un)Successful

Pete Portal

SPCK PUBLISHING

£12.99

Pete Portal runs ministries for the vulnerable and marginalised in one of South Africa’s most notorious townships. He dedicates this book to his wife. “For Sarah. You are so beautifully (un)successful. Thank you for teaching me.”

It isn’t particularly flattering until you understand that Pete is not talking about being unsuccessful but rather about redefining success, moving it from an endlessly dissatisfying search for worldly success to finding true satisfaction in following Jesus. He defines (un)success as “love for others and faithfulness to God’s calling”. Across six chapters, Portal considers how to abandon an anxious and exhausted culture and rediscover the life that God has called you to. Each chapter concludes with discussion questions to unpick what your attitudes to success might be. A small-group video series is also available via 24-7 Prayer.

Portal comments on the role the church plays in reframing success, questioning “whether we might even have adopted modern cultural norms into our faith, preaching feel-good messages of selfimprovement, becoming more committed to tweetable soundbites than we are to the uncompromising words of Jesus?”

There is a lot to take in, as the book’s focus moves from activism to contemplation, spiritual disciplines to social injustice, to the prophetic, violence, poverty, addiction, inner healing, and environmental destruction. Whilst it is a book about ‘unsuccess’, most of its value comes from appreciating how Portal has followed his calling to live radically amongst the people who most need to hear about Jesus. DS

Resilient Faith

Lewis and Sarah Allen

CROSSWAY

£12

Lewis and Sarah Allen are a husbandand-wife team who have been deeply involved in church planting and training leaders in London and currently in Huddersfield, west Yorkshire. Their book is subtitled ‘Learning to rely on Jesus in the struggles of life’. They divide the book up into nine sections, with on average three easy-to-read chapters in each section.

They gently but realistically diagnose temptations that particularly younger Christians face in their walk with the Lord, including neglect of fellowship or too much focus on work rather than rest. Unsurprisingly, the book is dedicated to the many young adults that they have worked with over the years. There is a helpful chapter on growing in prayer and much emphasis on the importance of body life and godly character.

With the overarching aim of building spiritual and practical resilience, the Allens bring clear, gospel-focused teaching into focus. Of particular help are the questions at the end of each chapter which seek to earth the biblical teaching in a practical manner. For example: “What are your dayto-day hopes? What are your long-term hopes? What are you really hoping for?”

Resilient Faith is a readable yet certain challenge to those of us who can be distracted from our walk with the Lord and his church. It could serve as a good daily devotional, or equally a helpful book for reflection on holiday. Perhaps a good book to give to a young Christian embarking out into the working world.

MMcN

REVIEWERS

DS – Deborah Sloan is a member of Bloomfield Presbyterian MMcN – Dr Martin McNeely is minister of Fahan Presbyterian

Tending to My Thoughts

Sharon Hastings

IVP BOOKS

£11.99

This book follows on from the author’s first memoir Wresting with My Thoughts: A doctor with severe mental illness discovers strength, in which Sharon Hastings shared her struggle with schizoaffective disorder. At the time, she felt God had purposed her in the context of ongoing illness.

“Today, I believe that God has more for me. This book picks up the story at the point at which I began to ask whether recovery might actually be possible. It details my progress to the present day, which I can say that my life is no longer constantly dominated by mental illness,” writes Hastings.

Through the book, Hastings give a searingly honest account of how her mental illness has impacted her and her family, through the ups and downs, and the steps she has taken towards recovery. Recovery means having a life worth living, she stresses, as opposed to ‘cure’.

Although this is a personal story, it is also almost like a handbook in that it helpfully explains medical terms, and works its way through the recovery principles as identified by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Both are extremely helpful in understanding severe mental illness and available treatments.

Hastings has a deep faith, which is obvious throughout the book, and she shares words from the Bible that have been helpful at different stages of her recovery. This book is perfect for those who want a greater understanding of severe mental illness, as well as for those on a similar journey to Hastings.

SEH

BB – Bess Bromley is eight years old and a member of First Holywood RD – Ruth Dalzell is a schools’ worker for Scripture Union

SEH – Suzanne Hamilton is an administrative assistant for the Herald

SH – Sarah Harding is editor of the Herald

Where the Joy Is We Are Messengers

AVAILABLE VIA STREAMING SERVICES

We Are Messengers is a band originally from Monaghan, but they have been based in America since 2015. Over the years, they have released three studio albums and their fourth, Where the Joy Is, was released in April 2024.

My Big Story Bible

Tom Wright

SPCK PUBLISHING

I liked this Bible because there are lots of words, some of them were quite hard words that kids like me might need to learn about. I got a lot of information from reading each story.

The title of the book gave me a big clue on what it would be about.

The stories in the Bible were very detailed. For example, in the story of creation, it not only says where the animals lived but also described the

This album focuses on the simplicity of the gospel and recognising this is where true joy can be found. It is upbeat and feel-good which is not surprising for an album featuring joy in the title. The songs are easy to listen to and wouldn’t sound out of place in the mainstream charts.

I enjoyed all of the songs on this album but my particular favourites are Keep Your Head Up and God Be the Glory which is the lead song. These songs seek to remind us of the joy that the gospel brings to our lives.

Keep Your Head Up reminds us that no matter the situations we face, we can always look to God who is ready to meet us at the finish line. God Be the Glory is about giving God praise in good times and bad.

Where the Joy Is is a brilliant album to help focus your mind on who God is and the joy this knowledge can bring.

RD

things they do. I really liked all the descriptions.

Also, at the bottom of the page in many stories, there is a picture and a page number which links it to other stories in the Bible. It helped me to see that the stories were not just on their own. This helps me understand more about God.

The pictures were unique. They are very colourful. I had never seen drawings like them in a Bible before.

At the back, there are some maps that show you where the places are talked about in the stories. I really like maps as this helped me to imagine where people lived and travelled in the stories.

Although it is a big book, it is not too heavy to hold for 7–12-year-olds (the recommended age range).

There was nothing I didn’t like about it and I would definitely recommend it for other boys and girls.

LIFE IN PCI

Anniversary marked in Cregagh

Cregagh PW celebrated their 90th anniversary with an afternoon tea in the Allen Hall recently.

Founder Eva Stewart, who was the wife of the first minister of Cregagh, presided over the inaugural meeting on 27 March 1933. Weekly membership was 6d or 27p in today’s money.   Mrs Stewart’s daughter Jessie Barbour took over as president after her husband became Cregagh’s second minister, followed by Elizabeth Sleith, wife of the Belfast church’s third minister.

To celebrate the 90th anniversary, past presidents and leaders, past and present members, friends and families gathered in a packed hall to be entertained by pianist Audrey Gillan (daughter of a PW member) and to enjoy the afternoon tea.

Guest of honour was Hilary Stephens, granddaughter of founder Mrs Stewart, who assisted present leader Robyn McCullough in cutting the cake.

Top left: PW members Dorothy Elliot, Maggi Hamilton, Eileen Allen and Eileen Martin.

Top right: Rev Hastings McIntyre (minister emeritus of Cregagh), his wife Rosamund (a past president), Leslie Ferguson, Lesley McKenzie and Rev Edward McKenzie (minister of Cregagh).

Bottom: Members of Cregagh PW.

Tributes to cleric following retirement after three decades in Omagh

Many tributes have been paid to a well-known Omagh cleric who served faithfully in the district for the past three decades and has retired.

Rev Robert Herron was minister of Trinity, Omagh, and Gillygooley Presbyterian Churches since 1993. Prior to that he had been minister of Strabane Presbyterian Church where he was installed in 1985, having been ordained two years earlier and started his ministry as assistant in Trinity, Bangor. Mr Herron served on numerous Church committees at central level and was clerk of Omagh Presbytery for many years.

Outside his ministry Mr Herron has had a keen interest in education over many years, including serving on the Education Authority, and received a prestigious OBE for his service in this field.

Following the presentation of gifts and warm tributes from Trinity and Gillygooley congregations, Mr Herron extended thanks and said he had enjoyed his ministry in Omagh, adding that “people had been open, accepting and supportive.”

A native of Comber, County Down, the cleric and his wife, Sheena, have been married for over 40 years with three grown up children and two grandchildren.

Mrs Herron is a gifted musician and made a significant contribution to the music and worship of the congregations.

The elders of Gillygooley Presbyterian Church pictured with Rev Robert Herron. (Photographs courtesy of the Tyrone Constitution.)

Top left:

Top right: Stanley Matthews, Sheena Herron, Rev Robert Herron and Claire McElhinney.

Bottom left: The elders of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Omagh, pictured with Rev Robert Herron and his wife, Sheena.

Bottom right: Patricia Smith, Sheena Herron, Raymond McKinley, Dorothy King, Rev Robert Herron and Rosemary King.

Fifty years of service in Ballynure

Wilson Hyde is pictured receiving a token of appreciation from Rev Matthew Kelso in Ballynure Presbyterian Church. Mr Hyde has served the County Antrim congregation faithfully and continuously as an active member of the church committee since April 1974, and is now looking forward to starting a phased retirement.

Fisherwick bicentenary marked

Former Moderator Dr John Dunlop planted a tree in the grounds of Fisherwick Presbyterian Church to mark the Belfast congregation’s bicentenary. Pictured are: Ian Bridgett (elder), Dr Dunlop, Linda Little (elder), Peter Lindsay (clerk of session) and Alan Hewitt (chairman of the bicentenary committee).

To share good news stories from your congregation please send your photographs and details to heraldeditorial@presbyterianireland.org

Gardenmore member celebrates 100 years

Ima Kohne, a lifelong member of Gardenmore Presbyterian in Larne, celebrated her 100th birthday recently with a gathering of family and friends. She is pictured with PCI Moderator Dr Sam Mawhinney and the recently installed minister of Gardenmore, Rev Ben Johnston.

Retirement in Kells and Eskylane

Rev Brian Boyd (third from left) pictured with the kirk sessions of Kells and Eskylane Presbyterian Churches, County Antrim on his retirement, having serving almost 32 years as their minister. During his time in Kells and Eskylane, Mr Boyd has also served as convener of the Drug and Alcohol Education committee for PCI and been a member of the Church’s Judicial Commission.

New communicants at West Church, Bangor

Fourteen young people have been received into communicant membership in West Church, Bangor. Pictured in the back row are: George Warmington, Megan Dyer, Abigail Allen, James Warmington, Rhys Smith, Phoebe Smith and Lindsay Conway (clerk of session).

Front row: Dr Charles McMullen (minister of the County Down church), Ben Millar, James Rainey, Alice McIvor, Erin McGonigle, Hannah Boal, Seth Harding, Nevin Harding and Andrew McClelland (youth and children’s associate). Missing from the photo is Peter Allen.

Presentation in Kilkeel

During the Moderator’s Newry Presbytery visit, Dr Sam Mawhinney spoke at the morning service in Kilkeel Presbyterian Church and afterwards was presented with a painting of Slieve Binnian by Rev Stephen Johnston.

Elders ordained in Helen’s Bay

The County Down congregation of Helen’s Bay has ordained new elders. Pictured are: session clerk David McAuley, Rev John Flaherty (clerk of Ards Presbytery), Rev Craig Jackson (Ballygilbert Presbyterian Church), elders Lynn Plamer and Gloria Smith, Rev John McConaghie (acting moderator of Ards Presbytery) and Rev Colin Megaw (minister of Helen’s Bay Presbyterian Church).

Special service at Ballyblack

Ballyblack Presbyterian Church was delighted to have a good attendance at the annual Seedtime and Ploughman’s Service. The generous offering on the night was £1,280, which will be split between the UFU President’s Charity, Marie Curie, and Chest Heart and Stroke. Pictured are: Graeme Warden (collector), David McCracken (clerk of session), David Brown (Ulster Farmers’ Union president), Mary Brown, Rev Andras Gilicze, Margaret Broome (federation chairman of the Federation of Women’s Institutes of Northern Ireland), Leslie Broome holding Alana Mills, Dr George Beale, Sarah Mills, Andrew Gill (collector), Stuart Mills (Young Farmers’ Club of Ulster president), Gordon Annett (collector), Rebecca McBratney and Rebecca McCormick (Newtownards YFCU collectors) and Alex Warden (former clerk of session).

Elder ordained in Aghadowey

Sam Dill has been ordained as an elder in Aghadowey Presbyterian by a commission of Coleraine and Limavady Presbytery. Pictured in the back row are: Dr Trevor McCormick (clerk of presbytery), Trevor Fulton, William Reid, Dr Mark Goudy, Mervyn McCollum and Ivan McNaugher. Front row: Rev Knox Jones (minister of Aghadowey), Mr Dill and Rev James Hyndman (moderator of presbytery).

Leprosy Mission Sunday in Groomsport

This year celebrates 150 years of the Leprosy Mission. Over the years Groomsport Presbyterian Church has loyally supported their work. It was a privilege to have three former leprosy mission conveners at the County Down church’s recent Leprosy Mission service. Stephanie McCready, Nessa McCutcheon and Dorothy Johnston are pictured with clerk of session Dr Michael Steele, church partnership officer of TLM NI Rebecca Parnell (third from right) and Groomsport minister Rev Paul Dalzell.

Retirement in Newtownstewart

Newtownstewart Presbyterian Church recently marked the retirement of James Baxter as clerk of session, after 25 years of faithful and dedicated service. Mr Baxter was presented with a suitably inscribed Bible and a gift voucher on behalf of the congregation, by his successor David Dunbar. Pearl Baxter received a floral arrangement, which was presented by Alison Black, a member of the church committee. The presentation was followed by refreshments in the church hall. Pictured are Bob Moore, Alan Kemps, Mr Dunbar, Mr Baxter, Mrs Baxter, Dr Rob Craig (temporary stated supply) and Robert Brown. Missing from the photo is Norman Donnell.

New elder in Drum

A commission of Monaghan Presbytery are pictured with the kirk sesson of Drum for the ordination and installation of David Hall (front centre) as a ruling elder, with Rev J. O’Donnell (moderator) and Dr G. Clinton (acting clerk).

Queen’s Badge presentations in Granshaw

Two members of First Granshaw Boys’ Brigade, James Cusin and Watson Kingham, were presented with their Queen’s Badge at the County Down company’s recent display.

Tag good news stories from your congregation on Twitter with #lifeinpci and @pciassembly

100th birthday in Kilfennan

May Platt, a member of Kilfennan Presbyterian Church, celebrated her 100th birthday recently. She is pictured with Rev Russell Edgar (minister of the Londonderry church), her daughter Caroline Platt and former PCI Moderator Dr Rob Craig.

Birthday milestone in McCracken Memorial

Victor Clark, a member of McCracken Memorial congregation in Belfast, celebrated his 100th birthday recently. He is pictured with his wife Joan, daughter Vivienne, PCI Moderator Dr Sam Mawhinney and Rev Barry McCroskery (minister).

New elders in Strean

A service of ordination and installation of elders was recently held in Strean Presbyterian Church. Pictured with the minister Rev Jeff McWatters are members of the Ards Presbytery commission and the eight new elders: Graham Scandrett, Heather Faloon, Robin Kennedy, Rosemary Black, Phil Baron, Stephanie Baron, Joanne Harris and Morris McAllister.

Festival of Biblical Banners

by the ladies of Cavanaleck and Aughentaine

On display at Cavanaleck Presbyterian Church Saturday 28 September 10am–4pm.

Contact Sandy

Join Tracey in her farmhouse kitchen in Killinchy by the shores of Strangford Lough, and learn to make Northern Ireland’s delicious traditional breads.

You’ll start with tea, coffee and freshly baked fruit soda bannock fresh from the oven.

Then roll up your sleeves and make soda breads, wheaten breads and potato breads. Tracey will also demonstrate soda and focaccia breadmaking which you’ll devour as soon as it’s ready!

After you have made these, you’ll sit down around the big farmhouse table and you’ll feast on Tracey‘s homemade breads and her fresh cream cake with homemade jams and bottomless tea/coffee.

You’ll take home a big bag of your homemade breads and anything else that’s left on the table!

Perfect for hen parties and private groups

https://traceysfarmhousekitchen.com

compiled by Harry Douglas

Magic mycelium

Ruth Sanderson

It has been an interesting week of discovery. On Monday, I spent the day on a mushroom farm. Now, I’ve been on mushroom farms before, but this was not your average one. Forget closed cup, button or even chestnuts, this was all about shiitake, blue oysters, lion’s mane and all the weird and wonderful fungi that we are unlikely to get down the local branch of Aldi.

The farm itself was run by a really inspirational lady – a British-born Jamaican, PhD-holding, Cambridge-educated entrepreneur. She had owned and operated a really successful wedding venue and resort in the Caribbean, had had a baby on her own and decided that she wanted to sell up and move to the UK with her infant son and mother in tow. Just before the first lockdown, the three of them bought a large, derelict mansion in the wilderness of the west coast of Scotland. It had missing walls and had been badly neglected, the sky visible through many of the vaulted ceilings. They renovated it from top to bottom. As all this was happening, she taught herself via YouTube, Facebook and Reddit internet forums how to grow mushrooms. The advice she got was largely, she said, about how to grow illegal mushrooms. However, the techniques were the same and she applied them to growing exotic, gourmet fungi which she now sells for extraordinary amounts of money to Michelin starred chefs and restaurants.

create one single organism. It creates enzymes to break down food sources, which tend to be woody and organic matter. It is the reason trees and leaves decompose. In fact, this process of breaking down organic matter is critical in maintaining healthy soil, recycling leaf litter, and providing food for the vast array of bacteria and animals that call soil home.

Mycelial networks can be both large and small. Most are microscopic, but some fungal species can also grow to colossal sizes. In the US, there is a web of mycelium growing in the national forest in Oregon, estimated to cover almost 10 square kilometres, making it the largest single organism on earth.

…what a blessing…to know that it’s not sight that leads to faith.

But mycelium is smart. Researchers believe that trees can communicate with each other subterraneanly using these threaded webs of bacteria. Scientists contend that mycelium can share information about resources, dangers, and pollutants in order for forest and woodland habitat to work as a whole, rather than as individual trees. This is true for other plants too, and research now suggests that everything growing in the ground is connected by this miraculous, invisible structure. In one experiment, it was found that tomato plants in one part of a greenhouse infected with blight could send underground messages to the other tomato plants, which then created an enzyme to make themselves resistant to disease.

The growing areas are what can only be described as blackout tents, placed in an outhouse, hooked up to steam humidifiers to replicate the conditions of woodland autumn underground. As she unzipped them, an aroma akin to mushroom soup blasted up my nostrils, and the other sensation was of being in a sci-fi film. Remember The X Files? Where intrepid Mulder and Scully would wade in hazmat suits through steamy dry ice to uncover some kind of alien autopsy lab? Well, it was a bit like that. Emerging from the misty gloom came all sorts of shapes and sizes of fantastical fungi, all edible and all challenging one’s own perception of what a mushroom should be. Some looked like cauliflower rupturing out of their plastic growing bags, some like large trumpets, some looked like spiked pieces of coral reef. They were pink, brown, blue, white and yellow. They were long, stumpy, ball-shaped and jaggedy. The term for this stage of mushroom growing was called ‘fruiting’ – because the mushrooms are the fruit of mycelium.

Mycelium is the tiny, usually imperceptible, webbing root structure of fungi, which lives beneath our feet almost everywhere on earth. It is basically webs of bacteria, which

Mycelium can grow around root structures, helping plants become more efficient at absorbing nutrients from the soil. It can also germinate plants which can’t rely on photosynthesis.

The next time you’re out for a walk in a woodland, or in your garden, if you see a toadstool or a rotting bit of branch, or old leaf litter, or almost anything growing, remember there is magic mycelium doing its important and miraculous work in the deep dark soil just below your feet. What’s amazing is that it’s estimated that mycelium has been about, doing its quiet work for around 800 million years, yet it was only really discovered by science about 60 years ago.

It made me think of the invisible, supportive, sustaining webs of faith in which we live. How we can feel the nourishment and enrichment, guidance, warning and communication from an omnipotent yet invisible God. How something which can’t be seen or touched can be so real, so tangible and so crucial to life. We have faith that it is real because we see its effects. We live in a world where so much is still undiscovered and out of sight, yet what a blessing and privilege to know that it’s not sight that leads to faith.

I hope you never think of mushrooms in the same way again.

CHURCH RECORD

VACANT CONGREGATIONS, MODERATORS AND CLERKS OF KIRK SESSIONS

(Information supplied by clerks of presbyteries, conveners of Assembly commissions and councils.)

1. LEAVE TO CALL GRANTED

Application forms are available on request from the Clerk’s Office or may be downloaded from the PCI website.

ARMAGH, FIRST & TASSAGH: (Reviewable Tenure – 7 years)

REV JOANNE SMITH: (Armagh First) Mr Ian Kyle, 8 Drummanmore Road, Armagh, BT61 8RN. (Tassagh) Mr Philip Crozier, 68 Bachelors Walk, Keady, Armagh, BT60 2NA.

BALLYALBANY and GLENNAN:

REV D.T.R. EDWARDS: (Ballyalbany) Mr Sam Condell, Billary, Smithborough, Co Monaghan. (Glennan) Dr Michael Wallace, 8 Fellows Grange, Fellows Hall Road, Killylea, Co Armagh, BT60 4LR.

BALLYLINNEY:

REV MARK RUSSELL: Dr Michael McBrien, 24 Lylehill Green, Templepatrick, BT39 0BF.

BALLYRONEY and DRUMLEE: (Reviewable Tenure – 7 years)

REV GEORGE McCLELLAND: (Ballyroney) Mr David Peters, 30 Seafin Road, Ballyroney, Banbridge, BT32 5ER. (Drumlee) Mr Graham Truesdale, 128 Lackan Road, Ballyward, Castlewellan, BT31 9RX.

BALLYWILLAN:

REV STUART MORROW: Mr Robert Wilson, 13 Millbrook Avenue, Portstewart, BT55 7DZ.

DUNFANAGHY and CARRIGART: (Home Mission) 50% Congregational Ministry, 50% CMI Mission Project

REV T.J. BRUCE: (Dunfanaghy) Mrs Ethel Montgomery, ‘Millrace’, Marble Hill Road, Dunfanaghy, Co Donegal, F92 N2WO. (Carrigart) Mrs Joy Buchanan, Figart, Carrigart, Co Donegal, F92 N2WO.

HILLTOWN and CLONDUFF: (Reviewable Tenure – 7 years)

REV KENNETH NELSON: (Hilltown) Mr John Ervine, 51 Rostrevor Road, Hilltown, Newry, BT34 5TZ. (Clonduff) Mr Cecil Brown, 39 Bannfield Road, Rathfriland, Newry, BT34 5HG.

LEGACURRY:

REV A.J. THOMPSON: Mr J. Ferguson, 142 Comber Road, Lisburn, BT27 6XQ.

LOUGHGALL and TARTARAGHAN:

REV ALASTAIR McNEELY: (Loughgall) Mr James MacQueen, 114 Moy Road, Portadown, BT62 1SA. (Tartaraghan) Mr Norman Cornett, 11 Cloncarrish Road, Portadown, Craigavon, BT62 1RN.

PORTRUSH:

REV DR JOHN COULTER: Prof John Gillespie, 12 Randal Park, Portrush, BT56 8JJ. RALOO and MAGHERAMORNE: (Reviewable Tenure – 7 years)

REV DR CECIL GRANT: (Raloo) Mr Geoff McBride, 72 Raloo Road, Larne, BT40 3DU. (Magheramorne) Mr Morris Gardner, 89 Ballypollard Road, Magheramorne, Larne, BT40 3JG.

SCRABO: (Reviewable Tenure – 5 years)

REV A. LITTLE: Mr John Doherty, 37 Ballymaleedy Road, Comber, Newtownards, BT23 5RD.

STRABANE and SION MILLS: (Reviewable Tenure – 7 years)

REV P.B. HOUSTON: (Strabane) Mr William Watson, 44 Orchard Road, Strabane, BT82 9QS. (Sion Mills) Mr Colin Campbell, 26 Albert Place, Sion Mills, Strabane, BT82 9HN.

WOODLANDS:

REV J. MOXEN: Dr Ian Drysdale, 27 Windslow Heights, Carrickfergus, BT38 9AT.

LEAVE TO CALL DEFERRED

DROMORE and DRUMQUIN:

REV E.T. FRAZER: (Dromore) Mr Lynden Keys, 25 New Park Road, Dromore, Omagh, BT78 3JU. (Drumquin) Dr Paul Booth, 54 Bradan Road, Drumquin, Omagh, BT78 4QQ.

GORTNESSY:

REV COLIN McKIBBIN: Mr Ross Hyndman, 32 Temple Road, Strathfoyle, Londonderry, BT47 6UB.

RICHVIEW:

REV N.S. HARRISON: Mr Victor Garland, 25 Abingdon Drive, Belfast, BT12 5PX.

SETTLED STATED SUPPLY APPOINTED

BALLINDERRY:

VERY REV DR W.J. HENRY, Minister of Maze.

BOVEEDY:

REV DR T.J. McCORMICK, Minister of First Kilrea.

CAHIR: (Home Mission)

REV WILLIAM MONTGOMERY, Minister of Fermoy.

KATESBRIDGE:

REV N.J. KANE, Minister of Magherally.

KILREA, SECOND:

REV KEITH HIBBERT, Minister of First Dunboe

TYRONE’S DITCHES:

REV J.K.A. McINTYRE, Minister of Bessbrook.

3. DECLARED VACANT

ANAGHLONE and GARVAGHY:

REV D. CONKEY: (Anaghlone) Mr John Logan, 4 Bluehill Road, Katesbridge, Banbridge, BT32 5LU. (Garvaghy) Mr James Smyth, 35 Tullyglush Road, Banbridge, BT32 3TN.

ARMAGH ROAD, PORTADOWN:

REV N. McCULLOUGH: Dr David Lowry, 5 Ridgeway Park South, Portadown, BT62 3DG.

BALLEE:

REV T.P. McCULLOUGH: Mr John Quigley, 81 Queen’s Avenue, Magherafelt, BT45 6DB.

BALLINA and KILLALA: (Home Mission)

REV D.J. CLARKE: Mr Geoffrey Shannon, Robin Hill, Carraun, Corballa, Ballina, Co Mayo, F26 A070.

BALLYCASTLE and CROAGHMORE:

REV G.W.M. GLASGOW: (Ballycastle) Pat Shirley, 22 Dunamallaght Road, Ballycastle BT54 6PB. (Croaghmore) Andy McGugan, 158 Whitepark Road, Bushmills, BT57 8SS.

BALLYKEEL:

REV R.A. MORRISON: Mr T. Simpson, 163 Crebilly Road, Ballymena, BT42 4DP.

BALLYNAHATTY, CREEVAN and FINTONA:

REV JONATHAN COWAN: (Ballynahatty & Creevan) Mr John Nevin, 116A Clanabogan Road, Omagh, BT78 1SN. (Fintona) Mr Keith Boland, 119 Blackhill Road, Fintona, Omagh, BT78 2LN.

BANAGHER:

REV DAVID BROWNLOW: Mr Ivan J. Montgomery, 66 Teenaght Road, Claudy, BT47 4DD.

BELLAGHY and KNOCKLOUGHRIM:

REV J.B. MULLAN: (Bellaghy) Mr Harry Ferson, 12 Railway Terrace, Castledawson, Magherafelt, BT45 8AY. (Knockloughrim) Mr Wilbur Bownes, 10 Meadowell Fold, Westland Gardens, Magherafelt, BT45 5DP.

BELVOIR:

REV B.J. WALKER: Mr Brian Dunwoody, 19 Drumart Drive, Belfast, BT8 7ET.

BOARDMILLS, TRINITY:

REV JOHN TORRENS: Mr Adrian Patterson, 41 Cabra Road, Legacurry, BT26 6NB.

BUSHMILLS:

VERY REV DR D.I.J. McNIE: Rev Martin Gracey, 6 Bush Crescent, Bushmills, BT57 8AJ.

CASTLEDERG FIRST and KILLETER:

REV R.A. ORR: (First Castlederg) Mr Robert Rutledge, 36 Ednagee Road, Castlederg, BT81 7RD. (Killeter) Mr Robert McKelvey, 17 Carrickadartans Road, Castlederg, BT81 7NQ.

Editor’s Note: Information for this page is supplied by the General Secretary’s Department. Vacancies for conveners of commissions, councils and committees of the General Assembly are online at www.presbyterianireland.org/convenerships

Clerks of presbytery please note: Only material received by the General Secretary’s Department by noon on the first Friday of the month can be included in the Church Record.

CASTLEDERG, SECOND AND URNEY:

REV ROBERT McFAUL: (Second Castlederg) Mr Bert Huey, Tossa, 8 Listymore Road, Castlederg, BT81 7JG. (Urney) Mr Norman McMullan, 80 Orchard Road, Strabane, BT82 9QT.

CLOUGH, BALLYMENA:

REV T.D. KANE: Mr Ian Johnston, 48 Springmount Road, Ballymena, BT44 9RB.

CORBOY and MULLINGAR:

REV DR K.D. McCRORY: (Mullingar) Mr Wilson Porter, Joristown, Ruharney, Kilucan, Co Westmeath, N91 A344. (Corboy) Mr Christiaan Potgieter, 2 Pine Grove, Clonbalt Woods, Longford.

CRUMLIN:

REV STEPHEN McNIE: Mr James Livingstone, “Edin”, 56 Largy Road, Crumlin, BT29 4RW.

CUMBER and UPPER CUMBER:

REV S.W. HIBBERT: (Cumber) Mr Cecil Pollock, 248 Tamnaherin Road, Londonderry, BT47 3LY. (Upper Cumber) Mr Jack McFarland, 12 Cregg Road, Claudy, Londonderry, BT47 4HX.

DONEGORE, SECOND

REV E. McDOWELL: Mr Samuel Gawn, 120 Parkgate Road, Kells.

DONEGAL TOWN and STRANORLAR:

REV ROBERT ORR: (Donegal Town) Mr Oswald Perry, Drumenagh, Donegal Town, F94 N7P8. (Stranorlar) Mrs Audrey Chambers, Magheracorran, Convoy, Co Donegal.

DROMARA, FIRST:

REV M. DAVIDSON: Mr I. McCullagh, 10 Mullaghdrin Road, Dromara, BT25 2AF.

DROMARA, SECOND:

REV DR A. SLEITH: Mr Herbert Chambers, 29 Stewarts Road, Dromara, BT25 2AN.

DRUMGOOLAND and KILKINAMURRY:

REV ANDY DOWNEY: (Drumgooland) Dr Alastair Chestnutt, 22 Fruitvalley Road, Ballyward, Castlewellan, Co Down, BT31 9RE. (Kilkinamurry) Mr Mervyn Copes, 43 Carnpark Road, Dromara, Dromore, Co Down, BT25 2HD.

DUNDROD:

REV R.C. KERR: Mr William McClure, 20 Thorndale Road, Dundrod, BT29 4UD.

GARRYDUFF and DUNLOY:

REV C.B. MULVENNY: (Garryduff) Mr Stanley Lee, 12 Cambourne Park, Ballymoney, BT53 7PG. (Dunloy) Mr Jonathan Gault, c/o 26–28 Church Street, Ballymoney, BT53 6DL.

GLASCAR and DONAGHMORE:

REV M. McMAW: (Glascar) Mr Alan Little, 38 Loughbrickland Road, Rathfriland, Newry, BT34 5HF. (Donaghmore) Mr David Shilliday, 21 Cargabane Road, Donaghmore, Newry, BT34 1SB.

GLASTRY:

REV A. GILICZE: Mr James McClements, 21 New Harbour Road, Portavogie, BT22 1EE.

HYDEPARK and LYLEHILL:

REV DEREK WEIR: (Hydepark) Mrs Lynas Alexander, 22 Broadacres, Templepatrick, BT39 0AY.

KELLS: (Home Mission)

REV ALAN McQUADE: Miss Ruth McCartney, Shancarnan, Moynalty, Kells, Co Meath, A82 PF60.

KELLS & ESKYLANE:

REV M.J.R. NEILLY: (Kells) Mr B. Turtle, 6, Appletree Lane, Kellswater, Ballymena, BT42 2LS. (Eskylane) Mr J. Todd, 4 Chapeltown Road, Antrim, BT41 2LD.

KILMAKEE:

REV CORRINA HERON: Miss Aileen Irvine, 5 Aberdelghy Park, Lambeg, Lisburn, BT27 4QF.

LOUGHBRICKLAND and SCARVA:

REV DR MARK GRAY: (Loughbrickland) Mr Fred Cairns, 20 Scarva Street, Loughbrickland, Co Down. (Scarva) Mr Robert Jordan, 3 Station Rd, Scarva, Co Armagh, BT63 6JY.

LISBURN, FIRST:

VERY REV DR D. BRUCE: Miss Margaret Thompson, 2 Springhill Mews, Lisburn, BT28 3QG.

LUCAN:

REV A. CARROLL: Mr Ian Scott, 22 Willsbrook Avenue, Lucan, Co Dublin, K78 AP57.

LURGAN, FIRST:

REV L.W. WEBSTER: Mr Norman McCleery, 12 McCormack Gardens, Lurgan, BT66 8LE.

MONEYDIG:

REV R.S. McMULLAN: Mr Steven Torrens, 115a Agivey Road, Kilrea, Coleraine, BT51 5UZ.

NEWINGTON:

REV DR I.D. NEISH: Mr John Lynass, 8 Bushfoot Park, Portballintrae, BT57 8YX.

NEWTOWNARDS, SECOND:

REV C.W. JACKSON: Mr Ivan Patterson, 11 Heron Crescent, Newtownards, BT23 8WH.

NEWTOWNARDS, GREENWELL STREET:

REV S.W. ORR: Mr David Francis, 29 Beverley Walk, Newtownards, BT23 7UQ.

OMAGH, TRINITY and GILLYGOOLEY:

REV JANE NELSON: (Trinity) Mrs Claire McElhinney, 112 Clanabogan Road, Omagh, BT78 1SN. (Gillygooley) Mr Raymond Smyth, 82 Gillygooley Road, Omagh, BT78 5PX.

PORTAVOGIE:

REV G.J. SIMPSON: Mr Trevor Kennedy, 1 Cairndore Road, Newtownards, BT23 8RD.

RANDALSTOWN, O.C.:

REV G. MOORE: Mr Alun Coulter, 48 Portglenone Road, Randalstown, BT41 3DB.

RAPHOE and BALLINDRAIT

REV R. EDGAR: Mrs Sylvia Cole, The Common, Raphoe, Donegal.

RATHCOOLE:

REV A. CARSON: Mr Norman Creaney, 7 Coolshannagh Park, Newtownabbey, BT37 9LA.

RATHGAR – CHRIST CHURCH:

REV DR S. MAWHINNEY: Mr Paul Fry, 44 Monolea Wood, Firhouse, Dublin 24, D24 A2V3.

STRAND:

REV M. BURNSIDE: Mr John Johnston, 7 Helgor Park, Belfast, BT4 2GG.

TAUGHMONAGH: (Church Extension)

REV K.H. VINER:

TRINITY, AHOGHILL:

REV N.G. MULHOLLAND: Mr G. Knowles, 67 Tuppenny Road, Gracehill, Ballymena, BT42 2NW.

TULLYCARNET:

REV R.S.J. McILHATTON:

VINECASH:

REV ALAN MARSH: Mr Thomas Graham, 38 Richmount, Portadown, BT62 4JQ.

WARRENPOINT and ROSTREVOR:

REV J.S. MAGUIRE: (Warrenpoint) Mr Denis Brady, 28 Seaview, Warrenpoint, Newry, BT34 3NJ. (Rostrevor) Mr Terry O’Flynn, 15 Aurora Na Mara, Shore Road, Rostrevor, BT34 3UP.

WATERSIDE:

REV RICHARD TREGASKIS: Mr William McIlwaine, 19 Glenaden Hill, Altnagelvin Park, Londonderry, BT47 2LJ.

TEMPORARY STATED SUPPLY ARRANGEMENT

BALLYCAIRN:

REV MORRIS GAULT: Mrs Lucy Mulholland, 32 Blenheim Park, Carryduff, BT8 8NN.

BELLVILLE:

REV D.S. HENRY: Mr Mervyn King, 29 Ardmore Road, Derryadd, Lurgan, BT66 6QP.

GRANGE with CRAIGMORE:

REV R.S. AGNEW: Mr Jamie Harris, 32 Portglenone Road, Randalstown, BT41 3BE.

CHURCH RECORD

continued from page 49

NEWTOWNSTEWART and GORTIN:

REV JONATHAN BOYD: (Newtownstewart) Mr David Dunbar, 32 Main Street, Newtownstewart, BT78 4AA. (Gortin) Mr Adrian Adams, 32 Lisnaharney Road, Lislap, Omagh, BT79 7UE.

RASHARKIN:

REV W. MOODY: Mr Norbury Royle, 96 Drumsaragh Road, Kilrea, BT51 5XR.

SPA and MAGHERAHAMLET:

REV DAVID BINGHAM: Mr Stephen McBride, 28 Ballynahinch Road, Castlewellan, BT31 9PA. (Magherahamlet) Mr David Whan, 74 Castlewellan Road, Dromara, BT25 2JN.

WHITEHEAD:

REV D. CROMIE: Mr Warren Heggan, 44 Middle Road, Islandmagee, Larne, BT40 3SL.

THE ELDERSHIP

Ordained and Installed:

AHOREY: William Newell

BUCKNA: Steven Currie, Andrew Hamilton, David Hunter, Richard Kidd, David Mills, Stuart Stevenson

DRUMBO: Ben Bovis, Sandra McCormick, Andrew Miller, Alan Tougher, John Tougher

FIRST CASTLEBLAYNEY: Stuart Henderson, David Lockhart, Ivan Whyte

GRANSHAW: Jonny Bailie, Alison Bovill, Matt McKee, Roy McKee

JOYMOUNT: Gordon Bates, Linda Beattie, Denise Diffalah, Kay Fowles, Joanne

Magee, Ruth McKeegan, Elizabeth Picton, Aaron Walker

WESTBOURNE: Michael Briggs, Rosie Cupples, Marlene Dempster, Kirk McDowell, Marlene Porter

Installed:

WESTBOURNE: John Cupples

Died:

MAGHERALLY: John (Jack) Montgomery

MOIRA: Harold Rice

SCARVA STREET: William (Bill) Lutton

SECOND ANAGHLONE: James (Jim) Potts

SLOAN STREET: Kenneth Irvine

THE MINISTRY

Installed:

Richard Houston, as Associate Minister of Bangor West on 28 April 2024

Resigned:

Matthew Boyd, as Associate Minister of First Ballymena on 31 March 2024

Retired:

Daniel Rankin, as Minister of Strand on 30 April 2024

CLASSIFIEDS

Please note: Adverts must be received in writing (email or post) by the first of the month preceding publication to guarantee inclusion. Adverts received after that date will be published if space permits. Advertising rates can be found on the website –www.presbyterianireland.org/herald – or telephone the Herald office on +44 (0)28 9032 2284 for more information.

Accommodation

Northern Ireland

PORTSTEWART : Excellent 4-bedroom cottage bungalow available June–September. Call 07513 826551; Email pabloguy50@gmail.com; Facebook @campbellandcorentalproperties

PORTRUSH: Cosy holiday home available in Portrush. Short walking distance from beaches and town centre. Can accommodate 4 adults and 2 children in three bedrooms. Has downstairs toilet. WiFi also available. Minimum stay 2 nights. Reasonable rates. Contact 07735 928901.

TYRONE : Beautiful farmhouse holiday home, 3-bedroom house can sleep 8. 10-minutes’ drive to Ulster American Folk Park. Contact kathleenallison@gmail.com or 07749 101838.

PORTRUSH : 4-bedroom self-catering detached chalet bungalow with large surrounding enclosed garden and ample parking. Large sunroom and lounge with newly refurbished kitchen. Close to shops and 5-minute drive to the beach. Weekly let only. Contact ataf.millar@btinternet.com or 07719 320933.

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

PORTSTEWART : Modern, spacious, detached 5-bedroomed home sleeps 9, 3 bathrooms, 2 reception rooms.  Beautifully furnished. Modern amenities. Tel: 07500 907083 or visit  www.portstewartholidayhomes.com

CASTLEROCK : Cosy holiday home available in Castlerock. Walking distance to the beach and short drive to Portrush/ Portstewart. 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, modern amenities including a stove, WiFi and dog friendly with enclosed garden. Competitive rates and good summer availability. Contact 07955 054028.

GIANT’S CAUSEWAY HOLIDAY COTTAGES: Escape to the breathtaking beauty of the Giant’s Causeway and the Causeway Coast. Our cottages sleep 6 and are a real ‘home from home’. Some offer wonderful sea views. The cottages are ideal for families or church groups. To book your next break; visit www.giantscausewaycottages.com or call Audrey on (028) 20731673 to discuss your requirements.

Student Accommodation

SINGLE ROOM TO LET in Stranmillis Village, Belfast. Ideally situated for QUB and Belfast Hospitals. Would suit student or young professional. Contact Ruby 07759 577868 or rubykilmoyle@yahoo.co.uk

Self Catering

ACCOMMODATION : FLORIDA –Disney 20 mins.; SPAIN – East coast. Beach views. Bus and tram from airport; NORTHERN IRELAND – Portstewart. Sea views. Contact: +44(0)7971 194211; geraldsmyth@hotmail.com

Advertising Rates for 2024

(Trim size: 210mm x 297mm Bleed: 3mm)

Full Page – Outside Back/Inside Front

Full Page – Inside

Half Page portrait (w86mm x h256mm)

Half Page landscape (w176mm x h126mm)

Quarter Page portrait (w86mm x h126mm)

One Eighth (w86mm x h61mm)

Semi Display (per column cm – width 41mm)

£520.00

£480.00

£310.00

£310.00

£160.00

£85.00

£8.00

Classified ads are charged at 40p per word

All prices are exclusive of VAT

Registered charities and PCI congregations will receive a 12% discount

Artwork for display advertising should be supplied as high-res JPG or PDF.

Advertising needs to be booked by the first of the month preceding publication e.g. 1 August for September edition.

If you wish further information about advertising in the Herald or want to place an ad please contact the Herald office in Assembly Buildings. Tel: +44 (028) 9032 2284 Email: herald@presbyterianireland.org

‘Go

out into the streets … bring

DONATION ENVELOPES

21-Dec-2025

Great value envelopes from your local accredited supplier THE BENEFITS!

• Save Money

• Fresh Colours

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Only buy the envelope numbers that you need

• Locally Sourced

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• Larger Envelope THE CASE STUDY

We only print and supply the actual number of EnvelopeSets that you need for your contributing members.

One congregation was able to reduce the envelope sets they purchased from 350 to 200 and saved 48%!

This congregation saved £515!

Read the full Case Study here:

Tricord 3A Ballygowan Road, Hillsborough BT26 6HX

those who can’t see or walk … I want my house to be full.’ (Luke 14, NIrV)

Join the mission of Through the Roof

Transforming lives through Jesus with disabled people

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Affiliated with Joni Eareckson Tada’s US ministry, Through the Roof works in Northern Ireland and throughout the UK, supporting churches to remove barriers to full inclusion of disabled people in church/Christian life.

Equipping churches

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Jesus showed disabled people are welcome in God’s Kingdom. Why not be a Roofbreaker and show God welcomes us all?

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