Presbyterian Herald May 2023

Resident

Women

Interested

Interested in volunteering as part of a team in an intercultural and diverse environment

5 - 11 August 2023

Ulster University, Coleraine

www.newhorizon.org.uk

CONTRIBUTORS

Pip Florit is a mission support officer for PCI. She is a member of Bloomfield Presbyterian and lives with her husband, Ismael, and son Jonah in Belfast.

Cover image: Illustration generated using the Midjourney AI

Editor: Sarah Harding

Subscriptions and Advertising: Edward Connolly; Elaine Huddleston

Design and Layout: Edward Connolly

Printing: W & G Baird Ltd

Colin Burcombe is minister of Mersey Street in east Belfast and teaches the Hebrew language in Union Theological College. He is married to Anna and they have five children.

Prof Stephen Williams is Honorary Professor of Theology at Queen’s University, Belfast.

Rick Hill is Secretary of PCI’s Council for Mission in Ireland. He is an elder in Carnmoney Presbyterian and lives in Doagh with his wife Sarah and three children.

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).

Sowing, planting & watering p34

A step too far? p20

Hitting the ground running p14

EDITORIAL LETTERS

Authenticity

Even before Covid, reported statistics relating to young people attending church showed a rapid downward trajectory. After Covid, the reality of this ‘missing generation’ seems to be even more keenly felt.

This month, Mel Lacey, director of Growing Young Disciples, presents a sobering account of the situation. She is clear that “we need to radically review our practice” when it comes to ministry for our young people, bluntly saying: “…the modern ministry methodology…has proven insufficient to either retain or disciple young people.” She claims that many of the programmes or strategies adopted by churches only produce young adults who have been “veneered in biblical Christianity”, without the depth of a real and lasting personal faith.

It is therefore very significant that the recent occurrence at Asbury University in Kentucky, a movement and outpouring of the Holy Spirit, happened with young people. David Legge, an itinerant Bible teacher from Portadown, was in Asbury and experienced the movement first-hand. He offers his thoughts on what he witnessed and makes some fascinating points, specifically in relation to the young people there. He says, “They were looking for raw, authentic Christianity without the frills and the fuss. That generation is crying out for authenticity.”

David noticed that these students, representing a generation that has grown up surrounded by all manner of screens, was worshipping God and singing, without even a screen for words. He says, “It was primitive – getting back to what really matters”.

It is interesting that Asbury occurred at a time when the world of technology has recently taken another step forward. ChatGPT has created the latest buzz of excitement within the area of artificial intelligence (AI). Stephen Williams and Colin Burcombe discuss the pros and cons of this latest advancement, which can easily write sermons for ministers, essays for students and even articles for the Herald! (It produced the cover for this edition.) While the pros seem obvious, Stephen and Colin express caution for how “AI can erode our capacity to remember facts and think critically.”

The events at Asbury give us all pause for thought as we think about how we live our lives and even how we conduct our church services. We tend to fill our days with constant distraction, often linked to technology or screens, and we tend to fill our services with a well-constructed order of service. David Legge says, “The truth is we don’t really know how to linger. We don’t know how to wait on God.” Perhaps if we allowed ourselves to embrace space, we would experience God in a fresh and authentic way and our lives would be transformed.

Women in leadership

Dear Editor

As a young Presbyterian woman, I felt somewhat disheartened and misrepresented when reading the letters in the April issue, regarding women in leadership. Being an active member of my congregation, I feel that my contributions, along with countless other Presbyterian women throughout our denomination, is valued, respected and encouraged, without the necessity for an ordained position.

I wish to respectfully put forward that those within PCI who feel that they cannot support women within ordained leadership in the Church do so out of their considered interpretation of Scripture. Regardless of your stance on this issue, the Moderator-Designate deserves praise for maintaining the biblical standard that his conscience holds him to; this is not to cause upset to women who lead within our churches but equally, opposition and fear of unpopularity cannot allow any Christian to quieten their genuine beliefs.

T. Mitchell Co Armagh

Dear Editor

I have listened with sadness to the recent discussions on the ordination of women within PCI. So much of what has been said simply echoes cultural norms rather than a concern to reflect the Word of God. Of course, across the Christian church views on women’s ordination to the eldership vary. Many of us regard it as a secondary issue – one on which we can agree to disagree – but herein lies my sadness. Is there no room for those of us who sincerely believe that the principle of male headship still applies in Christian homes and Christian

churches? Many of us who hold to this view are not misogynistic, but rather are sincerely trying to reflect what we see as the biblical position. Many of us are women ourselves.

Personally, I feel so blessed to have become convinced of the beauty of God’s creation design. He created male and female to be equal in status, yet different in their physical make-up and function. God made us differently for a reason – to complement one another. Women can enjoy using their God-given gifts within the Church in so many different ways, without assuming the role of teaching or ruling elder.

Our next Moderator is not alone in his opinion. Although his may be a minority viewpoint in PCI at the present time, it is still very much a valid viewpoint held worldwide by many theologians. To not acknowledge this, or to refuse to accept that there are legitimate differences of opinion seems sad. There is a lack of tolerance being expressed by those who claim to want tolerance.

Within PCI there are those who have different beliefs to our official ‘settled’ position. We should agree to disagree and not create division over this issue.

Dr Lynn Murray Ballymoney

Dear Editor

Almost 30 years ago, I attended a meeting where a young man was sharing how he had used the medical training that he had acquired, in the Lord’s service in Africa. A slide was put up of a lady’s heavily-ulcerated, sore-ridden legs. The young man explained how he had been tasked with bathing those legs on a daily basis in order to grant the lady some relief. That particular image has remained with me ever since, perennially

Letters to the Editor

Write to: Presbyterian Herald, Assembly Buildings, Belfast BT1 6DW Email: herald@presbyterianireland.org

challenging me as to whether I would be prepared to do the same in the service of Christ. In God’s providence, that same young man has now been nominated as our Moderator-Designate of the General Assembly. Scripture enjoins us to be “swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath”, and also, above all things, to “put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness”. May we, therefore, as individual members of PCI, pray for humility. We have as a denomination, I fear, allowed the secular media to lead us on, and to portray us as squabbling, and so we have granted to Satan, already vanquished, comfort to which he is not entitled. Let us pray for each other, including those with whom we disagree, and ask that, by habitual delving into God’s Word, we may ascertain his mind, yearning for the day when “we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God.”

Alastair Rosborough Minister, Ballyarnett and Knowhead

Going greener

Dear Editor

I would like to thank Deborah Ford for her excellent article ‘Going greener’ in the April edition of the Herald. However, I would challenge the statement “…a highly processed and packaged vegan product can be more environmentally harmful than fresh, organic, grassreared meat from right here in Northern Ireland” from a land use point of view.

George Monbiot’s book Regenesis is well worth the read with regard to land use. He says, “The greenhouse gas emissions from organic produce tend to be similar, or worse, per kilogramme to

Please note: Letters are limited to 300 words and may be edited for clarity and length. They will only be published in the Herald if the author’s name and address have been supplied to the editor. On request these will be withheld from print. Anonymous letters will not be considered for publication. The views expressed in the letters are not necessarily those of the Editor or PCI.

those of conventional food. Organic beef farms – as the animals take longer to raise and need more land – lose twice as much nitrogen per kilo of meat as conventional beef farms. This will come as a shock to many: there might be no more damaging farm produce than organic, pasturefed beef.”

Monbiot sees the future as precision fermentation of bacteria in vats to produce protein because it dramatically reduces the area of land required to produce that protein, freeing up much space for growing crops and rewilding (still currently the best method of drawing down CO2 from the atmosphere).

The source of protein is not important as it is broken down in the gut into amino acids that are built up again by the body into different proteins to make muscle cells, ligaments, blood and hormones like insulin. In the future we are not going to be able to feed eight billion-plus people fairly based on a North American style diet. It would be better to use the current agricultural subsidies to pay farmers to stop livestock production (intensive or otherwise) and rewild the land instead. Government subsidies will always have a role to play in nudging change from home insulation, to active transport, to farm-free food.

Mark Dick Ballymena

Settled position

Dear

Editor

The subjects of women’s ordination and same-sex marriage have been discussed within the Church and settled positions on both have been reached – the former has been agreed and the latter prohibited. As such, it is unnecessary to hold a conference encouraging

ministers to uphold Church law in respect to them. Equally, we do not need another conference like one that was previously organised by Presbyterian colleagues, at which, I gather, the idea was promoted that retired ministers and those who could be financially self-supporting, might break the law of the Church by officiating at same-sex marriages, in pursuit of martyrdom, through ecclesiastical censure, thereby courting media attention and secular approval.

Also, the Subordinate Standards of the Church, emphasise the authority of Scripture on which the central focus of ministry is established. At various stages ministers are required to reaffirm their need of a personal Saviour, their defence of God’s Word against error and the promotion of God’s glory in the salvation of souls.

In contrast, the ‘me culture’ of today, fuelled by an increasingly aggressive liberal

agenda and promoted by the secular press, wants the Church to pander to its latest self-serving interests. Within the worldwide Church, those who seek to package the gospel in a secular mode often engage in the theological acrobatics of scriptural reinterpretation, thereby rewriting 2,000 years of Christian morality. Their legacy will include: emptying pews, closing churches, obscuring the distinctive message of the gospel, and failing to promote the glory of God.

Sociologist Rodney Stark in his book, The Triumph of Christianity, writes, “For a variety of reasons, various Christian churches have greatly reduced what they ask of their members, both in terms of belief and morality, and this always has been followed by a rapid decline in their membership, and a lack of commitment on the part of those who stay.” Only too true.

Ian McNie Former PCI Moderator

Topical Tweets

@PCIModerator

It was an honour to hear Senator #GeorgeMitchell reflect on his journey which led to the #BelfastGoodFridayAgreement and how he reminded us to continue the unfinished work of peace at today’s @ QUBelfast #Agreement25 conference.

@alaninbelfast #agreement25 Ian Paisley regrets Stormont has been stop start for the last six years and says unionist community he talks to is “out of love with the institutions”

@Canonjjohn

George Verwer died on Friday 14th April at the age of eighty-four. With his passing the church has lost a man who had an astonishing global influence on the way the church carries out its vital task of sharing the good news of Jesus.

NEWS | IN THE ROUND

Moderator tours Newry Presbytery

Moderator Dr John Kirkpatrick and wife Joan recently completed a tour of Newry Presbytery. Stretching from Annalong in the east, through the Kingdom of Mourne to Newry city, the presbytery of Newry extends west to Markethill, and into South Armagh, taking in 23 congregations in total, two of them falling just south of the border in County Monaghan.

With no fewer than 24 engagements, Dr Kirkpatrick had a busy week. As well as pastoral visits to local churches, Dr Kirkpatrick also had meetings at Kingsmills Primary School, Newry and Kilkeel High Schools, Daisy Hill Hospital, Newry Hospice, Fane Valley Co-Op Society in Altnamachin, Markethill Livestock Sales, the fishing industry at Kilkeel and Ardmore Police Station.

This was the Moderator’s final presbytery tour of his year. Dr Kirkpatrick said, “While each tour has been different, there has been one constant similarity throughout, and it is how grace, which is so crucial and foundational to our faith and relationship with Jesus, has anchored those who serve the Lord and their communities quietly behind the scenes for the good of all”.

Church thanks DFA

Moderator Dr John Kirkpatrick has thanked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for its support through its Reconciliation Fund in the publication of Considering Grace: Presbyterians and the Troubles

Dr Kirkpatrick was speaking at an even at the DFA’s headquarters in Iveagh House, Dublin to mark and acknowledge a unique publication, which explores how Presbyterians responded to the Troubles. Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin TD described the book as “an important contribution to our understanding of a dark period in our collective past.”

Considering Grace is available to order on the PCI website, www.presbyterianireland.org/consideringgrace, priced at £10.

Graciously confident gospel engagement

Last month, Presbyterians from across the island gathered at Assembly Buildings for a special event entitled ‘Graciously Confident Gospel Engagement in the Public Square’.

The event sought to provide an opportunity for those involved in the public square to be inspired and equipped as they seek to live as gospel people with gracious confidence in the spheres where God has placed them.

As PCI’s public affairs officer Karen Jardine explained, “Our involvement in the public square as a Church and the many Presbyterians who serve in so many different ways, as responsible citizens and as disciples of Jesus, comes at a time of a rapidly changing cultural and moral landscape that has become more challenging and complex.”

The keynote speaker was Dr Nathan Mladin, a senior researcher with Theos, a Christian think tank founded by the Bible Society.

Panellists – Heather Carey, Judith Gillespie, Joy Hadden and Stephen Douglas.

At Daisy Hill Hospital (L–R): Charlotte Anne Wells, assistant director medicine and unscheduled care; Anita Carroll, assistant director functional support services; Rev Keith McIntyre, Presbyterian chaplain, Dr Kirkpatrick and his wife Joan; Rev Stuart Finlay, moderator of Newry Presbytery; and Grace Hamilton, assistant director of nursing, patient safety, quality and experience.

The Moderator with Brian Chambers, a member of Annalong Presbyterian Church and chair of Seasource, the Kilkeel-based local fishing enterprise, with some of the 400 tons of langoustine that are processed at the factory each year.

Back row (L–R): Conference participants – Karen Jardine, Dr Nathan Mladin and Rev Daniel Kane. Front row (L–R):

(L–R): Dr Tony Davidson, Dr John Kirkpatrick, Heather Humphreys TD, Minister for Social Protection and Rural and Community Development, Ruairí de Búrca, Maeve Convey of Merion Press, and Considering Grace co-author Dr Jamie Yohanis.

IN THE ROUND | NEWS

Pursuing peace

Coinciding with the visit of President Biden to Northern Ireland last month, and other events to mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, Moderator Dr John Kirkpatrick, said that “there is still much work to be done in pursuing a ‘peaceful and just society in our day,’” words that are contained in the Church’s Vision for Society Statement.

Received by the General Assembly in 2016, the statement seeks to continue to place peacebuilding firmly at the heart of Christian discipleship and the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. Dr Kirkpatrick encouraged his colleagues to consider using the text of the 146-word statement at services across the Church’s congregations.

New art for Social Witness office

The Council for Social Witness’ (CSW) senior team were thrilled to welcome two residents from Thompson House and Gray’s Court to Assembly Buildings.

They had been asked to paint a piece of art, which represented two stories from the Bible: the woman at the well and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace.

Caroline Yeomans, PCI’s regional care manager said, “Both pieces of art are fantastic and it is great to be able to show the ethos of CSW in such a bright and eye-catching way. We are thankful to both residents for gifting us their talents and working with us in partnership.”

Cyclone Freddy

When Cyclone Freddy hit Southern Africa in midMarch, it was already a record-breaking tropical storm. Smashing records for both intensity and duration, it left a trail of destruction as it travelled across Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi.

In Blantyre, Malawi, PCI’s partner, the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP), reported that the heavy rain started on Friday 10 March and didn’t stop until Monday 14 March. The resultant floods swept away livestock, destroyed crops and damaged houses, roads and bridges. Hundreds of people lost their lives and thousands lost their homes and livelihoods.

The development arm of CCAP Blantyre Synod immediately began responding to the needs of those who lost their homes, providing food, shelter and basic necessities. In the longer term, they will continue to provide essential support, helping to rebuild infrastructure and assisting those impacted in rebuilding their livelihoods by planting maize, potatoes and cassava.

Moderator at Derryvolgie

Moderator Dr John Kirkpatrick visited Derryvolgie Hall in March to join students at ‘Vital’, a Sunday evening worship service that takes place each week in PCI’s halls of residence at Queen’s.

PCI is supporting the CCAP Blantyre Synod practically and prayerfully in its work as it deals with the impact of this devastating event.

Motorcycles being used to carry relief items to the other side of the river as bridges have been washed away.

IN BRIEF

Date night in a box

Care for the Family is bringing back one of its most popular events for couples.

‘Date Night in a Box 2’ on 12 May, 9 June or 7 July is designed to give couples a chance to reconnect with an enjoyable night in.

Care for the Family send out everything that is needed to your door, so all couples need to do is tune in to this online event.

Couples will come away with an appreciation of the past and the role it can play in both the present and future of their relationship together. There is also practical and relevant teaching, as well as activities that can be used again and again, even without the video content.

For more information, or to sign up, go to: http://cff.org.uk/datenight

New study of Church of Ireland architecture

A new book on Church of Ireland architecture has been launched in Dublin. An Architectural History gives the most definitive account yet published on the built legacy of the churches, houses for clergy, and cathedrals of the Church of Ireland from the medieval period to the present day. This well-illustrated publication was undertaken by Michael O’Neill on behalf of the Representative Church Body Library – the Church of Ireland’s central library and repository for archives. It is available from the Church of Ireland’s online bookstore, https://store. ireland.anglican.org priced at £50/€55.

Alan and Rosie with their artwork.

IN THIS MONTH... May 2004

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

Live a life of love

After two tied votes, Rev Ken Newell was finally elected Moderator Designate in March...

Editor: In what ways did your experiences in Indonesia impact upon your approach to ministry in Ireland?

KN: The three years Val and I spent as missionaries with the Timor Evangelical Church broadened our horizons: leaving behind the usual Protestant v Catholic, unionist v nationalist tensions at home. We were able to enjoy the company of a local Muslim family who invited us to their daughter’s wedding, a Hindu-Balinese doctor who kept a check on our health, a Catholic priest from Dundalk who would join us for dinner, and a vibrant Church of one million members. Instead of viewing such diversity negatively, we learnt to look for the best in other people’s faiths and attitudes. We also prayed that they might see the best in us – the love of God and the light of the risen Christ. On returning to Belfast we made a conscious decision to retain a similarly open lifestyle; in 1981 we formed the Fitzroy-Clonard Fellowship, a place where Presbyterians and Catholics could meet together around the Holy Scriptures…

Editor: What themes do you plan to emphasise during your year of office?

Update on new hymn book

Jack Richardson

KN: I’ve taken my theme from Ephesians 5:1-2: “Be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us.” Two years ago those three l’s jumped out at me – live a life of love. These words challenge us as Presbyterians to be different. Love is the flowering of the life of the risen Christ within our hearts, our churches, and our often divided villages, towns and cities. In an atmosphere soaked for centuries in sectarianism, I want to highlight once again the difference Christ desires to make in all of us who confess him as our Saviour and Lord…

Wit & Wisdom

James A. Simpson

Well done Stephen

The proliferation of cable and satellite channels and radio stations means that we no longer broadcast. We ‘narrowcast’. Gone are the days when most people listened to the same radio station or watched the same television channel.

Stephen Kilpatrick (centre) holds the Bible he was presented with to mark his 10 year attendance at church, as a member of Raphoe congregation. Isobel Reid and Freddie Kilpatrick, Stephen’s father and joint superintendent of Sunday school, join Rev Brian Brown in this photograph.

If you are on the traditional side, don’t worry, there are loads of the great old favourites which surely will never go out of date. You will notice, however, that they have been brought into the 21st century in that, for the most part, ‘thees’ and thous’ have gone and they are inclusive in gender with, for example, Rise up, O Men of God becoming Rise up, O Church of God. On the other hand, if you are on the contemporary side many of the best of a plethora of excellent materials available are included. I am convinced that as far as children’s materials are concerned the new book will include perhaps the best selection available in any denominational hymn book. Nor have the psalms been forgotten. In addition to the psalter as we have already had it in the Revised Church Hymnary (the blue one) and Church Hymnary 3 (the red one) the new book will include about 80 psalms in the vernacular (modern idiom). I close by appealing to you, on behalf of the General Assembly who commissioned the Public Worship committee to take on the task of preparing this new hymnbook, to do all that you can to ensure that it is taken up by our congregations/ members and widely used.

TV sitcom Friends airs its final episode

North Korea bans mobile phones

Children’s cartoon Peppa Pig premieres on Channel 5

Sarah McCullough, from Orangefield Presbyterian, shares her story of being involved with Her Audio Bible UK.

An audio Bible read by women

On 8 March, International Women’s Day, the first NIV audio Bible voiced fully by women from the UK was launched. This is a free audio Bible available on the Her Audio Bible UK website, with plans for it to be uploaded on to Spotify. You will be able to hear the voices of women from all across the UK, with many different regional accents, including my very own Northern Irish voice! None of the women featured are famous, but we have been delighted to lend our voices to this amazing project.

The founder of the project, Rev Katy Partridge, had recollected that she didn’t hear women in her church services growing up and even now noticed the lack of resources of women reading the Bible.

such difficulty finding the Bible being read by someone like me. I took this passion as encouragement to get involved with this particular audio Bible in any way that I could.

…the Her Audio Bible project…was greatly used by women who had experienced harm through domestic abuse or trafficking.

Katy found the Her Audio Bible project in America; it was one of the first fully voiced audio Bibles. She discovered that it was greatly used by women who had experienced harm through domestic abuse or trafficking. For these women, it was extremely difficult and triggering for them to hear a man’s voice. But the option to hear the Bible through a woman’s voice was greatly appreciated by them.

My own experience of hearing women in church is very different from Katy’s. I have been very blessed to have grown up my whole life in Orangefield and recently I was even ordained as an elder. Throughout my life, I have heard women read the Bible, preach and lead in our church services. These women have had a powerful impact on my faith journey, and those of our congregation. I have been greatly inspired by all those women who have gone before me and I know this has shaped me as a leader and preacher.

When I first heard about this audio Bible project, I did some research but I found it extremely difficult to find any that were read by women. There have been over 700 audio Bibles recorded all over the world, but only eight have been fully voiced by women. I found it to be very disheartening that I was having

As part of the process of finding voices, anyone interested had to send in an audition. I recorded myself reading the passage Luke 15:1–10 on my computer and sent it in. To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting to get on the project, but I thought I would at least give it a go. I’ve always had a somewhat difficult relationship with my voice. It is a quiet, gentle, soft voice but I had always wished it could be more than that. I was very surprised when the team got in touch to ask me to be one of the readers. Looks like God could even use a quiet voice like mine. Last year, I was given the books Colossians, Philemon and Titus to prepare. Then in the summer we met over Zoom to record. It was a really incredible experience. I had to work out how to make a recording booth and make sure all the technology was working properly. I also had to really pay attention to what I was reading and what tone to use. As Rev Katy Partridge guided me through the passages, we would pause and reflect on what Paul was trying to communicate to the churches and people. I hope I have done it justice and that it will bless those who listen to it.

The four Gospels and the book of Revelation are available now on the website. Over the coming months, the other New Testament books will be released and you will also be able to listen to a short testimony from each reader. They will start to record the Old Testament books in September. If this is something that would interest you or anyone you know, please direct them to the website to get in touch.

As a team, we are all excited for how God will speak to the listeners. We believe that God’s Word can transform lives. This is our hope and prayer for this audio Bible and for all the women and men who will listen to it.

To hear the audio Bible go to: www.heraudiobible.org.uk

Events

Impact

Impact summer teams are an opportunity for over 16s to be together with others of their own age for a residential week of worship, learning and serving God alongside local congregations across Ireland.

Teams will gather each morning for worship and Bible study, then go to serve alongside a local congregation in different outreach activities. The young people will grow in leadership ability and in confidence in being a witness for Jesus.

The locations for 2023 are:

• Belfast hub: 22–29 July

• Londonderry hub: 29 July–5 August

• First Monaghan: 5–12 August

• Seskinore: 12–19 August

• Co Cavan: 12–19 August

To find out more or apply go to: www.presbyterianireland.org/impact

Welcoming the Stranger

‘Welcoming the Stranger’ is an event to share good practice among local congregations around ways of becoming more welcoming to those in the community from different parts of the world.

Taking place on Saturday 17 September in Drogheda Presbyterian, this event is for ministers, key leaders and those with particular interest in this work. For more information contact the Council for Mission in Ireland by email:  mission@presbyterianireland.org

Family Festival

The new PCI Family Festival offers congregations an opportunity to invite families who love their children being part of activities like toddler groups, uniformed organisations and kids’ clubs, but aren’t really involved in the rest of the life of the church, to something at which they can experience more of the larger family of the church.

The Family Festival will offer a varied programme of fun outdoor activities, crafts and games for families with children aged 0–11.

Why not gather and sign up as many families as you can from around your congregation to be part of the festival, or bring your family and invite another family to come along with you?

It takes place on Saturday 13 May at the Crawfordsburn Scout Centre, beginning at 1.30pm (participants can bring a picnic). The organised activities will run from 2–4pm.

The cost is £5 per person (under 2s are free)

For further details and to book go to:  www.presbyterianireland.org/familyfestival

News

Mission in Ireland evenings

Mission in Ireland evenings took place in March across various presbyteries; pictured is a photo from the Omagh Presbytery evening that took place in Edenderry Presbyterian Church.

Church Planters Network

The first meeting of the PCI Church Planters Network took place on 21 March in Dundalk for those actively involved in leading PCI church planting congregations and initiatives.

Resources

Blaze resources for spring

Blaze is certainly a busy bee this spring and has been on another visit to a global mission worker. New Blaze resources are now available, including a children’s address with Digital Dispatch, children’s ministry ideas and family activities, all to help children learn more about being a global disciple. Blaze is also learning May’s new habit to care for our world from our 2023 Creation Care calendar. Check out the new resources at: www.presbyterianireland.org/blaze

Newsletter

To stay connected and up to date with the latest resources, events and training for your congregation’s life and witness, sign up to our E-quip e-zine at www.presbyterianireland.org/equip

Would your congregation like to recruit and host an apprentice to play a part within an aspect of your church’s life and witness in 2023/24?

Whether it’s recruiting an apprentice to focus on children, youth or family ministry, hosting someone to be involved in local outreach, worship, or chaplaincy ministries, or acting as a training ground in preaching and pastoral care for those keen to test a calling to ordained ministry in the future, PCI offers a package of advice, support and training intended to help guide congregations as they explore this opportunity. If your congregation would like to recruit an apprentice, supply a short profile for publication on the PCI website. For more details or to provide a profile go to:  www.presbyterianireland.org/ apprentice

DIARY DATES

May Being Transformed Presbyterian Women annual conference

Assembly Buildings: Thursday 4 First session 2pm; evening celebration 7.30pm

Family Festival Crawfordsburn Scout Centre, Co Down: Saturday 13

June

General Assembly Assembly Buildings, Belfast: Wednesday 21 – Saturday 24

July/Aug

Impact

Belfast: 22–29 July

Londonderry: 29 July – 5

August

First Monaghan: 5–12 August

Seskinore: 12–19 August

Co Cavan: 12–19 August

PERSONAL VIEW

Life lessons

Chloe and Judith MacCombe

Paratriathletes

We are twins from Claudy and we live on a farm with our parents and two older brothers. We both have a form of albinism (we don’t have the white hair and pink eyes that other albinos have). We still have the poor eyesight related to albinism though. We got into paratriathlon by accident. We went to a paralympic expo day in Dublin, with the aim of going for rowing, but bumped into a guy from Triathlon Ireland. Before we knew it, we had been invited to a training day in Belfast. And that was that! We are part of the congregations of Cumber and Upper Cumber where we help out a lot with the youth and the choir.

Last summer we represented Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games. It was such an incredible experience and we are so thankful to God for it. Being within the world of elite sport as a Christian is pretty difficult at times. So often we are told that sport has to come first, but that’s one thing we always stand firm on – God first.

We have the opportunity to share our faith with others while travelling and racing. We admit that we aren’t the most confident, but we find that in the way we act before a race (praying, being kind to others) and afterwards (gracious in defeat and always humble in victory), we stand out. We don’t always get it right – at times, emotions and adrenaline of the race can get the better of us – so we’re thankful for a forgiving God.

can be frustrating. Not being able to drive and having to rely on public transport (or lifts from family or friends) is frustrating as, quite often, people just don’t get it. I have to plan any trip around when the next bus home is. But even in terms of shops and cafés – I know for wheelchair users it can be difficult to get access and quite often I’ve been told off for taking a picture of a menu so I can read it. I guess what frustrates me about it is that disabilities aren’t a new thing and yet sometimes we are still treated as outsiders.

Chloe: Growing up I sometimes found myself asking God why he had given me this eyesight. If I’m honest, it’s a lesson I’m still learning, as bitterness can creep up from time to time in the randomness of situations – like in airports when people can just see the departure board! It’s rare that I feel bitter about my eyesight now though, as I can see (pardon the pun) how God has used it for his glory in so many ways.

Our eyesight was never allowed to be used as an excuse to not give something a go. We are extremely thankful that our parents were so encouraging and supportive as we were growing up. We think it’s important that everyone remembers that we are each uniquely designed by our creator God – on purpose, for a purpose. Just because you have a disability of some kind doesn’t mean that you are not capable of great things. Give things a go! Take a friend along for company or support – be honest and realistic about what you can and cannot do. And never let someone else’s idea of what you’re capable of limit you.

Judith: Without wanting to sound like a real whinge… society is, for the most part, designed for those who do not have disabilities. For someone with any kind of disability it

Judith: Growing up through church has helped me develop as a Christian as I am surrounded by such a great family of believers. I also feel it’s helped me as I continue on this journey of sport – keeping my focus on God – and as I’ve started leaning towards youth ministry. I was always encouraged to try everything everyone else was doing even if it meant I had to do it differently. I suppose that’s made me more determined (or ‘thran’). It’s also given me the weird sense of humour that I have.

Chloe: I think accepting God’s love, grace and forgiveness can be difficult at times. It can be so hard to fathom how much God loves us. We don’t deserve it and we can never earn it –only through Jesus. Honestly, I feel like when you really start to think about God’s amazing love, its mind-blowing!

We have both been selected to be on the ‘Paris potential’ list for the Paralympics in 2024 – so that is mega exciting. Races this year earn us points to qualify for Paris. We also want to continue doing our best for God’s glory in all that we do –whether it be in triathlon or within church.

General Assembly 2023

As the summer comes, it also heralds the annual meeting of the General Assembly. Meeting each June, ministers and elders from congregations across the island, overseas representatives from our partner churches, civic guests and members of the public will once again leave the Assembly Hall before sunset. But as the General Assembly now meets later in the month, this year’s Opening Night will fall on the longest day of the year – Wednesday 21 June – the summer solstice. It will close on the afternoon of Saturday 24 June.

This year will be Rev Trevor Gribben’s ninth as Clerk of the General Assembly and he is looking forward to a busy and productive week. “The General Assembly is a coming together of people the length and breadth of this island of ours, and as we meet in General Assembly, we do so not just to take decisions that will affect the life and ministry of our Church in the coming months and years, we come together to worship, to pray and to seek Christ in all that we do.

“For the first time since 2000 our Assembly will be chaired by a Moderator who is from a congregation in the Republic of Ireland and I look forward to Dr Sam Mawhinney’s opening address to us. This year we will continue to see the outworking of decisions taken in 2021. For example, we open once again on a Wednesday evening, with business conducted on Friday evening, concluding on Saturday afternoon.”

The Clerk also said that in line with decisions taken in 2021, this year the reports of some Councils and Commissions will be presented in written form. While these will be presented formally to the Assembly, there will be opportunity for genuine questions for clarification and debate on resolutions that are being opposed, or where an amendment is being considered. A different set of Councils will report in this manner each year, on a rota basis.

Mr Gribben concluded by saying, “As we approach this year’s General Assembly, and indeed throughout our meeting next month, please pray for our deliberations and the time we have together.”

Opening Night

Opening at 7pm that Wednesday, Rt Rev Dr John Kirkpatrick will take his leave as Moderator and reflect on his year in office and give his address. Having been elected Moderator for 2023/2024, Rev Dr Sam Mawhinney of Adelaide Road Presbyterian Church in Dublin will take the chair and give his opening address.

Members of the public are welcome to attend the public gallery for the Opening Night and main business sessions, which start at 10am on Thursday and Friday and half an hour later on Saturday morning.

…please pray for our deliberations and the time we we have together.

This year’s alternative presentation, ‘Listening to the Global Church’, will take place at 2.45pm on Friday. Full details of all business can be found at www.presbyterianireland.org later this month. Details will also be included in next month’s edition of the Herald.

Centrality of worship

Worship will take place on the Opening Night and on Thursday at 12.15pm. The General Assembly communion service will be held at 11.45am on Friday, which will be served by elders as it returns to the pre-Covid format.

The Assembly’s popular evening celebration will take place on Thursday at 7.45pm. Led by PCI’s new Moderator, the speaker will be Rev Jonty Rhodes, founding pastor of Christ Church Central, a relatively new church plant in Leeds, which is part of the International Presbyterian Church.

Proceedings of the Assembly will be live-streamed via PCI’s website www.presbyterianireland.org and can be followed on Twitter @pciassembly using the hashtag #pciga23.

#pciga23 Summary

Opening Meeting

Wednesday 21 June at 7pm

Outgoing remarks – Dr John Kirpatrick

Installation of Moderator – Dr Sam Mawhinney

All are welcome – no tickets required

Under 30 Fringe Event

Thursday 22 at 6pm

Under 30 delegates and members of Assembly

Thursday Evening Celebration

7.45pm – Assembly Hall

Speaker – Rev Johnty Rhodes

Worship

THURSDAY 12.15pm – in the Assembly Hall FRIDAY 11.45am – Communion service

Assembly details

Wed 21 – Sat 24 June

Assembly Buildings, Belfast

No tickets required

Further information: www.presbyterianireland.org/ generalassembly2023

Email: info@presbyterianireland.org

Call: +44 (0)28 9032 2284

In the face of suffering David Clarke

Studies in 1 Peter (3:13–22)

Jesus left his followers in no doubt that persecution would be their lot. The final Beatitude in his ‘manifesto of the kingdom’ runs: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me” (Matthew 5:11). Paul, looking back on his own turbulent life, observed, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). There is, therefore, something surprising in Peter’s idealistic question: “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?” (3:13). He goes on to suggest that to suffer for what is right is only a possibility and not a certainty: “But even if you should suffer…” (v14).

Peter, of course, would hardly have heard of the day when the citizens of Athens were voting on the expulsion from the city of the politician Aristides (530–468 BC). The man himself came upon an illiterate peasant attempting to record his vote, and helped him as he cast his vote for expulsion. “Why do you want to expel him?” he asked. “I am tired,” said the old peasant, “of hearing him called ‘The Just’.”

bring you to God” (v18). The idea of Christ’s substitutionary death has irked some critics. The thought that God the Father should subject his Son to such suffering has been described as ‘cosmic child abuse’. We may not like the idea, but the fact of an innocent person offering himself on behalf of others has a profound emotional appeal. Besides, as one preacher observed, Barabbas certainly knew that there was substitution at Calvary.

So comprehensive was the salvation Christ effected on Calvary that he even “preached to the spirits in prison” (v19). That phrase is the basis of the clause, “He descended into hell” in the Apostles’ Creed, and is an attempt to answer the question of what happened to the divine Christ between Good Friday and Easter Day. But it gives rise to a host of questions such as: who were “the spirits in prison?”; when did this preaching take place?; was it judgment or salvation that was preached?

Peter expects his readers to articulate a reason for their faith…a challenge which, I fear, would stump rather too many modern worshippers.

In an ideal society, there would be no jeopardy, but the human heart has its murky depths, and when a power-mad Caesar is on the throne, even the good are not secure. When that evil day dawns, the believer must recall that he is in God’s hands and that “the face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (3:12). Confidence in God’s care was the firm assurance of those who left their ecclesiastical livings in the so-called ‘Great Ejection’ of 1662. Speaking for them all, Richard Baxter was defiant: “Tyrants and persecutors may take away our goods, but not our chief good; our liberties but not our freedom; our heads but not our crowns. Shut us out of your church and your kingdom, but now shut us out of heaven, if you can.”

Peter expects his readers to articulate a reason for their faith (3:15). It is a challenge that, I fear, would stump rather too many modern worshippers. Peter’s expectation is a reminder that we are to love God with our minds (Luke 10:27). The coherent answer must also be a gracious answer, “with gentleness and respect” (v15), for it is possible to win an argument and to lose a friend.

The ultimate consolation when we suffer for doing good is to realise that we are in the most exclusive company. Christ, the spotless, died for sins in an act of cosmic significance: “Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to

Some contend the verse may suggest that the merits of Christ’s death are available to those, both before and after Christ, who had no opportunity to believe in him. Martin Luther opted for a safer line: “A wonderful text is this, and a more obscure passage perhaps than any other in the New Testament, so that I do not know for a certainty just what Peter means.”

Some scholars believe that the core of Peter’s letter was a book of instruction for those about to be baptised; and Peter makes a typically Jewish link between the waters of the flood and the waters of baptism. Rabbis taught that Noah literally made his way through water into the ark, only entering when the water level reached his knees. Water alone is not the controlling factor in baptism. What is required is “a good conscience towards God”, and the benefits of Christ’s resurrection (v21). Luther once said that God’s Word has hands and feet, running after us and catching up with us. In baptism, we celebrate God’s initiative in salvation.

Very Rev Dr David Clarke is a former PCI Moderator and minister emeritus of Terrace Row Presbyterian Church, Coleraine.

Hitting the ground running

Stephen Livingston describes how his congregation of Second Broughshane embarked on a ‘couch to 5k’ programme that has created community through exercise.

One of the elders in Second Broughshane, Mark Beattie, enjoys running and regularly does a parkrun on a Saturday. Last summer, he expressed a desire to gather people in the village of Broughshane to conduct a programme to get people running. Our new minister had arrived towards the end of the summer, enthusiastic to find ways to reach out to people and get to meet members of the congregation. Session was agreeable to the programme and a ‘couch to 5k’ (C25K) programme launched in the new church season in September.

C25K is a planned programme that turns someone with no running experience into someone who could comfortably run 5km. It runs for nine weeks, with three sessions in each week. The programme starts with lots of walking and some running, to increasing the amount of running time with breaks, to running with no breaks. Some of those who came thought that the increase in running would be difficult but the incremental steps helped. While

the sessions were described by some as ‘torture’, everyone completed the extra running required in each session.

The programme was mentioned in church services and in the neighbouring congregation, First Broughshane. If I, in my early 50s, had already started to run and complete parkruns with no experience up until three years ago, there was hope for everyone else!

The main session was organised on a Monday night and we were pleasantly surprised to see around 40 people come each week. Two opportunities were set up for session two on a Wednesday or Thursday, depending on people’s availability. This did result in some sporting attire making the prayer meeting and the showers in the halls getting used for attendance at it. People were left to do session three by themselves. A

…no one was left behind – if someone was slowing, there was encouragement from others.

WhatsApp group was set up and people planning to go out would inform others and gather a group to go together.

Several physical factors suited our conducting a C25K. We have a main road from Ballymena to Broughshane on which to train (A42). This was generally well lit with street lights, had footpaths where two people could jog side by side most of its length and cycle lanes so that traffic on it was never very close to the footpath. The course was always straight down the road, until the halfway point time-wise of that week’s exercise when everyone turned to head back.

We started the course as early as possible in September to have natural light when running. September to midNovember also meant that there was never any danger of frost.

We worked in three groups – fast, middle and relaxed groups, to cater for all types of runners. Therefore, no one was left behind – if someone was slowing, there was encouragement from others. One person admitted they had joined a running group to do a C25K previously but found that people went too fast.

Comments at the end of the course showed that it was the encouragement from others that helped give them the determination to keep going in the middle of a session.

After everyone’s stamina was built up over a number of weeks, some participants did a natural 5k course that exists on a return trip from our church car park to the driveway of Ballymena Rugby Club. Another option was the local parkrun, which is three miles from the village of Broughshane on the main A42 at the Ecos Park. Parkruns are 5k events and there are around 40 held in Northern Ireland and approximately 100 held in the Republic of Ireland. Parkruns are free and they are organised on Saturdays at 9.30am. You can just show up on the day – there’s a welcome briefing for people new to parkrun to explain what to do. To get a recorded time for a 5k, create an account with parkrun (parkrun.org.uk) to get a barcode, which is scanned at the end of the course.

The format of running encouraged people to talk to each other. Much was discussed during the sessions, including some deep conversations concerning the struggles that people face. It was a good opportunity for people to talk openly, unencumbered by anyone gazing at a phone. Some of those who came had tried a C25K by themselves before but found value in coming together as a community to attempt it. It gave our new minister Jeffrey Blue, who came out regularly to the sessions, an opportunity to get to know people. The chance to talk to one

It was a good opportunity for people to talk openly, unencumbered by anyone gazing at a phone.

another was useful as a number of the runners are in jobs where they are now isolated at home doing their work postCovid, instead of travelling to an office.

It was encouraging to see families come together to do something – parents and their teenage children or young adults. There was a 50-year age range attending. It was also good to see people who might be on the fringes of church activity come regularly and meet.

People came out no matter what the weather. We were blessed with good weather right up to week six when we had torrential rain. Despite this, 20 hardy people did their second session together. It was an unforgettable evening and certainly an evening of team bonding.

On the last week of the nineweek course, a meal was served after the parkrun, to celebrate everyone’s

achievement. A short epilogue was given, with the importance of a spiritual race presented to those in attendance. Everyone was also given a commemorative t-shirt to wear. The final run was designed to be the local parkrun and over the next two Saturdays, most of the attendees did their first parkrun. The elation when they realised they could complete it, and indeed run the whole 5k, was clear to see. Many people who attended the first week, came back for the second – largely to try to better their time of previous week, although for some there was inter-family competition. People enjoyed the programme so much that the group has continued to meet on a Monday night to go out and run and talk. A group of about 10 have completed the parkrun on Saturday week by week and our C25K group was invited to fill the volunteer positions for one week (about 16 roles). This was an opportunity to serve our wider community.

There were physical benefits to doing the C25K too. A number of participants reported that colleagues at work thought they had lost weight. A large number commented on how well they were sleeping after doing the physical exercise. One mentioned how less stressed they felt after running.

We are thankful for safety during the running, as well as the opportunities to talk to each other and to serve the local community.

Stephen Livingston is an elder in Second Broughshane Presbyterian Church.

Supporting leaders globally

Pip Florit shares stories from leaders around the world who are supported by PCI grants.

Each year, PCI’s Council for Global Mission awards grants to partner organisations around the world. Among these are grants for ‘Leaders in Training’ (LITs) – individuals identified by the partners as being in strategic roles and for whom further education could be life-changing, as well as building up the local church and the partner’s work.

Often grants are given for theological training, but they have also been used for individuals to study subjects like public health, administration and law, as well as to allow leaders to take sabbatical periods for rest or study. PCI currently supports LITs from Malawi, Russia, Myanmar, Indonesia, India, Nepal, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Council maintains regular contact with LITs during, and often after, their study. Some of the current LITs have shared their stories.

In supporting my education, you are empowering the entire Congolese Church and society…

Jean Musavuli

Jean is from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he teaches Biblical Studies at Congo Initiative – Christian Bilingual University of the Congo (CI-UCBC), and pastors with the Evangelical Church in Central Africa. He is pursuing a PhD in the Old Testament at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies.

“My thesis is titled ‘The Message of the Book of Nehemiah Reconsidered: A Postcolonial Assessment of the Portrait and Work of Nehemiah’. I am reconsidering Nehemiah and his work from the perspective of the Judeans who, even after the exile, remained under the dominion of the Persians. I am considering the challenges Nehemiah faced trying to satisfy both Judeans and Persians; how God was at work through it all; and what this means for the situation in the Congo where believers often have to face hardships resulting from various forms of neo-colonialism.

“Studying Scripture in its original languages has been an enriching experience both academically and spiritually. Digging into its sociohistorical context has helped me realise how the men and women of the Bible

were ‘people of the same nature as we’ and appreciate how God walks with us as he did with them.

“During my study, the greatest challenge has been the continued insecurity in our region. Thousands of people have been killed since I began my studies. Many people are displaced, lacking food, water, shelter and medical assistance. Living and studying from a place where you experience all sorts of bad news almost everyday makes it difficult to focus. However, we are not tired to call for prayers for DRC.

“I have experienced God’s protection over my wife and children. Through the

‘shadow of the valley of death’, God has been our shepherd. I am thankful to God that regardless of the hardships, I have been able to advance with my studies.

“I would like to thank you, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, for the great financial support you have been offering towards my studies, which are equipping me to train more Bible teachers and Church pastors for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In supporting my education, you are empowering the entire Congolese Church and society, and ultimately serving God’s kingdom and glory. We pray that God will continue to use you to advance his mission in the world, as we all work to reach all peoples and all aspects of life; so that the hope that is in Christ may be known and experienced in the whole creation.”

Divya Khanal

Divya lives in Kathmandu with his family and serves in NCS (Nepal Christian Society) as the coordinator for its research and documentation department. He is pursuing a PhD, looking at Christianity and Social Change.

“The research project has been really exciting as it gives me the opportunity to read some of the great minds in the field of Christian mission… Jayakumar Christian, Vishal Mangalwadi, Christopher Wright, John Stott and others who have laboured much to define what Christian mission is and how this should enable the local church to impact the culture of the context. These readings have helped to me re-examine my own understanding of Christian mission and its anticipated outcome in social change.

“In my work, I have been engaged in developing the organisational mission and vision and defining the mission priorities of NCS. The knowledge and experiences acquired through this study will enable me to expand my ministry circles through my own church and through the NCS network. And I hope to be at the service of the Nepali Christians for more transformative mission of their churches.

“The greatest challenge is that it is really difficult to obtain literature developed in the minority church context like Nepal. Whatever is written,

It is…important to renew our strength…This sabbatical has proven to be an essential chapter of my life.

mostly has been done in the Western context and by the Western writers. The other challenge is striking a good balance between work and studies. My involvement with NCS and its research department requires quite a good chunk of my time.

“I am moving slowly but steadily towards my goal. I have completed drafting four out of seven chapters and hope to complete the fifth chapter by the end of next month.

“I am thankful to the churches in Ireland for your concern and support. I and my family are grateful to God for all your support in prayer and finances and we assure you of our prayers for you.”

Dr Narayan Maharjan

Dr Narayan is the managing director of FOCUS Nepal. After many years of service in various Christian organisations in Nepal, he is taking a sabbatical, funded by an LIT grant.

“The purposes of my sabbatical were: to refresh my spiritual life, seeking the presence of God; to write a book entitled Cultural Context with reference to Nepal; to minister in the power of God; to spend time praying for revival in Ireland and in the Church of Nepal; and to renew my vision to serve him in facilitating the development of transformed leaders in Nepal.

“I have built a habit of indulging in prayer for renewal and revival for an hour in the morning after breakfast and I am learning so much from the books

Get involved with LITs

I have read. I have come to know the gospel itself is culture. Once people understand the truth of the gospel, they move for transformation. I have learned from books about the lives of dedicated missionaries in foreign lands. It is useful to learn from the books that teach us about the history and strategies of characters involved in the Lord’s service.

“How important it is to take a break away from the workplace, to spend time in the presence of the Lord in order to allow him to speak. We read that Moses, Elijah, Ezekiel and other servants of God spent hours and days in the presence of the Lord.

“It is equally important to renew our strength and correct ourselves to find better ways of serving the Lord. This sabbatical has proven to be an essential chapter of my life.”

Pip Florit is PCI’s Mission Support Officer for Partnerships.

Forming relationships with LITs is about more than handing out and receiving resources; it is about developing partnerships and in this, the whole Church can play a role, from meeting with LITs who visit Ireland, to praying for them and emailing them.

If you or your congregation would like to pray for or communicate with an LIT, please contact the mission department, which can give you details of how to do so. Email mission@presbyterianireland.org

The great departure

‘HMel Lacy presents a sobering assessment of why young people are leaving our churches at a rapid rate.

aemorrhaging’ is the evocative word often used to describe the rapid departure of young people from the Western church. Statistical research shows the reality in black and white. Year after year, the decline is documented, needlessly really, as we tangibly feel the absence when we gather weekly for corporate worship. Parents mourn the empty seats, the body is incomplete, achingly lacking. Many have valiantly attempted to stem the flow, hoping that activities and outings, and friendship and fun (with a bit of Jesus shoehorned in), would be enough to cauterise the bleed. These things are not bad, of course, but neither have they proved sufficient to hold, or more importantly, robustly disciple a generation growing up in a confusing, chaotic and contradictory world. And so, the flow goes on with young people vainly seeking hope, satisfaction and joy in an idol-filled world rather than truly finding life in all its fullness in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.

In case you think it is all doom and gloom, be reassured that wonderfully there are some thrilling reports of congregations that have bucked the trend. These congregations have produced young people who have confessed Christ, are maturing disciples and are committed to glorifying God through their lives and witness. The common denominator shown throughout this growing part of Christ’s church is a commitment to proclaim the Word of God boldly and confidently to each rising generation, to nurture in them a love for, and commitment to, the local church and to intentionally disciple them through rich relationships. These churches are the exception, however, rather than the norm.

Remarkably, the modern ministry

…what is revealed when they transition into adulthood is that they’ve only ever been veneered in biblical Christianity.

methodology that has proven insufficient to either retain or disciple young people thus far remains the modus operandi for most local churches. Show the kids a good time, offer them a safe place to hang out, attract them with the things of the world and somehow hope that they will catch Jesus. If there’s any hope for Generation Alpha and Generation Z (and there is), we need to radically review our practice, learning from where there is growth among young people in the Western church and most importantly heed the commands of Scripture: to teach and tell the coming generations the glorious deeds of the Lord.

The competing worldviews of the Western world constantly seek to orientate the hearts and minds of our young people, vying for attention and commitment through social media, peers and even education. It is therefore understandable how a weekly meeting with a five- or ten-minute gospel presentation is not cutting it in a world in which young people are forcibly bombarded 24/7 with ideologies and

agendas. Who is helping them to make sense of all that they are encountering?

Who is taking the time to show them how a biblical worldview responds to the pertinent ethical issues of the day or how Scripture can give a full and beautiful orientation and explanation when it comes to matters of image and identity? We must not underestimate the force with which the indoctrination comes from the world; it is engulfing them with tsunami-like force. The mantras of this age malignantly teach ‘be true to yourself’ and ‘live your truth’, facilitating a pick n mix approach to life and faith commitments, seen so evidently in young people today. Truth has become relative and subjective, and therefore a battle to commend, communicate and convince our young people of the absolute truth of Scripture is on.

There is a phenomenon that is being documented in the evangelical church that observes a trend among young people of becoming ‘almost Christian’. These are not the kids on the periphery, or the flakey ones that only turn up occasionally – these are the young people who are always there, at the Bible study and the youth fellowship, on the Sunday school rota and in the praise band. These are the young people who convincingly look like they are walking the walk and talking the talk. And yet, what is revealed when they transition into adulthood is that they’ve only ever been veneered in biblical Christianity. Their core remains confused, with many convinced by the secular doctrines of this world. This is a warning to us to be wary of Christian determinism – the idea that if we put the right stuff into our young people then shiny, fine Christians will pop out, as they emerge from the cocoon of kids’ and youth ministry after 18 years. Of course, the content of our instruction and discipleship matters hugely – we have a speaking God who has commanded us to

So many youth workers lack conviction when it comes to the belief that we have what the young people need.

in turn proclaim his Word by teaching, training and telling the next generation. Youth ministry, however, demands great attention to context too.

Work with young people is costly and sacrificial. It demands the development of significant relationships that facilitate deep discipleship, both among the young people and between the young people and their leaders. This takes time, patience and great dedication, but it is the context in which disciples are best rooted and built up in order to grow to maturity in Christ. Gen Z is described as the ‘Lost Generation 2.0’, a generation that has declared itself to be disorientated, unstable and lonely. More than ever our young people are crying out for authentic stabilising relationships and surely we should want them to find those relationships among their church family? Not simply with their peers, but among the beautiful, diverse and intergenerational body of believers, locally drawn together under the headship of Christ.

The youth group only lasts for a season, the church is built for eternity. It is no wonder young people walk away from the church when they reach adulthood if they’ve only ever been taught to love and relate to a homogenous group of their peers. We need the rising generations to know the church as their tribe, where they are known, loved, nurtured and welcomed. An ecclesiological context matters in the discipleship of young people and so does a familial context. For too long we’ve sought to evangelise and disciple young people in isolation

from their families. Effective discipleship in the 21st century will only result from a dynamic and supportive partnership between the family, local church and any youth discipleship programme run by the local church.

Content matters, context matters and finally conviction matters in the discipleship of young people. So many youth workers lack conviction when it comes to the belief that we have what the young people need. Instead, time, money and energy are spent chasing results using other means. We must have a deep conviction in the sufficiency of the ordinary means of grace that God has graciously given to all, in order to disciple believers into maturity in Christ. Remember, there is hard evidence (lest we need it) to show that congregations running an ordinary means of grace ministry among young people are seeing great spiritual success.

Mel Lacy is the executive director of Growing Young Disciples (GYD). For more information on GYD go to growingyoungdisciples.co.uk

Coming in autumn 2023

From autumn 2023, PCI and Growing Young Disciples are partnering to offer a discipleship programme for 16–18-year-olds designed to enable them to grow as disciples of Jesus in this crucial age and stage of life. Participants will have the opportunity to deepen their faith, grow as members of their local congregation and witness to the world around them, in what will be a unique and accessible chance for young people to learn alongside others of their own age. Further details to follow soon on PCI social media.

Mel Lacy

A step too far?

Stephen Williams and Colin Burcombe discuss the ethics of the latest artificial intelligence technology that is causing a storm: ChatGPT.

SW: Perhaps I move in the wrong conversational circles, but these days it seems as though it is only a matter of time before someone mentions ChatGPT. It is the latest iteration of artificial intelligence (AI) to get widespread social attention, and its latest version – ChatGPT 4 – has just come out at the time of writing. If you want an essay or sermon composed, ask ChatGPT. It will do it better than you will, and take hardly any time to do it. Tell it in a short sentence what you want, and that’s it. That description hardly does justice to it, and it will do other things

too, but should we welcome it?

As Christians, we tend to be just as uncritical in our thinking about and use of technology as anybody else. If something is convenient, why not use it?

If you want an essay or sermon composed, ask ChatGPT. It will do it better than you will, and take hardly any time to do it.

We say either that technology is neutral, so can be used both for better and for worse, or that it is fundamentally good, because it fulfils our human mandate to have dominion over tracts of the created order. But Genesis 4–11 tells the story of dominion gone awry, culminating in the attempted technological marvel of Babel. Certainly, technological competence and creativity are gifts of God. The problem sets in when it has an adverse effect on humans and the created world. There have been plenty of things around for a while that have caused our capacity to think to erode. This is surely what

ChatGPT will encourage. If it were to be used as a tool to collate and order information so that we are freed up to think about other things, well, the benefits are not hard to see. However, we shall go beyond that in the majority of cases. We shall look to ChatGPT to do our thinking for us. We shall get creative in the questions we ask of it; we shall lose our creativity in addressing those questions.

Of course, this is one-sided as well as broad-brush. But is it hopelessly onesided? I think not. Brain science is young, but we are learning of the remarkable interconnections in our bodies and the remarkable way we are wired for connections with others. We have a long way to go in understanding the mechanisms of the brain, but everything seems to be connected to everything else in our bodies, and everyone seems to be connected to everyone else in the mind. If I thoughtlessly let a machine do my remembering for me, my research for me, my writing for me, what happens to the delicate interplay and balance of my human capacities for remembering, researching, composing and reflecting; am I damaging my capacity for thought, judgement and discernment? One response is: “Yes, if you do all that thoughtlessly. But don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. Do it thoughtfully, and you will benefit and not come to harm.” So am I a morosely pessimistic techno-Luddite, Colin?

CB: I couldn’t remember what a Luddite is, so I asked ChatGPT 4: it is a person who resists new technology or ways of working. Like many technophiles today, my instinct is no longer to ask Google, it is to ask ChatGPT. Your comments above make me question this instinct and wonder what I have lost. I have found ChatGPT a valuable resource for research, and particularly for presenting complex ideas quickly and simply. It is so good at this that some people fear they could lose their jobs. For example, if you ask it a technical question about our PCI Code, it can respond with a speed, accuracy and clarity that might almost make our Clerk obsolete!

At Union College, Stephen, you taught me to carefully evaluate assertions and to be able to present counterarguments. Take

AI can erode our capacity to remember facts and to think critically…

your lesson from Babel. More advanced tools and better materials were accessible for Solomon when he came to build the Temple. Surely it would have been folly for him to instruct his workers to use only what was available centuries before. I want to work well and efficiently, and I’m learning ways to use ChatGPT as a tool to help me do this better.

For sermon preparation, I have many commentaries that I can use to help me understand a Bible passage well. But someone preparing a Bible study or a talk for a Sunday school class neither needs nor has access to all of these. Instead, they can ask ChatGPT for an introduction and overview of a Bible book, for ways of interpreting specific verses, even for information about Hebrew words in the text. When I asked it about a Hebrew word, it concluded by saying that a Hebrew language scholar could supply a more detailed analysis. I commented, “It’s okay, I am a Hebrew scholar.” I was amused when its immediate rejoinder was to apologise for any inaccuracies in its previous response! It seemed to feel a little inadequate in the presence of a self-professed expert. As this technology becomes more widely available, it may well be of great use to our brothers and sisters in developing countries where internet access is available, but access to study resources is limited.

The comparison between Babel and the Temple illustrates that technology can be used for worse or for better, and that our motivations matter to God. I agree that AI can erode our capacity to remember facts and to think critically. Student experience has shown that it also brings with it a temptation to get it to do more than just help our research, and some have admitted passing off its writing as their own. It can be useful, but we also need to be aware of its limitations: it doesn’t know our Lord, it has no experience of ministry, it has no wisdom or compassion. For now, at least, the Clerk’s job is safe.

SW: Thanks for your response, Colin. I concede that we technologically challenged types are liable to underestimate technological benefits. I also agree that we need to view the matter before us through the prism of less developed societies and be careful that we do not narrow our gaze to the West. Your point about ‘wisdom and compassion’ touches on something of immense importance in the current climate, where some people in the field of AI are seriously asking whether we can attribute such things to machines, if not now, at some point in the future. (Others in the field reject that possibility completely.) I think that we live in a time when the line between human and machine will become increasingly blurred, which is not surprising where humans are regarded as sophisticated machines, and attempts are being made to fuse humans and machines, effectively creating cyborgs. We cannot discuss this further here.

Solomon: yes – perhaps we can say that if Pentecost witnessed the reversal of Babel as far as language and communication were concerned, the Temple showed the constructive possibilities of building where Babel showed its destructive possibilities. I fully agree, of course, that Solomon’s builders were bound to apply the engineering possibilities of their day, embracing, and not resisting, technological innovation as far as the actual construction was concerned.

But I think that two points need to be made. The first is that a shadow is cast over the Temple-building project by Solomon’s use of forced labour. God accommodates himself to the social failings of the monarch and his way of operating. The account of Solomon thus instructs us to look out for the social and economic presuppositions of our technological enterprises. The second is that, although the Temple stands in contrast to Babel because it symbolises the worship of God, not a challenge to God, Solomon took almost twice as long building a palace for himself as he did building a house for God. Technology was self-serving even more than serving God. So we have to ask at least three questions of technology: (a) what is its nature?; (b) what is its socioeconomic base?; (c) what is its underlying motivation? ChatGPT can certainly be viewed in varied lights. It is important that we do not view it in either black or white, and you and I agree on that. My worry is that, even if we confine ourselves to considering (a) above, we lose far more than we gain. It would certainly be fruitful to pursue (b) and (c) as well, but that would take us further afield than we can go here.

CB: Thanks, Stephen, for helping me to consider my use of ChatGPT within a broader framework than its usefulness and convenience. You’re right, all too often we use new technologies uncritically. Some, like me, may unwittingly personify these AIs in their conversation without realising the deeper implications you have raised about the shrinking gap between humanity and machines.

I still think ChatGPT can be a useful tool for collating and presenting information. However, as you suggested, if we use it, we ought to use it thoughtfully rather than thoughtlessly; we need to be careful not to risk losing our ability to think critically, creatively and independently. Many people from an earlier generation came to regret leaning so heavily on calculators at school that they were unable to use maths in practical everyday situations. As we use technology to do more things for us, we are hurtling towards a similar and more serious outcome in terms of our ability

If you ask it a technical question about our PCI Code, it can respond with... speed, accuracy and clarity…

to reason and to relate to one another in meaningful discussion.

You mention two very saddening aspects of Solomon’s Temple-building project, both of which have serious implications for our use of AI. I’ll conclude with another aspect. 1

Kings 6:7 shows that the Temple was constructed with as little noise at the site as possible. The massive building blocks were quarried and hewn away from the site then carefully transported there, which required meticulous planning and considerable skill. They used technology to accomplish remarkable feats of engineering and architecture. However, their motivation for doing it in that way was reverence for the Lord, and their manner of doing it did not remove the need for thorough preparation and craftsmanship. Can we say the same for our use of ChatGPT?

SW: I appreciate the note on which you end, Colin. I view ChatGPT in the wider context of what is happening with AI in general, and still wider context of social projects undertaken in a godless culture. I am by no means totally negative about those; for example, I think the church often lags behind the world in the area of environmental responsibility. But advances in AI are connected with ways

of understanding what it is to be human, and that general question hovers on my radar when engaging with particulars such as ChatGPT. Thanks for reminding me to look at matters from more than one perspective.

Prof Stephen N. Williams is Emeritus Professor of Systematic Theology of Union Theological College.

Rev Colin Burcombe is minister of Mersey Street in East Belfast and teaches the Hebrew language in Union Theological College.

The images used in this article were generated using the Midjourney AI with the following commands:

• A preacher standing behind a church pulpit facing outwards. On the front of the church pulpit is a Christian cross. Behind the preacher are several computers and servers with cables all leading to the church pulpit. Modern editorial illustration style.

• A stained glass window showing a Bible with a cross, computers.

• A robot in a pulpit, editorial style.

Mission Connect

God is faithful

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.

Being a disciple in our place of work

Derek and Jane French

God is in the detail Diane Cusick

Giving thanks and looking forward

Rev Jonathan Porter

Living Hope Community

Tracey Nicholl

God is faithful

Michelle Stewart

Without the foible the sword has no point

Rev Jonathan Newell

Including May prayer diary

Being a disciple in our place of work

Derek and Jane French

Global mission workers, Spain

Grupos Bíblicos Graduados (GBG) is part of the IFES ministry in Spain and for the past 45 years has supported professionals to be disciples of Jesus in their place of mission at work. GBG’s vision is explained in a simple way: to be and make disciples in the professional world. These professionals go to their work every day and carry out the ministry of expanding the kingdom of God in their sphere of influence. Their desire is to see their colleagues become disciples of Jesus.

Jaume Llenas is the national coordinator of this ministry and shares the following: GBG’s ministry is threefold: Transit: The ministry of “Transit” accompanies university students on their journey between the world of the university and the world of work. This is a time in people’s lives when there are many changes. They go from studying to working, begin to earn money, establish closer friendships, some move to different cities and sometimes also change churches. We form local groups for those who are in this stage of life to provide mutual support and help them to focus on their calling. We also publish books for them and have summer camps for young professionals.

There is also an annual national meeting for professionals, an apologetics forum and a national conference on bioethics.

GBG also works together with Bible colleges, seminaries and theological faculties to train future pastors in the relationship between faith and work.

These professionals go to their work every day and carry out the ministry of expanding the kingdom of God in their sphere of influence.

Support for the church: We believe it is important that the church be able to train Christian professionals for where they are Monday through Saturday. Today our jobs are the greatest and best opportunity to share our faith and to transform society with the perspective of the kingdom of God. Workers spend half of their waking lives at work and are in natural daily contact with non-Christians. The function of the church is “to equip his people for works of service…” (Ephesians 4:12) and GBG produces materials, provides professional group resources, web pages and other resources so that this task of training professionals by the church is possible.

Please pray:

Professional groups and training: Right now, we have seven groups for the following professionals: doctors, nurses, lawyers, teachers, the world of business, psychologists, and Christians in science and technology. Each group cultivates a vision of the profession from a biblical worldview and has annual meetings.

• Giving thanks for all the professionals involved.

• For more full-time GBG workers to minister to professionals and churches.

• For people in the workplace to come to faith in Christ.

Jaume Llenas

God is in the detail

Diane Cusick

Global mission worker, Zambia

Isaiah 43:2 says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you: and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, the flames will not set you ablaze.”

As many of you are aware, I became extremely ill last May and was hospitalised for nine weeks; I came off a ventilator to learn that I had pancreatitis – something I had not heard of before! It’s amazing how one day I was well and the next day I was in hospital. I experienced care and compassion from the medical personnel that was incredible.

It has been a challenging year and yet I praise God that I am still here to testify to all that has happened and for how God has been faithful through it all.

While in hospital, I had a lot of ‘God experiences’ – the nurse quoting the same Bible verse to me that I had been meditating on as I went to theatre, the dietician and some nurses telling me their church members were praying for me, the ambulance man and the surgeon praying for me. When I was at my lowest, the PCI chaplain was there by my side encouraging me and praying with me. The patients in the ward with me thought I was very holy because I had so many ministers visiting me! When the ward was closed due to Covid, and I was feeling very low, I had a visit from the chaplain and even my sister was allowed in for a few minutes.

Isaiah 43:2 says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.” God knew every situation I was going through and I seemed to get some form of encouragement every day.

It has been a challenging year and yet I praise God that I am still here to testify to all that has happened and for how God has been faithful through it all. My work in Zambia has carried on in a somewhat different manner than planned. Teacher training was cancelled but teachers decided to encourage each other through their WhatsApp group and began planning and sharing ideas of things to do in the following term. Synod staff and colleagues have been praying for my recovery and for the continuation of the work too. I am planning to return to Zambia soon and am already preparing some workshops for the teachers. I have been truly humbled by this experience, by the love and care from so many across the globe. But most of all to know that God has been in every detail of what I have been going through – sending people to me at the right time and cards with words of encouragement when I really needed them.

Please pray:

• Give thanks for the care, compassion and encouragement that Diane has received over the past months during her illness. Pray that she will continue to go from strength to strength.

• Pray for Diane as she begins to plan her return to Zambia and the continuation of her work there.

Giving thanks and looking forward

Rev Jonathan Porter Dundalk Presbyterian Church

Dundalk Presbyterian Church is a small congregation located in the centre of the major town in County Louth in Ireland. There is always a warm welcome on Sunday mornings when the congregation meets together to worship God. The church family comprises a good mix of younger and older people, children and families, born-andbred Dundalk locals and people from different countries and cultures.

Our hope is that we as a church will be a blessing in our town as we seek to promote the good news of Jesus

I was ordained and installed as the minister in Dundalk in August 2019. During my first few months it was great to be able to get to know the congregation and some of the local people in the community through various groups in the church, including the bowls club, parent and toddler group, Presbyterian Women’s club and the midweek Bible studies.

Like all churches, when the Covid pandemic came at the start of 2020, we had to stop all activities in the church building and hall. Despite not being able to meet in person, we were able to use technology to help us connect with one another in different ways. Throughout the week, we were able to keep in touch through our WhatsApp church group. Every Sunday we had an online worship service and, in time, we were able to develop an online Sunday school. Then on a Thursday evening we had a church Bible study on Zoom. Although we are thankful for the use of technology during the worst times of the pandemic, we were delighted when it was safe for church activities to start up again.

Over the past year and a half, we have been able to get back to normal church life, and there have been some encouragements along the way. We were delighted to welcome five new communicants to our congregation last summer and two new

communicants at the start of spring. Our women’s Bible study has continued to flourish and grow, and we are very thankful for this ministry. Our Sunday school is back up and running again, and it was great to be able to host a Sunday school breakfast recently with all the parents, children and Sunday school teachers. We look forward to having a new church committee elected in May.

Over the years, the church has established a good reputation within the town through various events and community-focused groups. We hope to build on that in the months ahead as we run a Christianity Explored course in the spring and also a children’s holiday Bible club in the summer. Our hope is that we as a church will be a blessing in our town as we seek to promote the good news of Jesus.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. If you are ever in Dundalk on a Sunday morning, please call in and join us for worship as we would love to see you.

Please pray:

• Give thanks for God’s faithfulness to the church over the years, especially during the pandemic.

• Give thanks for all those connected with our church.

• Please pray that God would continue to build his church here in Dundalk and enable us to serve him.

• Pray for the Christianity Explored course and children’s holiday Bible club in the summer.

Tracey Nicholl

Living Hope Community

Deaconess, St James’ Presbyterian Church, Ballymoney

Jesus says in Mark 12:30–31: “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”

The more

food, school uniforms and toys we give away, the more we have received

In St James’ in 2019, we wanted to make connections with our community of Ballymoney and so we began a community project that we named ‘Living Hope Community’, because ‘A living God, gives a living hope’. It has three strands.

The first is ‘Tracey’s Trolley’. The food items that are donated by the congregation every Sunday are delivered to Ballymoney Foodbank. In 2021, Ballymoney Foodbank supported 4,117 children and adults with food and toiletries. Last year, that increased to 5,883 individuals and families seeking help, just to feed themselves.

The second strand is school uniforms, where we collect items of school uniform from schools, that have kindly been donated by parents/guardians who no longer need them. These items are still in good condition for another child to wear and so we give them away when we open our church hall five days during the year. We have also seen an increase in families coming on these days for school uniform and sports kit. In 2021, we had 102 families come to us, but that rose last year to 156 families. We have been able to connect with people in our community of Ballymoney, build up good relationships with the schools and by God’s grace pray with people and just listen as they tell us the difficulties and problems they face.

The third strand is Christmas toys. We had collected toys and baby items and in November 2020 we decided to give them away to those who needed them. We advertised the toys on the Facebook page and we had nearly 70 families come seeking help with toys that year. Many told us of their difficulties. One woman told us that she couldn’t take many toys as she and her children would be homeless soon. We thank God that we get to hear these stories and help where we can and pray for these situations. We thought the toy giveaway would happen once but what we didn’t expect was the kindness of strangers. Our own congregation and people who saw it advertised on Facebook began donating toys and so we have continued it every year since. We have been blessed in so many ways by the people we have met, the conversations we have had and the friendships we have struck up. The more food, school uniforms and toys we give away, the more we have received.

Please pray:

• Please pray for those who come seeking help, that they will find Jesus Christ and his salvation.

• Give thanks for this opportunity to help our community in these ways

God is faithful

Michelle Stewart

Community outreach worker, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Cloughey

What a privilege to bring an update on what is happening in Cloughey. God has been faithful and has presented many opportunities to connect with the community. We give thanks that our toddlers group POLO continues to grow on a weekly basis and with a team of dedicated volunteers we are reaching across the community. God is providing us with many opportunities to befriend mums and deepen the relationship we have with them as we seek to show them God’s love and share the gospel through practical ways and in conversation.

On a Wednesday morning

Visitation within the church family has been a great personal blessing as friendships are deepened, cords become stronger and God helps to unite us further.

the church is open for a community café (Solid Rock) where there is fun, fellowship and conversations over a bacon bap. Solid Rock provides a meeting place for many who are alone to come and meet with friends and gives an opportunity for many in the church to serve in this real and practical way. On two Wednesdays each month, the community group ‘Knit & Natter’ meet in the church, offering a great opportunity to build bridges in the community. The ladies have come to coffee mornings and listened to what God is doing in other places as they offer their collections to church-related projects.

When writing about what God is doing, it is important to look back and reflect on what God has already done. In 2022, the church held a community outreach event in the form of an Easter trail where the children of the community went on a treasure hunt to find clues related to the real message of Easter. This

proved to be a great success and at the time of writing a further event is planned. Summer of 2022 saw the return of the holiday Bible club, which is a very much anticipated event in the church calendar. We praise and thank God once again for his goodness and faithfulness. The weather was amazing and the children were great as the message of the gospel was presented through the theme of ‘The Greatest Showman’ to over 100 children nightly for the week.

I thank God daily that he has placed me in this wonderful and privileged position to work with people and the community and to show them

God’s love in a practical way. Visitation within the church family has been a great personal blessing as friendships are deepened, cords become stronger and God helps to unite us further. I am truly thankful for what God has already done and trust him fully for what is to come. Yet not I, but through Christ in me.

Please pray:

• For further strengthening of relationships with the Community Association.

• For God’s leading and guiding in planning for the future.

• That the Holy Spirit will continue to water all the seeds that are planted.

• Opportunities for further and deeper conversations.

Without the foible the sword has no point

Rev Jonathan Newell

Chaplain to the RAF

Ican struggle with a critical attitude; not one ‘to suffer fools gladly’ you could say. This extends to my chaplaincy colleagues too, many of whom are my dear friends. I often struggle with the ‘quirkiness’ that I observe. Quirky means a peculiarity of character – mannerism or foible. Foible? It means much the same as quirky: a slight peculiarity or minor weakness; idiosyncrasy.

Foible also describes the most vulnerable part of a sword’s blade.

Without the foible the sword has no point. The effective use of any weapon requires familiarity and competency.

said, “The elephant is a pillar, like a tree-trunk”. The blind man who placed his hand upon its side said the elephant “is a wall”. Another, who felt its tail, described it as a rope. The last felt its tusk, stating the elephant is that which is hard, smooth and like a spear.

The foibles of the chaplain…provide a strength within the military that is unique. Speaking truth to power, advocating peace, representing something different.

The operator must know its capabilities, its limitations and how to apply all of these skills under arduous conditions. The same applies to people. The same applies to the RAF. Every organisation/person has a foible or two; knowing this is the first step in developing self-awareness and the skills necessary for emotional and social growth.

Chaplaincy is a quirky part of the RAF and for many personnel, the chaplain is an enigma – well explained through the story of the blind men and an elephant:

A group of blind men heard that a strange animal, called an elephant, had been brought to the town, but none of them were aware of its shape and form. Out of curiosity, they said: “We must inspect and know it by touch, of which we are capable.” So they sought it out and when they found it, they groped about it. The first person, whose hand landed on the trunk, said, “This being is like a thick snake”. For another, whose hand reached its ear, it seemed like a kind of fan. Another, whose hand was upon its leg,

The story illustrates how one person’s subjective experience may differ from another, causing them to draw different conclusions. A similar scenario could easily apply within the RAF if a select group were asked to explain what a chaplain does. Appreciation of chaplaincy, or lack of, is mostly influenced by subjective experience. The foibles of the chaplain, however, provide a strength within the military that is unique. Speaking truth to power, advocating peace, representing something different.

As chaplaincy continues to adapt and evolve in order to serve, my hope is that the foibles of chaplaincy will not be sacrificed on an altar of secularism. This is a challenge, not only for the chaplain with the critical attitude, but an ongoing challenge for all who work to shape the future of military chaplaincy.

Please pray:

• For the Chaplaincy Team at RAF Lossiemouth, foibles included!

• For the safety of our personnel, many of whom directly involved in NATO peacekeeping taskings in Eastern Europe.

• For those involved with QRA working at RAF Lossiemouth as they continue to keep both the sky and the sea safe.

n CHAPLAINS – Pray for Rev Kenny Hanna, PCI’s rural chaplain and his involvement in the Hilltown hotel Bible study; that they would see people grow deeper in their love and knowledge of Jesus.

n ROMANIA – Pray that Csaba and Ilona Veres would know guidance and encouragement in their work, not least as they seek to share the hope of the gospel with Roma communities who are facing discrimination on a daily basis.

n HOME MISSION – For the congregations of Cork and Aghada; pray for the members of the congregations to be faithful witnesses to the Word of God and to proclaim boldly the goodness of Jesus.

n COMMUNITY OUTREACH – For Michaela Tuccillo working in Abbey Monkstown; pray for the various opportunities the congregation provides to develop warm relationships with the surrounding community.

n DEACONESS – For Rachel Cubitt, serving in Whiteabbey; pray that Rachel would be equipped for each situation she encounters and that those she visits pastorally would experience the love and comfort of Jesus.

n DISABILITY SERVICES – Pray for families who provide love and care for children and/ or adults with disabilities – learning, physical or visual/sensory impairment. Give thanks for the support provided by government, charities and the Church and pray that individuals and their families will have the resources they need to be able to cope with all the demands disability places on them.

n SOUTH BELFAST FRIENDSHIP HOUSE – Pray for the children’s programmes that take place each week; that the children would hear of the love of Jesus and come to know him for themselves.

n CAROLINE YEOMANS – She is senior manager overseeing the work in Carlisle House, Thompson House, Gray’s Court, Peacehaven and Corkey House. Pray for Caroline as she seeks to provide an excellent standard of care across all these services and continue to remember her young family in your prayers.

n SPAIN – Give thanks to God for the opportunity that Derek French has had to engage in deputation in recent weeks, sharing with PCI congregations about the work in Spain. Pray that God’s kingdom would be further extended through both the congregational and student work that Derek and Jane have been engaged in.

n CARLISLE HOUSE – Pray for the specialist ministry of Carlisle House Substance Misuse Treatment Centre. Give thanks for the commitment of the staff and for the professional skills they bring to this work. Pray for the many service users and residents who have been persistent after completing their course and stayed free of their addictions.

n URBAN MISSION – For the congregation of Craigavon; pray that the congregation would know the Lord’s blessing as they gather to worship each Sunday.

n MALAWI – Pray for the Synods of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian as they seek to sustain relief work in response to Cyclone Freddy, and for the thousands of Malawians with ongoing need for food and shelter.

n NESSL – Pray for the Moderator, Dr John Kirkpatrick, and Rev Uel Marrs as they visit Beirut, Lebanon from 14–21 May to meet with the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon (NESSL), attend their International Partners Consultation, and meet with other partners in the country.

n PAKISTAN UBTC – Pray for Salma Andrew, principal, along with the staff and students of the United Bible Training Centre, Gujranwala, Pakistan.

n CHURCH PLANTING – For Josh McCance, community outreach worker in Balbriggan; give thanks for the church plant in Balbriggan and for the fellowship felt there by people from many different nationalities.

n NEPAL – Pray for Helen Johnston as she visits projects in the Bajhang Cluster in the first week of May and represents PCI at the United Mission to Nepal (UMN) board meeting and General Assembly taking place in Kathmandu from 8–12 May.

n AARON HOUSE – This is a residential care home in Dundonald for people with a profound learning disability, offering permanent and respite care for people from the Belfast and South Eastern Social Care Trusts. Pray for staff in Aaron House as they attend training and also give thanks for Julie Gibson, the newly appointed manager who has a heart to provide exceptional care for residents.

n CHAPLAINS – Pray for part-time and voluntary healthcare chaplains who balance their chaplaincy duties with their full-time congregational ministry. Pray for a good balance amidst often competing priorities.

n IRISH MISSION – For Tom Dowling, Irish mission worker in Kilkenny; as door-to-door visitation takes place, pray for a hunger within people to hear about God’s Word.

n MYANMAR – Pray for the leadership team of the Presbyterian Church of Myanmar (PCM) as they support and encourage their members through the ongoing civil war, especially caring for communities who have been internally displaced by fighting in the villages surrounding PCM’s headquarters.

n CHAPLAINS – For Rev Lesley Ann Wilson, serving as chaplain in Woodlands Juvenile Justice Centre; pray for continued opportunities to pray with the staff and young people.

n HOMELESSNESS – Pray that God will watch over those who tonight will sleep in the open. Pray for those who work among homeless people, giving them food and shelter and assisting with health problems. Pray for staff to deal with such persons with wisdom and compassion.

n HOME MISSION – For the congregation of Donabate; pray that God would draw the congregation deeper as disciples of Jesus and that they may reflect his character more and more in their lives.

n CHAPLAINS – Pray for PCI’s forces chaplains as they engage with people who may have little or no understanding of Jesus Christ; may their words and actions show Christ’s love and speak Christ’s truth.

n INTERNATIONAL MEETING POINT – Pray that the International Meeting Points in both north and south Belfast would be places of welcome for those arriving in Belfast from other countries and cultures.

n SPECIALIST SERVICE AGENCIES – Pray for the National Bible Society of Ireland (NBSI) as it works with churches to provide Bible resources, and to raise funds for the translation, production and distribution of God’s Word in other countries.

n COMMUNITY OUTREACH – For Phoebe Nugent, community outreach worker in Carlisle Road and Ebrington congregations. Pray for Phoebe in her outreach into the women’s hostels and for her work in the local schools.

Michaela Tuccillo

Helen Johnston

Awakening at Asbury

On Wednesday 8 February 2023, an ordinary student gathering for prayer and worship on the university campus of Asbury in Kentucky turned into a meeting that lasted continuously for 16 days, drawing thousands of people from all over America, and even the world. Views differ on terminology –whether this was a ‘revival’, an ‘awakening’ or an ‘outpouring of the Holy Spirit’ –but whatever term is correct, it is clear that God moved in a fresh and powerful way in this small town and people’s lives were changed.

David Legge is an itinerant Bible teacher from Portadown who was already heading to the States for a ministry that he is involved in there. He and his son were at the airport when they heard reports of what was happening at Asbury, so when they reached their destination of Little Rock, they, along with some other members of their team, made the decision to make the 10-hour drive to go and see it for themselves.

The ordinary was extraordinary

“When we got into the auditorium, it was packed,” says David. “But what struck me, and I think everybody in our group, was the ordinariness of the meeting. There was nothing sensational. In fact, the ordinariness was the extraordinariness, in the sense that you were standing scratching your head thinking, what is going on here?

“The praise consisted of someone on the piano and someone on the guitar. And these were not professional praise leaders by any means. There were testimonies from the students – it was student originated and student led.”

David heard reports that well-known worship leaders had offered their services for free, but they were politely turned

The bottom line is: people were coming to Jesus…it was extraordinary and unnatural.

down, testifying to the wisdom of those who were stewarding it, in desiring to refrain from hype or hysteria.

David says, “There was an atmosphere, but it maybe wasn’t what you might have expected in a revival. But I think that speaks to our expectations of what revival is.”

Was it revival?

Mindful of the desire people have had to ‘name’ what happened at Asbury, David says, “Revival is very different each time it happens – there are healing revivals, there are holiness revivals, repentance revivals. God is infinite in his variety. But that has caused some people to say, ‘Oh it can’t be a revival because it wasn’t like this or like that.’

“We don’t know whether this is a revival, but you could hair-split forever. The bottom line is: people were coming to Jesus. There was a huge draw; it was extraordinary and unnatural. And there’s no other explanation. In my opinion it was a move of God.”

Sarah Harding talks to David Legge, who offers his thoughts on the recent outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Asbury University in Kentucky.

Photos by David Legge

Dr Timothy Tennent, Asbury

Theological Seminary president, preferred to use the word ‘awakening’ in his blog, but also spoke of the mind of the college faculty when dealing with it: “This is not a time to ‘manage’ this or try to ‘shape’ it. This is the time to simply receive from God’s hand.”

Commenting on the disruption that had been caused at the university, Prof Tennent said, “The Resurrection and Pentecost were also disruptive. Whenever God moves in our lives, it breaks us from our comfortable routines because the gospel always challenges our overly domesticated experience of the gospel.”

Gen Z

Many have referenced the significance of this outpouring happening at a university among young people and David Legge agrees:

“Gen Z (anyone born from 1995 onwards) is a confused generation, a generation that’s been known very much for its anxiety – most of them were born post-9/11 – and have lived in a world that has been coloured by a lot of that anxiety and fear and even Covid.”

The manifestation of the outpouring appears to have been speaking directly to these issues that David mentions. In contrast to feelings of anxiety, he says, “it was a very peaceful atmosphere”.

Of particular note to David was the lack of screens – no PowerPoint presentations or words projected for singing. “An interesting thing is Gen Z have never not had a screen in front of them, and yet when they were worshipping, there wasn’t even a screen. It was primitive – getting back to what really matters. But the irony is, the thing took legs by TikTok – people found out about it through social media.”

Repentance

Historically, one of the aspects that revivals have centred around is true repentance, and in Asbury that seems to be true too. David heard reports that at the original worship service one student publicly confessed his sin, which encouraged others to do the same. The meeting ended, but students were given the option to stay and continue worshipping: 20 did. The continuation of the meeting throughout the day then drew others to it.

David comments that in the Hughes Auditorium at Asbury, “The sign above the organ said, ‘Holiness unto the Lord’. I think God was saying something in respect of ‘Be holy as I am holy’. Not in an

A history of revival at Asbury

…they were looking for raw, authentic Christianity, without the frills and the fuss. That generation is crying out for authenticity…

unrealistic, pretentious way – these were all kids. They weren’t suited and booted. They were normal kids. But there was a call to holiness in an unholy age where anything goes. When it came down to it, they were looking for raw, authentic Christianity, without the frills and the fuss.

“That generation is crying out for authenticity. I think there has been a huge shift in reaction and aversion to celebrity Christian culture. There’s been an exposure over the last 10 years, especially of big names and big personalities and big organisations. And I think the Lord was trying to say, ‘That is not what I’m looking for. I’m looking for simplicity, humility. I’m looking for contriteness.’”

What can we learn?

On a personal level, David and other members of his group were impacted by the experience. He says, “Revival has to be all about Jesus – I think when he’s in his rightful place in our lives and in the church, then you have this reviving influence. It was a huge blessing to see that this can happen. Obviously, I believe it can, but actually to see it happen before my eyes, you think, this is accessible. My friend Jack who is 25 said that his impression, when we were walking away, was ‘Why can’t this happen in my home

Asbury Theological Seminary was founded in 1923 by Henry Clay Morrison with a motto of: ‘The Whole Bible for the Whole World.’ One hundred years later, Asbury enrolls more than 1,800 students, representing more than 80 denominations and 50 countries and although multi-denominational, it has its roots firmly in the theological traditions of John Wesley.

Asbury University, which dates further back than the Theological Seminary connected to it, has been known through the years for significant moves of the Holy Spirit that have swept the campus and reached further across the nation. One of the most famous was in February 1970, when classes were cancelled during a 144-hour period of continuous praise and worship. Other instances occurred as far back as the early 20th century, including a two-week period in 1908 when revival broke out while someone prayed in the chapel. Another happened in 1950 when a student testimony led to confessions and testimonies that lasted for 118 hours – it was estimated that 50,000 people found a new experience in Christ as a result.

town?’ And the answer is, it can!”

Others have expressed caution about young people trying to ‘replicate’ the Asbury experience in other places, but David is less concerned. “I don’t think that’s a danger – I think that’s something we welcome. If it fizzles out and doesn’t come to anything, all that’s happened is they’ve got into a room and prayed and worshipped. That can’t be bad.”

When asked if perhaps we in the church are guilty of quenching the Spirit with a lack of space for him to move, David concurs.

“God can’t get into our services because we’ve basically organised them to death. The truth is we don’t really know how to linger. We don’t know how to wait on God; we’re uncomfortable with pauses and we’re uncomfortable when things are off the order of service trajectory. That’s because we’re control freaks.”

David also makes the interesting point that revival often happens outside the established churches.

“Whilst Asbury is a theological college associated with a particular stream in Christendom, it isn’t a church. God has to come outside in order to bless inside. It’s like Laodicea: ‘Behold I stand at the door and knock.’ Jesus is outside the church door trying to get in.”

Another key issue that David identifies is pride versus humility. He believes, “We need to get on our faces and say, ‘Lord, help, would you show us where we’re

Student reactions

The following testimonies from students are taken from the documentary Asbury Outpouring 2023, by Sojourner Films, available to watch on YouTube.

It was showcasing the love of God in so many ways…

Madison Anderson

People have been reminded about the goodness of God and that his presence is special, that it’s holy.

Zeke Akiky

Something I think is incredible – I know this campus very well – it’s small. I know exactly which people in this campus hate each other and those are the people that I have seen praying together, singing

David Legge in ministry

David Legge is the featured speaker for ‘Preach the Word’, a small volunteer internet-based ministry, based in Northern Ireland, which seeks to share sound Bible-teaching with people around the world free of charge. On the website is a wealth of Bible study resources in both audio and text format. To find out more go to: preachtheword.com

David is also the UK advisor to ‘Dwellings’, based in America, which aims to help kingdom-minded but ordinary people to launch small groups and house churches that make space for the presence of Jesus. For more information go to: dwellings.info

The truth is we don’t really know how to linger. We don’t know how to wait on God…

going wrong? Would you show us what we need to do?’ We need to repent and then create an openness for the Holy Spirit to do what he wants to do.”

The ending

After 16 days, the college decided to end the meetings in the Hughes Auditorium, which brought everything to a close. Although a controversial move for some, David understands why this measure was taken, commenting on the fact that this was a small university town without the facilities to support such an international attraction.

together, hugging, crying. I myself have had a list of least favourite people at this school and I have spent the week with them and it’s been totally life-changing.

Alison

Perfater

I really think this is my generation and all generations really crying out for truth in a world that teaches relative truth… this is absolute truth. He is truth, there is truth in his Word and he’s answering our prayers.

Braeden Bisher

You can experience revival in any place. It doesn’t have to be in a chapel. It doesn’t have to be in a church. It’s something you can experience in your everyday life – the Holy Spirit is not contained to one place.

Liam Chesser

Dr Timothy Tennent also remarked, “Every awakening has to transition at some point from the ‘come and see’ phase to the ‘go and tell’ phase. The reason for this is that the gospel is inherently missional…”

There are reports that mission has indeed happened and that God has moved powerfully in other areas, sparked by what happened at Asbury. While discussion on this and further analysis will undoubtedly continue, it is perhaps fitting to finish on the words of Dr Tennent who, during the 16 special days, reflected, “It is first, last and foremost a tribute to the grace of God to reveal himself and to call a new generation to faithfulness at a time when we most needed it.”

I’ve seen people be healed this week. I never thought I’d ever see that in my life. We’re not worshipping the healing. That’s great, and if God chooses to heal, that’s amazing and it’s beautiful and wonderful, but we’re worshipping the One who does heal.

Mia Lush

There’s going to be commissioning services where we say, “Thank you for coming, I’m so glad you experienced and encountered the Holy Spirit. Now go to your family, go to your school, go to your church, go to your community and tell them about it. And pray for them.” And it’s going to happen there too. So while it will fizzle at Asbury because it simply must at some point, I think that it will be very global, for sure.

Alison Perfater

David Legge and his son at Asbury

Sowing, planting & watering

Rick Hill, PCI’s Secretary for the Council of Mission in Ireland, introduces some exciting stories of new church development in Ireland.

There is a danger in viewing church growth like a factory. Put the right processes in place, pass out instructions, follow a formula and out pops the desired outcome. We may know that mission and ministry is not like this in reality, but isn’t it easy to become so consumed with the processes and programmes of the church that we miss responding to what God grows among us?

What if the task of developing new life in the church is more like farming in a field? The apostle Paul compares the process of kingdom growth in this way: “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labour. For we are fellow workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:5–9).

There is a pressing need to plant new churches that reach new people in new places…

These words remind me of the process of church planting, where a combination of people all collaborate in planting the seed of the gospel and watering it through much prayer, perseverance and patience, all with the hope that God would make it grow. Any good farmer knows that more is needed than simply pulling up weeds or harvesting what has already grown. New seed needs to be sown regularly. Watering young plants needs to happen.

In a similar way, the planting of new churches is understood by many missional thinkers to be the best hope for the evangelisation of a nation. Denominational studies confirm the average new church gains most of its new members from those who don’t attend any worshipping body, while churches over 15 years old gain 80% of new members by transfer from other

churches. Church planting reaches new people and as Tim Keller puts it: “New congregations attract a higher percentage of venturesome people who value creativity, risk, innovation and future orientation.”

This is currently happening through the planting of new churches in greater Dublin and within Belfast. Following in the footsteps of more established church plants in Maynooth and Donabate, the more recent developments of Balbriggan, Central and Grace & Hope are examples of congregations with vision beyond their walls, a clearly identified need, a core team released to new work and the resourcing of someone to lead it. The stories of these three church plants are contained in this article with the hope that the whole Church can be deeply encouraged by such new life and pray for more of it.

However, even a quick glance at a current PCI map shows significant gaps across Ireland. Of the top 50 population centres, 17 contain no Presbyterian congregation, including large towns and cities such as Waterford, Limerick and Navan. Whole counties such as

Roscommon, Leitrim, Kerry and Clare lack any Presbyterian witness and of the 500 or so congregations that make up the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, less than 10% of them are found within the provinces of Leinster, Munster and Connacht. That’s less than 40 of our congregations seeking to reach an estimated total of 5.5 million people! There is a pressing need to plant new churches that reach new people in new places, and while there have been small green shoots of growth in this direction in the past decade, it should be our prayer for that which has been sporadic to become a habit. As PCI learns from the past, considers its present and looks to the future, we should desire to plant seeds of the gospel in places and among people where our witness has diminished or even been absent. For that to happen there is a need for presbyteries to carry vision, congregations to send out, pioneer leaders to plant and core teams to water, while being mindful that “neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose… For we are fellow workers in God’s service.” I am encouraged by conversations that are developing in various presbyteries and congregations to consider how nearby towns, villages or large housing areas could be reached. To match that, the Council for Mission in Ireland is working on the development of a clear pathway for mission pioneers who can be assessed, apprenticed, trained and deployed in church planting efforts. A church planters taster day will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023 (venue to be confirmed) to help share these plans and draw people to it. A church planting handbook will also be published to guide congregations with such a vision.

It is our prayer that, through this mix of denominational facilitating, presbytery envisioning and congregational enabling, harvest-white fields will see fresh shoots of growth as the Church postures itself once again with bold faith, creative imagination and courageous action to help plot a pathway to a more dynamic future and ultimately expose people right across this land to the life-changing good news of Jesus Christ.

Balbriggan

Josh McCance

In 2016, as Donabate Presbyterian Church grew and became a little tight for space in its community centre building, under the vision of Rev Andy Carroll, the elders and congregation hoped to plant a new church. We believe it is through the local church that lives are transformed and local people can find out who Jesus is. As we prayed for God’s guidance, it became clear that the nearby town of Balbriggan should be the location as some brilliant families opened their homes and hearts to the idea, sensing God leading them to start a new church in the town. With the help and guidance of Donabate

Presbyterian Church, I investigated starting a new church plant. Over the next four years, a loving community developed as we met for weekly Bible studies in each other’s homes and ran free kids’ camps each summer. It mainly looked like many cups of tea, praying with each other and reading God’s Word together.

In January 2020, we had the privilege of starting weekly Sunday services in Balbriggan Clubs Community Centre with a small group. Nowadays, over 60 people are part of our church community. We come from all over the world at Balbriggan Presbyterian Church – not surprising, since Balbriggan is Ireland’s most diverse town. We are a family, even though we might not have a lot in common.

We believe it is through the local church that lives are transformed…

…in

Balbriggan…we come from 24 different countries – from Peru to Croatia.

In Revelation, we see God’s plan for his diverse people: “After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9–10)

We have a small glimpse of this every Sunday in Balbriggan because we come from 24 different countries – from Peru to Croatia. It has been a joy to grow together in our love for God and each other. We are grateful to everyone who committed to this church from the start and all the people who joined along the way. We pray that we will continue to be united by the gospel and bring the good news of Jesus to the community.

But rather than me tell you, here is what some people say about our church:

“I love belonging to this church because as a new Christian I have

never experienced anything like being a part of this family.” Keith

“Church feels like family. It feels like a real home and gives me a sense of belonging with like-minded brothers and sisters in Christ.” Myra

“I like the fact that you can meet people from all around the world thanks to Jesus! Culturally different but united through him.” Branimir

Central

David Dickinson

Standing in a cold Belfast city centre in early 2016, having just finished another night of Alpha in a Cathedral Quarter coffee shop, I had an encounter with God. It had been another night with lots of people wrestling with questions about faith, doubt, healing, guidance, Jesus and lots more. Over the previous five years we had seen hundreds of people come through Alpha, with many meeting Jesus or renewing a dormant faith. It had been an incredibly encouraging experience, but as I headed towards the car that night, I felt an urge to keep walking. Over the next hour, passing numerous church buildings in the city centre, still with a head full of my small group discussions, I became suddenly aware of a burden for the church’s decline in the city centre and undone with a sense that God was calling us to plant a church there.

Over the next six months a team of nine people came together – some following their own prompting of the Spirit, others who were approached. We began gathering regularly as a core team to pray, wrestle, dream and think through how on earth we would plant a church, what it would look like, and what our values would be. The relevant permissions were sought within our presbytery and our home church in Carnmoney, which encouraged, resourced and released us to go and have a go. And so, in October 2016,

I became suddenly aware of a burden for the church’s decline in the city centre…

Central began meeting on Wednesday nights in the MAC theatre around a vision of “Joining with God and others in the transformation of Belfast as disciples who make disciples.”

Over the past six years much has changed. We have moved venues twice – from the Mac to the ground floor of Assembly Buildings to where we find ourselves now at home in the historic May Street Presbyterian Church building, carrying on the legacy of a kingdom ministry to Belfast for around 200 years. We moved from a Wednesday night to a Sunday afternoon, to now a Sunday morning. We have now grown to a gathering of around 250 people and 35 kids, focused around worship, community and witness. The ministry is diverse as people from every stage and walk of life have plugged in to Central –from the banker to the refugee, the student to the grandparent, those with a strong faith and those walking in through the doors with no faith. We’ve seen lives transformed as people have encountered Jesus. Refugees have found their feet and found a home here.

People have been healed and numerous people’s lives have changed. We’ve seen countless people develop deep, living and real faith in Jesus, community in the church and taking their place in the mission of God.

Covid was really hard, but we are deeply encouraged by what we have seen, particularly over the past 18 months, as we have experienced

growth and wrestled with scaling up our structures to meet that growth and continue to care for people and lead well. This season of life at Central has been marked particularly with two things among the developing congregation – hunger and holiness. And so, as I look forward to the future, I do so with expectation for what God is doing and might want to do in Belfast. Given our short history, and how the church has grown and changed, it’s difficult when looking forward to have any certain goals or strategy. However, with what seems to be swelling up within our community to press into hunger and holiness, my prayer is really pretty simple: more, Lord. I believe that the most significant transformative strategy we could have looking forward is to be a community hungry for more of the presence of God, and orienting our lives around holiness. I hope that, and long for, Central’s future to become just that.

Grace & Hope

Peter Burke

What are the opportunities when two congregations amalgamate? That’s the question West Kirk on the Shankill Road faced in 2020. Crumlin Road Presbyterian was amalgamating with West Kirk. While amalgamation might seem like a negative, it can also provide new opportunities. West Kirk had a desire to use funds from the amalgamation to spearhead further mission in the local area.

At the same time that West Kirk and Crumlin Road were amalgamating, the International Meeting Point (IMP) in north Belfast was growing. IMP had started outreach with refugees and asylum seekers in south Belfast in 2010 and had branched out to North Belfast Presbytery in 2019 through the establishment of the Op Shop at Carlisle Circus, selling

baby and toddler goods and making connections with the community.

A Bible study, English classes and a parents and toddlers group were all established in the Memorial Hall at Carlisle Circus, a property owned by the Urban Mission Trust of North Belfast Presbytery. In 2021, the process was underway that would see Shirley McGonigle appointed as the project coordinator for IMP in north Belfast. Shirley has been able to further the work of IMP, making great connections with the community around Carlisle Circus. As IMP in north Belfast grew, the question began to be asked: when people become interested in Jesus through the work of IMP, where do they go to church?

This question led to conversations between West Kirk and IMP. What if West Kirk was to plant a church at Carlisle Circus? People who had engaged with IMP during the week could then worship God in exactly the

We’ve loved seeing people come to know for the first time the grace and hope of Jesus…

same place on a Sunday. So, in mid2021, a group of 20 people (12 adults, including three West Kirk elders, and eight kids) mainly from West Kirk but also from other congregations began to meet together to pray and think about what church at Carlisle Circus might look like. By the start of 2022, the group sensed God guiding them to open the doors to others. So, on 6 February 2022, Grace & Hope Community Church met for worship for the first time at Carlisle Circus. Over the past year we have been delighted to see God answer prayer. We have seen people living in the local community join with us to worship God on a Sunday. We’ve loved seeing people come to know for the first time the grace and hope of Jesus and to see people grow deeper in that same grace and hope. A standout encouragement has been watching people invite others they have come to know in the community along to church or Alpha.

As we look to the future, we pray that God will give us a strong sense of unity in Christ. We pray that we will put down deep roots into God himself and into the community he has led us to. We long to see a faithful group of Jesus followers rooted in the Carlisle Circus community seeking to know and grow in the grace and hope of Jesus Christ.

Save the date

A church planters taster day will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023 (venue to be confirmed) and a church planting handbook will also be published to guide congregations with a vision for church planting.

TALKING POINTS

Faith and politics

Norman

Hamilton comments on

the

recent media coverage of the Scottish Nationalist Party’s contest for a new leader.

It is something of a modern-day miracle that Kate Forbes has been able to reach and maintain high office in Scotland, and, as a committed Christian, to be only narrowly defeated in the recent contest to become the new leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP). (She declined the offer to serve in the new cabinet shortly afterwards.)

During the election campaign, the reactions to her views ranged from the very illuminating to the very chilling. Kemi Badenoch, the communities secretary in London, said of the backlash: “I think that is sad because I believe in freedom of conscience.” She also commented that she admired Forbes “for not being dishonest” about her faith.

“It’d be very easy for her to tell lies, just so that she could win that election… And she’s not doing that, and I think that that’s something that people need to take into account.”

At the other end of the scale was the chilling comment in an article in The Telegraph newspaper about the Free Church of Scotland, of which Kate Forbes is a member: “It would be unfair to see the Free Church of Scotland as defining itself as against everyone else. But its members know what they believe and the rest of the country must decide whether it can allow them to take part in public life.”

ones. Not to do so, is to take us too far down the road of supporting dictatorship. Furthermore, those who called for her to be ignored or silenced are not only demeaning themselves, but degrading the very basis of political discourse, which thrives on thorough debate about how best to create a healthy society.

In addition, her public and gracious commitment to honesty and integrity sets a high bar for every other elected representative. It is often conveniently forgotten that every single member of parliament or devolved assembly or local council in the UK is formally required to sign up to seven principles of public life – which explicitly include honesty, integrity and a commitment to treat others with respect.

…it is simply a statement of fact that every politician (and every elector) already brings their own values and their own perspectives to everyday politics.

(My emphasis). This antagonism was echoed by the leader of Scotland’s Green Party who spoke of “deeply conservative social values many people thought we had left behind in the 1960s.”

Whether or not you agree with Kate Forbes’ views, I suggest that she must be publicly supported and commended for bringing her Christian convictions to the leadership contest, the Scottish government and to the politics of Holyrood.

During that very polarised election campaign, one key question was whether faith values can and should have any role in politics. Yet it is simply a statement of fact that every politician (and every elector) already brings their own values and their own perspectives to everyday politics. If they don’t, whose values do they bring? And crucially, why are non-faith values so often seen as significantly better than faith ones? The answer to that question is far from obvious, for politics is not a value-free or neutral zone. Kate Forbes has been crystal clear that while she holds clear Christian values, she is more than content to stand by the outcome of the democratic process. That, surely, is democracy at its best.

If we believe in a diverse and tolerant society (and I do), it is crucially important that views with which we might not agree are properly heard, understood and valued, including minority

While the debate played out in the leadership contest for the SNP in Scotland, I suggest that here in Ireland we need to learn many lessons from it, for we have our own share of public scandal – and it is ongoing.

Every time I go to the polling station (and I expect to do so again next month), I am very conscious of Proverbs 14:34: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.” Note the vast implications of those last four words. This means that, in practice, I will only vote for candidates whose honesty and integrity are clear to see. That will count much more than the plans and promises of any candidate or party. I can think of no good reason to vote for any candidate who engages in shoddy politics, promotes lies or half-truths, or demeans anyone else. Indeed, these are so central to my own thinking and Christian values that if I were a voter in Kate Forbes’ constituency of Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, I would probably vote for her even though I would not be a Scottish nationalist.

Though Kate Forbes was not elected leader of the SNP, hopefully, simply by being a serious candidate, she will have helped transform the quality of political debate and policy making much further afield. That indeed would make for a major success. But I am not yet holding my breath.

Rev Dr Norman Hamilton

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

REVIEWS

Jesus Changed My Life

Katy Nichole

CENTRICITY MUSIC

Available via streaming services

This is an extremely impressive debut album from a young rising star. Katy Nichole, who comes from Illinois in the USA, is only 22 years old, but the richness of her musicality and voice, as well as her mature and powerful lyrics, are remarkable in someone her age.

Perhaps this is because Nichole has been through a lot in her young life – experiencing debilitating pain from a scoliosis condition that resulted in her being bedridden and suffering from depression. From this place of darkness, God intervened and she received supernatural healing, the outworking of which is marked all through the album. Nichole’s trust and faith in Jesus is boldly declared and her affirmation of the power of prayer is also strongly present.

Her breakthrough hit, In Jesus’ Name, was written during the pandemic and is penned using words she wrote in her journal at the time, addressing what was going on in the world, but also reflecting her own story of suffering, hope and healing. This song became a viral sensation on Tik Tok and Instagram, clearly resonating deeply with people.

The album has some powerful ballads like God Is In This Story, which also features Big Daddy Weave, and Living Proof. Also included are upbeat tracks like By The Grace of God, which has a country vibe and the joyous title song that unashamedly proclaims the transformation Jesus makes to a person’s life. Overall, this is an excellent album. SH

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

Out of Ireland

Mark O’Neill

EARNSHAW BOOKS

£16.99/Kindle edition

£5.99

This book is a remarkable story about the author, Mark O’Neill, a journalist with Belfast family connections who understood little of this place until he was sent to Belfast by the BBC.

Mark is the grandson of Very Rev F.W.S. O’Neill, one of PCI’s most distinguished missionaries in China. Mark knew almost nothing about his grandfather until he was interviewing Rev Jack Weir (Clerk of the General Assembly and former missionary in China) about the Troubles. Mark’s father Desmond had turned his back on the church, perhaps because his parents left him in Belfast to be educated while they returned to China. He subsequently buried his Belfast connections and became a successful Anglophile consultant in London.

Mark O’Neill now lives and works in Hong Kong and speaks, writes and reads Chinese. I met him for the first time in 2005 when I was in China making television programmes for the BBC about the church in China. Mark accompanied us to Faku, a remote town where his grandparents had spent most of their lives as missionaries from 1897 until they were expelled in 1942 under the Japanese occupation of Manchuria. We found the congregation alive and well.

The book is about the contribution that people from Ireland have made in China and Hong Kong and more recently, the way in which the soft power of the Irish government has facilitated commercial transactions in China and Hong Kong to the great benefit of those involved, as well as to the Irish exchequer.

Mark will give a talk on his book at Malone Presbyterian on Wednesday 5 July at 2.30pm. JD

A Mucky Business

Tim Farron with Josh Price, Jo Latham, Megan Mills, Micah Parmour and Daniel Payne IVP

£10.45

The lead author, Tim Farron, is a Liberal Democrat MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale who served as party leader through the 2016 referendum and 2017 general election. He stood down as party leader when he found it increasingly difficult to sustain this position while remaining a faithful Christian. Despite this, the book makes the case for Christians to become involved in politics because he believes “that politics is a world where we can do good, serve people and honour God”.

The book divides into three parts. Farron first analyses the main reasons why Christians steer clear of politics: because we are scared; because we believe things are not as they used to be; and because we don’t speak the language.

Part two makes the case for Christian engagement with politics that touch every part of our lives whether we engage or not. Jesus showed concern for the ill, the hungry, the destitute and the homeless. He looked on the city of Jerusalem with compassion and in the Old Testament we find Jeremiah encouraging the Jewish exiles to seek the welfare of the city.

Part three illustrates how we can become involved – which doesn’t necessarily mean standing for public office. Farron encourages us to pray for our public representatives and to find ways to contribute to the welfare of our communities.

This is an easy read that makes a compelling case for Christian engagement in the political life and suggests practical steps that we can take to make this a reality.

REVIEWERS

IH – Ian Hart is minister emeritus of Great Victoria Street Presbyterian

LS – Lisa Skinner is an elder in Kirkpatrick Memorial Presbyterian

Ian Paisley as I Knew Him

William Brown

BTP BOOKS

£15

This is an important book. It is a mine of fascinating first-hand information, and a careful evaluation (even a devastating critique) of someone who had a huge influence on our province and also did his utmost to destroy our Church.

Ian Paisley’s starting point was his astonishing belief that there was a global conspiracy to destroy evangelical Protestantism and also the state of Northern Ireland, led by the Roman Catholic Church, the World Council of Churches, the EU and all mainline Protestant churches (with their “Romeward trend”).

Accordingly, from the early 1950s he was preaching fiery sermons stirring up anti-Catholic emotions, and a decade before the Provisional IRA was established, he was involved in setting up a plethora of organisations whose names all included words like ‘action’, ‘force’, ‘defence’ and ‘volunteers’.

This book, by a long-standing member of PCI, deals thoroughly with Paisley’s theology and church activity. Throughout his long ministry, he preached that PCI was apostate and urged its members to leave it and join his Free Presbyterian Church (and many did). His theology was an odd mixture – in spite of the Presbyterian label he didn’t practise infant baptism and he preached that we are living in the time of the final “falling away”, while claiming he was spearheading a great revival.

The book also leaves me sadly wondering about the extent to which his extreme politico-religion still lingers in our society and in our Church.

SH – Sarah Harding is the editor of the Presbyterian Herald

JD – Very Rev Dr John Dunlop is a former PCI Moderator

EJ – Edgar Jardine is chair of the Stranmillis University College Governing Board

My Story Your Glory

Matthew West

PROVIDENT ENTERTAINMENT

Available via streaming services «««««

Matthew West is a five-time Grammy nominee singer-songwriter from Nashville. This 22-track album is his first double disc, showcasing what a prolific and motivated writer he is. It is also cleverly set out in two parts – the first relates to ‘My Story’ with songs that are more personal and speak of God working in our lives,

If You Forget Everything Else Remember This

Katharine Hill

MUDDY PEARL

£9.99

“I don’t need any advice on how to navigate the primary years with my children”, said no one ever!

Here, in the latest book by Katharine Hill, speaker, broadcaster, author and most significantly mum of four, she shares wisdom on navigating the trenches otherwise known as parenting in the primary years. This is a book for any and every parent with the same worries: how

and the second is about ‘Your Glory’, vertical worship songs to praise God’s name.

Without doubt, the standout track for me was Wonderful Life, which is written about a man called Ron, whom West met over Zoom in 2020. Ron was suffering from ALS and dementia, hereditary conditions that had already taken some family members from him. The official music video features Ron and although it is heart-breaking to watch and very emotional (tissues will be needed!), it is also incredibly inspiring and challenging. West has written a beautifully poignant song to honour Ron, but it also reminds us of the wonderful gift of life.

There are some thumping anthems of praise included on the album like How Good of God, Jesus is Better, What A Day and the title track. There are also some lovely quieter, reflective pieces like You Changed My Name and I Trust Jesus. With such a plethora of choice, there should be something here to suit everyone.

SH

much screen time should they have? How disciplined should I be? What if other parents make different choices to mine? How will my child feel loved? What if I can’t make an all-singing, all-dancing birthday cake?

This book is an enjoyable read because the scenarios resonate so strongly and the bite-sized chapters contain humorous anecdotes and witty illustrations. Katherine is open and honest and she spends time highlighting the needs of the parent as well as that of the child. She also identifies the obstacles we can put in other parents’ paths and explores the varying demands on a range of family types, as well as children’s different personalities and capabilities. It’s fair to say she covers all bases.

Bible passages are referenced in the book but this is not a theological treatise on parenting. Nonetheless, love and grace are at the heart of the advice given. No one can be the perfect parent, but the wisdom shared here might just move us further towards this.

LS

LIFE IN PCI

Cahans Meeting House lives again

In 1972, three small Presbyterian congregations in Monaghan were merged together: Cahans, First Ballybay and Derryvalley. First Ballybay became the place of worship, Derryvalley became the church hall and Cahans closed down and fell into poor repair.

By 1997, the building was close to dereliction when the Ballybay historian the late Peadar Murnane suggested something should be done to preserve the 1840 church building. A cross-community committee was formed and peace and reconciliation funding allowed a feasibility study to be carried out. Progress was slow but a Monaghan County Council heritage grant enabled re-roofing in 2010.

In 2022, due to further grants and donations, more renovations took place. In November, the new look Cahans Meeting House was ready for an evening with the Celtic Psalms group and in early December the launch of the second edition of Full Circle: A Story of Ballybay Presbyterians, updated to 2022.

Plans are well developed for an exhibition (partly grant aided by the Ulster Scots Agency) that will tell aspects of the Cahans story since

1750, including the ‘Cahans exodus’, the years when Cahans was used as a Seceder theological school, the Waddell brothers, Hope Masterton (missionary in Jamaica and West Africa) and William Charles, Co Monaghan coroner before, during and after the Great Irish Famine.

Cahans Meeting House lives again and a new era has begun. Monaghan Presbyterian congregational life has experienced a considerable recovery in fellowship and witness to the wider community, not least in the Ballybay area.

The committee intends to arrange a programme of events that will promote understanding of the diversity so evident in today’s Ireland, the place of minorities in wider society, a deeper awareness of Presbyterianism and the central place of the grace of God in Jesus Christ for Presbyterian people.

Individuals and organised groups will be welcome to visit, such visits to be pre-arranged since Cahans Meeting House will not be open other than for events and visits.

Explore the website: cahans.ie

Retirement presentation at Cumber

Mr Eric Christie was clerk of session for eight years at the Londonderry congregation and has dedicated much of his life to the work of the church within various organisations. On Sunday 19 February, the convener, Rev Stephen Hibbert, and the new clerk of session, Cecil Pollock, presented Eric with a commemorative plaque to recognise his years of service and wished God’s richest blessing on him and wife Mary in the years that follow.

Ryans congregation expresses thanks

Rev Brian Colvin, minister of Ryans congregation in Newry, is pictured making a presentation to Mrs Andrea Magill, who kindly stepped in as pianist for a year while the congregation sought a new organist.

Balteagh Presbyterian marks 200th anniversary

Rev James Clarke (minister emeritus) and Rev Gary Aitcheson, minister of the Limavady congregation, are pictured at a celebratory dinner for senior members, held recently to mark the commencement of a year of praise and thanksgiving to God for his faithfulness to the congregation of Balteagh over the last 200 years. A number of events are organised for throughout the year with the theme being ‘Great is Thy Faithfulness’.

50 years of service in Dunluce

Rev Alan Buick, minister of Dunluce Presbyterian, with Mr Robert McIlroy, clerk of session, who recently completed 50 years as an elder in the Co Antrim church.

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

Birthday milestone in Castledawson

Moderator Dr John Kirkpatrick celebrates Henry Fulton’s 100th birthday in Castledawson, Tyrone Presbytery, alongside minister, Rev John Mullan.

Celebration of 20 years of ministry in Seaview

A presentation was recently given to Rev Eddie Hyndman on the 20th anniversary of him becoming minister of Seaview Presbyterian Church in North Belfast Presbytery. (L–R) the Hyndman family: Joel, Lynne, Eddie and Ruth.

Ballygrainey welcomes new minister

Ballygrainey Presbyterian Church in Co Down welcomed Rev James Rogers as its new minister at a service of installation held on 3 February. Pictured are Paula Burrows, deaconess, Rev James Rogers and wife Karen and family, Hannah, Andrew, Jonny, Sarah, and Brian McDowell, clerk of session.

100th birthday for Joymount member

Former Moderator Dr Michael Barry and Rev Gabrielle Farquhar (vacancy convener of Joymount, Carrickfergus) with Felix McAllister who celebrated his 100th birthday with family and friends on 31 December 2022.

100th birthday at Ballycrochan

Moderator Dr John Kirkpatrick and wife Joan visited Morrell Murphy, a member of the Bangor congregation on the occasion of his 100th birthday. Morrell served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War and survived the sinking of his ship, the HMS Capel.

Retirement in Enniskillen

Rev David Cupples, who has retired as minister of Enniskillen Presbyterian Church after over 35 years’ service, and his wife Rosie are pictured receiving gifts from members of the congregation to mark the event. Included are (front row) Matthew and Hannah Elliott and (back row L–R) Pamela Rainey, Sam Robinson, Tom Harpur and Kate Doherty, clerk of session.

New elders in Orangefield

Six elders were ordained in Orangefield congregation by a commission of East Belfast Presbytery. New elders (front row L–R): Jose Cummings, Hannah Elliott, Naomi Campbell, Gavin Doherty, Sarah McCullough and Peter Shields. Commission (back row L–R): Aubrey Bell, Martin Hampton (deputy clerk of presbytery), Rev Mervyn Burnside (moderator of presbytery), Rev Drew Gibson (convener), Rev Stephen Moore (clerk of presbytery), Rev Robin Aiken, Fred McKee and Rosemary Hamilton.

Cavanaleck and Aughentaine ordains and installs new elders

Three new elders were recently ordained and installed in Cavanaleck and Aughentaine Presbyterian Churches in Omagh Presbytery. Pictured (L–R) are: Dr C McKibben (Cavanaleck clerk of session) Lorraine Bleakley, Valerie Adams, Rev David Curran (minister), Stephen Erskine and John McCrory (Aughentaine clerk of session).

Celebration and thanksgiving service at First Antrim

On Sunday 29 January, First Antrim congregation marked the completion of some significant building work with a celebration and thanksgiving service, with Moderator Dr John Kirkpatrick as guest speaker. Front row (L–R): Robin Parkes (roofing specialist), Robin Kirkpatrick (1st Antrim capital build team leader), David Black (electrical engineer), Dr John Kirkpatrick (Moderator), Mrs Joan Kirkpatrick, Jonathan Cleary (Cleary Contracting). Back row (L–R): Mark Finlay (Kennedy Fitzgerald Architects), Maurice Douglas (mechanical engineer), Edwin McCullough (Rainey and Best cost consultants), Craig Russell (Cleary Contracting) and Rev Stephen Lockington (minister of First Antrim).

75th annual parade and enrolment for First Castlederg BB

Pictured at First Castlederg Boys’ Brigade’s 75th annual parade and enrolment in Co Tyrone, are four generations of the Rutledge family who have served or are currently serving in First Castlederg Boys’ Brigade. Joe, who was a founder member of the company in 1947, is pictured with his sons Norman and Robert, grandsons Stephen and Richard and greatgrandson Raymond.

compiled by Harry Douglas

Giving peas a chance in Malawi

Ahead of Christian Aid Week this month, Lisa Fagan tells the story of Esther Saizi from Malawi who has been turning her life around with pigeon peas.

Malawi is Africa’s largest producer of pigeon peas. This versatile, low-cost, protein-rich and droughtresistant crop has been maligned in Malawi –regarded as ‘desperation’ food and only eaten when there is no alternative. But with the support of Christian Aid’s local partner, one widowed grandmother is making her children’s dreams come true with this humble pulse.

Esther

selling as part of the cooperative, she was connected to better buyers and was able to fetch much more. She is one of more than 3,300 farmers helped by the Nandolo Farmers’ Association to get a better price for their crop.

has seen a remarkable reversal in her fortunes

since…she joined a pigeon pea cooperative…

Esther Saizi is lively, chatty and full of laughter. When we first meet the 54-yearold grandmother, she is baking bread with pigeon pea flour. With the money she earns growing pigeon peas and selling bread made from the flour, Esther is helping her elder daughter grow her carpentry business and supporting her younger daughter’s education, hopeful that one day she will become a nurse. The money is also paying nursery school fees for her four-year-old grandson.

But Esther’s broad smile hides much sorrow and hardship. Two years ago, Esther’s husband passed away and she struggled to come to terms with his loss. On top of that, Esther lives in Malawi, one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world and smallholder farmers like her are on the frontline, beset by harsh drought and extreme weather.

Thankfully, she was spared the worst effects of Cyclone Freddy, the longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record, which devastated Malawi in February and March. However, just a year earlier, Cyclone Ana washed away many of Esther’s crops, leaving her feeling desperate.

Even the war thousands of miles away in Ukraine impacts Esther, driving up the price of staple foods and fertiliser. Despite these difficulties, Esther has seen a remarkable reversal in her fortunes since 2019, when she joined a pigeon pea cooperative run by Christian Aid’s local partner, the Nandolo Farmers’ Association.

Esther had been growing pigeon peas for eight years before joining the cooperative, but she’d never been able to secure a fair price for her crop. Exploitative middlemen target isolated farmers like her to gain a sale at very low prices. But when Esther started

Another benefit of Esther’s membership of the cooperative is that she is able to store her pigeon peas in a communal warehouse, safe from storms and floods. Instead of having to sell her crop immediately after harvest and accept a bad price, the store allows her to wait until prices have improved. The programme also helped Esther to restore her soil fertility and boost her harvests. Esther, who is now a chairperson of the cooperative, told us: “Before I joined the programme, I grew pigeon peas, but I wasn’t aware that I could make some reasonable money out of it.” With her profits, Esther began buying goats and today her herd has grown to 13. The goats provide milk and meat to support her family as well as manure for her crops, which saves on expensive fertiliser. Esther even used her income to buy a sewing machine and now she makes clothes for her family. She tells us that growing pigeon peas has even helped her through the difficult times she has faced since losing her husband. Although she misses him greatly, the programme gives her the security to provide for her family.

Lisa Fagan is the communications officer at Christian Aid Ireland.

Christian Aid Week

Christian Aid Week is 14–20 May. Visit caweek.ie to find out more about how your gifts can help build better futures for people around the world, and give peas a chance with the family-friendly Big Pea Challenge. You can download a range of resources to help you knit, grow, crochet and cook your own peas to raise funds for farmers in Malawi and beyond.

Esther and other members of the cooperative run by Christian Aid’s partner.

In the rough

Ruth Sanderson

People fall into two categories. Golfers and non-golfers. I think it’s safe to say I am an enthusiastic non-golfer. Ironic, given the fact that I now live in ‘the home of golf’, have many golf playing friends and as a student even worked in the hallowed halls of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club in St Andrews. It was a fairly odd place to work as a 19-year-old. At that time, there was strictly no admittance for women and non-members were only permitted if accompanied for their entire stay by a reputable member.

However, while life out on the 18th hole was bracing and sporty, there were many old boys in worn leather armchairs sitting in the smoky, quiet, oak-lined clubhouse who looked like they hadn’t been outside since the actual invention of golf itself. Many of the members were dukes, baronets, lords – the great and good of society (who could also afford the annual fee).

Into this bastion of old school maleness my good friend Gráinne and I skipped through the front door every day to work in the clubhouse shop. We were just two of a handful of women who were allowed in. Heaven forbid men should work in the merchandise shop!

were in town. However, they often came and found us in the shop to tell us when they had had a particularly terrible customer. So much so that we nicknamed the shop, which was one room and had no windows, ‘the confessional’.

…you can tell someone’s true character by how they are when they are in the rough, so

to speak.

Gráinne was from Dublin, so between us we both got more and more Irish as the day went on. The posher the customers, the broader we became. It unusually enough became a winning sales technique. We seemed to be charmingly exotic enough to sell record levels of branded jumpers and silver-plated pens. The fact that both of us were also young and blonde probably had a bit to do with it too to be honest.

One day, we were standing having a good old natter, while pretending to dust, when a senior member of the royal family walked in. We barely looked up from our conversation.

“I’d like a tie please,” he demurred.

Gráinne was quick as a flash.

“Silk or polyester?” she asked, in a thick Dublin brogue.

The HRH looked a little taken back and made a noise slightly resembling a turkey.

“Urgh, what’s the difference?”

“The price,” Gráinne shrugged. He bought two of them. One of each.

Other friends of ours worked there too as caddies. They made an absolute fortune in tips, especially when the Americans, who seemed to enjoy tipping more than their British counterparts,

Every so often, our caddy friends would tell us about golfers who had hit bad shots and thrown their clubs across the green, or hit the ground repeatedly, leaving divots that the poor greenkeepers would have to sort out. These were invariably never the members themselves, but golf tourists who had paid a great deal of money to play the old course. Once, one man threw such a wobbler when he hit his ball into the rough that after a considerable tantrum, he stalked across all the greens, back to the clubhouse, swearing loudly as he went. No tip for our caddy mate that day. The thing is, caddies are there to help, and if the man had kept his calm and listened to our friend’s advice, then his ball would soon have plopped back on to the green. I was thinking about this the other day. About how often you can tell someone’s true character by how they are when they are in the rough, so to speak. When we hit hard times in life, do we blame others, rant and rave, throw our golf clubs on the ground and retreat back to the clubhouse? Do we blame God? How often do we find ourselves saying, “Why, oh why did you let that happen?!” How many of us are actively angry with God? How many of us are just angry and don’t even know who or what to direct it at? Like that golfer who lost his cool, how many of us can’t see a way out of the rough and are full of rage because of it? Like him, we need to listen, to quietly consider the position we find our ball in and ask for someone else’s wisdom to get it out. After all, if that man had only asked, the caddie, who even carried his clubs, could have told him exactly what he needed to do to have a winning shot.

Philippians 4 tells us: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

We can ask the One who knows everything, not just about our situations or our needs, but about everything in all of history – past, present and future – we can ask him how best to get out of the rough.

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.

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.

BALLYMENA, FIRST:

REV N.A.L. CAMERON: Mr Tom Heaney, 109 Loughmagarry Road, Ballymena, BT43 6ST.

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.

BELMONT:

REV T.J. STOTHERS: Mr Christopher Steele, 1 Hawthornden Drive, Belfast, BT4 2HG.

COLERAINE, NEW ROW:

REV R.D. GREGG: Mr Adrian Cochrane, 12 Cambridge Park, Coleraine, BT52 2QT.

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.

DUN LAOGHAIRE: (Reviewable Tenure – 7 years)

REV A.J. BOAL: Mrs Dorothy Shanahan, 1 Holmwood, Brennanstown, Cabinteely, D18 T2T5.

GARDENMORE:

REV B.S. PRESTON: Dr Philip Shepherd, 1 Huntersbuoy Lane, Larne, BT40 2HH.

GARVAGH, MAIN ST and KILLAIG:

REV KNOX JONES: (Garvagh, Main St) Mr Alan Farlow, 39 Ballynameen Road, Garvagh, BT51 5PN. (Killaig) Mr Ivan McKane, 27 Cashel Road, Macosquin, Coleraine, BT51 4PW.

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.

KNOCK:

REV R.J. BEGGS: Mr Hugo Wilson, 5 Finchley Gardens, Belfast, BT4 2JB.

LECUMPHER and MAGHERAFELT, UNION ROAD:

REV J.A. MARTIN: (Lecumpher) Mr Sammy Thompson, 10 Ballynagowan Road, Desertmartin, BT45 5LH. (Magherafelt, Union Road) Mr Ian Francis, 32 Caraloan Road, Magherafelt, BT45 6NW.

LOWE MEMORIAL:

REV DR D.J. McKELVEY: Dr Moyna Bill, 6 Old Coach Avenue, Belfast, BT9 5PY.

McQUISTON MEMORIAL: (Reviewable Tenure – 7 years)

REV DR COLIN BURCOMBE: Mr Ken Galbraith, 14 Millars Forge, Dundonald, Belfast, BT16 1UT.

RALOO and MAGHERAMORNE: (Reviewable Tenure – 7 years)

REV D.R. CROMIE: (Raloo) Mr Geoff McBride, 72 Raloo Road, Larne, BT40 3DU. (Magheramorne) Mr Morris Gardner, 89 Ballypollard Road, Magheramorne, Larne, BT40 3JG.

RATHFRILAND, FIRST:

REV C.G. HARRIS: Mr David Scott, 13 Sleepy Valley, Rathfriland, Newry, BT34 5HL.

SAINTFIELD, FIRST: (Reviewable Tenure – 7 years)

REV B.A. SMALL: Mr Paul Jackson, 20 The Grange, Saintfield, BT24 7NF.

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.

TOBERKEIGH and RAMOAN:

REV R. W. GASTON: (Toberkeigh) Mr Jim Kane, 67A Ballinlea Road, Ballinlea Upper, Ballycastle, BT54 6NN. (Ramoan) Mr Robert Getty, 23 Carrowcroey Road, Armoy, Ballymoney, BT53 8UH.

WARINGSTOWN:

REV R.L. BROWN: Mr David Crawford, 148 Avenue Road, Lurgan, BT66 7BJ.

2. LEAVE TO CALL DEFERRED

CLADYMORE and TASSAGH:

REV R.I. ABRAHAM: (Cladymore) Mr David Wilson, 73 Kilmachugh Road, Mowhan, Armagh, BT60 2EN. (Tassagh) Mr Philip Crozier, 68 Bachelors Walk, Keady, Armagh, BT60 2NA.

DROMORE and DRUMQUIN:

REV E.T. FRAZER: (Dromore) Mr Lynden Keys, 25 New Park Road, Dromore, Omagh, BT78 3JU. (Drumquin) Dr Paul Booth, 231 Tummery Road, Irvinestown, BT78 3UF.

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.

TYRONE’S DITCHES:

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

3. DECLARED VACANT

ARMAGH, FIRST:

REV G.R. MULLAN: Mr Ian Kyle, 8 Drummanmore Road, Armagh, BT61 8RN.

BALLEE:

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

BALLINA, KILLALA & BALLYMOTE: (Home Mission)

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

BALLYCASTLE & CROAGHMORE:

REV DR ANDRE ALVES-AREIAS: (Ballycastle) Pat Shirley, 22 Dunamallaght Rd, Ballycastle BT54 6PB. (Croaghmore) Andy McGugan, 158 Whitepark Road, Bushmills, BT57 8SS.

BALLYNURE:

REV D.J. KELLY: Mr George Clarke, Kinnen House, 70 Ballyvallagh Road, Gleno, BT40 3NA.

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.

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

CASTLEROCK:

REV D.H. BROWN: Miss Heather McSparran, 26 Freehall Road, Castlerock, BT51 4TR.

CLONTIBRET and MIDDLETOWN:

REV J.H. HANSON: (Clontibret) Mr S.R. Gray, Legnacrieve, Castleshane, Co Monaghan, H18 DN20. (Middletown) Mr David McElnea, 45 Madden Road, Armagh, BT60 3LJ.

CRUMLIN:

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

CUMBER and UPPER CUMBER:

REV S.W. HIBBERT: (Cumber) Mr Eric Christie, 43 Gorse Road, Killaloo, Londonderry, BT47 3SS. (Upper Cumber) Mr Jack McFarland, 12 Cregg Road, Claudy, Londonderry, BT47 4HX.

DROMARA, SECOND:

REV D.H. GILPIN: Mr Herbert Chambers, 29 Stewarts Road, Dromara, BT25 2AN.

DROMORE, FIRST:

REV ANDREW FAULKNER: Mr John Wilkinson, 10 Island Hill, Dromara Road, BT25 1HA.

DUNDROD:

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

ENNISCORTHY and WEXFORD: (Home Mission)

REV M.R.J. ANDERSON: (Enniscorthy) Mr Ian Gibson “Tanglewood”, Monart, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford. (Wexford) c/o Mr Ian Gibson.

ENNISKILLEN:

REV G.M. ANDRICH: Miss Kate Doherty, Tiernisk, Drumgay, Enniskillen, BT74 4GH.

FAHAN (Home Mission) and WATERSIDE:

REV G.A. McCRACKEN: (Fahan) Mr James Lamberton, 1 Deanfield, Limavady Road, Londonderry, BT47 6HY. (Waterside) Mr William McIlwaine, 19 Glenaden Hill, Altnagelvin Park, Londonderry, BT47 2LJ.

GLASTRY and KIRKCUBBIN:

REV A. GILICZE: Mr James McClements.

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.

GORTNESSY:

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

HYDEPARK & LYLEHILL:

REV C.K. McDOWELL: (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.

KILMAKEE:

REV ROBERT LOVE: Miss Aileen Irvine, 5 Aberdelghy Park, Lambeg, Lisburn, BT27 4QF.

KILREA, SECOND:

REV DR CLIVE GLASS: Mr John McIlrath, 9 Moyagoney Road, Kilrea, Coleraine, BT51 5SX.

MONEYDIG:

REV DR S.D.H. WILLIAMSON: 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.

NEWTOWNBREDA:

REV ANDY GALBRAITH: Sir Bruce Robinson, 3 Deramore Drive, Belfast, BT9 5JQ.

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.

RASHARKIN:

REV A.J. McCRACKEN: Mr Norbury Royle, 96 Drumsaragh Road, Kilrea, BT51 5XR.

RATHCOOLE:

REV A.K. DUDDY: 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.

SPA and MAGHERAHAMLET:

REV D.F. LEAL: (Spa) Acting Clerk – Mr Stephen McBride, 28 Ballynahinch Road, Castlewellan, BT31 9PA. (Magherahamlet) Mr David Whan, 74 Castlewellan Road, Dromara, BT25 2JN.

TULLYCARNET:

REV R.S.J. McILHATTON:

VINECASH:

REV P.W.A. McCLELLAND: Mr Thomas Graham, 38 Richmount, Portadown, BT62 4JQ.

WHITEHEAD:

REV N.W. DUDDY: Ms Helen Graham, 4 Kilcarn, Islandmagee, BT40 3PJ.

TEMPORARY STATED SUPPLY ARRANGEMENT

BALLYCAIRN:

REV WILLIAM HARKNESS: Mr Brian Milligan, 19 Glenariff Drive, Dunmurry, BT17 9AZ.

BELLVILLE:

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

CARNLOUGH-CUSHENDALL and NEWTOWNCROMMELIN:

REV J.A. BEATTIE: (Carnlough-Cushendall) Mr Norman McMullan, 91 Ballymena Road, Carnlough, BT44 0LA. (Newtowncrommelin) Mr James Gillan, 67 Gracefield, Ballymena, BT42 2RP.

GRANGE with CRAIGMORE:

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

NEWTOWNSTEWART and GORTIN (Home Mission):

REV JONATHAN COWAN: (Newtownstewart) Mr James Baxter, 22 Strabane Road, Newtownstewart, Omagh, BT78 4BD. (Gortin) Mr Adrian Adams, 32 Lisnaharney Road, Lislap, Omagh, BT79 7UE.

THE ELDERSHIP

Ordained & Installed:

BALLYNAHINCH, FIRST: Ann Armstrong, Joanne McFadzean

NEWTOWNCUNNINGHAM: Louise Hamilton, Michael Roulston

RAMELTON: John Birney Stewart

RAY: Clive Johnston, Christine McElhinney

Died:

BAILIEBOROUGH, TRINITY: Ronald Clarke

BALLYCAIRN: Rosaline Ruffle

BALLYMENA, FIRST: Samuel Wilson

BUCKNA: Robert Grahame Robinson

BUSHMILLS: Billy Chambers

CULNADY: Alan McGinnis

DRUM: John Stewart

HILLSBOROUGH: William Marshall McMaster

EGLISH: Eakin Kyle

KNOWHEAD: Robert Ross (Robin) Mackey

CHURCH RECORD

continued from page 49

THE ELDERSHIP (cont)

Died:

MAGHERAMASON: Lorna McNeely

NEWCASTLE: Brownlow McClean

SCARVA STREET: Frank Hodgen

WOODBURN: Thomas Weatherup

THE MINISTRY

Installed:

Jonathan McKane, as Minister of New Row, Coleraine on 24 March 2023

Anne Tolland, as Minister of Regent Street, Newtownards on 31 March 2023

Resigned:

Jonathan McKane, as Minister of First Dromore on 23 March 2023

Raymond McKibbin, as Minister of Glascar and Donaghmore on 10 March 2023

Anne Tolland, as Minister of Newtownbreda on 30 March 2023

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–Sept. Call 07513 826551, Email: pabloguy50@ gmail.com. Facebook: @ campbellandcorentalproperties

PORTRUSH : Excellent 3-bed first floor apartment available for holiday letting with partial sea view located on Ballyreagh Road. No pets. Min of two nights booking. Contact 07730 159553 or 07769 600382.

CROSSWORD

PORTSTEWART: Sea Holly Lodge. Modern luxury bungalow, presented to the highest standard, 3 bedrooms (1 en-suite). Garden front and rear, TV/video, WiFi, washing machine, dryer. No smoking, no pets. High and low season. Tel: Tommy or Hannah Collins 028 29540645, Mobile: 07989 397942.

PORTSTEWART : Beautiful 3-bedroom house available for summer rental June to September. Very close proximity to beach and town centre. Contact Denise 07738 632366.

PORTSTEWART: 3 Bedroom second floor apartment, in Montague Court area. A peaceful area with ample parking always available and a short distance to all the local attractions Portstewart has to offer. Apartment is modern and spacious with a kitchen which will have all equipment needed. One bedroom has an ensuite with shower and then a family bathroom with bath. Fresh bedding and towels supplied along with Wi-Fi . Call Lizzie 07796 543070.

PORTSTEWART : Tourist Board approved, 3-bedroom terrace house, Upper Heathmount, Portstewart. Ideally located. 2 minutes walking distance to the Promenade. Available 17th June–8th July, 2023. Tel: 07810 797415.

PORTSTEWART: Holiday House to rent in Portstewart opposite the Baptist Church. Two double beds and a bunk bed. Adults preferable. No internet or freezer. Very clean large house. Bed linen and towels included. Very convenient to Portstewart. Ring 07803 143874.

PORTSTEWART : Holiday rental in Portstewart town centre. 3-bedroom apartment sleeps 5 with full sea views. £950 per week. Please contact Trevor on 07921 753002 or email trevor@jtm.org.uk for photographs.

Church AV Specialists

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Attention All Groups

Looking for speakers for next session?

Why not consider The Smiles Foundation, a registered charity, motivated by deep Christian commitment to work among the poor and vulnerable in Romania.

To arrange a local speaker for your group, contact: Adrian Pogue – Ballymena – 07709 578950 adrian.pogue@thesmilesfoundation.org

Anne Kane – Ballymoney – 07742 324817 aekane@hotmail.co.uk

The Smiles Foundation, PO Box HK70, Leeds LS11 6YR Telephone: 0113 276 5060 Email: info@thesmilesfoundation.org

Charity 1087961 Web: www.thesmilesfoundation.org

Hoping... to be in a relationship?

Services available throughout Ireland

Tel: +44 (0)28 9268 9468 Mobile: 07788 746992

PORTRUSH: Cosy holiday home available a few minutes’ walk from beaches and golf courses. Can accommodate 4 adults and 2 children. Min 2 nights. Reasonable rates. Tel: 07735 928901.

PORTRUSH: Holiday home (Magheraboy Area) 4 bedrooms, sleep 8. Close to shops, quiet cul-de-sac. Enclosed back garden. No Pets. NITB approved. Tel: 028 40669198.

PORTSTEWART HARBOUR: 2-bedroom apartment to let. May, June and September availability. Tel: 07753 718494.

PORTSTEWART HOLIDAY LET : Townhouse, 3 Bedrooms. 2 minute walk to Promenade. WiFi. Full Details Tel: 07800 802662.

PORTRUSH : Excellent self catering spacious 4-bedroom chalet bungalow, Magheraboy Road, Portrush. Available 8–15 July. Five minutes to the beach by car. Email: ataf.millar@btinternet.com

Seeking... someone who shares your faith? Finding... it difficult to meet the right person? Then call

+44 (0)28 9600 0186

Ireland’s foremost introduction agency for Christians www.friends1st.co.uk

Republic of Ireland

CO DONEGAL : 3-bedroom farmhouse to rent for holiday accommodation all year round. Pets welcome. 1 mile from Carndonagh town centre. 10 minutes from beautiful local beaches and Ballyliffen golf course. Tel: 00353 749374227; Mob: 08684 48955. €80 per night.

Self Catering

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION: FLORIDA – Disney 20 mins, heated pool etc. SPAIN – East coast, minutes to beach, public travel by bus or tram. NORTHERN IRELAND – North coast, Portstewart, sea views. Contact: geraldsmyth@hotmail.com Web: www.christiancoastalapartments.com

Ross Morrow A.L.C.M., L.T.C.L. Piano Tuning

Trinity Presbyterian Church Bangor is seeking to appoint a Coordinator of Youth & Children’s Ministry

We are looking for an individual with a heart for Jesus and the passion and skills for working with and discipling our young people. The successful candidate will join our ministry team in Trinity, as together we seek to develop a faith community of disciples, who want to become more like Jesus and to introduce others to Him.

The post is full-time (37.5 hours per week) for 3 years with the possibility of extension.

The starting salary will be based on the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s APP Salary Scale Band B point 1 (£25,522).

Please be aware that this post requires evening and weekend work.

For further information please contact: Rev. Stephen Orr - minister@trinitybangor.org.uk

Application Forms are available from: secretary@trinitybangor.org.uk

Closing date for applications to be returned is 5pm Friday 26th May 2023.

DONATION ENVELOPES

22-Dec-2024

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THE CASE STUDY

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DIRECTOR

Five out of six Christians come to faith before the age of twenty-five. This, along with the fact that our third level institutions are shaping future culture and training its leaders, makes student ministry both highly strategic and exciting.

Christian Unions Ireland (CUI) is made up of students, staff and supporters. Together, we engage in mission and together our vision is to give every student in Ireland an opportunity to respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Most campuses and colleges on the island of Ireland now have a missional community (Christian Union) lead by students, resourced by staff and helped financially and prayerfully by supporters.

We are now looking for the next person who will lead Christian Unions Ireland and build on the momentum of the last one hundred years of students meeting in Christian Unions in Ireland.

This new Director of CUI will be responsible for:

• Development and implementation of CUI’s strategic plans & objectives

• Leadership of the staff team

• Development of relationships with supporters,

• Maintenance of a persuasive Christian voice in the wider culture.

The Director will be committed to the doctrinal basis and to the values of Christian Unions Ireland.

Further details about this exciting opportunity can be found on the CUI website. The closing date for the first round of applications is Monday, May 29th at 12 noon

www.cui.ie