Presbyterian Herald November 2019

NOVEMBER 2019

The difference

with boys

TALES FROM AN “ARMY GRANDFATHER”

Chaplaincy life in the armed forces

WHAT’S SO AMAZING ABOUT THE BODY?

Philip Yancey introduces his new book

TRANSFORMING IDENTITIES Discussing transgenderism

CONTENTS | NOVEMBER 2019

FEATURES 12 Building on solid ground

Vision for PCI’s engagement in the public square

16 Friendship in action

The partnership of Friendship House and Great Victoria Street Presbyterian

18 Tales of an “Army grandfather”

Chaplaincy life in the armed forces

20 What’s so amazing about the body?

Philip Yancey introduces his new book

32 The church and boys

Tailoring children’s ministry to engage boys

34 A culture of community

PCI events on building the community of the church

Tales from an “Army grandfather” p18

36 Understanding human rights Outlining PCI’s work in this area

38 Transforming identities Discussing transgenderism

REGULARS 4 6 8 9 13 14 15 23 31 40 42 47

What’s so amazing about the body? p20

Letters News In this month…

As I see it Life lessons My story Arthur Clarke Mission Connect Talking points Reviews Life in PCI Betsy Cameron

Transforming identities p38

CONTRIBUTORS Suzanne Hamilton is Senior Communications Assistant for the Herald.

She attends Ballyholme Presbyterian in Bangor, is married to Steven and mum to twin boys.

Alan Meban attends Kilmakee Presbyterian Church and writes about culture and politics as Alan in Belfast on his own blog and Slugger O’Toole.

Karen Jardine is PCI’s Public Affairs Officer and an elder in Bloomfield Presbyterian Church.

Ruth Bromley is PCI’s Children’s Development Officer. She is married to Brendan, mum to Bess and is a member of First Holywood Presbyterian.

Cover photo: Mark Hawthorne November 2019 No. 826 £1.50 (€1.80) Published by: The Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Assembly Buildings, Belfast BT1 6DW. T: +44 (0)28 9032 2284 E: herald@presbyterianireland.org W: www.presbyterianireland.org

Editor: Sarah Harding

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 Subscriptions and Advertising: Elaine Huddleston; Suzanne Hamilton; official views of the Church, which can be laid down only by the General Assembly. Acceptance of advertisements does not imply endorsement Renée Finnegan of the goods or services. The Editor reserves the right to decline any Design and Layout: advertisement or letter without assigning any reason. Letters may be Edward Connolly edited for publication. No correspondence can be entered into regarding Printing: non-publication of advertisements or letters.

W & G Baird Ltd.

The Presbyterian Church in Ireland is a Registered Charity in Northern Ireland (NIC104483); Registered Charity in Republic of Ireland (20015695).

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EDITORIAL

LETTERS Transparency needed

The body of Christ

If you’re anything like me, watching the news is becoming increasingly unappealing; it seems less about staying informed and more about listening to political point scoring, the vilification of those who disagree and keeping ‘self’ firmly on a pedestal.

This month Norman Hamilton discusses the importance of remembering the ‘common good’ – relevant both for voters making good decisions at the ballot paper and for elected politicians in their work. He says, “I fear that it is all too common for the idolatry of politics to push biblical values to one side…”

The common good is also something we should be mindful of in regard to the more vulnerable members of our society. Karen Jardine outlines PCI’s work in the area of human rights. As well as modelling how we should disagree well, she states that our response should always be “…practical, affirming human dignity and our belief that all are created in the image of God.” This is a key thought in Philip Yancey’s new book, Fearfully and Wonderfully. Co-written with Dr Paul Brand, it links medical and spiritual thoughts on anatomy and the body of Christ. In his interview with Alan Meban, Philip comments that our attitudes to fellow believers can be skewed because we assign worth in a hierarchical way, just as society does. However, he says, “Loyal, faithful Christians who stick it out in tough [situations] or are prayer warriors…Those kinds of people may be the most valuable members…”

1 Corinthians 12 tells us that we all have important roles in the body of Christ. This edition features a variety of people, who are ministering to those around them in distinctive ways: Rev William Harkness and Eileen Black working in Great Victoria Street Presbyterian and Friendship House in Belfast; Michael McBrien, a church elder and anaesthetist serving on board Mercy Ships to provide free surgery to people in Africa; and forces chaplains Rev Jonathan Newell (RAF) and Rev Norman McDowell (Army) working in difficult circumstances, often far away from loved ones.

Rev Norman McDowell highlights one of the challenges he and his colleagues face: “Often we are isolated from any kind of effective Christian fellowship, so please pray for the spiritual sustenance of chaplains and other Christians in the forces.”

They may be isolated, but they are treasured members of the body of Christ, who sacrifice much for their service. In this Remembrance season, please give particular thought to members of the forces and their families, and cover them in your prayers.

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Herald November 2019

Dear Editor The July/August issue of the Herald carried an abridged version of the report to the General Assembly on the relationship between Queen’s University and Union Theological College and mentions the actions of some ‘senior Presbyterians’. The full report recorded in the Assembly minutes (p55) refers to the Pro Vice Chancellor of Queen’s feeling he was being pressurised by these individuals to take certain actions.

In the Assembly debate I asked who these persons were, as they appear to have been acting against the interests of the Presbyterian Church and Union College, but no answer was forthcoming. How many are there? Did they act individually or in concert? Do they hold office in the Church?

Two additional questions arise. Firstly, are they in fact ‘senior’, whatever that means, and secondly, are they in fact Presbyterian? If the answer to either is no, then Queen’s University were pressurised under false pretences.

The fact that they continue to choose to remain anonymous or that no one feels it incumbent on them to identify them inevitably leaves a cloud of suspicion over every ‘senior Presbyterian’.

I have waited until now in the hope that, for the avoidance of any doubt and in the interests of transparency, this unhappy situation might be rectified well before next year’s Assembly.

John W. Lockington Garvagh

Magna Carta Dear Editor Earlier this year, in the space of six weeks, I managed to see all four surviving copies of the original Magna Carta

document that dates back to 1215. I had never intended to see all four copies and certainly not in such a short space of time, but a variety of plans meant that this became possible.

The four copies are presently held at Lincoln Castle (on loan from Lincoln Cathedral), Salisbury Cathedral and two at the British Library. The various copies of the original document were handwritten in Latin on sheepskin.

Magna Carta is Latin for ‘great charter’. It was signed

by King John in 1215 and has been described as the greatest constitutional document of all times – the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot. Several of its clauses from the original charter still exist in modernday law and over the past 800 years it has had a significant influence on many of our nation’s other laws.

There is a very informative leaflet published by the Christian Institute about the history and significance of the Magna Carta which can be accessed from the following link: www.christian.org.uk/ resource/magnacarta which may be of interest to some readers.

Rev Simon Hamilton Minister of Cladymore and Tassagh

Thanks to PCI Dear Editor I am writing to express our sincere thanks to the Presbyterian Church in Ireland for your very generous support of Christian Aid Ireland’s humanitarian response to Cyclone Idai. The funds raised have helped vulnerable people in the most severely affected communities in Malawi and Zimbabwe.

Working with local partner organisations, we have helped thousands of households in the following ways: provided

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

food and non-food items, shelter repairs and medication; provided special food made of a blend of corn and soya to the most vulnerable groups, including young children, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and those with illnesses such as TB; helped households to purify their drinking water and distributed soap and sanitary products; supported families who have lost crops by providing seeds and farming tools; and supported communities to overcome the disaster through community-based psychosocial support services.

One person helped by this appeal was Bertha Malefula from Chikwawa in Malawi who, after Cyclone Idai, returned to her land to find her crops damaged. As part of Christian Aid’s response, she received maize seeds from our local

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.

partner. Several months later, her crops are growing well, and she said: “I have gone from hopelessness to hopefulness.

Your support with the seed and the advice in addition to the supervision has seen me today having this stand of crop in my field. I am short of words to thank you for the support as this assures me my household food security.”

Thank you for helping people like Bertha through your continuing prayerful support.

Rosamond Bennett CEO Christian Aid Ireland

Topical Tweets @peterlynas DoJ emails reveal serious concerns about abortion law changes – there will be ‘obvious difficulties’ and the new laws “will actually go further than what is in GB” – incredible – great work @careforni @PCIModerator Spent a day listening and learning from farming and fishing about the prospect of #brexit. Quite harrowing implications and the scale of issues are vast. @UFUHQ @Tidesdaily “Without God’s Word to guide us, our lives will drift away. You can’t know someone if you don’t listen to anything they say.” @ JoshMcCance #tidesdaily @Christian_aid On #DayOfTheGirl we are celebrating the determination of thousands of girls globally who are rewriting their futures. Read the stories of inspiring girls like Idess in Malawi: caid.org.uk/dv

PCI social media update Social media has become an important tool for organisations to communicate with their audiences, much of which is due to the rise in use of smartphones. PCI began tweeting (via @pciassembly) in May 2009 and in September 2013, a special account for the Moderator was created to give followers an insight into their daily whereabouts (@ pcimoderator).

In more recent years, PCI has developed a presence on Facebook and Instagram through multiple accounts aimed at different demographics.

We recently carried out a review to try and streamline our online audiences and in the process, some of our Facebook pages are changing.

The main PCI Facebook page will continue to have ‘Let’s Pray’ updates each morning as well as links to PCI blogs, videos, events, projects, resources and mission news.

PCI Children’s Ministry will continue to share relevant events, resources and programmes for children’s ministry leaders.

PCI Youth Ministry is a new page aimed at PCI youth leaders, sharing relevant programmes, resources and events, including MAD, summer teams and youth night.

PCI Young Adults Ministry will continue to share specific events, resources and programmes aimed at young adults as well as Youth Assembly updates.

PCI Family Ministry is a new page aimed at equipping parents and church leaders with relevant resources, advice and support.

Presbyterian Women will continue to share relevant information on PW and women’s ministry events and programmes.

PCI Family Holiday will continue to share specific information on the annual residential event that takes place around Easter.

Please do follow pages that are of interest to you by using the search box and clicking the ‘like’ or ‘follow’ buttons.

Followers of all our pages are encouraged to like, share and comment on our posts. We appreciate your suggestions on how to make our content more interesting and useful – these can be sent via private message.

For those that manage Facebook pages on behalf of your congregation, we continue to encourage you to share content from PCI pages to your own audiences, who may not necessarily follow our pages.

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NEWS | IN THE ROUND The Gathering

THE The Bible Society in Northern Ireland is hosting an event on GATHERING Friday 8 November in High Kirk Presbyterian Church in Ballymena at 7.30pm called ‘The Gathering’.

This is an evening for supporters, for friends and for people who care about the Bible, and is an opportunity to hear more about the Society’s work.

The Society will also be launching BIBLE 2020, an exciting global Bible engagement project in Northern Ireland, and welcoming Simon Peter Mukhama from the Bible Society of Uganda to share about his work.

Visit www.biblesocietyni.co.uk for more information.

Opportunity knocks for new north Belfast initiative PCI has officially opened a new charity shop initiative to help and support local and migrant families in north Belfast.

The Opportunity Shop, or ‘Op Shop’, on the city’s Carlisle Circus is open five days a week and specialises in quality nearly new children and baby clothes, and other essential items that families need, from high chairs and cuddly toys to changing mats and packs of nappies.

The project is the first phase of a joint initiative by PCI’s North Belfast Presbytery and the denomination’s Council for Mission in Ireland to support migrant families in the local area.

Ten congregations are providing volunteers, including five volunteers who have come to live in the city from Africa and the Middle East.

Presbytery clerk Trevor Long said a weekly parents and toddlers meeting and English classes will follow this month. Longer-term, a drop-in centre called the International Meeting Point (IMP) will open in the former church hall behind the new shop.

“After years of welcoming migrants and asylum seekers to PCI’s International Meeting Point in south Belfast, we were aware that many who went to the IMP were from north Belfast, had young families, and had to crisscross the city.

“There was a need to do something locally. The Opportunity Shop is the first part of a process that will see the setting up of a second International Meeting Point in the city,” he explained. “It is wonderful to be able to demonstrate a living Christian witness of practical love and care, particular on this site, which was once home to one of our biggest churches,” Mr Long added.

Op Shop project leader Keith Preston looks on as volunteer Jamileh Salehzadeh, who is originally from Iran, cuts the ribbon to officially open the Opportunity Shop on Belfast’s Carlisle Circus. She is supported by PCI Moderator Dr William Henry and Rev Colin Gamble (North Belfast Presbytery moderator).

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Moderator completes first presbytery tour Mental health, education, fishing, farming, policing and criminal justice were all on the agenda for PCI Moderator Dr William Henry during his recent tour of Ards Presbytery.

As well as encouraging local congregations and their ministers, Dr Henry also saw the work of the local church, and key agencies in the area.

With a strong educational focus to the tour, Dr Henry visited numerous schools, meeting students and teachers. He witnessed the amazing work they are doing and heard of the many challenges they face.

Speaking before the tour, he said, “Ards is one of the largest presbyteries that we have, with many people engaged in significant activity in different walks of life, exemplifying what you might call ‘Christian citizenship’, as they work out their faith in Jesus every day, enjoying God in what they do as they serve others. I am very much looking forward to meeting them and saying ‘thank you’.”

On the Ards Peninsula, during his presbytery tour of Ards, Dr Henry met with local farming and fishing representatives, where much of the conversation centred on Brexit. He is pictured at Portavogie with Sam Mawhinney of Denholm Fishselling.

BB raises funds Each year, the Presbyterian Junior BB Project raises funds in support of an overseas project.

Last year £8,500 was raised to construct and equip a playground at a church-run school for refugee children in the town of Fuhais in Jordan, where a local church provides free education to 32 children, aged 4 to 13 years old.

Boys from Fourth Newtownabbey BB company, which meets in Carnmoney Presbyterian Church, raised over £1,700 – the largest amount raised by any one company, and are pictured handing over a cheque on behalf of all who contributed. Back row: Jim Campbell (chairman, Presbyterian BB World Mission Committee), Dr William Henry (Moderator), Patricia Scullion (Fourth Newtownabbey Junior BB leader), Rev John Dickson (minister, Carnmoney Presbyterian Church), and Drew McCallion (treasurer, Presbyterian BB World Mission Committee).

Front row: Tsai Rainey, Dino Anderson, Ben Boyd and Lee Dickey.

IN THE ROUND | NEWS Plaque unveiled An Ulster History Circle blue plaque has been unveiled at The Mall Presbyterian to commemorate the founder of the Catch-My-Pal Temperance Association, Rev Robert J. Patterson, who was minister there from 1892-1910.

Unveiling the plaque at the Armagh church, PCI Moderator Dr William Henry said, “A century on from the Association’s founding, our society continues to grapple with alcohol related issues, including how best to tackle alcohol misuse.

“What is clear to me, however, is that here was an event in history where someone witnessed a particular situation, and rather than looking away, he did something about it. Its abiding significance is a reminder, and a challenge for the Church today, to speak and act into needs of society to enable human flourishing.”

Councillor Mealla Campbell (Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon), PCI Moderator Dr William Henry and Rev Gamble (minister of The Mall Presbyterian Church) at the plaque unveiling.

Moderator marks peace day PCI Moderator Dr William Henry joined other church leaders at the 174 Trust in Belfast recently, to plant a tree to mark the International Day of Peace.

“As followers of the Prince of Peace, our Lord Jesus Christ, peacebuilding is a reflection of who we are in Christ and must be at the heart of Christian discipleship,” said Dr Henry.

“Obvious difficulties” in new abortion regime Christian Action Research and Education (CARE) NI says documents it has received show that senior officials in the Department of Justice admit that the five-month absence of a regulatory framework governing abortion will lead to “obvious difficulties”.

The recent release of guidance by the Northern Ireland Office has highlighted what some of these “obvious difficulties” are especially with regard to abortion pills, provision for conscientious objection and the readiness of the NHS to provide abortions in Northern Ireland.

Moreover, according to CARE, the documents also cast doubts on whether the new regulations will even be ready by the end of March 2020, with the Government Equalities Office admitting they felt it would be tough to bring in the regulations in this timeframe and that they would prefer a longer window to get them ready.

CARE NI policy officer Mark Baillie said, “It is striking that Department of Justice officials in their internal communications admit the new abortion laws will cause significant issues… These documents also highlight that the Westminster legislation, which was voted on by MPs who do not represent NI, is a poorly drafted, rushed piece of legislation.

“The failure to conduct any consultation with the people of Northern Ireland on this legislation has directly led to some of these problems.

The comments about the five-month regulatory gap are also deeply concerning.”

Presbyterians respond generously to cyclone appeal Presbyterians across Ireland raised £242,155 (€274,500) for those affected by Cyclone Idai.

The cyclone swept through Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe in March of this year, causing severe flooding, destruction of infrastructure and loss of life and affecting around 2.6 million people.

An appeal was launched in March by then Moderator Dr Charles McMullen. His successor and current Moderator, Dr William Henry, said, “I am truly delighted by the generous response to the appeal by Presbyterian members and congregations across Ireland.”

Funds raised by the appeal were donated to PCI’s partners working in the region: Christian Aid, Tearfund and the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, Blantyre Synod.

Speaking in a specially produced two-minute video of how some of the funds raised by the appeal are being used in Mozambique, one recipient explained that the cyclone hit during the night causing much damage, destroying all that she had.

Talking of the help that PCI had given through its partners, she said, “I just want to say I’m grateful, and I thank you for the support and the help that you have given us. We didn’t have food, we were in big trouble…we didn’t have anything, but you supported us.”

Rev Uel Marrs (PCI Global Mission Secretary) travelled to Mozambique in August to visit projects run by Tearfund, one of PCI’s development partners which will benefit from the funds raised.

“Six months after the cyclone, many of those impacted are still dealing with trauma and loss, and there remains a mammoth task to repair houses, schools and churches,” he said. “My lasting memory, however, is the people themselves, their resilience, and warm appreciation for all who, having supported this Moderator’s Appeal, continue to stand with them.”

The video is available to watch on www.presbyterianireland.org/news

IN BRIEF Church leaders meet Secretary of State on NI political impasse The leaders of Ireland’s main Churches have met the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Julian Smith, to express their concerns regarding the continued Stormont impasse and its effect on civic society and the most vulnerable in particular.

In a joint statement, they said: “We discussed with him the urgent need for the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly to address issues such as welfare reform mitigations, health and education policy, as well as the urgent economic and wider issues surrounding Brexit.”

Historical Society The next meeting of the Presbyterian Historical Society takes place on Thursday 21 November at McQuiston Memorial in Belfast and has ‘Clerical families in 19th-century Ulster’ as its theme.

Using historical, genealogical and fictional accounts, Dr Janice Holmes will explore the domestic world of Ulster’s Presbyterian clergy. In her talk, she will consider marriage, children and living arrangements, especially in the manse, and look at how ministers and their families interacted with their congregations.

Gambling consultation welcomed CARE NI has revealed that the Department of Communities is planning a public consultation on gambling issues in the near future.

This information was received in a letter from the Department of Communities to CARE NI. CARE NI policy officer Mark Baillie said, “It’s crucial this consultation is wide ranging.”

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IN THIS MONTH...

November 1984

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

The first word Robert Cobain

…Nicknames irritate me. Of course, nicknames can simply be terms of affection and endearment.

When I speak to you it is you to whom I am speaking and if I call you ‘Lofty’ or ‘Pip’ or ‘Chalky’ or ‘Titch’ or some variant of your first name or surname, then in the subtlest of ways I am, without realising it, denying you your identity.

Why all this fuss about nicknames you ask? Well, a nickname is only describing part of you. When you call me Bob, I feel that you are speaking to me, all of who I am…

There are other ways in which we diminish one another, ways in which we fail to give each other our true value as human beings and thereby add to the general loneliness that people feel. When a controversial matter is being discussed, if I have more aggression than you, or have a stronger personality, then I can dominate the discussion and make you feel very small…

I’ve heard men say it is normal to be married, not realising that among his listeners are men and women of mature years who are not married. They have felt deeply hurt, being made to feel less than a human being because they did not belong to the ‘normal’ society of married people.

I’ve heard wives and husbands speaking in glowing terms of the attractiveness and handsomeness of others. They may not realise that they are diminishing their husband or wife’s self-confidence all the time…

The only way of defeating the diminishing game is to remind myself whenever I treat someone as less than a human being in their own right, that Jesus loves that person just as much as he loves me.

Youth Reach Festival 1984

Youth Reach Festival was once more a great success. For five days scores of young people from all over Ireland made Coleraine their home, and enjoyed a week of good clear Christian teaching.

On Monday around 4pm, the silence of Coleraine University was suddenly disturbed. In came young people with rucksacks, guitars, you name it, it was carried in… One fellow though arrived late for registration (10pm), but then he had set out early on Monday morning from Monaghan to hitchhike and reached Coleraine 12 hours later…

Also from November ’84 8

Herald November 2019

British Telecom shares go on sale

Homes for unwanted babies

A search for homes for 1000 unwanted babies is to be launched in Britain by the former editor of the Christian magazine Family.

The register of families prepared to open their homes to an expectant mother to save the child from an abortion will be one of the first tasks for Dr Anne Townsend in her new role as director of CARE Trust…

During 1985, CARE Trust will link up with British Youth for Christ by supplying material for use in schools’ work which teaches a Christian perspective on the sanctity of life, the evil of easy abortion, and declining moral standards.

The first year will also see the establishing of the register of Christian homes willing to look after an expectant mother throughout her pregnancy…

Raphoe summer schools Eighty children between 5 and 13 years attended a week-long summer school in Raphoe Church halls, led by the Sunday school teachers. They acted out a series of stories about Jacob.

Band Aid is formed to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia

Ronald Reagan is re-elected President of the United States

AS I SEE IT...

Too complacent on climate change Joe Furphy

I

n the March edition of the Herald, Rev Dr Allen Sleith (a flooding – in truth we have great difficulty in appreciating just fellow-member of the PCI stewardship of creation panel) how excessively challenging it will be dealing with its aftersuperbly set out the accepted scientific wisdom on climate effects, not only immediately, but also in succeeding months and change and raised many of the challenges we face. I add to years as land will remain polluted and disease-ridden. Where can the concerns he raised. the millions of displaced people be housed – and how can they be I feel we are still far too complacent regarding the forthcoming fed? Is this not beyond the capacity of Bangladesh to solve? effects of climate change – despite regular updates on an He also mentioned the melting of the polar ice caps – this will increasingly threatening situation. Perhaps it is because we in have significance well beyond the inevitable associated sea level Ireland have not yet faced any major disruption to our normal rise. We hear much of the probable dire effects on wildlife, but lives; perhaps we are so preoccupied with Brexit issues there has are we as aware, or as concerned, that human communities are at been a dearth of information telling us that change is happening severe threat, both in terms of natural food resources and living in Ireland. space?

But it is happening. The increase in Added to these is another factor – as a We must seriously autumn and winter storms – first forecast result of floods, famines and droughts there in the 1980s – is so far causing only minor examine our lifestyles... will be migrations of millions of people. traffic chaos and damage to coastal and Where and how will these people be fed, grounding our thoughts, housed and nurtured? Recent history of other properties; the currently minute annual rise in sea level is barely threatening feelings and actions refugees would suggest that many will meet the viability of farmland in low-lying areas with little sympathy, or worse, outright biblically. near the sea; increasing summer rainfall hostility, as they seek security of life. has yet had little adverse effect on tourism.

What can be done? Perhaps our first In the wildlife, world birds are now colonising us which until challenge is to persuade politicians to act and to act now. For over recently were found only on mainland Europe, while at the same 35 years, governments have been made aware of the realities of time we have lost many of our wintering migrant wildfowl as climate change, yet little by way of preventative or ameliorating waters in eastern Europe, previously frozen, now remain iceintervention has taken place. By concentrating on local issues, the free throughout the winter. There is an increasing opportunity losses of land, crops, homes and lives overseas seem to be of little for insect species (including some regarded as pests) to migrate consequence to Westminster, Dublin or Stormont governments. northwards.

We must seriously examine our lifestyles, corporate and We know that the effects of climate change will be less individual, grounding our thoughts, feelings and actions biblically. here compared with many, perhaps even most of the world’s Our most solid justification for any action comes both from populations. So, what is our Christian responsibility as we see Christ’s teaching and from passages in Genesis and Leviticus in environmental degradation threatening the lives and wellbeing particular. Can we please hear more on these subjects from the of our fellows in other parts of the world? Christ calls us to love pulpit? our neighbours as ourselves – but if we do not know what is The Irish Presbyterian Hymnal has a short section headed happening to our neighbour, how can we act to help him? So, ‘Environment’ including hymns exhorting us to examine our let us search news channels for further information on the most role in God’s creation. Can we take time to read through these threatened communities – and then consider how we would react hymns and perhaps make these lines from one of them our in their situation and work out ways to help them. environmental mantra: For example, in parts of Africa, grasslands are rapidly being “Earth is the Lord’s: it is ours to enjoy it, replaced by deserts – what of those whose livelihoods are ours, as his stewards to farm and defend; seriously and urgently challenged as crops fail and as livestock From its pollution, misuse and destruction, starve? We are so comfortable with food being available, readygood Lord, deliver us, world without end!” made, in our shops that we seldom give a thought to those countless millions dependent on the natural or cultivated world Joe Furphy, an elder in Lowe Memorial, is a member of the PCI to provide their daily sustenance – and for which they labour. stewardship of creation panel and is the PCI representative on Eco Allen referred to Bangladesh and the danger of massive Congregation Ireland. He is a retired environmentalist.

Herald November 2019

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NEWS | PCI

News Induction training Induction training for new staff in PCI’s homes and units took place at Assembly Buildings, Belfast recently. The inductees are pictured with the Head of Disability Services, Melanie Bowden (far left), and Council for Social Witness Secretary, Lindsay Conway (far right).

Overseas visits Portugal – Rev Uel Marrs (Secretary, Council for Global Mission) is leading a retreat for PCI global workers serving in Europe, which is taking place in Porto, Portugal from 31 October to 4 November.

Indonesia – Dr Liz Hughes (convener, Council for Global Mission) will be representing PCI at the General Assembly of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia, taking place on the Indonesian island of Sumba in November.

Nepal – Helen Johnston (Mission Support Officer – Member Care) along with Karen Craig (PW president) and her husband Dr Rob Craig, will be visiting Nepal in mid-November. Their visit will include calling in on the General Assembly meetings of the United Mission to Nepal; leading and attending a retreat for global mission workers, Peter and Valerie Lockwood and Peter and Jayne Fleming; and a visit, on behalf of Presbyterian Women, to UMN’s Okhaldhunga Community Hospital.

Personnel news

Thank-you event at Trinity House The tremendous volunteer team at PCI’s Trinity House residential care home in Garvagh was celebrated with a thank-you afternoon tea and the presentation of a gift to each volunteer.

This was a lovely afternoon of fellowship with the volunteers, who carry out a range of roles, including gardening, providing transport, playing board games, fundraising and supporting residents to attend church.

Stephen Cowan, who is engaged in church-based community development and outreach in northern Kenya, is due to return to Kenya in mid-November following a short home assignment.

Gary and Mary Reid, who work with the Maasai community in the south-west of Kenya, are due to be on home assignment in December and will be involved in deputation.

Coffee morning Lawnfield House had a fun event hosting a coffee morning for Macmillan Cancer Care on Friday 27 September. The residents who were staying at Lawnfield House during the week made small posies of pretty flowers and then decorated jars to give out as prizes. They raised £460. Pictured are: Ellie Hamilton, David Thompson, Ronnie McKeown and Annie McShane.

Craft fair Trinity House, PCI’s residential home in Garvagh, is holding a Christmas craft fair and cake sale on Saturday 9 November.

The event in the hall of Main Street Garvagh Presbyterian Church runs from 12-4pm. Refreshments will be available.

Then on Saturday 23 November, Route singers are having a concert in First Garvagh Presbyterian Church at 7.30pm.

All proceeds from both events go to the Residents’ Comforts Fund.

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Find out more on www.presbyterianireland.org

Events

DIARY DATES

Advent with Sally Lloyd-Jones West Presbyterian Church in Bangor will host ‘Advent with Sally Lloyd-Jones’ later this month.

This event on Thursday 28 November will explore how Jesus can be found through Scripture as “every story whispers his name”.

Sally Lloyd-Jones is a New York Times bestselling children’s author. She was born in Kampala, grew up in the New Forest and now lives in Manhattan, New York.

She has written several books, most famously The Jesus Storybook Bible. Come along for a special advent evening where Sally will share some of her story, do some readings and will be available to answer some questions.

The event starts at 7.30pm and is free, but please register at www.presbyterianireland.org/events

The Organ in Contemporary Praise For many congregations, the organ remains the primary and preferred accompaniment for praise in Sunday worship. If so, we can be locked into thinking that this restricts the choice of praise to traditional psalms, hymns and songs. But could it be that the organ is a more versatile instrument than we have imagined or explored?

How can we creatively harness organ music in the service of more contemporary praise? What are the challenges and opportunities?

‘The Organ in Contemporary Praise’ event in Molesworth Presbyterian Church, Cookstown is on Saturday 25 January 2020 from 10.30am12.30pm. All of these questions and more will be explored in a morning that will also offer some hands-on examples and practical ideas for extending your congregation’s repertoire of praise.

The cost is £5 per person and to book a place go to www.presbyterianireland.org/events

Family Holiday Booking for the annual PCI holiday is now open. It offers a great opportunity for families of all shapes and sizes to enjoy a mix of relaxation, fun activities and time together with God. The 2020 event will take place at Castlewellan Castle in Co Down between 14 and 17 April.

Please book early to avoid disappointment. Further information can be found at www.presbyterianireland.org/familyholiday

November Advent with Sally LloydJones Bangor West – Thursday 28

Programme for emerging leaders Emerge is a one-off, short-term training programme offered to emerging leaders within the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and will run from January to June 2020.

This is an opportunity for leaders in congregations in their 20s or 30s; for example, relatively new elders, congregational committee members or youth leaders. Participants will be part of a learning community in which they will join others on a journey involving: • Practical action and reflection – including mentoring; • Focused devotional sessions on aspects of the spirituality of leadership; • Short talks and stories of congregational change, leading to facilitated discussion.

The first three sessions are in two different venues – either Lowe Memorial Presbyterian Church, Belfast or First Ahoghill Presbyterian Church, Ballymena.

Participants can choose in advance which venue they will attend.

Both groups will join together for the residential in the Hilton Hotel, Templepatrick.

The total cost is £100 (or Euro equivalent), including residential.

Places are limited and will be offered on a first come, first served basis. The closing date for registration is 7 December 2019.

To obtain a copy of the registration form and further information, please email ppatton@presbyterianireland.org

Taking Care foundation training Knock – Thursday 7

Taking Care refresher training

Newcastle – Tuesday 5, Thursday 7, Wednesday 13 and Tuesday 19

December Christmas Cracker

McQuiston Memorial – Saturday 7 Lislooney – Saturday 7 West Church Bangor – Saturday 14 Hillsborough – Saturday 14

January Emerge starts

Ballymena and Belfast – Friday 24

The Organ in Contemporary Praise Molesworth – Saturday 25

February

Hashtags and Hormones

Assembly Buildings, Belfast – Thursday 13

Christmas Cracker PCI is organising four Christmas Cracker events this year – in Belfast, Armagh, Bangor and Hillsborough.

The popular events offer a fun programme for adults with learning difficulties, providing respite for their carers. They will be run by experienced staff and volunteers, and will include an epilogue, arts, crafts, games and refreshments.

The first events are on Saturday 7 December in McQuiston Memorial, 83 Castlereagh Road, Belfast, between 2pm-5.30pm and in Lislooney Presbyterian, Tynan, Armagh, between 2pm-4pm.

There are two events on Saturday 14 December – West Church Bangor between 2pm and 5.30pm, and Hillsborough Presbyterian between 2pm and 5pm.

For more details please contact Melanie Bowden (PCI’s Head of Disability Services) on +44 (0)28 9041 4234 or email csw@presbyterianireland.org

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PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Building on solid ground Daniel Kane outlines PCI’s vision for graciously confident gospel engagement in the public square.

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t may come as something of a surprise Leading us through an analysis of our to you that the work of the Council current cultural moment, Dr Mladin for Public Affairs with its remit of pointed to increased tribalisation and providing a voice for the Presbyterian polarisation across the UK; growing Church in Ireland in the public square, economic inequality leading to does much of its work away from the unparalleled levels of personal debt; the public eye. What is seen on the surface decline of ‘cultural Christianity’ and the is often the tip of the proverbial iceberg, rise of those indifferent to any expression supported by the work of the Council, its of religion. However, Christ’s disciplecommittee, panels and task making commission has not groups. The Council’s vision changed, and we are provided is to continue building on a with a huge gospel opportunity strong tradition of graciously to pursue the common good, confident gospel engagement bringing the liberating news of in the public square. the cross of Jesus Christ to those By all accounts, we are who, so dissatisfied with the living in unprecedented emptiness of their non-coherent times. While chaos reigns worldviews, are seeking spiritual supreme at Westminster, reality. locally we have (at the time Reflecting on this, Dr Mladin of writing) breached the outlined possible pitfalls Dr Nathan Mladin/Twitter 1000-day mark without a functioning Executive. On both sides We must adopt the of the border, whatever the respective views are in relation to leaving or fundamental posture of remaining in the European Union, the listening as a sacred levels of uncertainty are extraordinary.

Writing back in September, I suggested countercultural act… that following legislative changes from Westminster over the summer, it felt like in choosing to engage too narrowly, we were waking up in a country very employing the politics of denunciation, much different to the one we have always excessive deference or the politics of known. escape. He suggested that It is against this backdrop that the Abraham Kuyper’s model of Council for Public Affairs took time engagement, with a focus on out in September to think about what the universal lordship and reign graciously confident gospel engagement of Jesus Christ and therefore might look like for PCI in the next the sacredness of all spheres of three to five years. Dr Nathan Mladin, a human life, has much to teach researcher from Theos Thinktank us as we seek to navigate this (www.theosthinktank.co.uk), was invited particular cultural moment. to help us think about the principles, “This challenges us to seek out postures and practice of the Church in this and celebrate the presence of regard. Recalling the mandate of Paul in 2 God through his Spirit outside Rev Daniel Kane Corinthians 5 to be Christ’s ambassadors, the walls of his church and to and reflecting on the experience of the adopt a posture of co-belligerence for the work of Theos, Dr Mladin urged the common good,” he said.

Council to consider itself as part of Thought-provoking challenges included Christianity’s diplomatic service and to focusing energy ‘upstream’, seeking stimulate a better conversation with the to shape the climate of conversation public square. and building relationships of trust –

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“influencing the influencers”. Increasingly we must learn to be comfortable with living with deep difference as a minority – and perhaps there is something to learn here from colleagues in the Republic of Ireland who have been living this reality for years.

During the course of our time together the Council covered topics ranging from peace and reconciliation; poverty and inequality; the dignity of human life from its beginning to end; the increase in societal loneliness; pressures on the health and social care system; stewardship of God’s creation; the vacuum of public leadership; a full, rich vision for education; and what it means to be human in an era of digital and technological advancement, including the development and increased use of artificial intelligence. It will not be possible for the Council to tackle all these issues head on – it will take time over the next weeks and months to distil all the outputs from this time away and to chart the Council’s way forward under the direction of the Holy Spirit.

My main takeaway was Dr Mladin’s challenge regarding discipleship within the Church – cultivating the life of Christ in the people of God. “The Church must act as an incubator of virtue,” he said, “so that all our contributions in the public square are rooted in the spiritual life and disciplines of the Christian community.” We must adopt the fundamental posture of listening as a sacred countercultural act, listening primarily to God and then to the cries of cultural injustice around us. This will in turn enable us to be a leavening organism in the public square and guard us against excessive pessimism on the one hand, and excessive optimism on the other.

Rev Daniel Kane is minister of West Church, Ballymena and convener of PCI’s Council for Public Affairs.

PERSONAL VIEW

Life lessons Raymond Robinson

Facilities and Conferences Manager of Assembly Buildings I work with a great team of people in developing and managing the conference business, facilities and visitor exhibition in Assembly Buildings. In the last year, we welcomed nearly 40,000 people to the Assembly Buildings conference centre alone, from a wide variety of sectors including the civil service, commercial and Christian organisations. We recognise the growing influence we have in the conference sector in Northern Ireland, giving us the opportunity to demonstrate our faith in a servanthearted approach to deliver excellence for clients.

Building relationships is at the heart of the gospel and we have the opportunity to build relationships with the commercial and civil service sectors through the practical outworking of our faith in serving the conference market. As we continue to build increasing awareness of the facilities, which is key, business will grow.

I came to faith at the age of seven through a holiday Bible club. Although I did not come from a Christian home, I was blessed to be part of St Patrick’s Church of Ireland in Coleraine in my early and teenage years when the rector at that time was Rev Ken (Fanta) Clarke who went on to be Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh. Ken and his wife Helen showed us, through their ministry, what living a life of faith really looked like and from this I approached my work seeking God’s direction on where I should be, which has been both an exciting and challenging journey. I had the joyful opportunity to thank Ken and Helen publicly for their ministry a few years ago.

In a particularly busy period about 15 years ago I was working in my home office one morning when I sensed a prompting to read Ephesians 6 about the whole armour of God. When I finished reading I felt God say to me ‘stand’. At that moment, it was as if the presence of God filled the room. I could hardly move as tears ran down my face. As I stood, it felt as if God was lifting me up and I felt his love for me. I realised that God wanted to show me I was exhausting myself doing it my way.

He wanted to remind me to put on his armour, stand and do it his way. It is a lesson I have never forgotten.

People often notice I write with a fountain pen. When I was in primary school I walked to my paternal grandparents’ home after school, where my parents collected me after work.

My grandfather, every afternoon, sat with an old dictionary,

a notepad and fountain pen and went through a dictionary writing the meaning of each word on the pad. It was his way of keeping his mind active. Having served in the military he taught me respect for all people and the value of life. He had a huge influence on my life and today I write with a fountain pen in loving memory of my grandfather.

I have many favourite songs and hymns. Up there near the top is Isaac Watts’ When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. Published in 1707, it is amazing to think of the impact it has had and continues to have on millions of people over 300 years: “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all”.

I have been involved in music all my life, ever since I picked up a flute aged seven. I have had the privilege of being involved in worship music in church and had opportunities to visit many different countries across the world, touring with Robin Mark. On my ‘bucket list’ was to play on the stage of the Ulster Hall, the Waterfront Hall, the Opera House and the Odyssey, all of which I ticked off a couple of years ago. Another great memory is playing at Last Night of the Proms in Hillsborough with Sir James Galway, which was very special. Music is also my relaxation. I love listening to all music (well maybe not so much ‘country music’, my wife’s favourite) and really enjoy learning to play new wind instruments. I have a large collection of ethnic wind instruments from around the world and can easily spend hours playing them.

One of my favourite authors is R.T. Kendall, who I have met a number of times. When I read Total Forgiveness, it had a significant impact on me. I remember chatting with R.T., actually in Assembly Buildings at an event he was preaching at, saying I wished everyone in Northern Ireland had an opportunity to read the book. Challenging as it will be for many people, I believe the whole area of forgiveness is key to seeing revival in Northern Ireland.

When I graduated from university and started in my first job, I worked directly to the managing director of the company.

On my first day he said to me, “Raymond you have a degree, but unless you have common sense, you are useless to me.” He was right.

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MY STORY...

Michael McBrien, clerk of session in Ballylinney Presbyterian, tells his story of working with Mercy Ships, an organisation that operates a hospital ship to provide free surgery in Africa.

Aminatta’s facecloth

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er wide eyes follow me as I approach her cramped the tumour uses all of bed space at the end of another day working as an the resources available to anaesthetist on board the ‘Africa Mercy’ with Mercy Mercy Ships’ patients, and Ships during their 10-month outreach in Guinea in more. Initial placement April 2019. The square blue facecloth covers her face from the of a breathing tube under eyes down as that is how she has maintained her dignity for sedation, monitoring line to accurately measure her blood several years. pressure, and how valuable that was as the haemorrhage in the When I explain through the translator middle of the four-hour surgery threatened that I am Michael, the anaesthesia doctor, How I admire this to exceed our ability to infuse the freshly and shake her hand that is warm, soft and donated blood from five crew members. accepting, she palpably relaxes and removes 17-year-old girl who Two scrub nurses feed the surgeons’ hands the cloth to reveal the nakedness of her travelled to the ship from with instruments, the tumour is removed deformed face, defiant eyes still following before reconstruction of the tissues mine as we connect at the most basic level. neighbouring Sierra with sutures and skill. Emergence from She must sense the reflex movement of anaesthesia and transfer to our recovery Leone… my gaze to assess the lopsided circle of area, circumferential white bandages tumour engulfing her lower face, diameter forming the boundary and normal contours of a dinner plate, distorted mouth off centre; helpless thoughts of a face now restored, but which will never be perfect. of how does she eat, perceiving that she breathes easily for now What an ordeal for a 17-year-old girl to endure. Aminatta has through patent nostrils that circumnavigate the carnage below. experienced more pain and heartache than most will experience But she is not just a ‘she’, her name is Aminatta and she is in a lifetime. But perhaps she will also experience more love and 17. Aminatta is defined for now by the gross lower jaw tumour acceptance on this ship than she has ever experienced before. that has deprived her of dignity and probably love and affection So many people here to make a difference to her life, through for several years. Aminatta has courage, she confidently replies sacrifice of time, relationships, finances and home comforts. to my basic questions with muffled speech, defiant almost Their reward is in making that difference, not just to Aminatta and keen to show me that she is up for this. Aminatta knows and the other patients, but to the lives of other crew members, that this can’t go on for much longer, whether ending in influencing others who are supporting them from home, living malnourishment, infection or suffocation. out their purpose of conviction, being free from many worldly How I admire this 17-year-old girl who travelled to the ship constraints, and all the time growing to know God more from neighbouring Sierra Leone; what life story is written intimately. behind those communicating eyes? What desperation must Aminatta will take a day or two to look at herself in the mirror. have led her to make the journey to this worldwide Christian She’ll touch those new contours with wonder and disbelief. She organisation who seek to bring hope and healing to the will maybe even reach for a facecloth with which to squeeze forgotten poor? warm water over her features, content that she no longer has to Maybe Aminatta’s positivity towards me flowed from my use it for covering what was once her identity, nakedness and handshake, as close an act of acceptance that she may have shame. experienced in some time prior to contact with our nurses, or Welcome back to the human race, Aminatta. maybe it was because I consciously fought to keep her gaze for all the time I was speaking to her. The game at this stage is how The Mercy Ships’ Belfast carol service will take place on Thursday 12 much trust I can get her to place in me and the skills given to December at 7.30pm in the Assembly Buildings. If you want to find me through the training I have received. out more about the work of Mercy Ships and the volunteers onboard Anaesthesia and surgery the following morning to remove the Africa Mercy visit www.mercyships.org.uk

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REFLECTIONS

Each one is precious Arthur Clarke Study on Luke 15:8

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ome theologians argue that these three parables in pastors had taken it and buried it for him.” There are always Saint Luke represent the work of the Trinity in the some who are more sinned against than sinning. In the story redemption of humankind. The shepherd represents of the Exodus, the Pharaoh was encouraged by his magicians the passion of the Son and the woman searching the to withstand Moses and then when they admitted the God of house speaks of the illumination of the Spirit. The story of the Israel was too much for them, we note that the Pharaoh was too returning prodigal illustrates the agony and unlimited grace of far gone in defiance to turn back. the Father. There is a lot to be said for such an interpretation.

The coin was sought. The ransacking of the little house The coin. The coin mentioned in this parable could well have began. That search was not without dust and disturbance. been a silver drachma of Greek currency. Losing such a coin in Precious things are seldom found by casual observance or a Palestinian home of that day would be easy and subsequently acceptance of the ordinary routine. God has too often to disturb require a long search to recover it. Such houses were dark with our wonted floor of life. There is a scene in the life of the only one window. The floor was beaten earth, each covered with wayward Absalom (2 Samuel 14:30) where he wanted the help reeds and so the old proverb about a needle of Joab, the commander of David’s forces, in a haystack comes to mind. Sweeping Often God has to shake but Joab made no response until Absalom such a house raised a lot of dust! set his barley fields on fire. That brought us out of our smugness him to consider the prince’s request. Often There are at least two reasons why a drachma would be searched for. It could God has to shake us out of our smugness so he can get a hearing well have an economic necessity, as a so he can get a hearing from us. from us. drachma was a day’s wages. A working The experience of J.C. Ryle, the first man was paid every day upon earning such Anglican Bishop of Liverpool, illustrates as sum, and folk living at subsistence level needed their reward this theme. Ryle was born into money and was given a classical to provide food. education – Eton followed by attendance at Christ Church There may well have been a marital and romantic reason.

College, Oxford. But then all changed; the family’s money A married woman possessed a headdress of 10 linked coins disappeared in banking mismanagement. Now young Ryle faced in a silver chain. When a woman had such an adornment it realities of earth and eternal destinies. This crisis brought him was unquestionably hers and could not be taken, even for the to faith in Christ and a significantly useful ministry within the settlement of debt. If such a coin went missing it was a woman’s Church of England. concern to get it back.

The coin was found. This parable ends with the amazing This coin was lost. This coin was lost, not because of concept of joy in heaven. The angels of God rejoice when even a its inattention, as was case with the sheep, but because of single soul makes a correspondence with heaven. Need there be somebody’s carelessness. Some of the ‘sinners’ and ‘wine any other evidence to show us the wideness of God’s mercy and bibbers’ Jesus mingled with were like that coin, lost because the preciousness of each of his children? of the impact of unworthy colleagues or acquaintances. The Irish playwright Sean O’Casey returned home one night to his dilapidated Dublin home to find his gifted brother prostrate on the floor, dead. Sean realised what had happened. Having imbibed too much alcohol, his brother fell, struck his head on the marble fireplace and died where he was lying.

O’Casey, saddened as he surveyed the scene, was later to write: “It wasn’t that the poor man lying there had taken his talent and buried it, rather it was that flawed teachers and his supposed

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CONGREGATIONAL STORY

Friendship in action Suzanne Hamilton finds out more about the work of Friendship House in Belfast and the support it receives from Great Victoria Street Presbyterian.

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he name of South Belfast Friendship House is certainly apt as partnership is the key to its continuing success as a place of Christian witness in an inner-city context.

This relationship is not just confined to the centre and the community though – it is the close teamwork of the minister and deaconess, project worker Eunice and youth worker Gemma – and also between Friendship House and the congregation of Great Victoria Street.

The PCI facility is an established presence in the Sandy Row area of Belfast.

Some who live in this area face many difficulties and problems, but Friendship House is providing a beacon of light by providing practical help such as facilitating a local foodbank and running a range of activities, catering for all ages.

After-school clubs, a friendship group, coffee mornings and mums and tots are regular features on the Friendship House programme, and all are successfully bringing the local community to the Blythe Street centre. Rev William Harkness explains, “We’ve everything

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from babies to pensioners, along with our work in the men’s (homeless) hostel.”

He has been in the role for the past couple of years and whilst he acknowledges the importance of running such activities, he stresses that Friendship House is not a community centre. Rather it is a place of Christian witness, where the community hears about God’s love and sees it in action. “We’re not here to keep this area of Belfast comfortable, we want to help them take a different path.”

God’s grace William is helped in his work by deaconess Eileen Black. As she describes the busy workload, it is obvious she is

Having such a caring atmosphere means the children regard Friendship House as almost an extension of home.

passionate about teaching those who often feel unloved and neglected about the God’s grace.

The after-school clubs for P1s-P3s run twice a week, with the girls coming on a Monday and the boys attending on a Tuesday. While there is a lot of play, the team at Friendship House introduce the children to worship songs, Bible stories and memory verses.

“It’s just to get the wee seeds in there for them to later draw on,” says William.

This is followed by a homework club for P4s-P6s, where university students living in Derryvolgie Hall come to help the children with their schoolwork.

Derryvolgie students are again on hand on Wednesday afternoons, along with their Stranmillis counterparts, to help P7-Year 9 pupils.

Eileen says the students from Derryvolgie are fantastic with the children, not only helping them with their homework, but providing a positive influence.

“They (the students) are old enough to have authority, but young enough

to be cool and to know exactly what it is the children like,” she adds. William agrees, saying the children look up to the students and get attached to them. “By the fourth week they’re saying, ‘Where is such and such?’ They try to get their homework done so they can hang out with the students.”

Eileen recounts one occasion when the students and the children drew pictures together. These were then brought back to Derryvolgie and put on a wall, and the students took a photograph to show the children. “That meant a lot,” she says.

Having such a caring atmosphere means the children regard Friendship House as almost an extension of home.

William loves it when the children make pieces of art for his noticeboard, and he says some even immediately kick off their shoes when they come into the centre, showing they are comfortable. One boy greets William each time by giving him a hug before taking his shoes off, and a lot of boys like a hug as they arrive. The girls have a similar relationship with Eileen.

Expectations Having such positive reinforcement is so important in this inner-city area.

Expectations can be low for some. For example, one teenager told William that he couldn’t do A levels as he was from Sandy Row. The local primary school, Blythefield, and the Friendship House team are working hard to improve this.

William says, “We’re trying to teach them God loves them just the way they are…but there’s a different way.”

While a lot of energy goes into the children’s ministry, a lot of Friendship House’s work is reaching out to adults in the area. A women’s drop-in on Tuesday mornings is a time when locals can come in for a cuppa and scones or buns. While the group is small, Eileen says there have been good conversations.

The pensioners’ group held on Wednesdays is also providing outreach.

We’re not here to keep this area of Belfast comfortable, we want to help them take a different path.

she has been a valuable sounding board for William – even telling him when it is time to take a necessary break to recharge.

While she is heavily involved in the activities of Friendship House, Eileen also helps William at Great Victoria Street Presbyterian Church, where he is also minister. In particular, her pastoral work has also proven invaluable and William says she helps him greatly.

“Eileen is gifted for pastoral visitation.

She does a lot of visits round here…It gives me more time to study, which is very important and which I didn’t have before Eileen came.”

Church Rev William Harkness with project worker Eunice, deaconess Eileen Black, and youth worker Gemma

Its programme is varied in order to the appeal to the community, but it always opens and closes in prayer. The team also take it in turns to bring a devotional thought based on Scripture. Time is also spent singing hymns and choruses.

Links between Friendship House and the local men’s homeless hostel are also being developed – William and his wife Wilma were invited into serve stew on St Patrick’s Day. He says being invited into the hostel to do that is “phenomenal” and has taken 18 months of relationship building. While it is still early days, William is hopeful this relationship will develop.

Team work To carry out such a busy schedule takes a great deal of energy and teamwork.

While there is a dedicated small team within Friendship House, the work has been greatly enhanced by how William and Eileen complement each other.

Eileen commenced work at Friendship House last November, and since then

The third partnership which will help maintain the success of Friendship House into the future is Great Victoria Street Presbyterian.

This is still in its early days, as the decision to share the ministry team’s time between Friendship House and the church is only a recent one. However, William thinks it works well and is hopeful for what can develop in the future. Saying it has given both places a focus, William adds, “The link has taken a while, but it’s starting to form.

The church is becoming more interested in what’s going on and they pray about it. They’re starting to see it as their outreach,” he says.

As well as donating a “phenomenal” amount to the foodbank every week and providing volunteers at Friendship House, Great Victoria Street has also been reaching out to the nearby student and young adult population by holding regular suppers.

With such positive early steps, William is hopeful that Friendship House’s community work will become Great Victoria Street’s outreach, blessing those involved in both. Of course, this will also bless the local community, as they see friendship in action.

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Tales of an “Army grandfather” Sarah Harding talks to PCI’s longest serving forces chaplain, Norman McDowell, about chaplaincy life and the importance of Remembrance.

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ev Norman McDowell has clocked up 23 years of service as an army chaplain, and as such is PCI’s longest serving forces chaplain. Describing himself as an “army grandfather”, his role, which is currently based in Winchester, revolves around training new recruits. During his 23 years, he has had three operational deployments – in Northern Ireland, Kosovo and Iraq – which, because of his specialism in working with new recruits, he says are “untypical of a chaplain’s expected deployment tally”. He has also spent time in Poland, Canada and Australia, either on exercise or working with other chaplains. Clearly a valuable asset to the army, Norman has been due to retire for some time, but has had a number of extensions to his service. He plans to finally return to civilian life at the end of next year.

How did you feel called into chaplaincy work in the forces?

Curiosity! When I was in final year at Union, Prof McIvor told us about this week run by the army and I thought I’d attend to find out what an army chaplain was. It still amazes me how quickly God gave me a real passion and desire for the work and ministry that chaplains are privileged to have, but from that

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week in 1993, I had a burning desire for something that I still didn’t really understand. However, to say that my wife, Hazel, was less than enthusiastic at that stage is a classic understatement…

Do you feel there are personal sacrifices you or your loved ones have made for your work?

Yes – our son went to four different primary schools, then went to live

Every year when we pause in Remembrance… we are remembering those men and women who fought and died for the freedoms we enjoy.

with his grandparents for a stable education through the GCSE and A level years. Then Hazel followed him back to Ballymena, and so we lived separately for over three years. Aging family commitments meant that Hazel remained at home when I unexpectedly didn’t retire and got this job in Winchester. With the army continuing to postpone my retirement, we are now getting close to 10 years living apart.

In my time in the forces ‘married unaccompanied’ service has become much more commonplace. The difference for us in chaplaincy is that we are unable to travel home every weekend which is the norm for other personnel. There have been times when this separation has not been easy, and I will be eternally grateful for how Hazel has supported me through challenging times for both of us. But when God calls, he equips and I believe that he called her to be a forces chaplain’s wife just as much as he called me to this ministry.

What do you feel are the most challenging aspects of your work?

In the early years, it was the challenge of accepting that the week no longer revolved around Sundays, as most of my ministry was conducted in the working week with people who had

little interest in religion. Then as the years have gone on, the pressure has been to accommodate the ecumenical expectations of the army whilst still remaining faithful to my conservative and biblical understanding of God. What do you enjoy most about your work?

Reaching out to young people, reaching into their lives, pointing them in the right direction and ultimately being their army grandfather. I suppose in some ways I’m doing what First Antrim youth club did for me, except the context is young people facing life’s challenges in the military, and, specifically for me at the minute, young people transitioning into the military.

Looking back, are there any particularly difficult times that stand out in your mind?

Thankfully there are very few times, but one that continually comes to mind was sitting in the operations room in Bessbrook Mill when the call came across the radio that we had three soldiers killed. I was very aware of everyone in the battalion looking to their padre to get us through this difficult experience. Soldiers don’t mind having padres in the army and are content to have us lurking somewhere in the background, but it’s in these crisis moments that they really want us to be right there for them.

You must come into contact with a wide variety of people from a wide range of backgrounds. How do people respond to you as a chaplain?

Soldiers, like the society they come from, are not very religious and would not normally seek out a minister to talk through their issues. Forces chaplains, however, wear the same uniform and are accepted as part of the military community. Soldiers (presumably sailors and airmen as well) will come to us simply because we live with them, work with them, and share their experiences and hardships. They will also confide in us as they know we are not part of their chain of command, so we have a measure of independence and integrity that they value. The chain of command, on the other hand, also value us as they know that we will often hear how things really are for soldiers and will say what needs to be said.

…young people today seem to be looking for something to give meaning to life…I am privileged to have at least 50 recruits in church every Sunday.

Do you get lots of opportunities to share your faith with colleagues?

They might not know much about God, if they believe in a God at all, but there is still a ‘God-shaped gap’ in everyone; young people today seem to be looking for something to give meaning to life. Their parents’ and grandparents’ generations rejected traditional religions, but this current young generation seem much more open to exploring something they know nothing about. That is why I am privileged to have at least 50 recruits in church every Sunday (one Sunday recently we had over 200!), totally voluntarily, which is a great opportunity to present the gospel.

What are some of the issues that people in the army come to you with?

Because I work with recruits in basic training, we deal with homesickness a lot as they struggle to settle into the new, military environment. Family illness and bereavements are another common thread, but the most heartrending are the young people who have been scarred by abusive or dysfunctional families. Further on in a soldier’s career, particularly on operations, they might come to us with the big life questions: “What happens if I die padre?” I also find myself having frequent conversations about how ‘thou shalt not kill’ works for soldiers.

Can you describe any moments that you have felt God particularly close to you?

Iraq, 2005, Easter Sunday. We weren’t

sure if the service would happen as the battalion was waiting to be called out on a mission in support of Special Forces.

But in the middle of the service, standing outside in the sunshine, I remember being lifted heavenward by the sound of five big strapping, rugby-playing Fijian guardsmen singing with broad smiles on their faces about the love of Jesus. Many of the more uplifting moments have been in fellowship with believers from the Commonwealth as those former mission fields send their own missionaries back to godless Britain’s armed forces.

Why do you think it is so important we mark Remembrance Day in our churches?

During the long years of the First World War, the defence of Ypres cost 300,000 human lives. Of those, almost 90,000 have no known grave, but to ensure they were never forgotten, their names were carved in the stones of the memorials to the missing. Every year, when we pause in Remembrance as a nation, we are remembering those men and women who fought and died for the freedoms we enjoy. But it is not just about those men from 100 years ago. In the military, we all know of more recent examples – I lost soldiers in all three of my operational deployments – and Remembrance is about them as well, fighting for exactly the same freedoms that we and our allies believe in. We will remember them.

How can we pray for you and your colleagues?

As ministers, we may be shielded from the pressures of congregational life, but often we are isolated from any kind of effective Christian fellowship, so please pray for the spiritual sustenance of chaplains and other Christians in the forces. You can pray for us as a family as we continue to live separately, praying that we will both be sustained individually and in our marriage, as being apart is not easy. And pray for our sailors, soldiers and airmen as they live with the varying demands of life in the forces.

Do you have any plans or hopes for your future retirement?

No, not really, but my wife has a DIY list as long as your arm waiting for me…

Herald November 2019

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What’s so amazing about the body?

Alan Meban caught up with author Philip Yancey at the end of his UK tour promoting his updated book, based on two titles he co-wrote with Dr Paul Brand in the 1980s. The author of classic books like Where is God When it Hurts? and What’s So Amazing About Grace?, Yancey is no stranger to these shores having spoken at New Horizon in August 2018 and previously appeared with New Irish Arts in the Belfast Waterfront.

At the heart of Fearfully and Wonderfully is a metaphor about diverse but interrelated parts of our body cooperating together to keep us functioning and healthy, and how we should be working together like that as the body of Christ. Is this something you think the church needs to get a firmer grasp of ?

Not just the church, but society in general.

In the preface I talk about the difference between an organisation and an organism. Organisations, like governments and businesses, are very hierarchical. We pay the top people the most and treat them with special perks.

And then we just ignore the people at the bottom.

In 1 Corinthians 12, the fullest treatment of the body analogy in the Bible, Paul turns that upside down.

He says the body can get along fine without the parts to which we give special attention, such as the eye. But the

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Herald November 2019

parts we treat with special modesty, the unpresentable parts, are the most valuable of all. The body wouldn’t work without them. And when I ask doctors what Paul is talking about, they say, probably kidneys and colons because if those stop working you will die within just a few days.

I think the church loses sight of that because we have become an organisation, like the society around us. Much of church hierarchy is topdown; people at the top exert the power.

…the body can get along fine without the parts to which we give special attention…But the parts we treat with special modesty…are the most valuable of all.

I understand Jesus describing something that grows organically from the bottom up and the body image shows how that can work because cells are very diverse. They’re judged not on where they fit in the hierarchy, but they’re judged by their worth to the rest of the body. Loyal, faithful Christians who stick it out in tough [situations] or are prayer warriors because they’ve had a stroke and can’t get out very often. Those kinds of people may be the most valuable members of the body because our measurement is loyalty to the Head.

You’ve written about us needing grace over doctrinal unity.

It is not about agreeing on everything, but how do we treat people who strongly disagree or are morally offensive. Even the most holy people like the Pharisees were morally offensive to Jesus because they were missing the whole point of the gospel. Then he got the reputation of hanging out with sinners and prostitutes.

In his parables, the hero is usually unexpected, the wrong person, not the holy guy.

What can we do about those we find morally offensive?

Speaking in my home church, I said that, to me, one of the hardest things about prayer is the command to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. I realised I’d never done that. I showed a picture of Al Qaeda and Isis terrorists, and I asked what would happen if every church in north America chose one of these people, learned to pronounce their name, and started praying for them.

Didn’t Jesus tell us to do this?

A colonel from the US army [attending the service] got quite convicted. He had served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He’d tried to kill people before, but never thought about praying for them. He started the ‘Adopt a Terrorist for Prayer’ website (atfp.org) where you can sign up, choose a terrorist, read a biography and agree to pray for them.

We can know what God is like because God treats us, his enemies, with love, grace and forgiveness. That’s counterintuitive. It’s not human. It’s not the way the world works. The mission of the church is to show what God is like and if it doesn’t differ from the world around us, we’re probably doing something wrong.

One section in the book powerfully deals with chronic pain. Have we immunised ourselves from hearing and responding to cries for help from a society in pain?

With modern media, we’re aware of every cry for pain around the world. It becomes almost numbing and you just can’t take it anymore.

Dr Brand talks in the book about his leprosy patients. A healthy body is a body that hears the pain and pays attention to the weakest part. I see that in response to the persecuted church, and disasters around the world. The church does respond, but the individual person in the church needs some help in prioritising and making choices. We can’t each bear all the world’s suffering at once.

When a baby has some sort of abnormality or is born out of wedlock

The mission of the church is to show what God is like and if it doesn’t differ from the world around us, we’re probably doing something wrong.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Back in 1976, Philip Yancey read an inspiring booklet by Dr Paul Brand, an orthopaedic surgeon who spent much of his career working with leprosy patients in India. The “brash young journalist” phoned him out of the blue at the leprosarium where he was working, flew down to meet him, and they subsequently Dr Paul Brand became firm friends.

Brand had been sitting on an unpublished manuscript for years. Yancey saw potential in the writing, and added his own research and thoughts, publishing two books – Fearfully and Wonderfully Made and In His Image – in the 1980s.

Yancey was impressed at the way Brand “would weave science, medicine and theology together, talking in great detail about the human body, but always with a sense of humility, gratitude and praise for the design of it”. He was touched by the surgeon’s stories of leprosy patients enduring rejection and suffering, yet bearing the triumphant image of Christ.

Now combined and updated, Fearfully

in South Korea, there is a shame culture and parents will abandon the baby. Every day in Seoul, babies are discarded in garbage bins. One pastor was appalled and installed a box in the side wall of his church. When a baby is deposited on the soft blanket and the door closed, a warning light goes on, an alarm sounds and the pastor comes down and collects the baby.

I visited that place. He has saved over 1,000 babies that would have been thrown away. And he finds new homes for them, not just in his church, but other churches across South Korea. Some have such difficult health problems that no one is willing to adopt them. The pastor has adopted 23 babies himself.

That’s an example of standing out from the surrounding culture. Some people believe their calling is to protest or to legislate, and I understand that. But I use him as an example of what an ordinary person can do, a common pastor of a medium-sized church, dealing with the reality around him. He gets quite a bit of publicity in Seoul and that makes people think before they throw away their baby.

We are to bear God’s likeness so that when people look at us, like when people look at this pastor in South Korea, and

and Wonderfully: The marvel of bearing God’s image explores the idea of ‘one body, many parts’ and how what we know about the cells within us can inform our lives as part of Christian community, with each of us made in the image of God. The book deals with blood and bones, skin, breath, muscles and pain. It’s a mix of human anatomy, physiology and a bit of social anthropology. And many amazing examples are drawn from Brand’s learning about patients with leprosy and their treatment.

Bodily similes are built about how the body of Christ should behave. Brand concludes: “I have written of lessons from the spiritual Body: the need to serve the Head faithfully, the softness and compliancy of the skin, the diversity of member cells and the marvels that result from their cooperation. Taken together, these provide a sense of presence to the world – God’s presence.”

Herald November 2019

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What’s So Amazing About Grace?

see that God cares for all these children, God cares for the weak and for the marginalised. In the same way my military friend said God says love your enemies.

We should be doing that. We should be standing out from culture around us in a provocative way that shows people what God is like.

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We should be standing out from culture around us in a provocative way that shows people what God is like.

President Carter – who still teaches a weekly Sunday school class in his local church – named you as his favourite modern Christian author.

I didn’t know until somebody sent me a clipping from the New York Times!

So many people either tilt towards practical politics or take a couple of issues like abortion and homosexuality and only focus on those. President Carter took his faith very seriously and even after his term in office he intentionally looked at human rights, basic human dignity, care for the weak and marginalised, and equality of races through [the lens of ] his faith. He tried to combine both what he believed was biblical and right, along with what was possible politically.

to evangelical leaders. And for that reason, they have strong support for the current president compared to Democratic alternatives.

But at the same time what President Trump has done to the office, the profaning of the office, these angry petulant tweets that come out and the way he treats other people, the way he treats women, it’s one thing to support his policies, it’s quite another to say he’s God’s man for our time, because I don’t see qualities described as the fruit of the Spirit in abundance in President Trump’s style.

We Christians are called to demonstrate those qualities, the fruit of the Spirit, as well as standing up for principles that we think are important politically.

In 2016, you expressed your amazement at the evangelical support for the policies of the then Republican candidate Donald Trump. Are you surprised, disappointed, or do you understand why some church leaders and members are so uncritical of President Trump?

It’s a question of style. I know that some of the issues, like abortion, are important

You’ve more books in the pipeline?

For the last couple of years I’ve been working on a memoir that tells some of my own family background stories that have not been told in print before. Most of my books are a combination of narrative and essay. But this one is not. It’s pure narrative, but explains a lot about why I ended up writing about the things that I did.

Herald November 2019

In his most personal and provocative book ever, Philip Yancey offers compelling, true portraits of grace’s life-changing power. If grace is God’s love for the undeserving, then what does it look like in action? And if Christians are its sole dispensers, then how are we doing at lavishing grace on a world that knows far more of cruelty and unforgiveness than it does of mercy?

He challenges us to become living answers to a world that does not know, ‘what’s so amazing about grace’.

The Jesus I Never Knew

For several years, Philip Yancey taught a class on Jesus that relied on movie depictions of his life. Out of that class came this book, The Jesus I Never Knew, it gave him a new and different perspective on Jesus and his work; his teachings, his miracles, his death and resurrection.

The emphasis of this is the relational and personal rather than the scholarly.

Ultimately, it is about who Jesus was, why he came and how no one who meets him ever stays the same.

Prayer: Does it make any difference?

Philip Yancey probes the very heartbeat, and the most fundamental, challenging, perplexing, and deeply rewarding aspect of our relationship with God: prayer. What is prayer? How does it work? In this book he encourages us to pray to God the Father who sees what lies ahead of us, knows what lies within us, and who invites us into an eternal partnership through prayer.

NOVEMBER 2019

Mission Connect

To be a Christian is to be a disciple of Christ

Getting side by side Rosemary Spiers

Mission news from workers around Ireland and the world.

To be a Christian is to be a disciple of Christ Chris and Rachel Humphries Home life Naomi Leremore On mission in northern Fermanagh Rev Gunther Andrich A ministry of presence Rev Jonathan Newell

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.

Busy days at River House Stephanie Moore-Archer

Including November prayer diary

Getting side by side Rosemary Spiers

Deaconess in Greenwell Street Presbyterian Church

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PCI conference for women called ‘Side by Side’ was held in During the summer of 2018, side by side, two women in ministry September. During the morning we looked at God’s Word gathered together over coffee. One a deaconess and the other and the impact others have been – side by side. a missionary. My missionary friend said, “Always get people into As I reflect over my ministry as a deaconess, I give thanks to God’s Word.” I thank God for the opportunities he gives me and for God for the women whom I have encountered in First Antrim and the Bible studies at Greenwell Street.

Greenwell Street, who come One dark winter’s evening alongside others, side by of 2018, side by side, women Women chatted after a ‘Parentalk’ course side. I think of a woman who chatted after a ‘Parentalk’ encourages young women to course and expressed and expressed interest in a Bible study read Christian books, a young interest in a Bible study in the in the mornings…now little ones play, mum who invites others to mornings. Now little ones play, her home for lunch, and many as mums drink coffee and study as mums…study God’s Word. who encourage one another God’s Word, side by side, at a in different ways. morning Bible study.

As a deaconess, I give thanks to God for the opportunity and A new venture for Greenwell Street is Grief Share, which started privilege to come alongside women of all ages in times of trouble, in October. Folks gather in the welcome area to share, listen and times of joy, times of sickness and times of tears. A time to listen, a encourage one another in their journey of grief, side by side. time to pray, a time to help, a time to laugh, a time to share and a “Our kindness may be the window through which those around time to study God’s Word. Countless conversations, cups of coffee us are enabled to see his beauty… and the gospel we proclaim” and hours in coffee shops and walks. At church activities, in a shop (Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth). or in a home, conversations and encouragement about the Lord, side by side.

Please pray: Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth says in her book Adorned: “Woman to woman. Day to day. Life to life. This is God’s beautiful plan…

• Side by side with women as I bring God’s truth and love.

Living our lives as Titus 2 women enables us to fulfil the purpose • Side by side with women as we study God’s Word. for which we were created. It helps our families and churches to • Side by side with those that come along to Grief Share. flourish and the beauty of the gospel to shine forth in our world.”

Mission Connect | Herald November 2019

To be a Christian is to be a disciple of Christ

Chris and Rachel Humphries Global mission workers in Portugal

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ietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote that “Christianity without that we fail him and sent his Holy Spirit to encourage and equip us discipleship is always Christianity without Christ”. To be a as we carry out the Great Commission.

Christian is to be a disciple of Christ. Although that may In Comunidade Pedras Vivas (CPV), we are thankful that we now sound both simple and obvious, often the reality of our lives have a core group of committed Christians, and it is our ambition suggests something different. to see them mature into Jesus didn’t call his disciples disciples who make disciples. …for the church to grow and thrive here to join a movement, form an We believe a key way of doing organisation, or meet once a this is by meeting weekly in in Portugal, whole-life discipleship must be week for prayer (though these ‘micro’ groups of three to things may be good in and of four people, with the aim of a priority. themselves). He called them studying God’s Word, sharing to follow him. As Christians, it in each other’s lives and can be tempting to think that we can fulfil our Christian duties in holding each other accountable. In doing this, our hope is to equip an hour’s slot once a week on a Sunday, but the Bible plainly leaves them to make disciples in their workplaces and communities. We no room for us to think like that. Instead, we are called to live as a team recognise that this is a long-term work, the fruit of which out our lives as a living sacrifice for him in our jobs, families and may take time to bear, but we are equally convinced that for the communities. Christ called us to be disciples who make disciples, church to grow and thrive here in Portugal, whole-life discipleship sharing and modelling his teaching with the spouses, children, must be a priority. neighbours and colleagues that God has placed in our lives.

We believe this is especially important in Portugal, a country that is becoming increasingly secular and where evangelicalism is Please pray: viewed with suspicion. We cannot simply say ‘come and see’ and • Pray for those involved in the discipleship process, for expect people to attend our services. We have to ‘go and tell’ and commitment, teachability and for wisdom for those leading invite people into our lives to see what being a Christian looks groups. like in real life. This is not an easy task. With busy lives, important • Pray that we as a leadership team would model what it looks commitments, and a lack of time, too often making room to meet like to be disciples who make disciples. with others to disciple them or to be discipled can seem just like • Pray that as we partner with God in his mission, that he would another item on the to-do list. But this isn’t what Jesus wants or add many to his kingdom here in Portugal and for his church to promises. Although the task may be difficult, Jesus has promised be strengthened. that his burden is light. He died on the cross to cover all the times Mission Connect | Herald November 2019

Home life Naomi Leremore

Global mission worker in Kenya

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t was an uneventful summer spent at home in Nairobi. That was sawdust, smelt the fresh paint, spied the tiniest patch of green until the landlord rang and informed us that we had to get out outside the back, and unanimously voted YES. “This is God’s doing,” of his house immediately! It was a shock as we’d been living Thomas said when he heard the price was cheaper than our there for more than eight years. current location.

What followed was a very long day with several housing agents, Early the next morning we rushed downtown to sign the looking at properties to rent. contract, only to discover there We focused on an area within was a no animals policy in We are learning to trust God completely and a three kilometre radius of place. This was a blow to our the boys’ school, in order to older son Aaron, who loves in difficult situations to never give up! minimise the time spent in animals and couldn’t bear to daily traffic jams. The first house leave Solo, the pregnant cat, we explored had broken sinks, garish decor and fake grass, but the behind. He began praying for another miracle… real issue was the price which went beyond our budget.

We moved house 10 days after the landlord’s phone call and Some hours later, our determination to find a nice place was the next morning the boys went back to school. A successful slowly giving way to desperation as we viewed house number relocation operation of our cat and tortoise took place when we 11! Couldn’t we live upstairs while the problem with mould found out the ‘no pets’ rule applied only to dogs. We are learning downstairs is being sorted out and bend a bit when walking under to trust God completely and in difficult situations to never give up! the low dangling lights in the living room?

“My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, We kept talking to God about our situation while the boys in undisturbed places of rest” Isaiah 32:18. prayed specifically for “a wonderful new house with good security”.

Ideally we wanted a home on a compound of houses with space for children to play outside. After leaving the last agent, we drove Please pray: around the area on a final tour, looking for ‘To let’ signs on gates.

• Thank God for providing the Leremore family with their new When we arrived in the large car park of another compound, home. we were greeted by friends we didn’t know lived there. A group • Pray for the time, energy and patience required to finish of boys immediately welcomed our two sons and soon they were unpacking and to settle in. climbing the communal loquat tree to try out its tasty ripe fruit.

• Ask that the family will establish good relationships with their The excitement grew as we entered property number 12. neighbours and make use of the God-given opportunities to There were renovators working on the wooden flooring and influence others for Christ. putting finishing touches to the walls. We ploughed through the Mission Connect | Herald November 2019

On mission in northern Fermanagh

Rev Gunther Andrich

Tempo, Irvinestown and Pettigo Presbyterian churches

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e, as the three home mission congregations of Tempo, through the sharing of spiritual experiences, while walking, Irvinestown and Pettigo, have a growing awareness handcrafting, or drinking tea and coffee, etc. that the Lord has placed us in north Fermanagh to be Trust is also corporate. The three congregations have a joint blessed by him, so that we may be a blessing to those around us. sitting of the kirk sessions, to get on the same page and spread Being a farming community, collaborations. Then they are the people here understand free to separate off afterwards …much in gospel work here depends on that there is a lot of hidden for more localised matters. labour needed before harvest, Some people ask us about quality friendships of mutual trust. in our case, before livestock the travelling distances. go to market or grass is cut for Our answer: “Fermanagh is feed and silage. The same goes for the upcoming spiritual harvest. exquisitely beautiful. This lakeland county is also 30% water, so Around here we speak of ‘Fermanagh time’. This is not about whatever the colourful sky is doing, is doubly reflected. Driving arriving five minutes late at meetings, instead, it is about patiently can also be downtime, reflecting on where you have been and seeking for our work to be anointed by God’s grace and unction, in where you are going…”

God’s time. For the Scripture says, “He has made all things beautiful Another little slogan around here is: “Keep it simple…less is in his time”. more!” Various ministry teams have begun to meet for mutual Families are rooted here long term, so that they straddle not encouragement about three times per year, not to plan more work only the hamlets, but the Presbyterian congregations, other so much as investing more in the existing work. denominations and other communities too. We find this exciting, Please pray for us when we are laid on your hearts. that the gospel can potentially ‘travel’ with greater ease between people who worship, live, work and play together.

Please pray: Therefore, we are stating the obvious when we say that much in • Pray that congregation members would grow in personal and gospel work here depends on quality friendships of mutual trust. family devotions.

And we know that this kind of trust takes years to establish. So, we • Pray that we would also grow closer to one another in Christian say to one another: “Little steps…we will get there!” In God’s time. empathy.

One manifestation of this is that within the Presbyterian Women • Pray that the Lord would build up the different ministry teams groups, women’s fellowship groups of four or five women have and fellowship groups. begun to form, with the purpose of encouraging one another Mission Connect | Herald November 2019

A ministry of presence

Rev Jonathan Newell RAF chaplain

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here do I even begin… I guess by asking myself why them. I also spend a lot of time listening. Listening to a variety of chaplaincy? issues including relationships, work stress, battle fatigue, and postI suppose I am attracted to military chaplaincy because traumatic stress. it allows me to minister in a way that is completely ‘outside the As chaplains we provide church services, conduct Bible studies, box’. It is, I believe, incarnational ministry at its best! pray over and fly on sorties, teach classes on a variety of topics, That said, 2019 has been somewhat of a blur. I was ordained, and serve as advisors to more senior officers on pastoral trends attested and joined the RAF in and the spiritual fitness needs February, was commissioned within RAF Brize Norton. We Jesus went into some challenging places… as an officer in May and also assist in traumatic events, began working as a ‘padre’ in places where actually he wasn’t even wanted, conduct critical incident RAF Brize Norton that same stress debriefs, and help with but he went, and I want to follow that model. memorial ceremonies. month. I have been all over the UK and beyond; officiating The RAF and the armed forces at Armed Forces Day on Plymouth Hoe, low-level flying on a are the ultimate place where you can make contact with people Hercules C-130 over Thirlmere Dam and a day trip to the Falkland who would never come into church, in situations where they will Islands being a few highlights. accept you for who you are, that maybe they wouldn’t do in the I am integrated into the RAF as a chaplain, an officer and a SME civilian world. Jesus went into some challenging places, some (Subject Matter Expert) with the purpose of providing religious tough places, some places where actually he wasn’t even wanted, and pastoral support in a variety of settings to a variety of ranks but he went, and I want to follow that model. and positions. The padre’s job is simply to serve the Royal Air Force What a privilege, what an opportunity! community through prayer, presence and proclamation. ‘Ministrare non ministrari’ (to serve, not to be served) is the branch motto.

Most of my job involves simply being that, a ‘ministry of presence’. Going where the troops (the airmen and airwomen) Please pray: are and doing what the troops do, and in doing that, bringing • Pray for wisdom and guidance for Jonathan in all his work, God into their experience, not by force, but by gentle example. It’s particularly when giving pastoral care to people facing very exactly what Jesus did – spent time with people where they were difficult circumstances. at, subtly planting and nurturing seeds until they were ready to • Pray for opportunities to share the gospel. come to him on their own terms.

• Pray that many of those serving with the armed forces and Much of my time is spent visiting with squadrons at their places those in training will come to know Christ and trust in him as of work; be that an office, a hangar or a firing range. Or in other their Lord and Saviour. training locations, such as planes, where I simply hang out with Mission Connect | Herald November 2019

Busy days at River House

Stephanie Moore-Archer

Acting home manager, River House

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iver House celebrated 30 years of service to the Newcastle area last November. This 28-bed unit, with availability for frail elderly and dementia care, is situated where the ‘mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea’. We have residents of all religions and none. They come from north and south of Ireland, England, France and Italy. We have our own in-house French conversation class to which residents, visitors and friends We strive to make are welcome. The class is taught by our Parisian resident, who also studied fashion and design, hence keeping all of us talking and walking the right way. It is a privilege to be witnesses to such a wide community and so many diverse cultures.

We have morning devotions daily, with a prayer meeting on a Monday and a midweek meeting on a Wednesday, led by local ministers and volunteers. We also hold Sunday services for those who are unable to attend church themselves, with a rota of ministers taking them. This is open to everyone and enjoyed by all.

The home is well-supported by a local support committee and Friends of River House group. The local support committee meet quarterly and the Friends meet monthly to plan events and sing in the choir to the residents. The photo included shows a few of them at the awards ceremony in 2018.

We have the motto ‘Our residents don’t live in our workplace, we work in their home’. We strive to make this house a home. We have several day rooms and a reminiscence room, which has a record player where residents can listen to music or read papers and plunder memorabilia. We also have a warm and cozy downstairs lounge that is used for those who like to watch TV. Any and all of

these areas can be used by friends and visitors.

There is also a beautiful summer house, a sheltered space in the garden to enjoy the surroundings. We won the best kept facility award in the South Eastern Trust area again this year for the third consecutive time. Hence, we need to bow out for a year to allow another place to win.

We have two hens that lay eggs daily and give great this house a home. comfort to the dementia residents who enjoy looking after them. We have a dedicated activities coordinator who is great and comes up with lots of lovely ideas, from ‘Coffee at the Castle’ to ‘Pamper in the Parlour’ and many more. Exercise classes such as armchair aerobics are an important part of the day, as are the quizzes and games that exercise the mind.

Please pray: • Pray for the witness of River House to all who enter through our doors: residents, visitors, medical professionals and contractors alike.

• Pray for the residents and staff, that they will avail of the flu vaccinations and stay free from ill health as we move towards the winter period.

• Pray for the local support committee and Friends of River House as they strive to assist in so many ways to contribute to the life of residents.

• Pray for the staff who work hard to make River House the lovely place it is to live in.

Mission Connect | Herald November 2019

NOVEMBER 2019

Please pray for... n HOME MISSION – Rev Colin McKibben and the congregation of Alt as they continue to reach out to their local community. n COMMUNITY OUTREACH – Andrew Dawson, community outreach worker, serving in Second Dromara Presbyterian Church. Remember the twice monthly event (Café Hope), that new people will come along and that more people will come to faith in Jesus Christ. n MALAWI – Give thanks for the work and witness of Lyn and Johnny Dowds in Livingstonia over the past eight years. They concluded their work there in the summer.

Pray for God’s blessing on the whole family Annes and Olga Nel and remember them as they prepare to move to a new location.

n CHAPLAINS – Guidance for PCI’s chaplains serving with the armed forces, as they provide pastoral care, and seek opportunities to share the gospel. n ADELAIDE HOUSE – For home manager Norma Picking and her staff team; for the residents and two in particular in hospital – one who has had a heart attack and the other sepsis. n RUSSIA – Annes and Olga Nel, candidates for overseas service with PCI, who hope to begin serving with the St Petersburg Christian University in early 2020. n HOME MISSION – Rev Daryl Edwards and the congregations of Cootehill, Drum and Kilmount. Pray for the congregations as they reach out to their local communities.

n URBAN MISSION – Belvoir congregation, for good community relations and for those who need to hear the gospel. Pray for God’s guidance through the vacancy process and the calling of a minister, and remember Rev Barry McCroskery (vacancy convener).

n CHAPLAINS – Rev Graham Stockdale, serving as lead chaplain with the Northern Ireland Prison Service, based at Maghaberry prison. Remember Graham and his colleagues dealing with the continuing challenges that come from working in the custodial setting.

n CHAPLAINS – Rev Dave Gray, chaplain at Queen’s University Belfast and Derryvolgie Halls. Pray for student services and small groups hosted in Derryvolgie Hall and their outreach ministries into the wider community.

n PORTUGAL – James and Heather Cochrane as they lead the church plant in Senhora da Hora and seek opportunities to build relationships with local people.

n THE COUNCIL FOR MISSION IN IRELAND – meeting on 6 November. Pray for wisdom and guidance from God in all discussions and decision-making.

n CHAPLAINS – Rev Michael Anderson, part-time chaplain at Musgrave Park Hospital, Belfast, as he visits patients at the hospital.

Give thanks to all the volunteers who help out at Sunday services in the hospital.

n DISABILITY – The Disability Services Committee meeting at Lawnfield House.

Pray for the convener Rev Peter Dickinson and Melanie Bowden, Head of Disability, for wisdom and guidance from God in all discussions and decision-making.

n DEACONESS – Rosemary Spiers, serving in Greenwell Street Presbyterian Church, Newtownards.

Pray for Rosemary as she visits people William Workman and takes part in mums and tots, Chat and Hobby Huddle, the women’s meeting and Bible studies.

n NEPAL – The United Mission to Nepal (UMN); seeking to serve the people of Nepal, particularly those living in poverty. Pray for UMN’s work in the areas of education, healthcare, livelihoods, disaster response, integral development and peacebuilding. n IRISH MISSION – Tom Dowling, Irish mission worker, serving in Kilkenny Presbyterian Church. Pray for door-to-door visitation, for Tom and the others involved, that they would meet those whose hearts have been prepared by God.

n BRAZIL – Naomi Keefe as she continues her work in church-based, Bible-based community development and evangelism in the Olinda area in north-east Brazil.

n COMMUNITY OUTREACH – Andrea McNair, community outreach worker serving in Christ Church Limerick. Pray for energy and inspiration for Andrea as she settles into her new role.

n HOME MISSION – The members of Inch congregation as they seek to bear witness to the gospel in Inch Island and beyond. Pray too that the congregation will be recognised as the family of God on Inch and remember Rev Jim Lamont (stated supply minister).

n DEACONESS – Margaret Robertson to know God’s presence daily as she serves in Elmwood, Lisburn and for wisdom to know how best to support and encourage the local community group in the housing estate next to the church. n CORKEY HOUSE – Give thanks for home manager Mae Clifford, for her dedication and perseverance over the last months, and pray for her, her care staff and residents who are ill and in hospital. n LEADERS IN TRAINING – Leaders from partner churches which PCI supports while they undertake further study aimed at helping their personal development for future ministry and leadership within their church and context. n URBAN MISSION – The congregation of Westbourne in east Belfast, and for the minister, Rev Mervyn Gibson. Pray for wisdom with regard to evangelism and congregational witness. n NEPAL – Peter Fleming in his work in integral development with the United Mission to Nepal and Jayne Fleming as she teaches at Kathmandu International Study Centre. n HOME MISSION – Rev Richie Cronin and the congregations of Aghada and Trinity, Cork as they seek to reach out to the people of the city and surrounding area with the love of Christ. n CHAPLAINS – Rev Graeme Orr, parttime chaplain at the Ulster University’s Magee campus in Londonderry. Pray for the members of the Christian Union as they seek to grow in their faith and reach out to their peers. n IRISH MISSION – William Workman, Irish mission worker serving in Athy and Carlow. Pray for the congregations of Athy and Carlow, that they will not only grow numerically but also spiritually, and become a vibrant witness in both towns. n TAKING CARE ROADSHOWS – For the Taking Care roadshows in Dublin and Munster Presbytery to launch the Tusla and Garda vetting material at the Lucan Centre; for a good attendance from ministers, elders, designated persons and other key volunteers. n BRAZIL – The Presbyterian Church of Brazil which has over a million members and over 5,000 congregations. Pray for the leadership team, including Rev Roberto Brasileiro Silva, President of the Supreme Council.

www.presbyterianireland.org/prayer

TALKING POINTS

Elected for the common good Norman Hamilton outlines the duty of elected representatives to work for the common good and our Christian duty to vote for those who will do this.

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hat is an elected representative for – whether in advocate, against other agents and advocates; but parliament is the Westminster parliament, the Dail in Dublin, a deliberative assembly of one nation, with one interest, that of the Assembly in Belfast, or a local council? Good the whole; where, not local purposes, not local prejudices ought question – and one we rarely think about! The to guide, but the general good, resulting from the general reason easy answer is to say that he or she is elected to represent our of the whole. You choose a member indeed; but when you have interests. Yet, by definition, no one who is elected can fully chosen him, he is not member of Bristol, but he is a member of represent all the views of those in the constituency they are parliament” (Edmund Burke’s speech to the electors of Bristol, from. After all, many people will have voted for other parties, 3 November 1774). and the winner of a seat may not even have the support of a In summary, Burke was saying that once someone is elected, majority of those who turned up to cast their vote. And often their concern ought to be for the ‘general good’ or in today’s more than half of those who could vote don’t bother at all to do words, the ‘common good’ – not merely for the wellbeing of so. For example, in the European election in May this year only those who actually voted for them. This is an outworking in 45% of electors actually voted in Northern Ireland, and in the politics of the fact that people are made in the image of God, Republic of Ireland the turnout was just and of the command of Jesus to love your under 50%. So, any ‘winner’ is in fact only Loyalty to a particular neighbour as yourself, as an expression of elected by a relatively small minority of the political party or a your love for the Lord himself. total electorate. Apathy and indifference With elections expected in the not too particular candidate are widespread. distant future in both the UK and the In practice, this means that anyone who of Ireland, I suggest that every must never be allowed to Republic is elected has to be very careful to keep follower of Christ would do well to factor those who voted for them on board for the influence us more than this concern for the ‘common good’ into next election. They are much less concerned the choices they make as to what party the Scriptures… for those who supported other parties, and what candidates to vote for. Christ especially those who voted for candidates unambiguously calls us (for example in who want something totally opposite. This often leads to tribal the Sermon on the Mount) to stand against, and to stand out, politics and considerable aggression towards others who hold from the prevailing culture and accepted norms. Loyalty to a different views. Indeed, our General Assembly has commented particular political party or a particular candidate must never be more than once in recent years on the language that is often allowed to influence us more than the Scriptures when we go used, which is sometimes very demeaning and at times into the secrecy of the polling booth, and put our preference(s) downright vulgar. on the ballot paper. “You shall have no other gods before me.”

This type of public debate is totally unacceptable from a I fear that it is all too common for the idolatry of politics to Christian and biblical point of view. As the opening chapters push biblical values to one side. And I am fully convinced that of the Bible make clear, we are made in the image of God, and there is a very important Christian ministry to be exercised in that means that we should not be demeaned in any way, nor try the polling booth, alongside that of simply being a responsible to demean others. Christ died for the ungodly, and that alone citizen and actually voting. Christ’s honour – first and foremost. tells us that every single person is very important in the eyes of the living God, and so should not be rubbished by anyone else.

People matter to God – so they should matter to everyone else.

With that in mind, what then is the responsibility of those whom we elect to government and high office? The best description goes back to Edmund Burke, elected in 1774 as the MP for Bristol. His words sound very old-fashioned today – and are not straightforward, but they do repay a careful read and equally careful thought. “Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead Rev Dr Norman Hamilton of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion…Parliament is not a congress of ambassadors from different and hostile Norman Hamilton is minister emeritus of interests, which interests each must maintain, as an agent and Ballysillan Presbyterian Church.

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The church & boys

Ruth Bromley highlights an event in the new year, that will encourage those involved in children’s ministry to consider how well their activities engage with boys.

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t was the end of the summer and I had agreed to take an open children’s church on the first Sunday in September on the theme of prayer.

There would be children from nursery to P7 and it needed to be interactive and inclusive of everyone. So, I planned and prepared and all that was left was to gather the resources.

Then I read Nick Harding’s book, The Church and Boys, as part of my summer reading in work. It dawned on me as I thought about the morning I’d planned that it was skewed towards girls, and if I’m honest, probably much of the activity that we do in children’s ministry is too.

I knew I needed to redo the planning in light of what I had read.

Nick says in the opening page of the first chapter, “Boys are different from girls. Boys are part of God’s great creation, just as girls are, and God is a God of diversity, but there are a huge number of issues facing boys that make them different and may be affecting the

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way they become men.” Nick had my attention from this opening page; he doesn’t hold back as he lays out the way life is for the boys that we interact with in our ministry.

“Testosterone in boys, which becomes more evident as they get older, slows down brain development whereas oestrogen in girls speeds it up. How then can our churches expect 10-year-old boys to behave as sensibly as 10-year-old girls? Often the church looks for both an intellectual level of understanding and an emotional response, which is difficult for boys of any age… boys like practical activities. They are more likely to take

…the more we admonish boys for behaving like boys, the more we tell them, ‘This place is not for you.’

things apart, think about how things work, and enjoy factual and evidencebased ideas.”

The more I read this book the more I began to think about the children’s ministry, not just in my own congregation, but across the whole denomination. Many of our children’s leaders (as well as many of our primary school teachers) are female and so a lot of our children’s ministry is slanted in that direction. And that’s not a criticism; it’s simply a fact of female leaders doing what comes naturally. But maybe there is a better way. Either that is female leaders thinking more about the boys in our midst and how they are different, or it is encouraging more men into children’s ministry and allowing them to live out their faith as men for the boys to see.

And here’s the challenge: “If boys do not have a significant male role model, they may struggle to thrive, and those who have no male in their lives at home or at school until they reach secondary school

will not have seen what a ‘man’ can really be like.” Wow. Nick also says, “The church could gain from embracing some of the messiness that boys bring to our communities…the more we admonish boys for behaving like boys, the more we tell them, ‘This place is not for you.’”

So, what can we do as a Church? Nick suggests that we should try and view our worship space through the eyes of a boy and accept that we may have to work a bit harder to keep them engaged and to feel like church is a place where they belong. To aid this and to help our boys to grow, we may need to create a likeminded group of boys. Maybe you could do more to encourage your Boys’ Brigade company in all that they do as a step towards this.

Nick goes on to say, “Boys in community are able to challenge each other, compare their problems, and talk things through, fight and bond with each other.”

So, what about my Sunday with the full range of children and the prayer theme?

Well I changed some of it to reflect

…we should try and view our worship space through the eyes of a boy and accept that we may have to work a bit harder to keep them engaged… what I read in this book. Just tweaked a few things because I also had the girls in the group to cater for, but it made a difference. I watched as all the children participated and then brought their parents up to see all the prayer stations and the challenges they had taken part in.

Nick affirms, “Boys have a great deal to contribute to the life of any church.” I couldn’t agree more with this statement.

We need to work harder to make this happen and allow our boys to contribute in children’s ministry, in worship and in community.

If you want to know how to do that better, prioritise coming to hear Nick speak on this subject on 8 February 2020.

It is crucial that we make a difference!

REVIEW

The Church and Boys Nick Harding

THE BIBLE READING FELLOWSHIP £8.99

The tagline for this book is ‘Making the Connection’ and it certainly lives up to that. In every part of the book it echoes the importance of making the connection with boys. My expectation was to read a book full of theory, statistics and analysis on boys and their relationship with the church; however, I was pleasantly surprised to find it gave real and practical examples.

As someone who regularly engages with Boys’ Brigade leaders, chaplains and companies, I will now be saying, “Before you do anything, read this!” It opens your mind to thinking and understanding the adjustments we should be aware of when working with boys. For example, simple factors like thinking through the environment, activity and format in which we work with boys. There is an emphasis throughout the book on having male role models who engage in youth and children’s activities in church, so our boys see them in the front line of our congregations.

Very simply and straight to the point, it states that, “Boys need men” and presents a real challenge to the church, not just to have men in background jobs or leadership roles but releasing them into children’s ministry so boys will then see these role models from a younger age.

A quote that stands out for me is: “We need to do all we can to help boys grow in their faith and to know what their faith is all about.” For me, Boys’ Brigade is and always will be all about Jesus. Faith is central to what we do, as our object states: “The

The Church and Boys with Nick Harding Date: Saturday 8 February 2020 Venue: Assembly Buildings, Belfast Time: 10am-12.30pm Why are boys so under-represented in churches? Why do churches find it difficult to cater for boys? What would help boys in church to grow into mature men of faith?

Come along to this one-off event and hear stories, see resources and listen as Nick Harding (the author of The Church and Boys) as he spells out the problem and encourages us to see this in missional terms.

For more details go to www.presbyterianireland.org/events

advancement of Christ’s kingdom among boys and the promotion of habits of obedience, reverence, discipline, selfrespect and all that tends towards a true Christian manliness.” What I loved about this book is the continuous reference to faith and how the book provides simple practical suggestions to add to your context that will dramatically change your overall approach in how you reach boys for Christ. The book has lots of ideas on engagement with the Bible, prayer, worship and activities with boys.

Nick says, “If we are to help the boys in our churches grow successfully into Christian men, we need to include them in the activities of the church from the earliest point on.” This spoke volumes to me. Boys’ Brigade provides that opportunity from a young age and we need to embrace it fully.

This is a challenging read that really gets you to think of ministry to boys in a way you maybe have never thought of before. It is a fantastic resource for anyone working with boys in youth or children’s ministry and every Boys’ Brigade leader should read this book.

Please pray for the work of Boys’ Brigade in our congregations.

During 2020 Boys’ Brigade Northern Ireland will be embarking on a year of mission which will involve eight mission events during October 2020 in partnership with Crown Jesus Ministries. Please pray for the Mission 2020 as preparations begin and we build up to the mission events.

David Penney, Training and Programme Officer, Boys’ Brigade Northern Ireland

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A culture of community

David Thompson introduces a series of PCI events happening in Spring 2020 which will focus on building the community of the church.

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ometimes we expect God’s big messages for his church in any season of its life to come crashing out of the sky in a moment of startling revelation. Perhaps more often, however, they come bubbling up from the ground up, through widespread, prayerful conversation and the slow dawning of his light for the moment.

The Council for Congregational Life and Witness (CCLW) is the department of PCI involved in discerning the needs and priorities for developing the weekly work and witness of congregations.

The report of the CCLW to the General Assembly in 2019 identified the following theme bubbling up as increasingly important in this season of church life.

“Building the community life of the church is an essential priority emerging in areas of pastoral life, discipleship, leadership, worship and, by extension, outreach. If we are to care for one another, walk with one another in the journey of faith, lead and follow together as one in a shared direction and worship with one another in ways that are more than mere consumerism, then we need to share life together at more than a

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superficial level. In a world that is lonely and fractured, that community will bear a witness to others.”

The report identifies the question of how to build the community of the church as one that looms large behind so many of the everyday questions we find ourselves asking, and speaks of it as, “an issue of developing a culture that needs to undergird all of congregational life.”

One anothers Jesus calls us all uniquely, individually and one by one to be his followers, but from that moment the journey continues in the community of the church as ‘one anothers’. That phrase, that may sound a bit awkward to our ears, is frequently found in how the New Testament often speaks about our relationship as members of the community of the church. In fact, the idea of being one anothers, acting positively towards one

It’s possible to go in and out on Sunday and not really know very many other people in our church.

another or avoiding ways of relating poorly to one another appears 59 times.

We are told to love one another ( John 13:34); live in harmony with one another (Romans 12:16); stop passing judgment on one another (Romans 14:13); accept one another (Romans 15:7); serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13); be patient, bearing with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2); be kind and compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4:32); forgive one another (Ephesians 4:32); encourage one another daily (Hebrews 3:13); and pray for one another ( James 5:16).

The challenge of building the community of the church in our generation Being ‘one anothers’ in the community of the church doesn’t just happen. As much as we are united by owning God as our heavenly Father, our common faith in Christ as Saviour and Lord and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we still find it easy to keep our distance from one another in church life. It’s possible to go in and out on Sunday and not really know very many other people in our church. It’s so comfortable to be a

consumer of the church’s services and organisations in such a way that we dip in and out, but never immerse ourselves in a meaningful conversation with anyone else. However, there is a growing realisation that such encounters with the activities, but not the community of the church, leave us feeling isolated in an ever more impersonal world. There is a building dissatisfaction that often the commitment of time to church activities does not correspond to a commitment of our real selves in deeper relationships.

Whether it is developing our pastoral life, discipleship, worship, leadership, intergenerational ministry or outreach, none of it can happen if we keep our distance from one another. So, how do we build community in church life and move towards one another in love, rather than keep our walk with Jesus to ourselves?

How can we take steps towards a more relationship-rich church life?

Events in Spring 2020 In Spring 2020 PCI is running a variety of events, aimed at helping us explore different aspects of building the community of the church. These will take place between Tuesday 28 April and Friday 1 May. There will be something for everyone.

These events will provide a way into this crucial conversation, offering some practical ways in which we can express the kind of community in the church that God has always intended.

Our guest speaker at each event will be Dr Edward T. Welch, author of Side

By Side and Caring for One Another, two very practical books on building Christian relationship, and also When People are Big and God is Small and Shame Interrupted, two significant books for Christian leaders. You can find out more about Dr Welch at: www.ccef. org/people/ed-welch/ Why not plan to attend, highlight the possibilities to others in your congregation, or schedule to come as a group from your church? Further details and how to book for each part of the programme will follow in early 2020.

Growing closer in the meantime You don’t have to wait until next Spring to begin to build the community of your congregation. There are lots of resources

…encounters with the activities, but not the community of the church, leave us feeling isolated in an ever more impersonal world. that have already bubbled through to the surface to help you grow into a more relational approach to being ‘one anothers’ as the people of God. In the area of discipleship, why not explore the ‘Proximity’ series of resources?

How about the ‘Share’ resource, helping you think about how your church expresses God’s community in its wider community? Or the ‘Side by Side’ initiative in women’s ministry, offering a range of ways of ministering to one another? You could also try the ‘ASK’ prayer resource as a way of moving prayer from a focus purely on the needs of individuals to interceding together for the life of your church as the community of God’s people.

In his book Caring for One Another, Ed Welch paints a picture of the vision for us: “Imagine – an interconnected group of people who entrust themselves to each other. You can speak of your pain, and someone responds with compassion and prayer.

You can speak of your joys, and someone shares in them with you. You can even ask for help with sinful struggles, and someone prays with you, offers hope and encouragement from Scripture, and sticks with you until sin no longer seems to have the upper hand. There is openness, freedom, friendship, bearing burdens together, and giving and receiving wisdom. No trite responses. And Jesus is throughout it all.”

Rev David Thompson is Secretary of PCI’s Council for Congregational Life and Witness.

One Anothers events with Dr Edwards T. Welch in Spring 2020 One Anothers: Building genuine community in the church Tuesday 28 April 2020 10am-3.30pm Assembly Buildings, Belfast Day conference for ministers, elders and other key congregational leaders.

One Anothers: Building genuine community in the church Wednesday 29 April 2020 7.45-9.30pm Assembly Buildings, Belfast Evening event for church members, midweek and small groups.

Leading in the One Another-ness of Church Life: Confident in God as we lead in community Thursday 30 April 2020 10am-1pm Assembly Buildings, Belfast A morning of equipping for ministers, elders and other key congregational leaders.

One Anothers: Building genuine community in the church Thursday 30 April 2020 7.45-9.30pm Union Road Presbyterian Church, Magherafelt (Regional event repeat of Assembly Buildings evening event above) Evening meeting for church members, midweek and small groups.

When Shame Gets in the Way of Being One Anothers: Ministering in an honour shame culture Friday 1 May 2020 10am-1pm Assembly Buildings, Belfast A morning of equipping for ministers, elders, other key congregational leaders and those involved in Christian counselling.

For more details visit www.presbyterianireland.org/events

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Understanding

human rights

Karen Jardine considers the issue of human rights and outlines PCI’s work in this area.

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any will have responded with dismay to recent statements from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) that the unborn child is not entitled to any protection before birth under international human rights law. This is just one example where discussion of ‘human rights’ can feel distant from biblical language, and can seem to pose a significant challenge to the articulation, expression and demonstration of Christian belief in the UK and Ireland.

In a society in which ‘rights’ are now seen as the ultimate protectors of freedom and happiness, it is important that we as a Church understand the nature of debates surrounding human rights and are able to make a meaningful and constructive contribution. After all, we are aware of the severe threat to our

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brothers and sisters elsewhere in the world who suffer under regimes where even the most basic of human rights, including the right of freedom to worship enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, are denied. Even the current conversations about conscientious objection in relation to legislation on abortion and same-sex marriage are within a rights-based framework. This is one of the reasons why the 2019 General Assembly commended a paper on human rights as guidance for the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s engagement on rights-based issues in the public square.

…we must model how to disagree well on those areas on which we fundamentally differ.

What are human rights?

Broadly speaking a human right can be described as a right that is possessed, or ought to be possessed by everyone within the state or even across the world.

These include the right to clean water, a decent standard of housing, to believe whatever religious views you wish and the right not to be tortured. These basic rights are often described as being based on shared values like dignity, fairness, equality, respect and independence and are usually defined and protected by law.

Internationally the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations in 1948 as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations.

While the UDHR might be seen as the founding document for modern understandings of human rights, it is important to note that the language of

rights is neither new nor novel. Some point to the Magna Carta as the first iteration of a rights-based framework for what was to become the United Kingdom, while we are all familiar with the rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” enshrined in the American Constitution.

Rights are often considered fundamental to civilisation for they are regarded as established pillars of society and culture. They structure the form of governments, content of laws, and the shape of morality as it is currently perceived.

The term ‘rights’ has been used by different groups and people for a range of purposes including: • natural rights – universal rights which are said to apply to all people and they exist for every individual and cannot be taken away; • legal rights – based on a society’s customary laws, statutes or actions; • claim rights – based on duty when another person has a duty to the right holder; • liberty rights – which may be properly described as privileges and refers simply to a freedom or permission for the right holder to do something, like freedom of speech.

Policy framework Practice, policy and legislation relating to human rights continue to evolve. In the UK, the key underpinning legislation is the Human Rights Act 1998. The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the European Charter on Fundamental Rights also form part of the UK Human Rights legal framework, as is the case with the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Constitution, ratified in 1937, contains a number of articles on Fundamental Rights (40–44) which include matters such as freedom of speech, religious freedom, and family and home life. The 2018 referendum which led to the introduction of legislation on abortion is a key recent change to this part of the Constitution.

The NIHRC was established in 2000, created as a consequence of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. Its counterpart, the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) was similarly established in 2000. This leads to an added dimension for human rights

…our response is immensely practical, affirming human dignity and our belief that all are created in the image of God. discourse in the island of Ireland where the creation of these bodies was a direct consequence of seeking resolution to conflict. Legislation in 2014 led to a merger between the IHRC and the Equality Authority and the creation of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. Both north and south the Commissions are bound by the Paris Principles, an international agreement on the operation of national human rights institutions.

Biblical framework In 2010 the General Assembly received a report from the Church and Society Committee which set out a detailed Christian perspective on human rights. That report remains the biblical framework for our current work and can be summarised as follows: • we affirm human dignity – human beings are created in God’s image to know him, serve one another and be stewards of the earth, therefore they must be respected; • we affirm human equality – human beings have all been made in the same image by the same Creator therefore we must behave without partiality to all; and, • we affirm human responsibility – we have to accept that other people’s rights are our responsibility. This of course is not an absolute commitment to the expectations or demands of another person, for a Christian response must always itself be consistent with both the broad thrust, and specific guidance, of Scripture.

How should PCI respond?

How then does PCI respond rather than react to the human rights discourse of the 21st century? A cross-party group of MPs noted in a 2012 report for Christians in Parliament called ‘Clearing the Ground’ that: “it is a Christian responsibility to proclaim the gospel,

challenging injustice and to speak out for those without a voice. In a context of competing claims for power it is critically important that Christians respond rather than react to the challenges they face.”

First, our response is immensely practical, affirming human dignity and our belief that all are created in the image of God: through the provision of residential and respite day care for adults with severe learning disability at facilities like Aaron House; English classes or legal advice offered to asylum seekers and migrants who engage with International Meeting Point; and the countless ways in which local congregations seek to meet the needs prevalent in their local communities.

With this in mind the NIHRC’s previous work on vulnerable children in Northern Ireland who cannot be cared for within their own family unit, or on seeking to improve care in hospital emergency departments could have much to commend it from a biblical viewpoint.

Secondly, we must model how to disagree well on those areas on which we fundamentally differ, like the rights of the unborn child. Bound by the Paris Principles and international law, the NIHRC is unlikely to change its mind about protections for the unborn. But we will still make our views known, both in public and in private meetings, seeking to be gracious as we do so.

Professor Julian Rivers of Bristol University wrote that too much of current public debate and discourse is focused on individualism over and above the common good; on autonomy over the legitimate needs and concerns of others; with litigation and conflict becoming early ports of call over the painstaking work of building consensus. This will mean that in practice PCI must continue to be cautious about giving full (or even at times partial) support to the growing list of human rights demands that are presumed to follow from those that are considered to be natural rights. Professor Rivers observes that: “The concept of a right is a powerful tool for doing certain limited moral and legal jobs. Like any powerful tool it needs to be used carefully, but it should neither be overworked nor abandoned”. With this we can agree.

Karen Jardine is PCI’s Public Affairs Officer.

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Transforming identities David Smyth highlights a new resource from Evangelical Alliance that addresses the issue of transgenderism.

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or many, the whole public conversation on transgender still feels like it’s something distant and separate; more of a fringe issue than an everyday reality. We may still not personally know anyone well who identifies themselves as transgender.

Maybe it was first brought to our attention when Vanity Fair’s front cover introduced Caitlyn to us – the former US Olympian Bruce Jenner who had come out as transgender.

However, in a short space of time the issue has gone from global magazine covers to our local church context. As the number of those identifying as transgender continues to rise, it will inevitably become closer to home for more of us.

As Christians, it is vital we learn how to navigate the complex and oftentimes

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confusing concepts, ideas and language surrounding this debate. As churches, it is important we are communities that embody grace and truth. These are some of the prompts that resulted in us creating ‘Transformed’, a resource to help Christians begin to think biblically, pastorally and practically about this issue. In the heat and confusion of this conversation we must never lose sight of the real people who are affected, people who are not an idea to

…we must never lose sight of the real people who are affected, people…who are deeply valuable to our Lord.

be debated but who are deeply valuable to our Lord. This should shape how we think, speak and act.

The language and debate has shifted very quickly so it’s important to have some clarity in defining exactly what we are talking about. Until recently, transgender was generally used to refer to someone suffering with gender dysphoria, a rare medical condition where a person feels their biological sex and gender identity do not match up – understandably leading to distress and discomfort. A range of interventions can be pursued socially, medically and surgically, ranging from the superficial to the irreversible. Although this condition still affects only a small fraction of the population, reported cases are seeing a dramatic increase. Referrals to the main UK clinic dealing with gender dysphoria in children has increased by 1,000% in the past six years. Currently, UK law says that a person must have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria and be living in their

chosen gender for at least two years before they can legally be recognised as such. This is potentially subject to change pending a recent government consultation, which could remove the need for a medical diagnosis altogether.

In the Republic of Ireland, ‘self declaration’ without medical intervention or assessment by the state has been in law since 2015 for any person over 18.

However, the current cultural, political and theological conversation about transgender includes much more than the medical condition of gender dysphoria. Transgender currently is perhaps best understood as an umbrella term encompassing a wide range of experiences of difference between feelings about identity and gender and biological sex. This includes those with a diagnosed medical condition, those pursuing a political ideology and many people in between. Many streams of cultural trends have converged to shape this post-modern philosophy, including individualism, relativism, queer theory and the sexual revolution. Culturally, the issue is most controversial perhaps when children are involved and within a feminist debate about whether those born biologically male can ever experience what it means to be a woman.

This short article can barely scratch the surface of the transgender debate, both as an experienced issue and an ideology. However, we want to get to the heart of how Christian people can respond with compassion, clarity and by carefully voicing concerns.

This area is so urgent, sensitive and polarising that we can jump into the debate almost forgetting the deep and wide perspective Scripture brings. The narrative of creation, fall, redemption and restoration is a helpful way to begin to give depth and space to think about this complex issue.

Our resource, and other books like Transgender by Vaughan Roberts, A Better Story by Glynn Harrison and God and the Transgender Debate by Andrew T. Walker are helpful in setting out something of the bigger biblical picture. We can also easily neglect the basic Christian commitment to live in right relationship,

…the deliberate erosion of any distinctiveness of femaleness and maleness as good gifts of common grace is deeply concerning. whether it be with the individual with gender dysphoria or their family and friends.

Any pastoral response will never be simple, and we can’t approach it with a one-size-fits-all attitude. The way we respond to a four-year-old will be different to how we deal with a 14-year-old or a 54-year-old. A compassionate response will rarely be a one-time conversation, and a journey to reconciliation between someone’s experience of their identity and their biological sex can be long and painful.

Our posture and tone must be marked by a commitment to both the truth and love found in Christ. There will be practical issues around welcome, accommodation and toilet provision. The use of names and pronouns will also be important and potentially contentious for both the person identifying as trans and those seeking to be in relationship with them.

Christians may disagree on this and how best to respond depending on the balance between grace and truth they accommodate within their conscience, the context of the situation, age and stage of the gender-variant presentation and the relationship with the individual.

Hand in hand with showing compassion is the need to speak with clarity. It is difficult to overemphasise the complexity surrounding this issue. Problems can arise when people try to respond pastorally to ideological arguments or respond ideologically to the person in front of them who needs a pastoral response.

Our culture is confused and trans ideology pushes ideas that are inherently contradictory and deeply troubling. God’s Word has so much to teach us about what it means to be human, to reflect and honour his image and each other, to pursue justice and mercy

together as a community of hope to the nations. There are many public issues like healthcare, education, social policy, free speech and legal parameters which deserve careful biblical engagement.

God’s kingly reign is full of common grace, it offers freedom, new life and redemption. We seek to embody God’s truth and love in our response, not in a way that is harsh or unkind, but with a deep desire and concern to see our society flourish the way God intends it to.

Finally, we want to speak with concern.

The broader ideology of the trans movement points to a way of being human which runs counter to God’s Word in many ways that are concerning to us as parents, communities and Christians. The church, like many others, will be concerned with practices which can radically alter bodies and minds and which are invasive and potentially non-reversible. Cultural gender stereotypes can and must be challenged at times but the deliberate erosion of any distinctiveness of femaleness and maleness as good gifts of common grace is deeply concerning. Legal and ethical, theological and political challenges need to be articulated bravely and graciously.

Trans might once have been a fringe issue but we would be mistaken to think it still is or is going away any time soon.

If the issue has not affected you, your church, your children’s school or your place of work yet, it likely will soon. As redeemed, forgiven people, we want to speak and act with compassion, clarity and concern for individuals and the wider culture around us.

Our Transformed booklet is a short signpost to help people begin to think about this important area, it can be downloaded free at our website www.eauk.org/trans along with some other resources. The PCI is also producing its own set of pastoral guidelines for individuals, families and leaders who are seeking help in these complex areas which will be available in the near future.

TRANS FORME

David Smyth is Public Policy Officer for Evangelical Alliance NI.

D

A brief bibli cal and pastoral introduct ion to und erstand transgen ing der in a changing cultu

re

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REVIEWS

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

The Hymns Project: We have an anchor Colin Webster and Phil Moore ESSENTIAL CHRISTIAN

£12.99

«««««

Colin Webster and Phil Moore have been worship leaders at various national conferences, including Word Alive and the Keswick Convention. This album is a collection of live recordings and is a mix of new hymns, composed

by Webster and Moore, and older hymns, which they have reworked.

The overall result of the album is a little mixed. The most successful new hymn is Your Great Love, which is uplifting and joyous. Holy Father Rich in Mercy is also a great new track that praises God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. With its Celtic lilt, it sounds similar to something we would hear from the Gettys and should be very accessible for congregational singing.

It is perhaps difficult to rework classic hymns because they are so well known and loved. Webster and Moore have tinkered to varying effect. How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds and Come Thou Fount have both been sensitively modernised and refreshed for a new generation of listeners. Unfortunately, We Have an Anchor and Amazing Grace are less effective.

Those who enjoy the Keswick Convention will undoubtedly love this collection and worship leaders will be interested to know there is a companion songbook of the piano arrangements (plus a digital version) available at www.cornerstoneworship.co.uk SH

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Considering Grace Gladys Ganiel and Jamie Yohanis MERRION PRESS (AVAILABLE FROM WWW.PRESBYTERIANIRELAND.ORG)

£12

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Commissioned as a practical way for PCI to chart how Presbyterians were affected by and responded to the Troubles, this book stands as a very significant social history, telling the stories of 120 Presbyterians and ‘critical friends’.

There are numerous accounts of heartbreaking tragedy, unbearable pain, remarkable courage and incredible forgiveness. It is by no means an easy read. However, it struck me as an important one, not only for Presbyterians, but also for our society at large.

PCI is to be commended for being brave enough to ask people how they thought the Church responded in those days and for allowing those honest thoughts to be published uncensored. Sometimes the Church is painted in a favourable light, but more often than not, it isn’t. The authors say, “These stories create opportunities for graciousness because they allow victims to be heard…Absorbing people’s stories is a necessary part of listening graciously.”

For me, the clearest message of the book is: we must never return to those dark days. It is crucial that our Church listens to the voices in this book and prioritises peacemaking, but it is also evident that this should not be left to the Church alone. Individually, we each need to play our part and proactively make changes to our attitudes and behaviour.

What also struck me was the importance of this book for younger generations, who need to understand the events of the past to make sense of the present. Importantly, this book goes beyond the facts and statistics and presents a truly horrific reality that we need to avoid repeating at all costs.

SH

Love Church Tim Matthews

HODDER & STOUGHTON

£9.99

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Love Church is the account of a Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) plant, St Swithuns, in Bournemouth by the planter Tim Matthews. Matthews is an informal and impassioned author.

Throughout the book, he recounts his peaks and troughs. He describes thoughts and emotions that planters certainly have and seeing them in print was helpful.

However, I was ultimately disappointed by the book. The cover describes St Swithun’s as “transforming lives of people who are homeless and addicted” alongside “addressing local social issues” but Matthews gives very bare bones.

As the book continued, I also questioned his leadership discernment and direction.

His interpretation of circumstances and ‘words from God’ makes his story and plan subjective and unchallengeable. At one point, I questioned when determination becomes ruthlessness. Moreover, he writes as the plant reaches just four years; is that presumptuous? Such traits are not uncommon among planters, but I’d hoped for discussion and self-awareness of these.

Furthermore, the church planting model seemed preset no matter the location.

Little thought was given to shaping for the context. It would always be a ‘branded’ HTB 2.0; heavily resourced, worshipcentred, polished and large. The huge growth that followed begs the question – unchurched or transfer growth?

Love Church, in my opinion, is worth reading but outlines one model from many for planting, particularly in Ireland.

Adopting Matthews’ passion for Jesus and unchurched younger generations will get us much further.

LE

REVIEWERS

JC – Rev Dr Jim Campbell is minister emeritus of Cooke Centenary LE – Rev Lee Eagleson leads the team in Trinity Church, Belfast

Stories from the Streets and Beyond Jim Rea CEDRIC WILSON

£12.95

«««««

Jim Rea is very much a man of the people. He has walked the streets of Ulster day and night and engaged with folk of all sorts of backgrounds.

A former president of the Methodist Church, he is well known through his regular broadcasts on the BBC and Downtown Radio.

He has witnessed some of the most horrific events of the Troubles – his ministry has mainly been in areas of conflict. He has spent many years in Belfast, on the Shankill and in east Belfast.

In earlier times, he engaged with the leaderships of opposing paramilitary organisations in an attempt to end violence. He was awarded an MBE for community service in 1995.

Jim is an acute observer of human life and a great storyteller. In this book, he has gathered together 50 fascinating stories about interesting individuals and unique incidents which he encountered during his ministry. Some of the people, like Terry Waite or Pat Jennings, you will know, but most stories are about ordinary individuals from the highways and byways of Ulster. Many of the stories will make you laugh, some will bring a tear to your eye. Each story stands alone.

This is a book that you can pick up when you have a few moments free. Reading any one of the stories will bring you a blessing. It is an excellent book to give to someone as a gift. Proceeds from the sale will go to two homeless charities – the Welcome Organisation and Hosford House in east Belfast.

JC

JA – Jasmine Alcorn is part of the worship team at Lowe Memorial Presbyterian Church SH – Sarah Harding is the editor of the Herald JB – Janice Barr works with Charlene’s Project, which helps children in Uganda, Guatemala and Syria

Motions of Mercy Luke and Anna Hellebronth INTEGRITY MUSIC

£12.99

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Luke and Anna pictured descending steel steps with a graffiti backdrop.

Could this be the Christian hipster’s long-awaited answer to the Gettys? No tattoos, beanie hats or bushy facial hair though, so first impressions suggest not. Closeted hipsters they may be, but where the Hellebronth’s align themselves creatively with this LP feels a touch disjointed, like they haven’t truly settled on their musical identity.

Rebuilding the Ruins Samara Levy HODDER & STOUGHTON

£12.99

«««««

Do you wish to sit comfortably, with your life as it is? If so, then please don’t pick up this book!

To say that I am glad I read this book is a total understatement. What I found so encouraging is the relevance of it to every single one of us, no matter who we are, no matter how skilled or unskilled we are.

On reading this book you will know afresh

Almost to tease, the opening guitar riff could have been lifted straight from a Getty song, but they follow this with See Me Through, a dance-infused, hook-packed, nod-along pop tune that genuinely wouldn’t sound out of place on Radio 1. Scattered throughout the record are smatterings of soul and, in one instance, a backing beat that took me right back to 2002.

The meaty filling of the album though are the songs written for corporate worship. These tracks are largely predictable in both structure and melody. Church bands and congregations are generally not made up of professional musicians and to write songs that are easily adapted is definitely not a criticism. The standout track for me has to be Abide. It ebbs and flows with such depth and beauty, building to a crescendo that feels both natural and unforced.

I like this record, I even love some of it. It speaks truth about our God and points the soul to him. Sure, what else would you want from a worship album?

JA

that you don’t have to be anyone special or of any importance, humanly speaking, to make a difference in our world.

Samara’s story of simply wanting to send aid to Syria, which has grown into a charity distributing aid to more than 350,000 people in the Middle East, is told simply and honestly. It will refresh your perspective on the incredible God we have, and how he works through anyone.

What Samara, a mum with two small kids, is doing is amazing, but what stands out is the God behind it all.

I would recommend that everyone read this book. It’s a wonderful story, but above all else it has the potential to change your life... if you allow it. When you add the small amount that you can do to everyone else’s small amount, the results will be breathtaking – so enjoy the story, be challenged by it, and let’s all explore what our ‘small amount’ is, and then watch God do great things!

JB

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LIFE IN PCI Belfast churches work together to serve community Two east Belfast Presbyterian congregations have been helping their local community through their support of the Scaffolding Project.

Aimed at supporting families in a variety of situations, the Scaffolding Project has so far adopted a twin-track approach – helping with school uniforms and providing a holiday hunger programme.

The school uniform initiative has proven extremely successful, with previously owned school uniforms being distributed at various community events.

The second track is the holiday hunger programme or nutritional programme as some prefer to call it. The summer months present challenges for families whose children normally benefit from free school meals. This is where support from the congregations of Mountpottinger and Westbourne came into play.

Retirement in Kilfennan The congregations worked with Sure Start, an organisation supporting families based on the Albertbridge Road, which sits between the two congregations. Recognising that the churches have the personnel and premises to help, the churches supplied packed lunches during Sure Start’s summer programme.

Initially the plan was to provide around 500 packed lunches, but the project grew in number to 1200 packed lunches of sandwiches, crisps and a bottle of water.

Undaunted by the numbers, each evening a team of a dozen ladies and men from the congregations set about their task with good heart and a little competition, as to who would complete their sandwich quota the first.

Rev Johnston Lambe (minister of Mountpottinger) says, “We are indebted to the support of Westbourne PW, the Mission Possible charity shop from Mountpottinger and a number of generous individuals who paid for all the food.

“As congregations, we saw this as something we should be involved in... We also see it as something we can repeat next year as an ongoing witness. The Scaffolding Project would love to see support from many other churches.”

Former Moderator Dr R.L. Craig recently retired from ministry in Kilfennan Presbyterian Church after 25 years. Rob, together with his wife Karen and daughters Rachel and Hannah, were presented with gifts in recognition of the significant contribution they all made to the Co Londonderry congregation. Rob preached God’s Word truthfully and was a faithful and compassionate pastor to all. Karen led PW and served as a GB officer with dedication. Rachel and Hannah grew up in Kilfennan and are now successful in their respective careers as a solicitor and lecturer in nursing.

The whole congregation wish them God’s richest blessing in retirement and this new chapter in their lives.

Ordination and installation in Bailieborough Pictured following the ordination and installation of Rev John O’Donnell as minister of First Bailieborough (Corglass), Trinity Bailieborough, Corraneary and Ervey are: representative elders, clerks of session, Rev David Bruce (Council for Mission in Ireland) and Rev David Clarke (guest preacher). Front row: Rev S. McNie (acting clerk), Sarah O’Donnell, Timothy O’Donnell, Mr O’Donnell, Rev C. Anderson (moderator of Monaghan Presbytery) and Rev D. Edwards (vacancy convener).

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Herald November 2019

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

Moy presentation A presentation has been made to Lila Barnard and Frances Marsh in recognition of 21 and 31 years’ service respectively to the congregational committee of Moy Presbyterian Church in Co Tyrone. Also pictured are Adrian McMullan (clerk of session) and Grant Gilmore (congregational secretary).

Ballycarry congregation bids fond farewell to minister The congregation of Ballycarry Presbyterian has paid a heartfelt tribute to long-serving minister Rev Gabrielle Farquhar. A special evening was held in the Co Antrim church to mark her departure after almost 25 years’ service. The church was packed for the occasion and tributes were paid to Mrs Farquhar from representatives of Ballycarry, the community and other churches. Pictured are: Arthur McQuitty, Mabel Bell, Elsa Robinson, Daphne Bashford, Maurice Farquhar and Mrs Farquhar. Photograph by Desi Campbell.

Collector retires in Warrenpoint Valerie McGuffin, vice president of the Presbyterian Children’s Society, travelled to Warrenpoint Presbyterian Church to make a presentation to Dorrie Rea (centre) who recently retired as the agent/collector for the Society after over 30 years’ service. Mrs Rea faithfully collected every year after taking on the role following the death of her daughter Jill, who had been the agent for a number of years. The work will continue at the Co Down church with the help of David Gray (also pictured), who is an elder in Warrenpoint.

Neonatal presentation in Mosside Mosside Presbyterian has raised money for the neonatal unit in Antrim Area Hospital. A cheque for £5,515 was presented to the unit’s Janet Lambrechts by church treasurer John McAllister and clerk of session Mabel Morrison. Also included in the photo are James and Heather Nutt and family. One of their children, Hannah, spent four months in the unit after she was born and they are grateful for the care she received during her time there. Money was raised by the Co Antrim church holding a ‘big breakfast’ which was well supported by the congregation and local community.

Alive youth fellowship retreat Members of First Castleblayney, Frankford and Corvally Alive youth fellowship enjoyed their annual retreat to the Kilbroney Centre in Rostrevor recently. A great trip of fun and fellowship was enjoyed by all.

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LIFE IN PCI

Retirement in Glengormley Rev David Brice retired as minister of Glengormley Presbyterian Church recently. A presentation was made to Mr Brice and his wife Essie by the Co Antrim church. Also pictured is clerk of session Derek Kyle.

Presentation in Clarkesbridge Rev Ker Graham, Norma Graham and Frances Smyth make a presentation to organist Amy Knight (second left) on behalf of Clarkesbridge congregation on the occasion of her marriage.

Due to the increased use of small digital and phone cameras we are having to reject some of the photos due to their quality or size. Digital images should have a minimum resolution of 2000x1500 pixels (approx 7x5 inches) at 300dpi and be the original, unedited image.

Further information can be found in our submission guidelines at www.presbyterianireland.org/herald

New elders in Faughanvale Six new elders have been ordained and installed in Faughanvale Presbyterian Church, Eglinton, Co Londonderry. Pictured here are Anne Hamilton, Graham Lamrock, Grace Montgomery, Ivan Morrison, Alison Simpson and Gordon Smith along with members of the commission of the Derry and Donegal Presbytery: Victor Whiteside, Rev Keith Hibbert, Rev Alan Wilson, Rev Mark Russell (clerk of presbytery), Rev Colin McKibben (moderator of presbytery), Rev Lindsay Blair (minister of Faughanvale), Harry Wallace and Stephen Montgomery.

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New window in Cargycreevy

Grange knitters

A new stained-glass window depicting the Parable of the Sower has been gifted to Cargycreevy Presbyterian Church by Patricia Patterson, Elizabeth Morton and Margaret Todd in memory of their parents, James and Elizabeth Hagan. Also pictured is Rev Leslie Patterson (minister of the Co Down church) who dedicated this beautiful window.

Members of Grange Presbyterian Knit and Natter Fellowship recently presented a cheque to Danielle Sheridan, a representative of Cancer Research UK. The Co Antrim group, which meets on a monthly basis for a time of devotion, a cup of tea, a natter and some knitting, supports a different charity each year.

Herald November 2019

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

Presentation in Ballyblack Christine McCracken recently received a presentation after stepping down as Sunday school superintendent in Ballyblack Presbyterian Church. She had served in this role for almost eight years and had also been instrumental in establishing the youth club. Pictured are: Amy Thompson, Ms McCracken and Dr Donald Watts (former stated supply minister of the congregation).

New minister in Blackrock and Bray Rev Andrew Gill has been installed into the home mission and inducted into the congregations of St Andrew’s, Blackrock and St Andrew’s, Bray.

Pictured are Merlé White (clerk of session in Blackrock), Rev Richard Houston, Margaret McKenna (acting clerk of presbytery), Mr Gill, Rev Helen Freeburn (moderator of presbytery) and Karsten Lux (clerk of session in Bray).

Long service recognised in Second Kilrea Rev Stuart Morrow recently presented a gift to Marshall Lindsay in recognition of his dedicated service as freewill offering treasurer in Second Kilrea. Mr Lindsay was freewill offering treasurer for 12 years. Included in the photograph is Sylvia Lindsay.

Strabane clerk of session retires Cordner Stuart recently received a framed Bible verse from the congregation to mark his retirement after almost 11 years as clerk of session of Strabane Presbyterian. Pictured from left are: Rev Mark Shaw (minister of the Co Tyrone church), Mr Stuart, Velma Stuart and William Watson (the new clerk of session).

Retirement in Ballykelly Rev Alan Wilson and his wife Ann are pictured with members of the kirk session of Ballykelly Presbyterian Church after their final service. They were presented with a framed painting and monetary gift to mark 13 years of faithful, dedicated service to the Co Londonderry congregation. Pictured in the front row are: Victor Whiteside, clerk Doreen Nicholl, Mr and Mrs Wilson, Audrey Neil and Marlene Kelly. Back row: Robert Magee, Ian Conn, Hugh McCollum, Gerald Miller, Ian Gault and Robert Craig.

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Set them free!

Thousands of Christians are bonded labourers in Pakistan’s brick-kilns.

Parents and children work together to make bricks, earning next to nothing.

They cannot leave because they are “bonded” to their jobs by a debt to the brick-kiln owner. In their poverty, they had to borrow from him at a time of family crisis.

Now they are trapped, almost like slaves.

Barnabas Fund is setting them free.

By paying their debts, Barnabas has freed nearly 700 families, including this little girl, her parents and sister.

Help us to set more Christians free.

The debts of those currently being freed

by Barnabas range from £230 to £1,350.

Your gift of any amount will be used 100% with no deductions to help free a Christian bonded brick-kiln family.

(Quote project ref 41-1356) A photo of the family your gift has helped to free, with their names and ages, can be provided on request.

Office 113, Russell Business Centre, 40-42 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 6AA Telephone 07875 539003 Email ireland@barnabasfund.org Cheques payable to “Barnabas Fund” ref 41-1356. Or give online at:

barnabasfund.org/donate

Barnabas Fund is a company registered in England Number 04029536. Registered Charity Number 1092935

CROSSWORD Puzzle no 256 1

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ACROSS DOWN

1 OT prophet (9) 1 This animal will help you 2 A nutty nation? (6) transverse the road (5,8) 3 Famous Edinburgh landmark 7 An OT word for scold (8) (7,4) 8 Pale, as in face (5) 4 Fragrant shrub (8) 11 Farewell to a Spanish lady (5) 5 Biblical strongman (6) 12 Water features to protect a 6 Beautiful NE Ulster vales castle (5) (5,2,6) 13 Wandering about (7) 8 These occur in proteins (5,5) 14 A time-limited pardon (7) 9 Arguing at a market (8) 17 This went to sea (3) 10 He’s from Outer Space (inits) 18 To be in debt (3) (2) 19 No room for baby here (3) 15 Regular or usual (6) 20 A bit of a stretch (5) 16 Female sheep (3) 23 American uncle? (3) 21 To wind in rings (4) 24 London borough (7) 22 The flat surface of an oven (3) 26 In the same book (4) 23 Jesus was this to his father (3) 27 Zero all (3-3) 25 Form a knot (3) 28 High regard (6)

REFLECTIONS

Enough

Betsy Cameron

“E

nough is as good as a feast”. I came across this I actually needed and came to understand how rich I would pleasingly thought-provoking saying in a novel always be, no matter how much I had given up. Although I read some years ago about an Irish-American choices were very limited, I always had a choice. Would I eat family, and it has stayed with me. Perhaps you rice and beans or maize porridge and beans? Which clothes are well-acquainted with the aphorism, but it was new to me would I wear? I always had wood for the stove, enough water and hearing it with fresh ears made me appreciate the truth for the day stored in a few buckets and money to buy eggs it contains. It is easy to think of situations where these words or onions or tomatoes from the open-air market. After I left apply – second helpings, handbag shopping, episodes of your Malawi, I remember being absolutely paralysed with indecision favourite TV series – as well as the deeper decisions we wrestle when trying to buy groceries. A whole aisle with nothing but with. The difficulty, of course, is more philosophical: how much toilet roll? So many brands of washing powder? Excess is is enough? overwhelming.

The question itself provokes restlessness and anxiety. Do I Literature provides me with many opportunities to consider have enough? What about tomorrow? What does my family how much is ‘enough’. In The World is Too Much With Us, the need? Do I understand the difference poet William Wordsworth describes the between what I need and what I want? spiritual emptiness of spending our lives Though our intentions What makes me feel secure? Am I grateful in the pursuit of material things. And may often be good, we enough for what I have? Can I be more Wordsworth never even knew how ratty generous? It is good to reflect on these the rat race would become! The great are, if we’re honest, in things at any time but especially now Russian writer Tolstoy, in his short story thrall to consumerism. when our harvest celebrations are behind How Much Land Does a Man Need? reflects us, when all has been safely gathered in on the tragic consequences of greed and and we are turning our attention to our Christmas shopping. exploitation. His protagonist, Pahom, dies in a frenzied attempt (Oops.) to stake a huge plot of land for himself. The answer to the For me, this is also the time of year when my thoughts turn question posed in the title is cold and stark. As it turns out, a to that American festival of gratitude and gluttony that we call small plot of land, six feet long, is all Pahom needs.

‘Thanksgiving’. It is a hugely important event in my culture and The theologian and Old Testament scholar Walter one I have tried to observe over the years, with limited success, Brueggemann has much to say about our preoccupation with so my children will know that part of their cultural heritage. abundance and our fear of scarcity. Though our intentions may Of course, I prepare a celebration meal with all the trimmings. often be good, we are, if we’re honest, in thrall to consumerism.

And of course, I also try to focus on giving thanks and being “We have a love affair with ‘more’ – and we will never have grateful as we go around the table to remember the people and enough.” Brueggemann reminds us that, as Christians, we have the situations we are thankful for. But… I can’t help but wonder. another lens to view the world through, and he challenges Why am I in a position to give thanks for my blessings of food us to consider whether we really trust that God’s abundant in staggering abundance, of comforts beyond the wildest dreams creation provides for all. From the overflowing abundance of most people in the world, of opportunities and choices that celebrated in the creation story to the gospel stories of the are denied to so many? This vexes me. feeding of the multitudes, we see God as the extravagantly My years living in Malawi certainly challenged my ideas generous giver of life. God’s provision of manna to the children about what constitutes ‘enough’. When I first arrived in that of Israel wandering in the desert is a powerful affirmation of remote village that I would call home for the next few years, this generosity as well as a reminder that God’s gifts cannot be I wondered what I had let myself in for. I knew I was giving controlled or hoarded. Manna came down with the morning up trips to the mall, meals out with friends, quick and easy dew, enough for all but only for one day. The people learned communication. But could I learn to do without transport, to trust God for tomorrow, and they learned to share so that without electricity, without running water? As I got used to everyone’s need was met. this very different way of life, I learned so much about what And isn’t that enough?

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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

2 LEAVE TO CALL DEFERRED

ARKLOW: (Home Mission Scheme, Reviewable Tenure – 7 years) REV GARY McDOWELL: Mrs Emily Kearon, Malindi, Sea Road, Arklow, Co Wicklow.

GORTNESSY: REV J.S. McCREA: Mr Ross Hyndman, 32 Temple Road, Strathfoyle, Londonderry, BT47 6UB.

BALLYHOBRIDGE, CLONES, NEWBLISS and STONEBRIDGE: (Part Time 50%, Reviewable Tenure – 7 years) REV C.G. ANDERSON: (Ballyhobridge) Mr David Jordan, Drumboghamagh, Newtownbutler, BT92 8LL. (Clones) Mr Tom Elliott, Bellmount, Newtownbutler, BT92 6LT. (Newbliss) Mr Thomas McConkey, Killyfuddy, Newbliss, Co Monaghan.

(Stonebridge) Mr Gerald Mackarel, Roughfort, Clones, Co Monaghan.

BALLYCARRY: REV H.M. RENDELL: Miss Daphne Bashford, 36 Island Road, Ballycarry, Carrickfergus, BT38 9JE. CAIRNALBANA and GLENARM: (Reviewable Tenure – 5 years) REV R.S. AGNEW: (Cairnalbana) Mr Brian Alexander, 84 Drumcrow Road, Cairnalbana, Glenarm, BT44 0DW. (Glenarm) Mr David Preston, 42 Rossburn Manor, Connor, Ballymena, BT42 3RB. CAIRNCASTLE: (Reviewable Tenure – 7 years) REV R.I. CARTON: Mr Cowper Lynas, 2 Croft Heights, Ballygally, Larne, BT40 2QS. CARROWDORE & BALLYFRENIS and BALLYBLACK: REV S.A. LITTLE: (Carrowdore & Ballyfrenis) Mr Herbert Robinson, 9 Islandhill Road, Millisle, BT22 2BS. (Ballyblack) Mr Alex Warden, 92 Bowtown Road, Newtownards, BT23 8SL. CASTLEWELLAN and LEITRIM: (Reviewable Tenure – 5 years) REV N.J. KANE: (Castlewellan) Mr Desmond Wilson, 44 Ballylough Road, Castlewellan, BT31 9NN. (Leitrim) Mr Drew Harte, 100 Carrigagh Road, Dromara, Dromore, BT25 2HR. COAGH, BALLYGONEY and SALTERSLAND: REV T.W.A. GREER: (Coagh) Mrs Amy Allingham, 17 Coagh Road, Cookstown, BT80 8RL. (Ballygoney) Mr Bruce Johnston, 4 Mill Road, Old Coagh Road, Cookstown, BT80 0NE. (Saltersland) Mr Matt Hyndman, 4 Brennan Court, Castledawson Road, Magherafelt, BT45 6AT. COOKSTOWN, FIRST: REV W.A.DICKEY: Mr Gordon Black, 21 The Dales, Cookstown, BT80 8TF. DROMORE, FIRST: REV R.A. LIDDLE: Mr Cecil Gamble, 12 Diamond Road, Dromore, BT25 1PQ. DRUMBANAGHER, FIRST & JERRETTSPASS and KINGSMILLS: REV B.D. COLVIN: (Drumbanager, First & Jerrettspass) Mr George Moffett, 16 Glen Road, Drummiller, Newry, BT34 1SP. (Kingsmills) Mr Raymond McCormick, 119 Kingsmills Road, Bessbrook, Newry, BT35 7BP. GLENGORMLEY: REV T.C. MORRISON: Mr Derek Kyle, Glengormley Presbyterian Church, 267 Antrim Road, Glengormley, BT36 7QN. KILLINCHY: REV N.R.A. COOPER: Mrs Morna McGibbon, 71 Comber Road, Killinchy, BT23 6PF. LISSARA: (Reviewable Tenure – 7 years) REV W.H. HIGGINS: Mr Matthew Cuffey, 227 Derryboy Road, Crossgar, Downpatrick BT30 9DL. RAMELTON and KILMACRENNAN: REV C.M. WILSON: (Ramelton) Mr David Armour, Loughnagin, Letterkenny, Co Donegal. (Kilmacrennan) Mr Nathaniel Rogers, Gortnavern, Coolboy, Letterkenny, Co Donegal.

SAINTFIELD, SECOND: REV D.J. HYNDMAN: Mr Stanley McFarland, 29 Forge Hill Court, Saintfield, BT24 7LW. ST ANDREW’S, BELFAST: (Reviewable Tenure – 7 years) REV M.R. BURNSIDE: Mrs Edith McCallum, 115 Comber Road, Dundonald, BT16 2BT. TOBERMORE & DRAPERSTOWN: (Part-time 50%, Reviewable Tenure – 5 years) REV DR J.A. CURRY: Mr Gordon Dickson Jnr, 7 Strawmore Road, Draperstown, BT45 7JE.

48

Herald November 2019

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

SETTLED STATED SUPPLY APPOINTED BALLINDERRY: RT REV DR W.J. HENRY, Minister of Maze BOVEEDY: REV DR T.J. McCORMICK, Minister of 1st Kilrea CAHIR: REV WILLIAM MONTGOMERY, Minister of Fermoy KATESBRIDGE: REV N.J. KANE, Minister of Magherally KILREA, SECOND: REV S.A. MORROW, Minister of Moneydig TYRONE’S DITCHES: REV J.K.A. McINTYRE, Minister of Bessbrook

3 DECLARED VACANT BALLYCAIRN: REV ROBERT LOVE: Mr Brian Milligan, 19 Glenariff Drive, Dunmurry, BT17 9AZ. BALLYCLARE: REV P.A. BOVILL: Mr Niall McConkey, 30 Village Green, Doagh, Ballyclare, BT39 0UD. BALLYGOMARTIN: REV I.K. McDONALD: Mr Raymond Cummings, 43A Lyndhurst Gardens, Belfast, BT13 3PH. BALLYKELLY: REV J.L. BLAIR: Mrs Doreen Nicholl, Shackleton Lodge, 8 Dukes Lane, Ballykelly, BT49 9JT. BELVOIR: REV B.J. McCROSKERY: Mr Brian Dunwoody, 19 Drumart Drive, Belfast, BT8 7ET. BURT: REV JAMES LAMONT: Mr James Buchanan, Heathfield, Speenoge, Burt, Co Donegal, F93 W3K6.

CARNDONAGH, GREENBANK, MALIN and MOVILLE: REV DR DAVID LATIMER: (Carndonagh) Mr Tom Campbell, Carndonagh, Lifford, Co Donegal. (Malin) Mrs Barbara Smyth, Dunross, Culdaff, Co Donegal. (Moville) Mr Joseph McNeely, Rock House, Lecamey, Lifford, Co Donegal.

CLOGHERNEY and SIXMILECROSS: REV R.G. McELNEA: (Clogherney) Miss Ruth Kerr, 2 Georgian Vilas, Omagh, BT79 0AT. (Sixmilecross) Mr Alan Gibson, 1 Dreenan Road, Beragh, Omagh, Co. Tyrone, BT79 0SH. CRUMLIN ROAD: VERY REV DR T.N. HAMILTON: Mr James Coleman, 2 Abbeydale Parade, Belfast, BT14 7HJ. DRUMACHOSE and DERRAMORE: REV T.A.S. GRAHAM: (Drumachose) Mr Sam McGregor, 15 Meadowvale Park, Limavady, BT49 0NU. (Derramore) Mr Sam Kelly, 220 Windyhill Park, Coleraine, BT51 4JL. DUNBOE, FIRST: REV M.E. DONALD: Mr Peter Kirk, 5 Liffock Court, Castlerock, Coleraine, BT51 4DQ. GILFORD and TULLYLISH: REV T.A. CONWAY: (Gilford) Mr Paul Cochrane, Stramore Road, Gilford, Craigavon.

(Tullylish) Mr John McCullagh, 2 Holestone Road, Doagh, Ballyclare, BT39 0SB.

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 HOLYWOOD, FIRST: REV N.D. CRAIG: Mr Craig Russell, 7 Bangor Road, Holywood. BT18 0NU. INCH: REV JAMES LAMONT: Mr James Buchanan, Heathfield, Speenoge, Burt, Co Donegal, F93 W3K6.

KILCOOLEY: REV T.J. McCONAGHIE: Mrs Sylvia Ferguson, 4 Dermott Road, Comber, BT23 5LG. KILFENNAN: REV GRAEME ORR: Mr Will Doran, 2 Moulton Park, Eglinton, BT47 3XP. KILKENNY: REV WILLIAM MONTGOMERY: Mr John Ellis, Annamult, Stoneyford, Co Kilkenny.

LIMERICK, CHRIST CHURCH: REV W.J. HAYES: Mr Brian Park, 19 Aylesbury, Clonmacken, Ennis Road, Limerick.

MAY STREET: REV GRAEME FOWLES: Mr Arthur Acheson, 56 Quarry Road, Belfast, BT4 2NQ. NEW MOSSLEY: REV DR W.J.M. PARKER: Mr Howard Keery, 16 Earlford Heights, Mossley, Newtownabbey, BT36 5WZ. NEWINGTON: REV DR I.D. NEISH: Mr John Lynass, 8 Bushfoot Park, Portballintrae, BT57 8YX. NEWTOWNSTEWART and GORTIN: REV R.B. THOMPSON: (Newtownstewart) Mr James Baxter, 22 Strabane Road, Newtownstewart, Omagh, BT78 4BD (Gortin) Mr Adrian Adams, 32 Lisnaharney Road, Lislap, Omagh, BT79 7UE.

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

THE ELDERSHIP Ordained & Installed: AHOGHILL, TRINITY: Richard Logan, Mick Mearns, Hubert Scullion, Richard Wright ALT: Chester Roulston, Isobel Roulston BALLYHENRY: Richard Ferguson, Gerald Pink BROUGHSHANE, SECOND: Mark Beattie, Colville Elliot, Gordon Rea FAUGHANVALE: Anne Hamilton, Graham Lamrock, Ivan Morrison, Alison Simpson, Gordon Smith MAGHERAMASON: Leslie Hamilton, Gareth Kirk Installed: AHOGHILL, TRINITY: Robert James Bell, Samuel John Glass Died: ARMAGH, FIRST: John McKennell BALLYARNETT: Robert John Clarke BALLYMENA, FIRST: James Warnock BELVOIR: Gilbert Anderson CARRICKFERGUS, JOYMOUNT: Annetta Glenholme Mawhinney Smyth CUMBER: Anna Kennedy CUMBER, UPPER: Robert Alexander Connell Christie EDENGROVE: Stanley Rea HARRYVILLE: Alfie Fullerton KILFENNAN: Fred Arbuckle LARNE, FIRST: Robert Baillie MONAGHAN, FIRST: Harry Graham RAMELTON: Ivan Grier RASHARKIN: William John Logan

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

THE MINISTRY

PORTSTEWART: REV R.J. COLLINS: Mr Peter O’Neill, 3 Henry O’Neill Heights, Portstewart, BT55 7UD.

Installed: Stephen William Hibbert, as Minister of Glendermott, on 20 September 2019.

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

Resigned: Stephen William Hibbert, as Minister of Gilford and Tullylish, on 19 September 2019.

Thomas Neil Bingham – Released from his charge as Minister of Raloo and Magheramorne on grounds of medical incapacity on 30 September 2019.

VINECASH: REV DR MICHAEL McCLENAHAN: Mr Thomas Graham, 38 Richmount, Portadown, BT62 4JQ.

TEMPORARY STATED SUPPLY ARRANGEMENT ARMOY and RAMOAN: REV NOEL McCLEAN: (Armoy) Mrs Ann Campbell, 77B Bregagh Road, Armoy, Ballymoney, BT53 8TP. (Ramoan) Mr Robert Getty, 23 Carrowcroey Road, Armoy, Ballymoney, BT53 8UH. BELLVILLE: REV D.S. HENRY: Mr Mervyn King, 29 Ardmore Road, Derryadd, Lurgan, BT66 6QP.

Retired: Terence John Laverty, as Minister of Portstewart, on 30 September 2019.

Jacob Maurice Wade, as Minister of Portavogie, on 30 September 2019.

Died: Rev Dr John Lappin, Minister Emeritus of Carndonagh & Malin, on 1 October 2019.

Rev Douglas Armstrong, Minister Emeritus of Greenisland, on 5 October 2019.

Corrections: In the October Church Record Rev Dr Graham Connor and Very Rev Dr Noble McNeely were incorrectly listed as having resigned from their congregations, both should have been listed as having retired.

DERVOCK: REV R.M. MOODY: Mr John Surgenor, 82 Toberdoney Road, Dervock, Ballymoney, BT53 8DH. DONEGORE, SECOND: REV JONATHAN BOYD: Mr Samuel Gawn, 120 Parkgate Road, Kells, Ballymena, BT42 3PQ. KELLS: (Home Mission) REV ALAN McQUADE: Ms Ruth McCartney, Shancarnan, Moynalty, Kells, Co Meath, A82 PF60.

RYANS and BROOKVALE: REV F.J. GIBSON: (Ryans) Miss Nora Hamilton, Rathfriland Manor Nursing Home, Rossconor Terrace, Rathfriland, BT34 5DJ. (Brookvale) Mr Norman McCrum, 49 Ballynamagna Road, Rathfriland, Newry, BT34 5PA. WARRENPOINT and ROSTREVOR: REV S.A. FINLAY: (Warrenpoint) Mr Denis Brady, 28 Seaview, Warrenpoint, Newry, BT34 3NJ. (Rostrevor) Mr Terry O’Flynn, 15 Aurora Na Mara, Shore Road, Rostrevor, BT34 3UP.

Herald November 2019

49

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.

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ACROSS 1 Zebra crossing 7 Chastise 8 Ashen 11 Adieu 12 Moats 13 Roaming 14 Amnesty 17 Owl 18 Owe 19 Inn 20 Reach 23 Sam 24 Tooting 26 Ibid 27 Nil-nil 28 Esteem

DOWN 1 Zechariah 2 Brazil 3 Arthur’s Seat 4 Rosemary 5 Samson 6 Glens of Antrim 8 Amino acids 9 Haggling 10 ET 15 Normal 16 Ewe 21 Coil 22 Hob 23 Son 25 Tie

Crumlin Presbyterian Church wish to appoint a

Community Outreach Worker to work in the local community, identifying and utilising opportunities, developing relationships and building on existing activities to promote and develop the Christian faith.

This is a part-time (18.75 hours per week, including evenings and weekends), temporary post for three years, funded through a three-year Mission Fund grant.

Salary: APP Scale Band B (£23,306 - £27,352 pro rata).

Applications should include a CV (with the names of two referees, one of which should be your current minister).

Apply in writing on or before 5pm, 30 November 2019, to: Mr J. Livingstone, Clerk of Session, 56 Largy Road, Crumlin, BT29 4RW. Tel: 028 9445 3345 Email: jamestlivingstone@outlook.com

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Considering Grace contributes to the process of ‘dealing with the past’ by pointing towards the need for a ‘gracious remembering’ that acknowledges suffering, is self-critical about the past, and creates space for lament, but also for the future.

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50

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Herald November 2019 Alpha Advert-Ireland-2019.indd 1

25/04/2019 09:56

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