Preparations are being finalised by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s (PCI) Presbytery of North Belfast to welcome PCI’s new Moderator, Right Reverend Dr Richard Kerr, when he makes a week-long tour of the area next week.
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North Belfast welcomes the Moderator
Speaking about the tour, Clerk of the North Belfast Presbytery, Mr Trevor Long OBE, said, “We are encouraged to have the Moderator with us at this time and I know that all our ministers, and those looking after our congregations who don’t currently have a minister, are looking forward to meeting Dr Kerr and his wife Brenda.
We are looking forward to having Dr Kerr take part in our communion service on Tuesday 8 September during which the new chaplain of the Ulster University, Rev James O’Neill, will be inducted. Dr Kerr will spend time visiting many of our congregations and PCI projects that are making a real difference to people’s lives, such as the International Meeting Point at Carlisle Circus, as well as some other ministries that our church seeks to encourage and partner with, such as the Blue Houses (Ballysillan Youth for Christ) and the NI Hospice.”
Mr Long continued, “North Belfast, like everywhere else, is facing many challenges and still bears the scars of past conflict as well as more recent confrontations. Despite these and the challenge of a number of church closures and amalgamations, there is much to be thankful for and encouraged by, as our congregations continue to move forward with the good news of Jesus, serving our local communities and seeing people come to faith.”
During this, Dr Kerr’s first moderator’s tour, the Moderator is keen to meet and engage with the community of North Belfast in a range of community settings, as well as meeting church members in the various ministries across the area.
Speaking in advance Dr Kerr said: “Presbytery tours are primarily about encouraging the local church and for the Moderator to get ‘out and about’, seeing first-hand the work that congregations are doing in the community. My focus in this tour will be one of seeing and learning, providing pastoral support to colleagues, their families and congregations as they show the love in Christ in very many different ways.
Brenda and I are looking forward to getting alongside colleagues across the presbytery and in particular visiting the Northern Ireland Hospice and Children’s Hospice, particularly in Palliative Care Week, which coincides with our visit.
My theme for the year is “For God so loved…” and through the week I hope to share the love of Christ in our visits and to see how the love of God is being extended throughout North Belfast.”
The Presbytery of North Belfast is one of the three presbyteries in the city of Belfast. Its 20 congregations’ range in size from 56 to 880 families, making up a local Presbyterian community of just under 5,000 families, including the new workseek on the Falls Road, and Grace and Peace at Carlisle Circus. The presbytery stretches from the Shankill Road across to Ballysillan, from New Mossley and Glengormley to Rathcoole, before travelling back down the Shore Road to Whiteabbey and Sinclair Seamen’s Presbyterian Church in the docks. The presbytery forms part of the Belfast City Council and the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council areas.
Over the course of the week the Moderator, in addition to speaking at various church services and meetings, will also be visiting social enterprise initiatives, a local primary school, the Northern Ireland Hospice and Children’s Hospice, and will participate in a service at which the new PCI chaplain to the University of Ulster, Rev James O’Neill will be commissioned.