Clergy members of BCA. We now have our full
complement of clergy. Fr. Brian Daly has been
with us for almost three years and has fitted so seamlessly into the
parish, it feels as though he has always been here. He held the fort at
Ballycastle Church Action whilst we were waiting for our new ministers for the
Church of Ireland and Presbyterian churches to be selected
Rev Brian Daly Rev. David Ferguson Rev. John Stanbridge
Valerie Sayers has also joined BCA recently. She married Hugh and came to live in Ballycastle in 1972. They have three children, Eoin, Linda and Arlene and 4 grandchildren. Valerie worked for over 20 years as account’s clerk in an accountancy firm in the town. John Stanbridge asked Valerie to be the third Presbyterian Church Representative last year. She has very quickly found her feet as a member of BCA and says she will do her best to help
Dr. Cathy
Higgins and Rev. Dr. Johnston McMaster gave talks on “Christ and other Faiths”.
These talks, which were held in the new Tourist Offices at Portnagree House,
provoked some interesting discussion and debate.
There were four “Faith in the Public Square” Community Forums on issues of the day to which members of the local churches and the general public were invited - these were held in Thyme and Co. The talks were initiated by Rev. Dr. Gordon Gray, the Convenor of the Peace and Reconciliation committee organised by BCA and supported by Moyle District.
The speakers were
Rev. Dr. Houston McKelvey whose topic was “Insights from a Journey”, describing his Ministry experiences from a Loyalist Estate to the City Cathedral, via the Church of Ireland’s Education Office.
The Rev. John Bach JP, who lectures in Criminology as well as being a Church of Ireland priest spoke on “Religion, Morality and the Justice System” and the challenges to the Church which these topics present.
Alf McCreary, Religious affairs Correspondent for the Belfast Telegraph chose “Behind the Headlines” as his theme on Religion, the Churches and the media. Alf had just returned from Rwanda - he described how the Hutus had made their peace with the Tutsis. Many of them were subsisting on one meal a day in order to provide funding to build schools and make their communities safer places for their children. He arrived home to the violence and eruption of the flag protest.
The final speaker was Dr. Cathy Higgins whose topic was “Women’s Place is …?” - on recovering the stories of women for the sake of the future of Church and Society. Interestingly only two men were at this talk although there was a mixed audience for the other three! Cathy is a former lecturer in the Irish School of Ecumenics and adjunct Professor, Trinity College, Dublin.
All the speakers were most interesting and kept our attention with several amusing anecdotes. We had the opportunity to discuss the topics and ask questions while having refreshments at the end of each talk. Drs. Cathy Higgins and Johnston McMaster also gave talks on “sectarianism in the churches”. These talks were all free of charge by courtesy of Peace lll Funding.
GOOD FRIDAY WALK
One of the new events was the Good Friday Walk. We gathered at the sea front and after prayer and hymns walked to the Diamond where we had some prayers for our community. Maeve Walsh, Chairperson of BCA and Rev. Dr. Gordon Gray addressed the crowd in the Diamond. It was gratifying to see such a big turnout and particularly pleasing to see so many young people joining in the walk.
ONE VOICE CHOIR
BLESSING OF THE BOATS
Another successful innovation was the Blessing of the Boats, which took place on May 29th as part of the Maritime Festival. The service was led by the three BCA clergymen, Fr. Brian Daly, Rev. David Ferguson and Rev. John Stanbridge. Rev. Barton from Ballintoy and also in charge of rathlin Rathlin Island Cof I and Rev. Inderjit Bhogal, Leader of the Corrymeela Community were also present. Music was provided by Ballycastle Community Choir with musical accompaniment by Mrs. Margaret Brown.
HOLOCAUST EDUCATION TRIP TO POLAND
Four members of BCA are going to Poland on July 28th to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camps, following on from several study days about the holocaust. This is being funded by North East Peace lll Partnership and organised by Holocaust Education run by Springboard Opportunities. You will hear more about it probably in the next edition of The Newsletter.
Dr