The Irish Council of Churches – one of the world’s oldest national representative church bodies – celebrated its centenary with a special service of worship in Belfast Cathedral this afternoon (22nd January). The service, with the theme ‘Celebrating our Reconciling Vision of Hope’ took place on the eve of the Council’s first meeting 100 years…
A new Rector has been appointed to the Inver Group of Parishes in south west Donegal. She is Rev Susan Elliott, a South African national, who lives with her husband, Don – a lay preacher – in Haenertsburg, in South Africa’s northernmost province, Limpopo. Rev Elliott was born in Durban and trained as a teacher,…
Diocese of Derry and Raphoe Public The parishioners of Camus-Juxta-Mourne (Strabane) have been rolling out a sometimes snow-dusted red carpet for a special group of visitors this past week. They have been renewing acquaintance with Pastor Anderson Sanchez, his wife Isabel, and their children Jacob and Ivana, whom some of the Tyrone parishioners first befriended…
The Diocese of Derry and Raphoe offers warmest congratulations to four of its finest parish stalwarts who have been awarded MBEs by His Majesty the King in the 2023 New Year Honours list. Mr William Oliver – one of the Diocese’s five Honorary Secretaries and an active member of the Castlerock and Dunboe church family…
Christmas is a magical time of year for children – and even for many ‘older children’ among us – as they look forward to Christmas morning and discovering what presents they’ve got this year. Our tradition of giving gifts owes its origin to the account of the nativity in Matthew’s gospel. There we read how the Magi travelled from the east, searching for “the one who had been born king of the Jews”. They followed a star which led them to a house in Bethlehem. “They saw the…
Members of Mothers’ Union groups from throughout the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe gathered in St Columb’s Cathedral, on Saturday 26th November, for a service to mark the organisation’s ‘16 Days’ Global Day of Action – which is the highpoint of MU’s campaign against gender-based violence. Over the sixteen day period from Friday the 25th…
The Rector of St Canice’s Church in Eglinton got robed for a special service, on Friday morning (December 2, 2022), but not in his usual garb. Rev Canon Paul Hoey, and Rector’s Churchwarden Elaine Way, dressed as Mary and Joseph for the launch of the parish’s three-day Nativity Festival. And they were joined by a…
The Leaders the of the Church of Ireland, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches in Ireland met the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, today at Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin. Afterwards, the Church Leaders issued the following statement: “We were delighted to accept the President’s invitation and very much welcomed…
The impact of Mothers’ Union’s ’16 Days’ campaign in Ireland was acknowledged, recently, when MU’s Worldwide President, Sheran Harper, made a presentation to the President of Derry and Raphoe Mothers’ Union, Jacqui Armstrong, in recognition of her work – and MU’s – to counter domestic and gender-based violence. The presentation took place in St Macartin’s…
The words ‘God save our gracious King!’ rang out around the war memorial in the centre of Londonderry, this morning, for the first time in over 70 years, as local people gathered to remember servicemen and women who had died in past conflicts. The Rev Canon John Merrick, from St Columb’s Cathedral, led the Service…
