Bishop Andrew Forster has told delegates at the Derry & Raphoe Diocesan Synod that he has no intention of closing any parish church in the Diocese. His assurance came in his Presidential Address to the 2024 Synod, on Wednesday 23rd October, during which he announced a new partnership – a five-year companion link – with…
Around 500 pupils from more than 30 schools crowded into Ramelton Presbyterian Church on Tuesday 24th September for the annual County Donegal Schools’ Service. The organisers of this year’s event – for schools under Church of Ireland or Presbyterian Church patronage – chose the exhortation ‘Make a Difference’ as its theme. The huge congregation, comprising…
Members of MU branches from across the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe were in Limavady on Sunday 22nd September 2024 for MU’s Diocesan Festival Service, which was held in Christ Church, Drumachose. Among those in the congregation were the Provincial President-elect, Kay Clarke (who takes up office in January); Diocesan MU President, Jacqui Armstrong; one…
Sunday 15th September 2024 was a red letter day for one group of parishioners in East Donegal as they celebrated the 200th anniversary of their beloved church, St Ninian’s, in Convoy. It was an occasion to savour, with Bishop Andrew Forster joining the congregation to preach the sermon and three former rectors, Rev Peter Wilson,…
Parishioners and friends of All Saints’ Clooney gathered in church on Sunday 15th November 2024 to see one of their own members, Bobby Keys, commissioned as a Diocesan Lay Reader by Rt Rev Andrew Forster, at a service led by the parish’s recently ordained Curate, Rev Mel Niblock. Bobby has been a lifelong member of…
There was a tremendous outpouring of affection – and not a few tears – in All Saints Newtowncunningham on Sunday 1st September 2024 as the parishioners of the Taughboyne Group gathered to bid farewell to Rev Canon David Crooks, who retired as their rector after 40 years’ faithful service. The church was packed to overflowing…
The rain held off on Sunday 30th June 2024 for Derry & Raphoe Youth’s annual barbecue at the Summer Madness festival, which took place in Portglenone again this year. The event is Ireland’s largest Christian youth festival and our team of leaders are looking after around 20 young people, from seven different churches in the…
In this podcast in the Church of Ireland Council for Mission’s Mission Matters series, Rev Johnny McFarland talks to Rev Sean McClafferty who, with his fellow deacon Rev Brian Robinson, made history in the summer of 2023 by becoming Derry and Raphoe’s first Ordained Local Ministers (OLMs). Here they discuss Sean’s missionary outreach in the Sperrins, where…
In the next in its Mission Matters podcast series, the Church of Ireland Council for Mission shares an interview with Rev Johnny Lowden, a curate in Glendermott parish, in Londonderry’s Waterside. In his conversation with Rev Johnny McFarland, Johnny talks about his path to ordained ministry, the impact of his missionary work in central Africa, and explains…
Rev Melanie Sloan was ordained as a priest by the Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, Rt Rev Andrew Forster, at a Service on Sunday 23rd June in All Saints Clooney where she will serve her curacy under the guidance of the Rector, Rev Canon David McBeth. Her fiancé, Mark Niblock (whom she’ll be getting married…
