West Belfast: Presbyterian Moderator’s return visit and new beginnings for PCI
As part of their role in leading the Church during their year in office, Presbyterian Moderators sometimes return to places of personal significance – the church where they were married, the school they attended, the first church they were called to a minister – and last week was one of those days. In supporting the work of a new special ministry of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) in West Belfast, Rt Rev Dr Richard Murray, visited the former Broadway Presbyterian Church on the Falls Road, where in 1965, he was baptised.
Now home to the Irish language arts and cultural centre, Cultúrlann MacAdam Ó Fiaich, during his visit Helen McKelvey and Alice McClure, the daughters of Rev Robert Wilbur Gillespie, Broadway Presbyterian’s last minister when it closed in July 1982, unveiled a plaque to her late father. As part of Rev David Moore’s ministry in the west of the city, the centre is also the venue for the monthly service of worship.
The day began in West Kirk Presbyterian Church on the Shankill Road, when Dr Murray, visited the church’s weekly outreach, meeting and thanking the volunteers who welcome anyone who wants to drop in for tea or coffee and a chat. It is also where, since he was installed into PCI’s Home Mission and inducted into a Special Ministry in West Belfast two years ago this month, David and his wife have been worshipping. Dr Murray also met Community Outreach Worker, Toni Bassett, who is supporting that work through serving and supporting refugees and asylum seekers.
Speaking about the Moderator’s visit, and his own ministry, Mr Moore said, “It has been a real privilege to be able to welcome the Moderator to West Belfast and a place that like him, so many Presbyterians once called ‘home’, and give them a flavour of what the Church has called us to do as we become part of the community again.”
“There was a time when PCI had five churches in this part of the city and a vibrant Presbyterian presence from before the first congregation was formed in the 19th Century. The last one, Suffolk Presbyterian, where Dr Murray’s family once worshipped, closed in 1993 and while we can’t ignore the historic reasons why some left this part of the city, and the pain of those times, it is a place that PCI wants to reconnect and engage with. It is also a place that has my heart and Elaine’s,” he said.
The former minister of Knock Presbyterian in the east of the city, who has also served in congregations in Counties Monaghan, Cavan, and Kilkenny, explained that the vision for his ministry – which is called An Tionólann.
“It is a word that means ‘a place of gathering’, or ‘a place of assembly’, and our vision is to establish a vibrant worshipping community here in West Belfast, a gathering of God’s people. To that end, it is also about building relationships, following the leading of the Holy Spirit, and prayer, and I want to thank the team at Forbairt Feirste, the local development agency, for organising the event at Cultúrlann and for organising lunch with the Principal of St Mary’s University College afterwards.”
Mr Moore continued, “It is a fact, sadly, that many people across the city have given up on religion and religious faith, without fully grasping what is at the heart of it, and that is Jesus Christ, and His gospel, which is not tied to any one cultural tradition. No matter where you are from, or who you are, it is for everyone, and as a Presbyterian minister that has always been my focus and is an important part of this special ministry,” he said.
Two weeks ago, Mr Moore led the first Sunday service, beginning a series that looks at signs that point to Jesus, the Saviour. Thirty people were present for the service and on Thursdays at a different venue, he has led a Bible study group for a year, exploring what the Bible says about who God is.
Speaking about his visit, Dr Murray thanked everyone who had taken the time to organise the various parts to it, and for the welcome that he had received throughout the day. He also joked that while he couldn’t remember his actual baptism in Broadway Presbyterian, he did have fond memories of living on Brooke Drive, before moving during the early years of The Troubles to Finaghy in south Belfast.
“First and foremost, I want to commend David and Elaine in this special ministry, having been called to serve the people of West Belfast, as the loss of Presbyterianism from the west of the city has, I believe, made the area poorer. I also would like to thank Cultúrlann for hosting the Sunday service and commend them for their generosity and welcome today.
“We started the day in West Kirk on the Shankill, a congregation formed after Albert Street Presbyterian closed. It stood not too far away from Broadway and united with Argyll Place in the early ‘70s. We saw the good work that is being done there, where there are still some older folk who came from Albert Street, 50 years ago. In that half century much has changed, yet they have prayed faithfully that they would see that Presbyterian witness return ‘over the wall’. With a renewed modern witness to the distinctives of Presbyterianism, it is perhaps the beginning of answered prayer, and a ministry that will greatly enhance the area and recover what has been lost,” the Moderator said.
In another way that emphasised how things had changed over the years, in the late 1940s and 1950s, Dr Murray said that his grandfather had managed a farm near the Bog Meadows in West Belfast, and how his mother remembered drinking fresh cow’s milk. It was, therefore fitting that the day ended with a visit to St James’ Community Farm on Rodney Parade, where the Moderator met the volunteers, fed some of the animals and planted a small fir tree to symbolise the replanting of PCI back into this part of the city.
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