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On Saturday Presbyterian Moderator Dr Harry Allen travels to the USA and Canada where he will spend three weeks visiting partner churches and theological colleges.
Dr Allen will travel to Louisville to the headquarters of the Presbyterian Church in the USA for a round of meetings with senior officials including their Moderator and General Secretary and in Canada he will meet his Presbyterian Church of Canada opposite number at his office in Ontario. Dr Allen, who will be accompanied by Mrs Allen, will also undertake a series of visits and speaking and preaching engagements in a variety of cities including Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Washington and Toronto.
'We are all aware of the strong views that people on the other side of the Atlantic have about Northern Ireland. It is very important that our partner churches are well briefed on what is going on here so that in their contact with government and other organisations they can speak and use their influence from a position of knowledge,' explained the Moderator. 'From the Christian perspective it is equally vital that they know the circumstances in which we live and work so that they can continue to pray effectively for the situation here. Naturally our discussions will also involve matters of mutual interest including evangelism, worldwide mission and the growth of secularism and how it effects our churches.'
Part of the Moderator's visit will also be used to help develop the already good relationship between the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and US theological seminaries and meetings are planned with academic staff at Westminster, Princeton, Gordon-Conwell and Knox Colleges. Dr Allen will have private meetings with Irish Presbyterian students in addition to leading a student seminar on 'Issues facing the Church in Ireland' during his time at Westminster Theological Seminary.
Moderators alternate visits to partner churches and missionaries. In 1995 Dr David McGaughey became the first Moderator to visit Brazil meeting fellow Presbyterians while last year Dr John Ross travelled to India and Nepal to encourage missionaries from Ireland working in that part of Asia.
Issued by Stephen Lynas, Presbyterian Information Services. Info@PresbyterianIreland.org
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