Presbyterian Moderator Dr Russell Birney travels south this weekend to bring the greetings of the General Assembly to the four most southern Presbyterian congregations in Ireland.
On Sunday morning, 19 January, Dr Birney will preach at morning worship, first in the Aghada congregation before travelling the further 20 miles to worship with the members of Trinity, Cork. In the evening the Moderator will take part in a prayer service in Fermoy, about 50 miles north of Cork.
Rev John Faris is minister of Cork and Aghada. 'Sometimes we do feel rather on the extremity of the Presbyterian family but visits from Moderators and others encourage us in our work here, which is expanding due to the influx of asylum seekers and workers from around the world. The Moderator will not only be preaching to native Irish people but also families from Cameroon, Nigeria, Romania and Finland!'
'We must never forget we are the Presbyterian Church in Ireland,' says Dr Birney. 'It is one of the great strengths of Presbyterianism that the stronger congregations support the smaller ones who don't have the same resources but are located where we as a Church consider it important to continue our witness.'
Further north in Fermoy, Dr Sam Mawhinney is the minister. His only concern is that not everyone will fit into the small church. 'Our prayer service on Sunday night marks the start of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. We've invited members from the other local churches to come and since our church only seats about 70 worshippers, I'm not sure where we will accommodate them. But everyone is looking forward to welcoming the Moderator to our community.'
Issued by Stephen Lynas, Presbyterian Information Services. Info@PresbyterianIreland.org
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