Presbyterian Moderator, Dr Harry Uprichard will celebrate this Friday 28 October with John Knowles of Wellington Street Presbyterian Church who has been an elder of the congregation for 60 years. Dr Uprichard will visit Mr Knowles at the Galgorm Private Nursing Home along with Rev Norman Brown, minister of Wellington Street, Rev Andrew Brown, Moderator of the Ballymena Presbytery and Rev David Alderdice, senior minister of Wellington Street. There will be a short presentation to Mr Knowles at 3pm.
John Knowles was ordained as an elder along with seven others in the congregation on 28 October 1945 at the age of 36. He served as a committed district elder for many years with a particular passion for prayer. During the 1970s when he was in charge of the weekly Thursday night prayer meeting 150 people would regularly attend.
Mr Knowles has seen many changes in the church during his sixty-year service, one of the greatest being the decision to re-locate the church outside of the city centre. He was involved in the early stages of planning the move, which is due to be completed in September 2008.
One of Mr Knowles' sons, Rev Desmond Knowles is minister of Grange Presbyterian in the Ballymena Presbytery, and another son, Mac Knowles is a former deputy session clerk of Wellington Street.
Rev Norman Brown, minister of Wellington Street Presbyterian said,
"The congregation is delighted to celebrate with Mr Knowles at this time. We recognise with gratitude all he has done for the church over the past 60 years of his service. He is a genuine man of God - someone who lives out his faith openly and honestly. He has influenced and encouraged so many in the congregation and we are completely indebted to him for this."
Issued by Sarah Harding, Presbyterian Information Services. Info@PresbyterianIreland.org
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