Presbyterian Moderator Dr David Clarke was in Larne at the weekend to take part in a special service of 'Dedication and Celebration' at First Larne Presbyterian on Sunday morning, 29 October.
Dr Clarke was dedicating a new audio visual system in the church and also making presentations to honour the outstanding service given to First Larne by Mr Nat Magee and the late Mr Ian Duffin JP.
Mr Magee, now Clerk of session Emeritus, was ordained as an elder in 1966 and became Clerk of Session two years later, only retiring from the post in 2005. To mark his 37 years of outstanding service he was presented with a specially commissioned piece of Tyrone Crystal depicting both the Burning Bush and First Larne Church designed by local artist David McConnell, a member of the congregation.
Mrs Joan Duffin was presented with an illuminated address paying tribute to her late husband Ian who died in March 2006. Mr Duffin was first elected to First Larne's Congregational Committee over 60 years ago in 1942 and had been Church Secretary since 1988.
"Today First Larne is both looking backwards and forwards," commented the congregation's minister Rev Colin McClure. "We are giving thanks for the outstanding service of Nat Magee and Ian Duffin, both of whom contributed hugely to our work and mission and helped lay the foundation on which we move forward with our ministry assisted by the very latest technology of a new audio visual system which will help communicate the unchanging Gospel to future generations."
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Presbyterian Moderator Dr David Clarke (centre left) and Rev Colin McClure, minister of First Larne (centre right), present a specially commissioned piece of Tyrone Crystal to Mr Nat Magee (left) to mark 37 years service as Clerk of Session of First Larne Presbyterian Church and an illuminated address to Mrs Joan Duffin paying tribute to her late husband Ian, who had served on the Congregational Committee for over 60 years, 18 as Church Secretary. |
Issued by Stephen Lynas, Presbyterian Information Services. Info@PresbyterianIreland.org
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