With this year’s General Assembly opening on 4th June, in a reflective blog, Dr. Noble McNeely writes about his year as Moderator. In it he talks about the privilege of meeting an amazing variety of people across the denomination, describing them as ‘faithful Christian people, just getting on with life…and being prepared to try new ways to share the gospel.’

He talks movingly about the outstanding dignity of those he met who have experienced loss as a result of the Troubles and writes about celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in Egypt in solidarity with Christians who have suffered violence and general persecution on a scale that has not been witnessed in many years.

As his year draws to a close he says that he and Florence will always remember the gracious way they were received by people in the church across the whole island.

This year has been a challenging and varied one for many different reasons, but also 12 months when Florence and I have known God’s presence and the support of many, many people through their prayers.

We have greatly appreciated the General Assembly entrusting us with the role of representing the church at numerous events. While challenging and varied, my year as Moderator has been a remarkable one that has given me the privilege of meeting an amazing variety of people - from my fellow church leaders and church leaders from overseas, including the Coptic Church of Alexandria’s Patriarch, Tawadros II, to civic and elected representatives at home, not least the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins - people that we normally wouldn’t have the chance to meet and spend time with.

Devoted and faithful people

For me, however, the most outstanding memories have been the opportunities that we had to visit church members at home in Ireland and further afield. Many were just humbly and quietly getting on with their work – on top of their day jobs – witnessing for Christ and serving as His disciples. To see this commitment and compassion was amazing, especially in rural areas. We sometimes forget their struggle, or fail to see the issues that farmers face. It has been a hard year for them, but we found a people committed to the church, their community and their faith.

We regularly looked forward to our Sunday visits to congregations, two each Sabbath, to meet devoted and faithful people committed to their churches and communities. I have appreciated the opportunities to preach in so many different churches - the big and the small, those in towns and those deep in the countryside. I am grateful to congregations for the invitation to be part of their Sunday worship.

We met many friends we haven’t seen for years, especially on our three presbytery tours of Route, Derry and Donegal and Dublin and Munster. We were heartened by their stories and memories that we were able to share. We were also encouraged to meet so many people being active in their communities and serving as everyday disciples, which has been the theme of my year in office. I distributed almost 4,000 of the ‘31 Day Devotional’ booklet we prepared for the Special Assembly on the theme ‘Everyday Disciples’. I was able to hand most of them personally to people and encourage the development of a personal devotional life.

During the year we were also interested to see how awareness in ministering to people with special needs has developed in the Church. We were pleased to see how a new initiative called ‘My Place’ was supported and the response to the special needs seminars. We met families and individuals who are regularly supporting loved ones with specific needs and we pray that there will be continuing development of this ministry. We also saw how the Council for Social Witness is providing facilities and care.

Just before Christmas I was in Garvagh where there has been a strong Presbyterian witness in the town down the centuries. Together with First Garvagh and our congregation in Main Street, I had the privilege of opening the latest expression of God’s love for people in the town, and our social witness - Trinity House - our newest residential care home.

God given opportunity

Our witness for Christ extends beyond these shores and being able to travel to Zambia and share 12 days with Diane Cusick, our global mission worker was very special for Florence and me. This was an exceptional God given opportunity to see Diane at work in a very demanding environment and to meet Church of Central Africa Presbyterian ministers and members who are passionate about their faith and service of Jesus.

In the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) you get to preach in many churches named after individuals, but rarely if ever, do you get to meet them in person. It was therefore overwhelming to see the Rev. David McConaghy Presbyterian Church in Lundazi and be welcomed by people who are indebted to him and PCI for establishing of their church.

Florence and I visited David and his wife Maxine, who are now retired, before we went to Zambia. It was wonderful to meet people who still remembered these two passionate everyday disciples fondly and with love and affection in the remote church they set up a good distance from Lusaka in the 1960s.

Reformation 500

My year in office coincided with the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, which gave our Church the opportunity to commemorate and celebrate the events of 1517 in Dublin, Londonderry and Belfast. The anniversary also afforded me the unexpected opportunity to travel to Cairo to attend the Reformation commemorations in Egypt. The celebration was hosted by the Protestant Churches of Egypt, which represents 16 officially recognised reformed denominations in the country.

In the midst of the many invitations the Church received during the special anniversary year, it was felt that it was important to attend the Reformation commemorations as an act of solidarity with Christians of all denominations from across the Middle East, who as everyday disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ have suffered violence, death and general persecution on a scale that has not been witnessed in many years.

Away from the main events I mixed with delegates from the United States, Europe and North Africa. We had the opportunity to visit some of the Evangelical Presbyterian congregations and discovered the outstanding work they do in sometimes hostile environments and heard of church growth and planting of new churches. I also had the opportunity of meeting Egyptian civic leaders and the leader of the Coptic Church in the country.

 

Outstanding dignity

At home, some of the events we were invited to were emotional. The anniversary event that commemorated the bombing of the La Mon Hotel was very moving and significant. To see relatives who were bereaved 40 years ago participate with such outstanding dignity was inspirational.

Another poignant, and personal occasion, came out of the blue one day when I visited some of our Forces chaplains at Thiepval Barracks, the Army’s Headquarters in Lisburn. In the chapel is a Book of Remembrance, which commemorates all of the soldiers who died serving in Northern Ireland. I turned to the last page and I saw the name of corporal Trelford Withers. He was a fellow Boys’ Brigade member and neighbour in the village of Crossgar where I grew up. He was the last Royal Irish Regiment soldier to be killed before the 1994 ceasefire. That indeed was a very personal and poignant moment.

Seeing Trelford’s name on an illuminated page, being at the La Mon commemoration and visiting the memorial to the victims of the Kingsmills Massacre, experiencing the emotion and just some of the pain and sense of loss brought to mind the importance of the whole issue of legacy and getting to grips with dealing with our troubled past, especially for the sake of those who still live with such pain and loss.

A responsive church

The year is almost completed and Florence and I have been greatly heartened by the church that is responding to the pressures and challenges throughout Ireland. We saw many church members, faithful Christian people, just getting on with life, being good neighbours and helping one another recognising these demands and being prepared to try new ways to share the gospel.

We will always remember the gracious way we were received by people in the church across the whole island. The prayers offered for us and the regular text messages of encouragement have reminded us constantly of the humbling experience it is to serve Christ and His church.

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Dr. McNeely is minister of First Holywood Presbyterian Church in County Down. He will give his final address as Moderator at the Opening Night of this year’s General Assembly, which is open to the public and starts at 7pm on Monday, 4th June in Belfast’s Assembly Buildings.

For information and resources about this year's General Assembly: The Blue Book, individual reports, supplementary reports, daily business, minutes, previews and reviews of each day's proceedings, visit our General Assembly 2018 resources section here.

 

Photos: Top to bottom (1) Presenting the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins with a copy of 'The Presbyterians in Ireland' at Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin (2) With Foyle Search and Rescure Service during the presbytery tour of Derry and Donegal (3) Officially opening Trinity House in Garvagh with residents who had come to live at the home from our former homes Ard Cluan and York House (4) The sign outside the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian David McConaghy Congregation in Lundazi (5) In Abbey Presbyterian Church, Dublin, for the first special worship service to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation with the principle participants (6) The opening meeting of the Protestant Churches of Egypt's Reformation commemorations in Cairo's El-Azbakeya, Evengelical Church (7) At the 40th anniversary of the La Mon Hotel bombing with Rev Mark Brown of Gransha Presbyterian and Lord Lieutenant for County Antrim, Joan Christie (8) With members of Grange Presbyterian at their 350th anniversary service, one of the many congregations the Moderator visited during his year.