The Moderator’s weeklong tour was made up of 30 separate engagements, which not only included preaching four times in different congregations on the two Sunday’s that bookended the tour, and meeting and praying with groups of ministers from the presbytery’s 30-plus congregations, Dr Bruce also met the volunteers and those they supported, as a result of the work of they and their partners were doing in the community.
“As I have pointed out on previous occasions, presbytery tours are essentially pastoral visits where moderators get an opportunity to get out and about in a particular area to see first-hand what is being done quietly and compassionately in the community by our congregations. They are also times for encouraging our ministers and members as they serve God, and at the same time, the tours are a visible reminder of our belonging together as one Presbyterian family,” Dr Bruce said.
“During my recent tour of the Presbytery of Coleraine and Limavady, I had plenty of opportunity to witness first-hand the impressive work that is being done locally, often resulting in real life-changing impact. Some of it in response to increasing need, as a result of the cost of living crisis, while other projects were well established, offering different kinds of support, all of which emanating from Jesus’ great, yet simple command, to love our neighbour.”
First of two foodbanks
On a visit to Hazelbank Presbyterian Church, Dr Bruce visited The Heights Foodbank that the congregation and Coleraine Elim Church run out of the latter’s church hall. It is a satellite of the main Causeway Foodbank, which is part of the Trussell Trust’s Northern Ireland network, as Hazelbank’s minister, Rev David Brown explains.
“Next year is our 50th anniversary here in The Heights. Part of looking forward to celebrate our half century, and marking it in a meaningful way, we thought that we needed to do more in the community than we had been doing to show the love of Christ and to minister to the needs of our community. We also wanted to work in partnership with another church.” he said.
The Heights Foodbank, which has 14 volunteers serving on a rota basis, provides emergency food parcels for three days for three, four or five person families, and single people. Opened in mid-December last year, the church also gives out toiletries and pet food, which isn’t provided by the central foodbank. Those that need help are referred by social services, schools, police and other agencies as well the foodbank itself. The Moderator also heard about Hazelbank’s involvement with Coleraine Street Pastors and Digging Deeper, a community gardening service, in partnership with Mountsandel Christian Fellowship.
At Terrace Row Presbyterian Church in Coleraine, the Moderator spent more than a few hours finding out about their work in the community and its four community based projects. During Dr Bruce’s time with them,
God’s guidance
As he met volunteers at Terrace Row's foodbank (another of the Causeway satellite Foodbanks and heard about the work of the debt counselling charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP) which is based at the church. Also working with Terrace Row are Safe Families, a Christian organisation that works with local churches offering support to families and their children, as well as care leavers - young people who have been ‘looked after’ in care at some stage of their lives.
Talking about the projects, Terrace Row’s minister, Rev Andrew Brown said, “It has really been God guiding us. Coming out of the pandemic we wanted to respond to the increasing need that we saw, which led us to set up the foodbank in partnership with the Trussell Trust, and work with CAP and Safe Families,” he said.
Andrew Brown also explained that just after he came to Terrace Row as minister, nine years ago, Stephen Quigley, one of the local councillors, came to him with a vision for Street Pastors. “We were the first ‘traditional’ church to get involved and it has been a great form of hands-on Christian ministry. One describes it as ‘the church has left the building’. Teams are made up of volunteers from many different congregations and minister on the streets of Coleraine on a Friday night, or help around social venues, late on Saturday night into Sunday morning.
Coming alongside people
“We wanted to come alongside people who wouldn’t necessarily come to church, supporting them in their moment of real life need. Most nights it is quiet, but I think we have had an impact,” Rev Brown said.
During the tour Dr Bruce also spent time with Portstewart Men’s Shed, a supportive community project run by the Be Safe Be Well organisation that is using a building owned by Portstewart Presbyterian Church. The project provides a drop in centre for men that has a woodworking workshop, coffee dock, music room and lounge space with pool table.
Dr Bruce also spent time with the Ballysally Integrated Nurturing Project, which has brought together the various strengths and expertise of Ballysally Presbyterian Church, Ballysally Primary School, Focus on Family and Ballysally Nursery School. The project is funded and supported by the Department for Communities.
Rev Dr John Coulter, who has been minister at Ballysally Presbyterian since 1996, showed Dr Bruce the positive contribution that the project was making to the local area. “We joined together in a formal partnership in 2011, having previously been working in the area separately. Having seen similar needs, especially in terms of the fragmentation of the estate and social deprivation in a place of some 1000 homes that was in the top 7 most socially deprived electoral wards in Northern Ireland, it seemed the logical thing to do.
Improving the quality of life
“We had the simple aim of trying to improve the quality of life in Ballysally, working together using of our different connections for a common cause in a more co-ordinated way. Another combined benefit was that together we would also have more opportunity to get funding for the need that we saw. All of the partners are in it for the long hall, and through specialised nurturing provision in education, parenting support, youth work and other areas that can lift people up, 11 years on we are seeing a difference,” Dr Coulter explained.
During his visit the Moderator heard from four youth and community workers who are part of the Ballysally Presbyterian team and Brendan Patterson, Project Manager of Focus on Family, who highlighted the Family Links nurturing programme and the range of courses and training opportunities available.
The Moderator also visited Ballysally Primary School and met with the principal, Geoff Dunn MBE, and heard about the value of the nurturing project, especially for P1s transitioning from nursery school and P7s transitioning to post primary schools. While the Primary School is oversubscribed, Dr Bruce also discovered that there is now a Housing Executive waiting list to live on the estate.
Faith accompanied by action
Reflecting on what he saw during his week in Coleraine & Limavady, Dr Bruce said, “Our Lord Jesus’ brother, the Apostle James said, ‘faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead […] faith without deeds is useless.’
“What I saw was the exact opposite – faith accompanied by action. Whether it was the work of the foodbanks, of CAP, the ministering to people on the streets of Coleraine, working with families and nurturing in schools, I want to commend the work of my colleagues, their volunteers and partners.
“Our churches work on a different front line, not only in a spiritual and pastoral sense, but a front line where people have responded and seen real practical benefits for them and their families. I thank God for that and commend the work of our congregations and ask Him to continue to bless the work of their hands, and everyone involved,” he said.
Photos (1) The Moderator and his wife Zoë, with volunteers at The Heights Foodbank, Coleraine (2) and with Rev Andrew Brown (next to Dr Bruce) minister of Terrace Row Presbyterian Church with one of their foodbank coordinators, Denis McClelland and (3) later on with some of the Coleraine Street Pastors (4) Dr Bruce with Catherine Taylor from the Be Safe Be Well Men’s shed Portstewart, with Rev Stuart Morrow of the seaside town's Presbyterian church (in the checked shirt) and Shed members (5&6) The Moderator and Zoë, a retired primary school teacher and Special Educational Needs Coordinator, listening to Geoff Dunn MBE, principal of Ballysally Primary School, one of the four partners in the Ballysally Integrated Nurturing Project (BINP) and listening to Brendan Patterson, Project Manager of BINP partner Focus on Family. Also in the photo is the minister of Ballysally Presbyterian, Rev Dr John Coulter.