The torrential rain relented in Portglenone, early this afternoon, and the heavy clouds above Our Lady of Bethlehem Abbey parted just in time for the Derry and Raphoe BBQ to proceed as planned at this year’s Summer Madness festival in County Antrim. Bishop Andrew Forster was ‘mine host’ for the occasion, which brought back happy…
Three parishes from the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe will be among the first in Ireland to take part in a new course which Mothers’ Union has helped develop to counteract domestic abuse and gender-based violence. The five-part programme was developed in conjunction with Bishops’ Appeal and Tearfund. The Diocesan President of MU, Jacqui Armstrong…
Bishop Andrew Forster described the 300th anniversary of Donegal Parish as “a landmark moment” in the local congregation’s history. He was speaking in Donegal Parish Church during the second of two services, this morning, which marked the tercentenary. Half an hour earlier, the Bishop had joined the local Rector, Archdeacon David Huss, members of the…
The following article by Archbishop John McDowell is published in today’s Belfast Telegraph in relation to the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland and the current political situation. I can’t remember a more difficult or more polarised moment in Northern Ireland or in the relationships between the UK and Ireland over the past 20 years. The friction…
Christ Church Londonderry will be opened to the public on a daily basis from next week under its new ‘Open Door’ ministry. The initiative was unveiled informally, this week, when dozens of children from the Model Primary School visited the church along with their teachers. Small groups of pupils were given short ‘guided tours’ of…
The faces of the parishioners of Maghera and Killelagh were wreathed in smiles on Thursday evening as they welcomed the institution of their new Rector, Rev Jonathan Brown in St Lurach’s Church in Maghera. The new incumbent’s former parishioners, who had travelled all the way from Hillsborough for the occasion, looked less pleased, although they…
The Bishop of Derry and Raphoe has told the congregation at a Platinum Jubilee Service in St Columb’s Cathedral that if they are truly to honour Her Majesty the Queen – both her constancy and her service – then they would seek to follow her example and put their faith in “the great reconciler” Jesus…
The Vice Lord Lieutenant for the County Borough of Londonderry, Mr Ian Crowe MBE DL, has lit a beacon at the main gate of St Columb’s Cathedral to mark the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. It was one of 1,500 such beacons set alight across the UK and Commonwealth on Friday evening to…
Bishop Andrew Forster has opened the Parish of Glendermott’s new Men’s Shed on a reclaimed site behind the Parish Hall on Church Brae in Londonderry. The project is the brainchild of Select Vestry member Joanne Miller and the six men who comprise the Glen Fruit and Vegetable Growers group. The team, with help from the…
The small village of Ballintra, in County Donegal, was the venue, on Sunday 29th May, for the first in-person Healing Service in the diocese since the pandemic struck, over two years ago. The Service of Celebration of Wholeness and Healing, in Drumholm Parish Church – one of the southernmost churches in the diocese – was…
