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Ballyclare
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Home Beliefs History in Ireland History in Ballyclare News and Upcoming Events Annual Report 2006/7 H.Q. 
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News and Events
Your Minister writes:-
Dear Friends,
With a general election
at the beginning of May, we are bombarded with posters and people
encouraging us to support their party. It is almost impossible to avoid
the subject – even at home. Just last week I had one of our MLA’s in
person at the door. I did not promise to vote for him! We don’t need
reminded that these are uncertain times and post election will not
necessarily bring the changes we want. The recent ‘volcanic ash’
problem causing so many peoples plans to be dashed, along with the bomb
at Palace Barracks which traumatised the families in the area, and must
be utterly condemned, remind us that we are not always in control of
events.
Of course following the
first Easter, the disciples also found themselves not fully in control
of events. They too had to have an election – for a replacement for
Judas. You can read about that in Acts 1. They prayed about their
decision and then cast lots, a bit like flipping a coin! They also
recognised that they were not alone and would not be alone since Christ
had promised them the ‘Comforter’ or Holy Spirit. It is good to know that though we may not be in control of events, we are not alone. Pentecost Sunday, or Whit Sunday is on the 23rd May. That’s the time we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit. It’s the time that the disciples were empowered. Let’s look forward to that and recognise that the Spirit continues to comfort, encourage and support us.
Church News
Wilson Logan, Phyllis Boyd, Clover Watts and Rev Colin Campbell at the excellent concert given by the Ballyclare Male voice choir on Friday 26 March in our Holywood Church. There was a very good attendance and many complimentary remarks about the soloist Clover Watts and the Male Voice Choir.
A lovely supper provided by the ladies was served after the concert in the Schoolroom.
Some of the people who walked from Bangor to Holywood on Easter Saturday. Here they are having some refreshments.
In this picture you can see the Moderator receiving a cheque from Rachel McEvoy for £200 for his Appeal to supply water in Bangladesh.
Rachel and the Moderator are enjoying a well earned rest!
---oOo---
The Annual General Meeting of the Congregation was held on Sunday 21st March after morning worship.. There was a good attendance and Rev Colin Campbell conducted proceedings.
Mrs. Evelyn Meharg delivered a comprehensive ‘Secretary’s Report’, which highlighted the activities of the congregation over the last year. The ‘Treasurer’s Report’ was presented by Dr. Trevor Forsythe, and the ‘Sunday School Report’ was given by Mrs Jackie Peoples and ‘Women’s League Report ‘ submitted by Mrs Doris Forsythe. All of these reflected the commitment of members of the congregation and were adopted.
The Church Officers were re-elected. And the Rev. Campbell thanked everyone for their support. The Meeting concluded with prayer.
The A.G.M. is a once a year opportunity for each of us to be involved in the affairs of our church, to learn of the opportunities and concerns with which we will be faced in the coming year, and to be able to assist in furthering the well-being of our congregation.
---oOo---
Denominational News.
The Moderator elect for the Denomination, is Rev Sam Peden. Sam will be installed as Moderator at the Synod Service at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 8th June in Dromore. This is an open service and everyone is welcome to come along. The main business of Synod will take place on Wednesday 9th June beginning at 10.00 am. with Rev. Norman Hutton due to be elected as Clerk. There will be a social evening at 7.00 pm on the Wednesday to conclude this year’s Synod. ---oOo---
I would like to thank the men’s working party for tidying up the front of the church. The Session House is still under observation and consideration.
---oOo---
There will be a meeting of the Church Committee on Monday 7th June at 7.30 pm
In the Schoolroom. ---oOo---
Just a thought:
Intentions may be written in pencil, commitments should be written in stone.
---oOo--- Sunday School The Junior Sunday School Outing took place on Saturday 8th May,when the children visited Springvale Open Farm accompanied by Mary Surgeoner and Cathy Warnock with other teachers.
The Children have been working hard on their projects and this year the conference will be held on Saturday 5th June at 2.30 pm. This will be followed with prize giving and a Bar B Que.
The Children’s day Service will be held in Church on Sunday June 20th at 10.15 am and everyone is encouraged to come along and support the children and their teachers.
---oOo---
The Women’s League Quarterly Meeting will be held on Saturday 5 June in the Meeting House at Dunmurry at 1.00 pm.
The cheque for their Annual Charity, which this year was for research into Macular Degeneration, will be handed over to the guest speaker.
---oOo--- Previous News
The Table Quiz on 18th September 2009, organised by Irene Campbell raised £106 for our Romania appeal. The evening was great fun and with plenty of prizes, everyone was a winner.
The Ladies Group met at ‘the
Manse’ in September with everyone bringing along a recipe. It proved to
be entertaining and the recipes were shared around. The second
meeting of the group, in October took place in the schoolroom with
possibly a Hallow’een theme. Childhood memories were shared and plenty
of laughter heard.
Samantha Zoe Buchanan, daughter of Mark and Sarah was baptised on Sunday 4th October. In the picture is Mark’s sister Julie who was married just a week earlier.
The Harvest Service took place on 11th October when the Moderator, Rt. Rev. R. McKee led the worship and the choir sang a number of anthems.
The church was beautifully decorated and after the service some gifts of fruit or flowers were distributed to some of those now unable to get out regularly.
---oOo---
Women's League The Quarterly Meeting was held in Ballyclare Non-Subscribing Church on Saturday 13 June 2009 with 55 members attending. The meeting was opened with a short Service conducted by Marlene Ritchie Then the ladies were served a delicious tea.
---oOo---
Annual Church Outing. Sunday School Games - Ballycarry Heat
There was a good turn out
for the northern heat of the games and all the children enjoyed the
activities. Three of our teams were successful and will compete in the final at Comber on March 7th.
---oOo--- CONGRATULATIONS to Gavin and Linda Smith on the birth of Robbie Thomas Alan, a brother for Rebecca.
The Service for the
Ordination of new elders took place on Sunday 25th January. Rev Paul
Reid conducted the service and Rev. Dr. John Nelson gave the exposition
of Presbyterian Church Order in which he explained the organisation and
structures of our church. The new elders, Dr. Trevor Forsythe, Mrs
Jeanette McKendry and Mrs Evelyn Meharg were ordained and rev Colin
Campbell gave the charge or address to the new elders.
---oOo--- On Sunday 22nd February, a Praise Service, conducted by Rev. Dr. Scott Peddie and led by the Ballyclare Male Choir was held and the offering of £350 collected. The service was in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society and following the service, the choir sang three more pieces including ’Where He leads me, I will follow’.
---oOo---
Service of Ordination of
New Elders. On Sunday 25th January representatives from the Presbytery
of Antrim will conduct a Service of Ordination for three new elders in
our Church. Mr Trevor Forsythe, Mrs Evelyn Meharg and Mrs Jeanette
McKendry will be ordained and become members of the Church Session. The
elders are appointed to assist the minister in the performance of his
duties and they are responsible, under the minister, for the spiritual
over-sight of the congregation. We look forward to the support of
members of the congregation at this special service and hope to have
refreshments after the service. Sunday School Outing. On Friday evening, 9th January, members of the Sunday School along with their teachers went to The Courtyard, Ballyearl, to see a production of ‘The Magic Bottle’. The show was performed by a team of young dramatists and was both appropriate and appreciated by our young members of Sunday School who managed to absorb and relish the story. Out thanks to Mary Surgoner for organising the trip and to the teachers and parents who accompanied them. Mr Bertie McFeran is now resident in Ballyclare Nursing Home on the Doagh Road. He has settled in well and is quite comfortable. He has sent his best wishes to the members of the congregation and, as always, is ready for visitors. He has retained his humour and we wish him well and look forward to hearing from him. Ballyclare Male Choir. This year the Ballyclare Male Choir are celebrating their 75th Anniversary. On Sunday 18th January, there will be a Thanksgiving Service at 7.00 pm in Second Ballyeaston Presbyterian Church where the choir was formed 75 years ago. We look forward to their leading a Praise Service in our own Church on Sunday 22nd February at 7.00 pm.
Christmas Eve Carols by Candle-light. Once again this year, the church was beautifully decorated and there was a lovely atmosphere in the Meeting House with so many candles lit as we joined together to sing many of the traditional carols. Evelyn Meharg and Gillian Rennie read for us while Irene Campbell shared her own faith and joy at this time of year as she reflected on Gillian’s recovery from her very serious road accident last year. We were also pleased to hear solos from Sheelagh Greer and Michael Alexander and the large congregation appreciated both the music and the opportunity for refreshments afterwards. Our thanks to all who contributed to this successful evening. A visit to Romania. After fundraising through a relay marathon, selling some old junk and begging at doors, I was both tired, standing outside the Europa at 5am, and a bit apprehensive about the next ten days. Would it be a life changing experience? Would it make me become even more mature and sensible? Or, could it make me crave a shower more than ever? As we touched down in Bucharest , welcomed by thirty five degree heat and people with sandals, I had an uplifting feeling. The two flights, first from Dublin to Amsterdam then Amsterdam to Bucharest, had been a chance to get to know some of the group, who were from Holywood, Belfast and Larne. The bus journey further allowed us to get to know each other and even though it was dark when we got to our hosts house, I had not noticed the time go by. We were staying with a lovely Romanian couple who spoke great English. The house was spacious and comfortable, even though four of us slept in one room. The average day would consist of going to help with the disabled children in the orphanage, coming back for lunch, then either a sleep or a walk, returning to the orphanage to play more with the children and then dinner. In the evenings there was relaxation with many card games, jokes and getting to know each other. As well as the orphanage there was a family home, which was an orphanage, confusingly, only none of the children were disabled. The group would generally split up and take turns in which one they would visit. I found both of them great fun, but I preferred the orphanage. This was for several reasons. Firstly, the large garden, which meant that you could enjoy the Mediterranean like weather. Secondly, the orphans here were very enthusiastic, they sprinted towards us when we first got there, and playing with them was a lot more fun than my overpriced Play Station. Thirdly and finally, the fence enclosing the children was not big enough. Every so often one of them would make a dash for freedom, scale the fence and start running. Then the workers there would have to sprint after the orphan who thought it was all hilarious. The spectacle promised some great afternoon entertainment. Although the people in Barolt were a lot poorer than us, especially the gypsy community, the atmosphere was a relaxed one, free of a materialistic edge. Despite less money, a number of people had cars, some that were relatively new, so many of us were surprised by the lack of extreme poverty. Barolt has a similar amount of people as Ballyclare or Holywood, but the majority lived in Soviet styled flats. Therefore its area was quite small, meaning we could walk to the orphanage, family home and back within five minutes of our host’s house. The days were broken up by trips to Brasov, Dracula’s castle and a nearby lake. Brasov being Romania’s second biggest city, had a sizeable tourist industry, not to mention the huge sign in the hillside like Hollywood, California. Whilst there, you could nearly forget that you were in Romania, due to the sports cars, shopping centres and irritable Justin Timberlake blaring at you from every angle. We also got to sample the local culture by visiting McDonald’s! Therefore I think I can speak for the whole group when I say that I was glad to be back in the orphanage. When the last day came it seemed, as always with holidays, that time passed at hyper speed. We made an emotional goodbye to the orphans in both the Orphanage and Family Home and prepared ourselves for the long journey home. Our reflective talk at the end of the week gave the impression that everyone, myself included, would love to return to Romania and even though it was hard work at times, it beat Ibiza any day. Owen Duly, Sullivan Upper. —–oo0oo—–
The Annual Congregational Outing took place on Monday 16th June to Hoy’s Ice Creamery. Members of the congregation were privileged to see round the farm as well as the ice cream parlour.
Tea and coffee was included in the warm
welcome given on arrival and everyone was offered their choice of
flavour from the original pure dairy ice cream made on the farm.
Following the visit, the members moved to Kilbride parish church where
they were given a really delightful meal. On behalf of all those who
attended, I would express my thanks to Ethel Logan and Doreen Blair. —–oo0oo—– There was a good attendance at the Annual General Meeting of the congregation on 13th April. Full reports were given by the Treasurer, Secretary, Sunday School Superintendent and Women’s Group. These reports are available on request to anyone wanting them. While the work of the church is very much a team effort and many people deserve our thanks and appreciation, I would thank Trevor Forsythe, Evelyn Meharg and Jackie Crooks for their very comprehensive reports. We have now had a few ‘Tea and Scones’ meetings at the end of monthly services. I would like to thank all those who have prepared the schoolroom and the refreshments and tidied up afterwards. The outside of the Church has recently been painted and some volunteers continue to help maintain the grounds. As noted in the AGM reports, we are indebted to all those who work in a variety of ways to serve the congregation. On Easter Saturday, some members from across the denomination walked
the coastal route from Bangor to Holywood in order to raise some funds
for this year’s trip to Romania. There was considerable support from our
own congregation and the total sum raised was £850. Our congratulations
to those who walked the route on a very cold and windy day with thanks
to our supporters. In the weeks ahead:- Take time to think - it is the source of power Take time to play - it is the secret of perpetual youth Take time to read - it is the fountain of wisdom Take time to pray - it is the greatest power on earth Take time to love and be loved - it is a God-given privilege Take time to be friendly - it is the road to happiness Take time to laugh - it is the music of the soul Take time to give - it is too short a day to be selfish Take time to work - it is the price of success Take time to do charity - it is the key to Heaven. (J. Smith-Cameron)
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