A thought from Stuart

Oct 28, 2023

Dear Friends,

In my last letter I paid tribute to the work Michelle and Heather have been doing amongst families and young people in our church and wider community. It is with regret that we have had to say goodbye to Heather, not from the church, but from her role as youth and family worker. Heather has started a new position as events co-ordinator at Trinity Care Home in Garvagh. While we must learn how to cope without Heather, I have no doubt that Trinity will be blessed as she brings her own unique brand of humour and inventiveness to this new role. Thank you for all you have done Heather.

Another big moment in the life of our church has been the completion of the first stage in our election of elders. As a church we sought permission from Presbytery to elect up to four new ruling elders. I am delighted to be able to confirm that that the names of Helen Davies, Samantha McPeak and Julie Watters will be put to the congregation on Sunday 26^th November at our congregational meeting. Please do pray for Helen, Samantha and Julie as they put themselves forward and hopefully undergo training prior to being ordained sometime in the new year.

It was a blessing to be part of the baptism of Alice Pollock, daughter of Jason and Rachel Pollock, on Sunday 8^th October. Please continue to pray not only for Alice but for all our children and young people.

As well as celebrating Alice’s baptism we also gave thanks to God for the harvest. Thank you to everyone who used this as an opportunity to make donations to the foodbank. We were also able to give flowers and other produce to some of our own families who for one reason or another have had a challenging year. I know your generosity and kindness have been much appreciated.

In what has been a busy start to the church year we enrolled our GB company on Sunday the 22^nd of October. GB is an important part of the life and ministry of our church. We have just over 60 girls registered to our company and over 50 of them, along with their families, were in church for the enrolment service. In a world and at a time when the church laments how attendance has dropped over the years, it’s good that we can welcome so many people from our community into our buildings and to be part of our worship.

So much of the work being done with children and young families is not seen Sunday by Sunday, however we should be aware that there is a lot of work bring carried out. Across GB, youth club, the after-school clubs, our mums and tots and treasure hunters, we are working with 150 different children on a weekly basis. As you can imagine this is a big undertaking and so we would ask you to consider how you could help. We are always looking for people who can volunteer, but we also need people who will commit to praying for our young people, leaders and the work that is being carried out.

Our bible study on a Thursday night has been well supported this year. We’ve just finished a six-week course on the book of Colossians and are about to start a 5-week study on the life of Elijah which will run every Thursday throughout November.

Our new Prayer and Praise on the first and third Sunday of the month has also been encouraging. It’s been wonderful to see the Centenary Room so well filled that we’ve struggled to fit everyone in.

If you’ve never been to a bible study or a prayer time before, why not consider coming along. It’s been wonderful to see so many new faces, and some older ones who haven’t been in a while, coming on a Thursday and Sunday. These evenings are a great opportunity to get to know people a little bit better as well as growing in our faith.

The busyness of church life keeps on going. The next significant date in our church diary will be our communion season. Pre-Communion will be on Friday 3^rd November with communion on Sunday 5^th morning and evening. This year we will be welcoming some new communicant members into our congregation. Martha Hall will come into full membership by confession of faith, and we also welcome Ronnie and Winnie Crooks as well as Kerry McCammond by means of transfer. Ronnie and Winnie come to us from Wellington Presbyterian while Kerry comes from 1^st Antrim. I’m sure you will join me in wishing God’s richest blessing on each of our new members as we look forward to how they enrich us as a congregation.

This year the Remembrance Day parade comes to our church. We will be welcoming representatives from the Royal British Legion and of course the various uniformed organisations.

What has been a busy and celebratory start to the church year has also been marked by moments of intense sadness. On Thursday 12^th October Eilen Linton died after a long battle against illness. Her funeral was from our church on Sunday 15th October. Please pray for Eileen’s husband, Albert, as well as the wider family circle.

I want to thank you for your continued support and prayers. I very much look forward to Sunday mornings, as we worship together. There is something special and unique about God’s people gathering in worship, so much so I want to leave you with this encouragement from the book of Hebrews: not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25) My prayer is that we will continue to be an encouragement to one another by meeting with one another as we meet with the Lord week by week.

Yours in Christ

Stuart Morrow