Can you believe the summer is drawing to a close and we are about to embark on another church year? I hope you have been able to find time to rest and recharge your batteries over the summer, even if the weather has been less than kind to us. Certainly, Julia and I enjoyed our break and we now approach another year refreshed and excited at what the Lord has in store for us as a church in the coming months.
This has also been a significant summer for Michelle Hutchinson. If you are wondering who Michelle Hutchinson is, she is the person we used to know as Michelle Mullan. Michelle married Richard Hutchinson on Tuesday 20th August in our church. I know you will want to join with me in asking for God’s richest blessing for Richard and Michelle. It was a privilege to be able to officiate at their wedding and we look forward to seeing them both worship with us in weeks, months and indeed years ahead.
We have a number of other people getting married in the coming weeks. John Sinclair (a nephew of Mary Sinclair) is marrying Emily Menzies on Monday 26th of August, Rebecca Lemon is marrying Jeff McCormick on the 20th of September and Corey McDowell (Maureen McDowell’s grandson) is marrying Jess French on the 1st of November.
We wish each of these couples God’s richest blessing and I would encourage each of us to commit to pray for them, not just in the run up to their wedding day, but to continue to pray as they build new lives together.
September brings the restarting of much of church life. The GB registration evening will be on Wednesday 28thof August and the first official GB evening will be Wednesday 4thof September. The GB are encouraging girls to register online to help speed up this process. You can do this on the church website by either following the link to the GB page, or using the link in the latest GB update in the blog section of the website (www.portstewartpresbyterian.org) . Alternatively check the GB or the Church Facebook page.
The Sunday evening Prayer and Praise service will begin again on Sunday 1stof September and the congregational bible study on Thursday 5thof September. If you have never been to either of these then could I encourage you to consider coming along this autumn. The Christian life is not a life to be led in isolation, it is a call to be part of a redeemed community of God’s people. We are to meet together for worship Sunday by Sunday, not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing… (Hebrews 10:25) We are also to meet together for prayer…devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful…(Colossians 4:2) The Prayer and Praise service along with the Bible Study are opportunities to be obedient to God’s word, but they are not places where anyone will be put under pressure or made to feel uncomfortable.
In September we will begin a new series on the book of Acts which will take us some time to work through, although we will do this in short bite sized segments. Acts gives a wonderful picture of how the early church came together and grew, despite some quite horrendous persecution. This is a preaching series the elders have asked for as they try to help us understand what it means for us to live out our mission statement that we worship God, serve our community and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In September we will also be relaunching our youth fellowship which will be called established. We have taken Ephesians 3: 17, being rooted and established in love our young people may have the power to grasp how wide, and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. We want to create an environment where our young people are discipled and encouraged to deepen understanding and indeed commitment to Christ. We want to see them established in the church and in their faith. If you have young people of secondary school age, then please do encourage them to come along to this on the 2nd and 4th Sunday evenings of the month. We will have more promotional material coming shortly for this.
This of course is only a snapshot of what is starting up again. To keep fully abreast of what is happening keep an eye on our website, social media and the printed announcement sheets which are issued Sunday by Sunday. If you miss a week and want an announcement sheet, they are normally available to download alongside the recording of the service each week. https://www.portstewartpresbyterian.org/sermons/
As always it is with sadness that we report the deaths of much-loved members of our congregation since I last wrote to you.
Doreen Boyd died on the 27th of April 2024
Margaret Logan died on the 28th of May 2024
Kathleen Stewart died on the 20th of June 2024
Edna McFarland died on the 26th of June 2024
Phyllis McKergan died on the 9th of July 2024
Jean Wallace died on the 12th of July 2024
Noel Johnston died on the 15th of July 2024
Please do continue to pray for those who mourn. Each name listed represents a family still struggling to come to terms with death of a loved one. Ask that God by his Spirit would bring the comfort and hope that is only found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We have also had cause to celebrate, especially due to the baptism of Esme Poppy Nicholl who was baptised on Sunday 23rd June. Esme will be familiar to many of you as she has taken her place at the front of the church while her mum Samantha helps lead us in worship. Continue to give thanks for Esme, and all our children, and pray that they would grow in their knowledge and understanding of the Lord.
I hope you are looking forward to the new church year. I hope you are excited because of what God is doing amongst us. Please do continue to pray for our church. Pray that we would grow, not only in numbers, but also in the depth of our faith. If it has been a while since you’ve been out with us, or if you have never been, then why not make this September a time to come and be part of our family once more, or even better – to join us for the first time.
The ending of a holiday and getting back to the routine of life is an opportunity to make significant lifestyle changes. With this new beginning can come new prayers, a cry to God that this season would be different from the last, that life would take a step forward.
Over the next two weeks we will be thinking about how we can know God through these prayers. We will be looking at two very different examples of how God meets us in our prayers.
On Sunday 18th August we will meet a man call Jairus whose daughter was desperately ill. Jairus sent messengers to Jesus asking that he would come and heal his daughter, and after some delays, Jesus responded and the girl was restored. (Read Luke 8: 40-56)
Then on Sunday 25th August we will read about a very different expereince of prayer. The Apostle Paul, known for incredible displays of God’s power and numerous examples of people being healed through him, yet in his personal life we’re told that he prayed three times for a thorn in the flesh to be removed. There was something in his life he desperatly wanted to be rid off but God did not grant his prayer. Even in this unanswered prayer Paul met God in an incredibly powerful way. (Read 2 Corinthians 12: 1-10)
So, whether you have been praying for years and it seems as though God has not answered, or you’ve been astounded because in truth you didn’t expect God to answer, but he did, why not come along on Sunday morning at 10:30 and discover how we know God through all our prayers.
Stuart is back from holiday and will be leading us in worship and in our thinking.
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 26th 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 8th 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 22ndof 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 thirdSunday 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 Friday3rd November with communion on Sunday 5thmorning 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 WinnieCrooks as well as Kerry McCammond by means of transfer. Ronnie and Winnie come to us from Wellington Presbyterian while Kerry comes from 1st 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 12th 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.
I want to begin by saying thank you to everyone for your support over what has been another incredibly busy church year. Our church simply would not function without the time and commitment you give to the various programmes we run. I also want to pay tribute to Michelle and Heather for everything they do throughout the year. Please continue to pray for both Michelle and Heather as they try to find ways of building relationships, not only with our young people but their families as well.
Michelle Mullan & Heather Hamilton
We will begin the 2023 – 2024 church year by holding an election for up to four new elders. This is always an important moment in the life of any congregation. The role of the elder is very different to any other role in the church. The elder is responsible for the spiritual welfare of the congregation. An elder is often described as a shepherd leader. Someone who gently guides through leading by example, but one who serves by putting the welfare of the congregation first. I would encourage you to begin prayerfully considering who in the church might fit such a role. Who is faithful in prayer, who are the servants in our congregation?
On the subject of prayer and bible study, we will be changing the night of our bible study and prayer meetings. Over the last couple of years, we have been meeting on a Monday night, this will now change to a Thursday. We will use Thursdays as a time to study bible books and topics. The plan is to run a series of blocks of teaching with a gap between each block. The focus on Thursday nights will be bible study, we will then move our prayer time to every other Sunday evening which we will use as a time of Prayer & Praise. Our Sunday morning prayer time before the church service will continue as normal.
Please do give careful consideration to coming along, bible study and prayer are the basic building blocks of the Christian faith along with the opportunity they provide to build supportive Godly friendships within the church.
The new church year will bring something new as I take up the role of Convenor of the vacancy in BallywillanPresbyterian Church. This will mean I will be away from Portstewart once a month to preach in Ballywillan. Please pray for the congregation in Ballywillan as they come to terms with a vacancy and seek God’s will for the start of a new ministry and era.
2023 was a significant year in the life of our nation. After the death of her Majesty the Queen, King Charles III was officially crowned as King and Defender of the Faith. We marked this in church through the planting of a second tree in the church lawn. It was good to be able to bring the congregation together and take a photograph marking the occasion for posterity.
The big event of the last few months was the Festival of Crafts and Talents. It was wonderful to see the church filled with so many beautiful examples of art and craftwork. The presence of so much talent during worship on the Sunday added much to the service. The festival raised in excess of £2000 which was split evenly between PW mission funds and our own church finances.
Thank you to everyone who donated items to be displayed, those who set the display up and everyone who baked and served tea and coffee in the hall over the whole weekend. Your work was being talked about as far away as the General Assembly where people stopped me to say how much they had enjoyed the exhibition.
The events committee have been as busy as ever. The Northwest 200 breakfast another day of hard work, but one that was as successful as ever. This against the backdrop of the sad and sudden death of Betty Kennedy. Betty was a much loved and valued member of our congregation and of the events committee, she will be greatly missed.
Some of you may remember Bertie and Ann Hunter who were members of our congregation at one time. Bertie and Ann both emigrated to Canada in the early 60’s, Bertie from Coleraine and Ann from Ballywalter. It’s incredible to think two people from opposite ends of Northern Ireland would then meet and marry in Canada living a very happy life together there.
Eventually the call of home was too much to resist and so the pair returned home in 2005 and were valued members of our congregation for 10 years before returning to Canada because of Bertie’s poor health. Sadly, Bertie died in 2021 in Canada. It was wonderful then to be able to welcome Ann and other family members to Portstewart in May for a memorial service which allowed friends and family to pay their respects.
We had the joy of another two baptisms in our congregation. It was an honour to be able to baptise Hugo and Ottilie Stewart in June. Please continue to pray, not only for Hugo and Ottilie but for all the children and families within our congregation. As well as baptisms we also welcomed Jacob Morrow into full membership of our congregation.
Kirk Session and Committee have been extremely busy this last year. We have been grappling with understanding what our mission ought to be. Our mission is the reason we as a church exist. This might sound quite a straightforward task, but it was anything but. After much discussion and an incredibly honest look at what we have been doing this is what we have arrived at. Our mission is to be a people who worshipGod, serveour community and proclaimthe good news of Jesus Christ. We want this statement to be central to everything we do as a church. This will mean all our activities will have to incorporate some form of worship, service to the community and proclamation of the gospel. We are still working on our vision statement that will help us achieve this goal.
We held our annual Holiday Bible Club as an afterschool club at the end of June this year. This was another successful club on top of everything we’ve been doing throughout the year. Thanks, has to be given to Mrs Taylor and her staff who have made us welcome. It is a privilege, not a right, that we have the access to the school that we are allowed. The Holiday Bible club ended with a service on the Sunday, and it was such an encouragement to see children from the club along with their parents in the church.
As is the way with every church year the business of life is always marked by moments of sadness. Since my last letter we have mourned the loss of three valued family members and friends.
Betty Kennedy died on the 4th of May 2023
Alfie Ferguson died on the 4th of June 2023
Denise Sloan died on the 6th of June 2023
Please continue to pray for the life of our church and I pray that you find the summer months both relaxing and revitalising. Julia and I plan to enjoy our holidays this August and we look forward to seeing you all again in September.
We live in a world that is constantly changing, and for Christians we can be left wondering where we fit into this new reality. The book of Daniel helps us come to terms with a new culture and still remain faithful to God.
