Latest News – Page 30 – St George’s Church Belfast

William Jeffrey ordained in St Columbanus’ Ballyholme

William Jeffrey pictured at his Ordination in Ballyholme

On Sunday 3 September, William Jeffrey was ordained deacon to serve in Killaney and Carryduff.

The ordination took place in the recently refurbished Ballyholme Parish Church. Bishop Harold Miller ordained four deacons for internships in Down and Dromore and the preacher at the service was Canon Dr Christina Baxter CBE. Christina is an Anglican theologian and was Principal of St John’s College, Nottingham, for 15 years, retiring in 2012.

Also ordained alongside William were Andrew Irwin to serve in Donaghcloney, Myrtle Morrison for Craigavon and Maithrie White–Dundas to serve in Ballyholme (pictured below).

Speaking ahead of his ordination, William said: “Born in Newtownards, I grew up in Dundonald and Holywood and now live in East Belfast. I’ve been married to Alison for over 29 years and we have three sons.

“Prior to my full–time training at CITI, I worked for almost 33 years as a Northern Ireland Civil Servant.

“My Christian journey to date has been largely influenced by both Anglicanism and Presbyterianism and my sending parish is St George’s Belfast. I am very thankful to my parents for nurturing me in the Christian faith from childhood and pointing me in the right direction.

“Within the life of the Church I have a keen interest in mission – in all the various forms that this takes. I have been privileged to experience overseas work amongst the abandoned street boys of Peru and this summer I was on a CMSI/CITI placement to the Diocese of Northern Zambia.

“As a consequence, an inspiring verse for me is from the Gospel of St Matthew, Chapter 25 and verse 40:– “And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’”(NRSV).

Best wishes to Billy Jeffrey

Today we presented Billy Jeffrey with a stole in advance of his Ordination as a Deacon on Sunday 3rd September at 6pm in Ballyholme. Billy will be ordained to serve his year as Deacon in Carryduff. Billy recently visited our CMS Mission Partners, Keith and Lynne Scott in Zambia. This was a placement as part of his training for ordination at CITI and you can read his blog of his visit written for CMSI on their website http://www.cmsireland.org/

At this time we also remember Ian Mills who spent six weeks with us last year as part of his CITI placement. Ian will be ordained this Thursday (24th August) in Antrim at 8pm and will serve in Agherton Parish in Portstewart.

Exam success for former Organ Scholar and choir members

Congratulations to our former Organ Scholar Donal McCann who achieved two A*s and one D1 (which apparently is a distinction in pre-university music) in his A level exams. Therefore he has achieved, indeed slightly exceeded the required grades in order to be able to take up the prestigious organ scholarship at King’s College, Cambridge next term, thus adding his name to a long and distinguished list that includes the names of Sir David Willcocks, Sir Andrew Davis, Thomas Trotter, John Butt, Dan Hyde, James Vivian and many others. His first engagement there is at a concert with the choir on 16th September.

Our choral scholars have also all performed extremely well in their A levels. Michael Hong has been accepted for Natural Sciences and a choral scholarship at Clare College, Cambridge with 4 A*s, Ewan Docherty has been accepted for Languages at the University of Stirling and Oliver Rhodes takes his place at the University of Aberystwyth to study Computing and Software Design. We look forward to seeing them in the choir stalls whenever they return for holidays.

Sexton prepares for Everest marathon challenge

A link to an article on the Church of Ireland website about our Sexton Ken Tate who will revisit the Himalayas to take part in his second Everest Marathon this November.

https://www.ireland.anglican.org/news/7352/sexton-prepares-for-everest-marathon

You can sponsor Ken online by visiting www.virginmoneygiving.com/kentate or make a donation at St George’s Parish Church.

Great food and friendship at Parish Lunch

Some pictures of our Parish Lunch today to raise funds for our mission partners Keith and Lynne Scott who are working with CMS in Zambia. Great food and friendship and money raised for a partnership that is very much treasured by us at St George’s.

Fr William marks 40th anniversary of his ordination

On Sunday morning, April 30th we marked the 40th anniversary of the ordination of Rev. William Odling Smee. We made a small presentation to William and to his wife Anne.

Rev. William Odling Smee and his wife Anne with Rector’s Churchwarden, Mark Wardil

We have been very blessed with his ministry to us at St Georges with preaching, pastoral care and of course his baking. On this occasion though we did let someone else bake the cake.

Presentation to Prof. Brian Walker at Easter Vestry

We held our Easter General Vestry meeting on Sunday, April 2nd. At the meeting Rev. Brian Stewart delivered his address and we made a presentation to Prof. Brian Walker to thank him for the excellent work he did in producing our Parish History. The history was produced as part of our Bicentennary celebrations and copies are for sale via the church office

Confirmation Day for Owen, Conor and Eoghan

We welcomed +Alan to St George’s earlier this month to conduct the Confirmation of Owen Haslett Brannigan, Conor Haslett Brannigan and Eoghan O’Mainnin. The three boys are pictured here with their Mums Janice and Moyra.

Parish Choir prepare for Christmas

The end of treble rehearsal today, with four of the recently valedicted choristers along to help to mentor the new probationers. There are 19 choristers and about as many probationers. Come and hear them on December 17th at 7:30pm at the carol concert. The new boys will sing on their own, they already make a great sound, and then will also sing Foote’s arrangement of Silent Night, including a verse in German. We look forward to seeing you there.

Book Launch: A History of St George’s

The Revd Brian Stewart, Rector of St George's — The Revd Brian Stewart, Rector of St George’s speaking at the launch

The launch of Professor Brian Walker’s new book ‘A History of St George’s’ took place yesterday evening in St George’s Parish Church, Belfast. Professor Walker has been working hard on this over recent years and has brought the keen eye and scholarship of a professional historian to the task – and uncovered many gems and forgotten aspects of St George’s history. The book is sumptuously illustrated with many colour plates and will make not only an excellent read but also a wonderful Christmas present for family and friends.