Presbyterian Moderator set for a busy week touring Derry and Donegal

Final preparations are being made by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s (PCI) Presbytery of Derry and Donegal to welcome PCI’s new Moderator, Right Reverend Dr Trevor Gribben, when he makes a week-long tour of the area next week.

Starting this Sunday, September 7, Dr Gribben said he was looking forward to the pastoral visit, as it was “an opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to those who pastor, lead and serve in our Presbyterian congregations in this part of the world. At the same time, I want to thank those in the wider community who keep us safe, teach and encourage our children and young people, treat us when we are unwell, and provide food for our tables.”

Having been installed as Moderator in June, the all-Ireland denomination’s senior office bearer, will undertake four such tours of the Church during his year in office. Next week, across his various engagements, Dr Gribben hopes to encourage the local church, but also come alongside those in education, health and farming, and members of the emergency services as well.

Looking forward to the tour, which will be his first, the Moderator said: “In our Presbyterian way of doing things, all of our 500-plus congregations across Ireland are divided up into regional presbyteries, and we have 19 of them. This includes the Presbytery of Derry and Donegal, which is our only significantly cross-border body with 30 congregations in Donegal and 18 in Londonderry. The Presbytery also includes Leckpatrick Presbyterian, my first congregation as a minister, where I was installed 35 years ago.”

The tour opens this Sunday when Dr Gribben will preach at the morning worship service at Donemana Presbyterian Church and conclude with a united evening service in Glendermott Presbyterian Church the following Sunday. Between the two is a packed week of nearly 30 separate engagements, which will also include lunch with the Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, Rt Rev Andrew Forster, and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Derry, Most Reverend Donal McKeown.

“This is very much a pastoral visit to encourage our Presbyterian church in its mission and ministry in this part of the country. I want to thank the Presbytery for arranging a programme that allows me to do that and see first-hand the work that our congregations are doing, and how that blesses the local community.

“It is also an opportunity to acknowledge what Presbyterians are doing to serve the community in so many different ways, which includes our chaplains in education and health, but also includes so many of our members in their everyday occupations and lives’” Dr Gribben said.

Education always features prominently on a presbytery tour. Next week Dr Gribben will spend time meeting staff and students at three schools in Donegal: Donoughmore National School, The Royal and Priory Comprehensive School, and Convoy Joint National School, where the Presbyterian Church is joint patron with the Church of Ireland.

The Moderator will also spend time with PCI’s part-time chaplain at Ulster University’s Derry Campus at the former Magee College. During this visit he will meet Professor Malachy O’Neill, Director of Regional Engagement. At Trinity Presbyterian Church, Letterkenny, the Moderator will meet postgraduate students at the Institute of Technology in the town.

A number of civic engagements have been organised, which includes lunch with the Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Councillor Ruairi McHugh and the Deputy Mayor, Alderman Niree McMorris. The Moderator will meet the PSNI in the City, and hopefully visit Garda officers in Letterkenny. A visit to Kilfennan Community Hub and Foyle Search and Rescue will also take place, along with a visit to Altnagelvin Hospital to meet the chaplaincy team and the North West Cancer Centre. Farms are also on the agenda with visits to three farms and farmers attending Raphoe Livestock Mart.

Dr Gribben continued: “As a pastor at heart, spending time with ministerial colleagues will be an important part of the tour, especially in the small groups that the Presbytery has arranged, where I’ll be able to listen, pray, encourage and be encouraged.

“I am also looking forward to meeting fellow Presbyterians in the pews and preaching on my theme for the year, ‘Hope and a future in Jesus’. It is taken from the Old Testament Book of Jeremiah, Chapter 29:1 and 4-14, and verse 11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” It is a wonderful promise from a loving God that we all need to hear, for it gives us hope, a hope that is found in Jesus.”

Dr Gribben added: “God also called His people in the Prophet Jeremiah’s day to seek the peace and prosperity of the city and we do that wherever God has placed us, engaging in the public square and in civil society, and I am looking forward to doing that next week.”

“It will also be a time to say ‘thank you’ to those who pastor our Presbyterian flock in this part of the world, those who keep us safe, teach our children and young people, treat us when we are unwell, and provide food for our tables. It will be a busy week, but I am really looking forward to it,” he said.

Speaking about the tour, Rev Colin McKibbin, who is Clerk of Derry and Donegal Presbytery, is looking forward to the visit as well.

“This has been a much-anticipated visit and we are delighted to welcome the Moderator to the northwest as it promises to be a rich and meaningful visit, one that will reflect the breadth of life and witness in this part of Ireland," he said.

“While he won’t be able to preach, or visit all of our 48 congregations, Dr Gribben will join in worship services across Derry and Donegal and meet with ministers, their spouses and manse families, offering encouragement to those who serve in ministry. He will also spend time with families who continue to live with the legacy of The Troubles. In another special part of the programme, he will meet with people who have come to our country through the International Protection Accommodation Service in Letterkenny, as well as Ukrainian and Iranian members who have recently joined our congregations." 

The minister of Carnone, Convoy, Donoughmore and Alt Presbyterian Churches in east Donegal, who has helped to organise the tour, concluded by saying: “We really hope that the Moderator enjoys his forthcoming visit and gets a good feel for the Presbyterian family here in the northwest of the country. We are confident that he will be enriched by the warmth of the people of Derry and Donegal, and by the opportunity to witness first-hand the resilience, hospitality, and faith that mark this part of Ireland.”