Diocesan News
The Revd Adrian McCartney returns to Belvoir Parish as rector
Thirteen years after he moved on to a new ministry challenge, the Revd Adrian McCartney has returned to Belvoir Parish as rector.
Adrian was appointed at the end of June and instituted by Bishop Harold on Friday 27 October. He joins curates, the Revd Jeremy and the Revd Jacqueline Mould on the staff team.
Adrian’s friend of 35 years, the Revd Earl Storey, preached at the service. Earl is the Editor of The Church of Ireland Gazette and was accompanied by his wife, Bishop Pat Storey.
Adrian introduces himself in his own inimitable fashion:
‘None of us ever arrives anywhere by Star Trek Transporter; our journeys are shaped by a series of times and places.
‘My pilgrimage of faith began in the faith of my mum and dad, and in the “old church”, St Elizabeth’s, in Dundonald. As a teenager in a Bible Class there I found myself captivated by Ephesians. A teacher at BRA, Billy Young, later headmaster, nurtured this interest, teaching me Ancient Greek to A Level.
‘In my student days, faith and then “call” came alive under the guidance of the Revds Fanta Clarke and Norman Jardine in St Mary’s, Ballybeen.
‘As a student I met Janice, formerly of St Patrick’s, Ballymacarrett. We married at the beginning of two five–year teaching careers.
‘St John’s Theological College, Nottingham and the Divinity Hostel/TCD took me to ordination and curacy in Jordanstown/Monkstown, where I had the privilege of becoming the first rector of a new Parish, Monkstown.
‘Three children, Ruth, Rachel, and Joel joined us on that adventure which took us though CFC, Strandtown, to Belvoir Parish and into the care of Canon Tom Keightley. He gave us space and the opportunity to grow a vision of faith and church among people who are nowadays described as un–churched.
‘A small network of Fresh Expressions of Church was planted in the next thirteen years – Boring Wells (www.boringwells.net). In June 2017, something we could barely imagine happened. I was nominated to the incumbency of and am therefore returning to the Parish of Belvoir.’
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For further information please contact:
Diocesan Communications Officer, Down & Dromore
07840 006899
Mrs Annette McGrath
dco@downdromorediocese.org