A Community Weekend was held in Elmwood
Presbyterian Church on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th
May for everyone in the Ballymacash area. On Saturday
afternoon, about 500 people attended a Fun Day held in the
grounds of the church where attractions included - bouncy
castles, face-painting, games and a display of birds of prey.
The PSNI and Fire & Rescue Service also sent vehicles for
children of all ages to explore!
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Pictured at a Community Service
in Elmwood Presbyterian Church on Sunday 28th
May is L to R: (seated at front) Laureen Lunn,
Trevor Lunn - Deputy Mayor, Rev Andrew Thompson, the
Mayoress - Mrs Yvonne Craig with her son Nathan, the
Mayor, Councillor Jonathan Craig with his daughter
Joanna, Jeffrey Donaldson MP and Mark Noble - Clerk
of Session. (back row) Councillor Ronnie Crawford,
Fire and Rescue Services representatives - Mark
Stewart - Firefighter and Randal McComb - District
Commander, Stephen Auld - Youth Worker, Wesley
Gilmore - Principal of Ballymacash Primary School,
Jim Millar - Chairman of Lisburn North Community
Association and Mrs O Taylor - Conductor of
Ballymacash Primary School choir.
A Community Service was held in the church
on Sunday morning and the guests included local shopkeepers and
representatives from Lisburn City Council, Schools, Health
Service, Fire and Rescue, Post Office, Community groups etc.
Those attending included the Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson,
the Right Worshipful the Mayor, Councillor Jonathan Craig and
the Mayoress - Mrs Yvonne Craig, Deputy Mayor Trevor Lunn and
his wife Laureen and Ballymacash Primary School choir including
the principal, Mr Wesley Gilmore and teachers Mrs O Taylor and
Mrs S Brown. The minister of Elmwood, the Rev Andrew Thompson,
led the service and gave everyone a warm welcome. Peter
McKechnie and the Elmwood Worship Team led the praise; the Mayor
read the Scripture lesson; Mark Noble and Kim Harshaw led the
prayers. Rachel Maguire, Rebecca McCord and Amie McClenaghan
introduced �Little Zac�, �My Jesus, My Saviour� and �Song of
Blessing� sung by Ballymacash Primary School Choir conducted by
Mrs O Taylor and accompanied by Mrs S Brown. In an interview
with Youth Worker Stephen Auld, David McKechnie and Arran Crossey
recalled the community work done by the StreetReach teams last
April.
In the children�s address, Mr Thompson
showed how we use the phone book to look up telephone numbers of
various community services like bin collection and the local
take-a-way. He invited a young boy from the congregation to try
and tear up the whole telephone book, which of course he
couldn�t do. He then pointed out that if we were to rip up one
or two pages at a time, we could easily tear up the book. From
this he concluded that on our own we are not that strong, but
when families come together as a community - we are stronger.
He further used the phone book to show that the spine holds the
pages together and is the strongest part of the book. He
explained that just like the spine, Jesus Christ holds people
together and ought to be at the centre of our community.
In the main address, he thanked the various
community representatives for the work done on our behalf and
highlighted the importance of being part of a more important
community - the community of Jesus Christ. He pointed that for
Christian people, the ultimate citizenship is not here - it is
in heaven, and that this is only a stopping-off point. To be
part of Christ�s community and heaven-bound we need to reach out
and put our hand in His hand saying, �thank you Jesus for what
you did for me on the cross - I want to be part of your family.
If more were to do this, what a difference it would make in our
Lisburn community - not perfect - but what a difference�.
Light refreshments served after the family
service provided the opportunity for people from the whole
Ballymacash Community to meet, chat and make new friends.
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