Mr Hilary Morrison and his wife Jean
Mr Hilary Morrison, a parishioner of St Mark's, Ballymacash, was
a guest at St Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh on Maundy Thursday
(20th March) to receive the Royal Maundy from the Queen.
A stockbroker, Mr Morrison served for 30 years on the
Representative Church Body (RB) of the Church of Ireland as an
elected member from the Diocese of Connor, from March 1974 until
his retirement from membership in March 2004. He was a member of
the RB's Finance Committee from 1974 until, under a new
committee structure established in 1993, he became both one of
the original members of the RB Investment Committee and also the
first person to chair the RB's Executive Committee. He remained
a member of the Investment Committee until his retirement from
membership of the RB and, following the completion of his
Chairmanship of the Executive Committee, subsequently returned
to serve as a member of the Executive for a number of years. Mr
Morrison was also an RB-nominated member of the Church of
Ireland Pensions Board from 1989 until 2004.
The Ven Dr Stephen McBride, Archdeacon of Dalriada, said: 'He is
a man blessed with exceptional wisdom which has been especially
helpful in the formation and running of the clergy pension
scheme.'
Mr Morrison was accompanied to Thursday's service by his wife
Jean. Security was tight at the Cathedral, but afterwards guests
enjoyed lunch at Armagh City Hotel. Mr Morrison said: 'It was a
great honour to be a guest. I was very surprised to be
nominated.'
This was the first time for the Office for the Royal Maundy to
be held outside England and Wales. There were a total of 164
recipients ' 82 men and 82 women, as the Queen is now in her
82nd year. All were over 70 years of age and have made a
significant contribution to Church or community life.
The four main Church leaders nominated people from their
respective religious traditions from all over Northern Ireland
in response to the request that the recipients should be as
representative as possible at a service within the context of
Anglican worship. The distribution of alms on Maundy Thursday
has its origin in our Lord's washing the Disciples' feet. It is
an occasion rich in symbolism and ceremony and one of great
importance to the Queen. She was accompanied by the Duke of
Edinburgh and the Choir of the Chapel Royal, who along with St
Patrick's Choir, led the worship.
21/03/2008
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