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St Colman�s Parish Church, Dunmurry
Consecrated on 25th April 1908 |
John Williams
Centenary Committee chairperson |
St Colman�s Parish Church, Dunmurry, celebrates its
centenary this month with a weekend of special events
preceding the institution of a new rector.
Centenary dinner
A centenary dinner takes place in the Beechlawn Hotel on
Friday 25th April. Special guests are the Rt Rev Alan
Abernethy, Bishop of Connor; the Very Rev Dr Houston
McKelvey, Dean of Belfast, who served his first curacy in St
Colman�s; and former rectors Canon Terry Rodgers and the Rev
Mike McCann. The speaker at the dinner is Mr John Williams,
parish reader and chairperson of the Centenary Committee.
Exhibition
The committee has also organised an exhibition to mark 100
years of this beautiful church, and this will run from
10am-4pm on Friday 25th, Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th in
the parochial hall, with an official opening by the Bishop
of Connor at 10.00am on Saturday. The exhibition features
photographs, letters and other memorabilia chronicling life
in the parish over the last century.
Centenary Service
Bishop Abernethy will celebrate a service of Holy Communion
in St Colman�s at 9.30am on Sunday and the special Centenary
Service will take place at 11.30am. The preacher is the
former Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland, Lord
Robin Eames. Among the guests will be Lisburn Mayor,
Councillor James Tinsley. Light refreshments will be
provided after the service.
Centenary Booklet
A Centenary Booklet has been published, and this
includes a foreword by Mr Williams, and a history of the
church by Canon Terry Rodgers, based on an original article
by former rector the Rev Cannon R C Ellis. For those
interested in statistics, Dr Bob Common delves into the
records and makes some interesting observations on births,
deaths, marriages and more.
History
The people of the hamlet of Dunmurry first worshipped in a
building known as the Assembly Rooms, constructed in 1874
and in use today as the Parochial Hall. But they wanted a
Church of Ireland in the village. They secured a site on the
main Belfast-Lisburn road, but this may have affected the
congregation of Upper Falls so they bought the current site
from the Northern Bank. The Bishop of the Diocese gave his
consent, and building began. The consecration, by the Rt Rev
John Baptist Crozier, Lord Bishop of Down, Connor and
Dromore, took place on St Mark�s Day, 25th April 2008. Canon
Ellis was appointed curate-in-charge and was made rector in
1945. Following his retirement, he was succeeded in turn by
Canon Terry Rodgers, the Rev Mike McCann, and the Rev Tom
Priestly. In recent years a movement of parishioners out of
Dunmurry has led to a reduction in the number of young
people and the closure of the Girls� Friendly Society and
Church Lads� Brigade. Although the congregation is also
smaller, the choir, Mothers� Union, Sunday School and
Bowling Club still flourish as do the new Luncheon Group and
Working Group. As there are always maintenance issues, a
Centenary Fund was launched this year with the aim of
raising �26,000 for renovations.
New rector
The incumbency of St Colman�s has been vacant since the
death of the Rev Priestly in August last year. On Thursday
1st May, the Rev Denise Acheson, curate assistant at
Ballyholme Parish, Bangor, will be instituted as rector. The
mother-of-three said she was very much looking forward to
moving to Dunmurry. �I am excited but I am also terrified,�
she admitted. �I pray that God, through all my experiences
with Alan (Bishop of Connor and former rector of Ballyholme)
and on my own in the parish will prepare me more for moving
on to the next stage.�
Looking forward to the weekend events, the Centenary
Committee chairperson said he hoped the celebrations would
continue throughout the year. �I can remember the 75th
anniversary of the church and never in my wildest dreams did
I think I would be playing such an important role in the
100th anniversary celebrations,� said Mr Williams. �This
anniversary is a new beginning in many aspects. The church
is 100-years-old. When you talk about a church you are not
just talking about a building, but the people who worship
and work in it. We are very much looking forward to the
arrival of the new rector.�
18/04/2008
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