Dear Friends,

As this month’s magazine goes to print, we are delighted to announce the appointment of Reverend Dr. Ryan Hawk as Curate Assistant here in St. Finnian’s. Ryan will take up his appointment in mid-June following his ordination to the Priesthood on Sunday 15th June at 3.30pm in Down Cathedral.

We hope as many as possible will come and support Ryan on this special occasion and we look forward to welcoming him and his wife Sarah and his two sons Liam and Jude as they come to serve alongside us.

Ryan has served as a Deacon Intern in Holy Trinity Church, Ballylesson over the past 3 years.

It has also been a joy to welcome Francis Khamanra, a theological student on placement with us over 3 weeks in May. Over that period, Francis visited many of our organisations and he took part in leading services and preaching. He carried out some visiting in hospitals and nursing homes and in people’s homes. He brought a deep sense of joy and living faith to all that he did and it’s always a privilege to be involved for a little while in the formation of students for ministry.

Over many years, St. Finnian’s has been involved in training students and clergy and offering a broad range of experiences to those who come among us to learn. People have been so encouraging and supportive and this makes a huge difference as people are taking their first steps in ministry.

None of us are the finished article and I have always appreciated the way people bear with you when you make mistakes and get things wrong and help you to grow in confidence and competence as you get used to many new things. So many theological students and newly ordained Curates are a bit older these days and bring a wealth of experience from their previous jobs that really help in all sorts of ways as they begin the ordained ministry.

Our thoughts and prayers will be with Francis as he returns to his training in Dublin and with Ryan as he begins his ministry here in mid-June.

Another group of people who are very much in our thoughts and prayers at this time of year are the young people sitting important exams in schools and universities. There’s a certain inevitability about the sun making its appearance and the weather turning warm and pleasant as people try to study and concentrate on all the materials they have learned for their exams.

Some younger students will have discovered in recent weeks where they will be heading to secondary school and that’s another big transition as people move from primary to secondary schools.

When people get a place in the school they have chosen as a first preference and having worked hard to secure that spot there’s a lot of joy as those letters flutter through the letterbox. There will however be others who will feel disappointed and sad at not achieving the marks they had hoped for or the school of their choice. Let’s hold all our young people in prayer asking that God will reveal to each one just how precious they are in His sight and His good plans for their lives.

We have enjoyed some very special events in recent weeks in church. It was wonderful to welcome the choir from St. Malachy’s College to sing choral evensong in May under the direction of Mark our musical director.

We enjoyed a special gathering for an evening of Taizé worship as part of our Mind Matters project and in July we look forward to an evening concert performed by the choir of Wadham College, Oxford. Our very own Eva Hayward sings in that choir and it is touring Northern Ireland and performing concerts in different venues over the first week in July. It seems likely our concert in St. Finnian’s will be on Wednesday 2nd July at 7pm and while admission is free, there will be a basket for donations to fund the choir’s tour. It’s a very special privilege to get the opportunity to welcome them to our beautiful church as part of a summer evening concert.

We say a huge thank you to all of our organisation leaders who will be taking a well-deserved break over the summer months and also to our Sunday School teachers and Youth Group leaders. We hope that everyone will be refreshed and built up through the summer.

With very best wishes,

Jonathan Pierce (Rector)

Telephone 02890 793822