The Rev Sydney Callaghan, who died on February 23rd aged 74, was widely recognised as an exceptional human being and a churchman of singular distinction.
It has been said that the real trouble with Northern Ireland society is that there are far too many Protestants and Catholics and too few Christians. By that yardstick, Sydney Callaghan was one of the Christians, an inspirational clergyman who generously refused to confine his life ministry within established convention or the boundaries of the Methodist denomination he so cherished. Instead he insisted on sharing his faith, hope and charity in practical and pragmatic ways with anyone who needed or would accept it.
He leaves many lasting monuments to his work. The Northern Ireland Hospice, which he helped found, has since been a source of succour and support for those suffering terminal illness. The Belfast branch of the Samaritans, which he started with the like-minded Catholic priest, the late Father Hugh Murphy, has similarly provided a lifeline for the troubled and distressed.
Through his interest in housing there are many people now living in the comfort and security of their own homes as a result of his endeavours. Despite all the demands on his time and energy - so vast that he tended to use his car as a desk and filing cabinet as well as a means of travel - he never lost sight of his primary mission as a Methodist preacher and evangelist whose oratory and constant urging to be "Christocentric" brought many people to profess their faith in God.
He was also well-known as a counsellor for the bereaved and the troubled, or as he preferred to put it, a listener. His widely acclaimed book, Good Grief, dealing with bereavement, remains among his prolific writing as the centrepiece of an archive of his life and times.
William Sydney Callaghan was born into comfortable family circumstances in Dublin on March 20th, 1926, the son of a tea and coffee importer who was also associated with the Dublin YMCA and a well-known lay preacher. He was educated at The High School, Dublin, before entering Edgehill College in Belfast in 1948 to train for the Methodist ministry.
He served first at the Moy in Co Tyrone before moving to the Dublin Central Mission and combining his duties with studying at Trinity College, from where he graduated with a BA. At that point he moved back to Belfast as Superintendent of Evangelism before his transfer to Agnes Street in the Shankill area of Belfast, where he began to build what was by the standards of the time a highly unorthodox ministry.
Describing the area as "strongly Protestant" in name but semi-pagan, he started with a kitty of fourpence to raise the then considerable sum of £1,300 to buy a rundown house and fittings; "168", as it became known from the house number, soon became a youth centre for young people in what was then a decaying community with few facilities. However, the venture had to be abandoned after only 18 months when the bill for vandalism and stealing topped £1,000. Before that it had drawn him into a clash with the law when a magistrate fined him £20 for refusing to disclose who had been driving his car after it was found crashed in a ditch at Donaghadee, Co Down. The fine was, however, paid by a mystery benefactor before he had even left the court.
Sydney Callaghan was undeterred by the setback and continued his innovative ministry by initiating a scheme to help marginalised, drunks, prostitutes and criminals, raise deposits and establish homes in houses lying derelict. When, after six years, the time came for him to move within Belfast, from Agnes Street to Donegall Square West in the city centre, his colourful next door neighbour, Jinny Tweedie, who had once stood in front of a large hole in the wall to prevent a visiting bishop seeing the excesses of some of the youth of the area, masterminded a 1,200-signature petition against the move.
From his new city-centre pulpit, Sydney Callaghan became an ever-more interventionist and public figure on the landscape. From that point on his interests widened and his responsibilities and achievements in the community became innumerable.
His interest in healthcare and people was seen at its most compassionate in his remarkable work as a hospital chaplain. At all hours of the day and night he could be seen at bedsides caring for the dying and distressed.
He was honoured by his church, being made president in 1980, a platform he used to personally confront the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, with his opposition to the unyielding policy she had adopted to the IRA hunger strikes at the Maze Prison. The University of Indiana conferred an honorary doctorate on him and he also received an OBE.
Despite his long service in the North, he remained committed to his Southern Irish roots and periodically enjoyed escaping to a cottage in Donegal to read about political issues and personalities.
Sydney Callaghan is survived by his wife Brenda (nee Leesley), whom he married in 1968; their two children, Kate and Michael; his brother, Leybourne, and sister, Priscilla.
Rev William Sydney Callaghan: born 1926; died, February 2001