The death of the Rev Sydney Callaghan a month short of his 75th birthday has saddened his many friends in the church and beyond. Born in Dublin, where his father was for many years general secretary of the City of Dublin YMCA, he was educated at the High School, Trinity College and Queen's University, Belfast.
Entering the Methodist ministry in 1945, he served at Charlemont, Dun Laoghaire and Dublin before being appointed superintendent of evangelism, in which capacity he worked effectively for seven years. His more recent appointments were all in Belfast.
When appointed to the Agnes Street Circuit, he refused to live in the manse which was in a pleasant suburb some distance from the church, and with the help of friends bought a small house in Agnes Street, where he lived among his people.
He will probably be best remembered as a founder of Northern Ireland Hospice Ltd and one of the Samaritans in Belfast. Working with these groups made him one of the best-known ministers in Belfast.
He was particularly concerned about the problems of bereavement and suicide. His book, Good Grief, was of great help to many in coping with bereavement, and, at the time of his death, he was working on a contribution to a book on suicide.
He was much in demand as a preacher, preaching in a somewhat emotional style. Passionately committed to any cause he espoused, he could not quite understand how, on occasion, others could fail to see it from the same perspective. It would be impossible to estimate the number of people he influenced for good within and outside the church.
Today the Methodists of Londonderry are opening their new premises at Clooney Hall.
Next Saturday a smaller new hall, but important in its context, is being opened at Lisbellaw in Co Fermanagh. It replaces one which has proved too small for the developing work in the area. The new building will provide sporting facilities as well as meeting rooms. The village of Lisbellaw has doubled in size in recent years.
Next Sunday will see the opening of yet another new hall, this time at Killylea. This will facilitate developing work among children and young people, and will be opened that afternoon.
It is not often that the president of the church opens three new premises within 10 days. This afternoon he will open the new Clooney Hall, and tomorrow will remain in the Londonderry Mission to preach in the churches there.
On Tuesday he will visit Ballymoney, where his programme includes a reception by the mayor. Then on Saturday he will open the new hall at Lisbellaw. His first appointment on the Sunday morning will be at Sydenham in Belfast, after which he goes to Killylea to open the hall there. In the evening he will preach at a United Service in Armagh. He will spend St Patrick's weekend fulfilling engagements in Cork.
Tomorrow morning the church in Birr will be the venue of a Methodist Women's Association Service, at which the preacher will be Mrs Gillian Kingston of Dublin.
Just before Christmas the Paraguayan Bible Society undertook the distribution of 120,000 copies of The Life of Christ. There will be bilingual extracts from the Gospels in the Spanish and Guarani languages. The distribution has awakened considerable interest in the study of the Bible among all sections of the population in Paraguay.