Ministers, elders and others were present at the stated meeting of the Dublin-Munster Presbytery in 5 Gardiner Row, Dublin, last Tuesday, where a presentation was made to the Rev Dr Trevor Morrow, the Minister of Lucan, Co Dublin, who is the Moderator-Designate of the General Assembly for the year 2000/2001. Dr Morrow received a cheque which he will use to buy "suitable moderatorial wear".
A recent tendency among Presbyterians has been to elect younger men to the moderatorship and Dr Morrow is one of the youngest elected. Moreover, he is the first cleric to be elected from the Republic since 1964. The last was the late Very Rev Dr S.J. Park, the Minister of Dun Laoghaire for many years. Dr Morrow studied in Trinity College Dublin where he graduated in theology. He has spent time researchingin America and has a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Edinburgh. He is married with children.
Dr Morrow was assistant in Hamilton Road, Bangor, Co Down, before going to Lucan. Soon after, he became a foundation member of a project established in 1987 called Nexus Ireland, which is an evangelical, reconciliatory initiative of the Presbyterian Churches' Youth Board. Dr Morrow has described himself as "reformed and orthodox" but one living in the 21st century. He is one of a number in the church concerned with effective ministry in the 21st century. He was co-convenor of a special General Assembly at Coleraine in 1998 entitled, 20/20 vision, whose aim was to anticipate change in the 21st century. At the same meeting of Presbytery, the Rev Keith McCrory was inducted as assistant in charge of Lucan during Dr Morrow's moderatorial year. Mr McCrory has served as Youth Development Officer for the Dublin-unster Presbytery for a number of years.
The Rev Christopher Aitcheson, Kells, Corboy and Mullingar, succeeds a list of distinguished predecessors; for example, the Rev Dr J.B. Woodburn, author of The Ulster Scot and a Moderator of the General Assembly, and the Rev Dr J. Farley who became Professor of Hebrew and New Testament Greek at Magee University College, Derry. But best remembered perhaps will be the Rev Dr W.F. Marshall, MRIA, an authority on the Ulster dialect, a poet, historian and author. On Sunday last, at a united morning service in Malahide Church, the congregation of Howth and Malahide acknowledged the service of their organist, Ms Deirdre McGrath. At coffee after the service, Dr O'Neill, minister emeritus, paid tribute to the great service Ms McGrath had given. Mr Norman Felton, Clerk of Session, presented her with a cheque and Mrs Aileen Furney, a bouquet of flowers.
At a service in St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Howth, at 4.00 p.m. tomorrow, clerics and members of the community will acknowledge the retirement of Rev Dr William O'Neill as minister of Howth and Malahide. After serving with the Royal Air Force, and a ministry of three years in Athy and Carlow, Dr O'Neill came to Howth and Malahide, where he has been minister for the last 36 years.
While church attendances have declined, the lives of many of the most influential people of our time have been influenced by Christianity. Joseph Pearce (author of Tolkien: Man and Myth and Solzhenitsyn, a soul in exile) has written Literary Converts, a paperback, 452 pp, stg. £12.99, HarperCollins, which explores the spiritual lives of Wilde, Chesterton, Evelyn Waugh, Malcolm Muggeridge, Ronald Knox and others. This is a must, for clerics in particular.