Diocese of Down & Dromore

History was made on Palm Sunday, 28 March 2010, when the first Ecumenical Canons of St Anne's Cathedral were formally welcomed by the Dean and Chapter at a special service featuring music from the Anglican, Methodist and Presbyterian traditions.

In welcoming them, the Dean of Belfast, the Very Revd Dr Houston McKelvey, said that the Revd Ivan McElhinney and the Revd Wilfred Orr were appointed on account of their notable records and involvement in inter-Church dialogue and practice, and that their appointments represented the change in deepening inter-Church relationships.

Church of Ireland Press Officer, Paul Harron, spoke to the new Canons.

Canon Ivan McElhinney

PH to IMcE: What has shaped your ministry?

IMcE: I am close to having completed four decades in ministry, which has taken me to a wide variety of places. I grew up in Co. Donegal and studied Theology in Belfast and England. I completed my training in the West Indies and was ordained by the Conference of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas in 1976. My family and I returned to Ireland in 1980 to serve in West Fermanagh. From then I have ministered in Ballynahinch, Glengormley, Mountpottinger and - currently – Joanmount in North Belfast. Each place has had its unique challenges and opportunities.

I have been General Secretary of the Methodist Missionary Society (Ireland), District Superintendent of the Down and Belfast Methodist Districts, and am currently co-chair of the Council of Christians and Jews (NI). I’ve also had the privilege of being Lord Mayor’s Chaplain of Belfast on three occasions and President of the Methodist Church in Ireland in 2006-7.

PH: What is your interest in ecumenical dialogue?

IMcE:  I’ve tried to exercise ecumenical and cross-community participation in my ministry wherever I have been – clearly, it has taken on a variety of forms depending on the local situation. My theology could be described as 'open evangelical’: my spirituality is evangelical and grounded in Methodism. I believe that I have a Gospel message to preach but where that takes place doesn’t matter so much as having the opportunity to show grace and demonstrate friendship across any divides which may exist.

During my year as President, I was glad to embrace the many opportunities which arose through meeting people from all walks of life. I have also found being co-chair of the Council for Christians and Jews here rewarding. Similarly, being Chaplain to Lord Mayors Jim Rodgers and Wallace Brown brought me into contact with people from across the world representing various spheres – from education to medicine to law – and different faith communities. It called for being available to lead prayers for peace at City Hall on occasions like after 9/11 and 7/7, for example, and I was happy to participate. I’m of the view that we need to ask ourselves how can we pray and work together as people in a multi-faith community. Ecumenism has gone beyond Protestants and Catholics praying or worshipping despite doctrinal differences. Of course, we now live in a world which is responding in the political sphere to the Islamic World especially. Personally, I am comfortable with inter-Church and inter-faith discussion and dialogue.

PH: Have you links with St Anne’s and with the Church of Ireland?

IMcE:  I’ve enjoyed links with both. I’ve attended many services in the Cathedral (often as District Superintendent of Belfast) and have been familiar with it since my time as a student. I’ve attended prayers for peace and had contact with Brother David Jardine’s ministry of healing. As for the Church of Ireland more broadly, my wife, Phyllis, was brought up Church of Ireland – and her brother, Jim Harron, is a retired Church of Ireland clergyman – and I, in fact, learnt the Prayer Book catechism at a Church of Ireland Sunday School!

During my Presidential year – the year when Robin Eames retired as Archbishop of Armagh – I had strong contact with him and other Church leaders; and I was at the enthronement of Archbishop Alan Harper. I’m sure that my involvement as an Ecumenical Canon will afford further opportunities to be part of the Cathedral’s civic and ecumenical witness in the city – something I’m looking forward to.

Canon Wilfred Orr

PH to WO: What in your ministry has led to this appointment?

WO: I’m as surprised as I am honoured to be installed as an Ecumenical Canon. I have simply attempted to practise the churchmanship to which I’ve been called and in which conscience, opportunity and theology direct me.

I was fortunate in my theological training: a year at Union, alongside Methodist students, including Ivan, now my fellow Canon. Then a broader mix of backgrounds at St Andrews University, and broader still at Princeton, where I was part of a large international campus where people from various traditions studied, worshipped and talked together. Corrymeela was also an important formative influence.

As an Assistant Minister in Bangor, through an active Clergy Fellowship, we shared inter-church worship and organised the early Peace marches through the town. I learned directly critically to appreciate different liturgical forms of worship and discovered that in practical matters some things were best done together.  

My call to Newtownbreda brought me to a congregation where there has been a long tradition of inter-Church relating in a ‘mixed’ area with an outstanding community spirit and friendship.

PH to WO: Tell me more about your work in Ballynafeigh.

WO: I’m heir to two remarkable men – my predecessor, Pat Lowry, and Monsignor Robert Murphy. They founded the Ballynafeigh Clergy Fellowship, which influenced the formation of the Ballynafeigh Community Development Association. Local ministers and clergy still enjoy a close and creative friendship, and we’ve planned events bringing people together from all sections of the community – from social evenings to acts of shared worship. Trust is a key to the latter.  Following the Omagh bombing, for example, we held an inter-Church act of worship, which was one of the most powerful services I have shared in. The church was overflowing, people offering their grief to God through Christ in unity of worship. We’ve tried to make the Church’s influence felt in a positive way in the community.  

We have worked to build links with local schools, primary and secondary and with other sectors of the community, including contact with representatives of Orange and Nationalist cultures. Recently, local churches have been encouraging the formation of ‘Ormeau Churches Together’ – a lay group which will share and complement the kind of activity led by the Clergy Fellowship.

PH: Have you ecumenical experience outside the parish area, too?

WO: I have been given opportunities to preach in different traditions, such as the Pentecost Service in St Patrick’s, Donegal Street. I have appreciated such opportunities to preach of the grace and creativity of God in Christ and our response of faith, as I would in any Presbyterian pulpit. I also undertook a tour of the USA with Monsignor Tom Toner in 1990. Together, we tried to give to Church, political and industrial figures there a different image of Northern Ireland from the prevailing one.

In all this activity, I remain deeply rooted and confident in my Presbyterianism. Honoured to be invited to serve as an Ecumenical Canon, I do so as a Presbyterian. My Presbyterianism teaches me that I have been baptised into the ‘one holy catholic and apostolic Church of Jesus Christ’ and ordained as a minister of the Gospel within that same Church. With that, I have always felt strongly the call of Christ to unity amongst his disciples and that if the Church could not act as an example of unity within a divided society, it had very little of relevance to say or do. I take my cue from the late Ernest Davey: ‘...religion is the art of life, a practical unifying thing.’ (Religious Experience – its Nature and Validity).

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(This article first appeared in the Church of Ireland Gazette, 16 April 2010).

Above photo: [if gte mso 9]><xml> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 </xml><![endif][if gte mso 9]><![endif] <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;} @font-face { panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-:12.0pt;"Times New Roman","serif";} .MsoChpDefault { font-:10.0pt;} @page Section1 {:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> [if gte mso 10]><![endif]L-R: Ven. Philip Patterson, Archdeacon of Down; Canon Ivan McElhinney; Bishop Harold Miller; Canon Wilfred Orr; Very Revd Dr Hugh Kennedy, St Peter's Roman Catholic Cathedral; Ven. Barry Dodds, Archdeacon of Belfast; Very Revd Dr Houston McKelvey, Dean of Belfast