First night of the Bible Week
The 2011 Bishop's Bible Week launched on Monday evening with Canon John Hughes preaching the first of his series on Elijah and Elisha to a full hall at The Jethro centre, Lurgan.
Bishop Harold gave a warm welcome to John, remarking that when he heard him teach at New Wine Sligo last year, he knew that he should be our next Bible Week speaker. John has over 40 years of parish ministry and was Vicar of St John's in Harborne for 18 years before retiring in 2009. A Canon of Birmingham Cathedral, he is also known as the father of the very popular songwriter and worship leader, Tim Hughes.
Revd Chris Bennett, Chaplain to The Titanic Quarter, led the evening and welcomed Baroness May Blood MBE as the first of the four Bible Week readers. Baroness Blood is a Labour member of the House of Lords and the first woman in Northern Ireland to be given a life peerage. The worship was led by the Shankill Parish worship team under the leadership of musical director, Carl McCambley.
John’s first title was, ‘On the anvil - Transforming a community (1 Kings 17)’. Elijah was a man who saw things differently and his story is the journey of a vulnerable man whom God enabled to dance to a different tune. He lived in bleak times but was called to be a prophetic voice to his nation and culture. John spoke of the continuing challenge to individuals and the church to speak out prophetically and to live out the word we have spoken. “How do we see things?’ he asked. ‘How are we trusting God in the present circumstances? How is God calling us to pray or speak? How specific are we in our prayer?” All had opportunity to respond, either privately or in the context of prayer with others. Prayer ministry will continue to be available on successive evenings.
Bishop Harold remarked that he was struck by the transformative power of the Word of God in the life of Elijah. “The reason, why we have the Bible Week,” he continued, “is because it’s the Word of God that transforms our lives and our churches and our communities. We believe it’s the Word of God which transforms and it’s the Word of God which gives leadership which transforms as well.”
The Bible Week runs until Thursday and we warmly invite you to join us for worship, for fellowship and to engage with the transformative Word of God.