Reaching out together at Movilla Abbey
Movilla Abbey Church, where a Church of Ireland and a Methodist congregation share a building and regular worship services, has begun a series of outreach events for the local community. Provided free of charge, the events all include entertainment, food and an opportunity for folks to make new friends. The initiative is supported by both the Church of Ireland Select Vestry and the Methodist Church Council as a living example of the covenant relationship between the two churches.
On Saturday 28 January they hosted a traditional Burns night. The Haggis was piped in, served with tatties and neaps, and toasted with a wee dram of Shloer! The toast was led by Lt Col Alex Montgomery. They had the Lambeg, the ‘Low Country Boys’, Scottish dancers and a reading of some Burns poetry by Jim Shannon MP, for Strangford. All in all it was a great night.
The next planned event is a ‘ceili agus craic’ on St Patrick’s night, 17 March, followed on the first weekend in June with a party to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen.
“We truly hope that as we celebrate these events together we will grow in the knowledge of those among whom God has placed us and be enabled to serve them more because of it,” said Movilla Abbey rector, Revd Kevin Graham.