Diocese of Down & Dromore

In 2012 Belvoir Parish Church – also known as the Church of the Transfiguration – celebrated its Golden Jubilee, marking fifty years since its formation as a parish in the Church of Ireland Diocese of Down on 1st September 1962. The parish church and its adjoining family centre and hall complex sit on a prominent and accessible site at one of the main entrances to the Belvoir Development at Dunseverick Avenue and on the edge of the busy Outer Ring dual carriageway. The striking modern building with its dramatically sloping copper roofs and needle–like spire set in an open grassy area with leafy old trees surrounding it (a hint of the beautiful Forest Park close by) have become local landmarks, as has the large church sign facing the road which invites all to join in the life of the church and especially its main Sunday morning service at 11.00am. The worshipping community is a diverse gathering of people with a shared faith in God and a desire to share the Gospel ofJesus Christ with, and to serve, others. 

The Rector is the Revd Canon Tom Keightley (above) who has been the rector since 1983, now joined in a ministry team since 2003 by the Curate, the Revd Jacqueline Mould, who originally hails from the Belvoir area, and her husband, the Revd Jeremy Mould, serving as a part–time stipendiary minister since 2006 (both pictured below). Jeremy works primarily with the teenaged young people of the parish, who form a lively and active ‘Youth Cell’ on Sunday nights. Sunday morning preaching is shared among the clergy and occasionally with guest preachers. Tom is a well–known figure in the parish and beyond, whose philosophy is that the church should be ‘for the congregation and the people beyond it’. He says, ‘The centre of gravity of a church should be beyond itself, that’s how you are drawn forward’, and concludes, ‘Your reach has to just exceed your grasp.’ 

Jubilee India Project

As an outworking of that sense of Gospel purpose and outreach, during its jubilee year, Belvoir’s parishioners celebrated and marked the historic moment in a number of ways, perhaps most notably of all, honouring a collective commitment to help establish a new teaching hospital for orphans at the Indian Christian Mission Centre in Salem, south India in what became known as the ‘Belvoir Parish Jubilee India Project’. Over £100,000 has been raised by Belvoir people for the project since 2009 and the fundraising is continuing over the next three years to help further establish a fully licensed 350–bed hospital near the orphanage. More information on the mission hospital can be found at:

www.stpatricksmissionhospital.org

CommunityCloser to home, Belvoir parish aims to be very much part of the local community, from engagement with the local Primary School to regular visits by groups of adults and young people to read with the elderly residents of the Taylor Court residential home.

A feature of mid–week parish life is a sociable and affordable ‘lunch bunch’ on Wednesdays in the parish hall, and parishioners also donate food to the not–for–profit Storehouse project – aware that for some people getting by, especially in these economically strained times, can be a struggle and finding the next meal can be difficult when crisis hits.

PrayerPrayer life is central to Belvoir, with a prayer ministry team regularly available to pray with others both within the context of and following services, as well as times for prayer for healing and a dedicated prayer room space, which has been used on a number of occasions for prayer–based initiatives such as 24/7 prayer.

Looking aheadLooking forward, Belvoir is seeking to build on its engagement with the people of the area and to encourage and nurture the faithful witness of its congregation: as Canon Keightley says, ‘Keeping the rumour of God alive!’ As a prelude to the year of mission being planned in the Dioceses of Down & Dromore in 2015, and Belvoir is planning to run a course in 2014 led by the Revd Dr Brendan McCarthy called ‘The God Enquiry’, to which all are welcome.