Meet our St Patrick’s Day speaker
Our speaker at Down Cathedral on St Patrick’s Day is Alain Emerson from Emmanuel Church Lurgan and 24–7 Prayer Ireland. Alain is ‘”excited about seeing a ‘new thing’ happening in the nation of Ireland in these days,” and is the ideal young man to take on our theme, ‘Transforming a Nation for Him.’
Alain has lived outside Lurgan on the shores of Lough Neagh for most of his life. He spent a year in South Africa when he left school after which he studied a degree in Management at Queens and then a Masters in Divinity at Union Theological College.
During his time studying his uncle began a house church in Lurgan (Emmanuel) reaching out to a number of broken and vulnerable people. Alain took on a position of leadership with the youth and as the church has grown his leadership within the church has evolved alongside this. Emmanuel is now in its 18th year and for the last 8 of these has been located on the interface in Lurgan. The church is committed to seeing the reconciling of people to God and one another.
Coupled with this, Alain has been involved in the leadership of 24–7 Prayer in Ireland for the last 7 years.
“I read the book Red Moon Rising written by Pete Greig (founding champion of 24–7 Prayer) and it wrecked my life, thrusting me into a renewed life of prayer and mission. In recent years we have been committed to serving and inspiring the churches in Ireland to prioritise prayer in the form of prayer rooms and leading national initiatives of prayer as we seek to mobilise a nation to seek God’s face”!
Alain is husband to Rachel and Dad to Annie and Erin. He enjoys reading, football (the mighty Liverpool) and hanging out with friends.
Find out the times, places and transport arrangements for St Patrick’s Day here.