Belvoir Parish celebrates the ministry of Canon Tom Keightly.
Belvoir Parish had a busy weekend of special celebration services to mark the retirement of Canon Tom Keightly who has served in the parish for over 30 years.
Below parishioner Lynne Hamilton reflects on the events of the weekend and shares how faith, family and friendship have been at the centre of Tom and Meta’s ministry over the years.
What a special weekend at our church. Around October time, can’t remember the exact date, Tom announced from the pulpit his plans to retire in the New Year, 2017. Coming on top of his son Thomas’s recent illness, the congregation let out a collective gasp, it just seemed too much to take in all at once and now Tom was moving on. No one could deny he needed this, both he and his lovely wife Meta needed time out, time to reflect, relax and renew . Time to be themselves and to gain strength to continue being the support to their family that they knew was vital in the challenging times ahead.
Fast forward to the weekend of January 27th, 2017. Tom and Meta’s farewell . What we had all talked about and wondered about since knowing he was going, had at last arrived. I admit to personally wishing it was all over and I was only serving the tea ! Now that it is all over, what a weekend it was for everyone concerned.
The “This is your life “ theme of Friday night’s concert was brilliant, and we saw some photographs of a very handsome young Tom that had the ladies swooning. We enjoyed hearing about him joining the Church Army, and then moving back to N. Ireland. Settling in Portadown for a few years before moving to Belfast, and Belvoir. We were entertained by the children from Sunday Club , the choir who sang wonderfully and last but not least the personal tributes that members of the congregation made to Tom. Not an easy task, as each and every one of them described the impact he had on their lives both personally and as their minister and mentor. I can genuinely say there wasn’t a dry eye in the church by the time everyone had spoken. The Church Family then joined with Tom and Meta’s family to share friendship and fellowship in the hall, and have a chance to chat with him and wish him well.
Sunday was his last formal day as our minister, the church was packed to the rafters and he would have been delighted to see “no woodwork “ on show. It was an emotional day, but also a day where all of us in Belvoir felt surrounded and uplifted by the love for this man and his family, and for the support he has shown to us through the years. It was our chance to repay that by being together, and praising our Lord and Saviour. Of course, we had to have finish off with yet more tea and buns !
Tom leaves a gap in our church that is unique to him. He is an amazing man, a big man, with a big heart and a capacity to embrace and enfold the lonely, the weary, the insignificant the down trodden and the marginalised with a love that exceeds all boundaries. He leaves his mark wherever he goes, whether it be at home in a living room, in Church, in a prison cell, or in India where the hospital he had the vision to build is growing by the day and will be there as a testament to his faith and tenacity in making it happen. He inspired us all to achieve things we never thought possible. He seen in people, gifts they didn’t even know they had, and with gentle nurturing, he enabled everyone to go further than they ever intended to go, without even realising they were doing it.
Faith Family and Friendship are very important to everyone, and none more so than Tom. Seeing him surrounded by his family at the weekend, loved by them, and by his congregation, this is a true man of God and a man of Faith. He reaches out his hand of friendship to everyone, and there are no strangers to him, I just hope that we as a congregation can continue to do him proud, honour his life long work and make sure there is no woodwork showing on a Sunday morning.
I hope his legacy will continue in Belvoir, that our love for Jesus as inspired by Tom’s amazing sermons each week, will continue to Take us further than we want to go, keep us longer than we want to stay and above all, hold us fast to that which is important thanks to the inspiration and love of a true man of God, we were blessed to call Priest and friend.
More photographs from the services at Belvoir Parish can be found here.