A fond farewell to South Indian friends
The rector of Drumbeg has preached a farewell sermon to The Church of South India Fellowship which meets regularly in the Parish Centre. Revd Willie Nixon will be instituted as incumbent of Banbridge in August and the Fellowship invited him to address them before leaving.
The congregation is pictured above with Willie and his wife Caroline following the service on Saturday morning 15 June.
The Church of South India has its roots in the Kerala region of the country and is the result of the union of churches of varying traditions – Anglican, Methodist, Congregational, Presbyterian, and Reformed.
The congregation in Belfast started in 2007 under Jacob Thomas at the Belfast Bible College. Jacob always wanted to have a relationship the Anglican Church here, so in 2012 when Revd Willie came to Drumbeg, he approached him to ask if they could use the church building. As it turned out, the numbers were too small for the church, so they began to meet in the old hall.
Willie commented: “It has been a great 11 years of partnership and a continued blessing to journey with the Belfast CSI community whose people play such an important part in our health care provision in hospital and nursing care facilities.
“Caroline and I are grateful for the friendships forged with Revd Jacob and Mrs Emily Thomas in the early years of the partnership and more recently for the warm fellowship of their present minister, Revd Sabi Mathew and his wife Sharon.
“We will miss this part of the Drumbeg Parish fellowship when we move on in August.”
