The Church of Ireland Diocese of Connor

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‘Standing Together’ in Greenisland

Thursday September 5th 2024

The Rev Isy Hawthorne-Steele at the ‘Standing Together’ Service in Greenisland on September 4.

The community of Greenisland came together in support of their friends in the Church of the Holy Name, whose building was destroyed in an arson attack on September 1.

A gathering – under the heading ‘Standing Together’ – had been planned as part of the parish’s 70^th anniversary celebrations – many events including a special anniversary service took place just hours before the Sunday night blaze.

The parish went ahead with the Standing Together service in the adjacent Baptist Church and you can watch the full service in the video above.

A GoFundMe page set up to raise funds for the church is already more than halfway towards its £30,000 target.

Speaking at the service, the priest-in-charge of Greenisland Parish, the Rev Isy Hawthorne-Steele recalled the heartbreak of the night of the fire. But, she said: “Nothing can separate us from the love of God, and that’s a strong message that we have to take through all of our tears – there have been many and I guess there will still be many. Heartbreaking as it is, we need to remember that God will not be separated from us.”

Isy thanked people for their generosity at this time. “All their kindness is going to be much needed and very much appreciated,” she said.

“I have lived here since I was seven. I am so privileged to be the leader of a wonderful church, and a church is much more than a building. It’s the people. And there will be a revival.”

The Bishop of Connor, the Rt Rev George Davison, led prayers and spoke at the service.

“I stood in the street with many of you and struggled to makes sense of what we were witnessing as the flames consumed the building that has meant so much to so many people,” the Bishop said. “Lots of reasons to be sad and yet that sadness will not stay with me. The reason… is because I was here on Sunday afternoon. I was here on Monday morning. And amidst all the sorrow and the questions of the loss of a building, the thing that stays with me is that on Sunday afternoon I shared with an amazing group of people who were so thankful for all that God had been doing amongst them for 70 years and for all that God was doing amongst them here and now. And there was a sense of warmth, a sense of welcome, a sense of joy, and that lifted my spirits.”

He referred to snippets of conversation he heard on Sunday night. “It is a building. It’ll not stop us being the Church. We’ll keep going. We’ll pick up the pieces. Nobody was hurt. We’ve still got one another.”

He said as news filtered out other churches and denominations stood in solidarity and expressed appreciation to Greenisland Baptist Church for opening the Mango Tree café for the church community on Monday morning, and to other churches in the community who he said had been equally supportive and equally ready to say ‘we are here with you.’

Bishop George said it had also been uplifting to be witness to some of the conversations and some of the ‘big hugs’ from people who would not necessarily say they are a Christians or person of faith but who within the community of Greenisland value what the Church of The Holy Name has been, what the Church of The Holy Name is and what the Church of The Holy Name will be. “This,” the Bishop said, is “a little church that holds a place in the hearts of many.”

He continued: “I can’t be downhearted for long, I see in the faces of people who ought to be downhearted and hopeless, a determination. We will continue to worship the Lord, we will continue to serve his people, we will continue to serve the Church, we will continue to be the Church, witnessing to the powerful love of God for his people.”

Standing Together service report – Belfast Telegraph

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