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Loughgall Presbyterian Church, Cloveneden |
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The Kirk Session
The
Kirk Session is the governing body of our Congregation in its Christian calling,
consisting of the ordained Minister and the Ruling Elders of the Congregation. It has four stated meetings in the year.
| Rev. Philip McKelvey (Minister) |
| James G. MacQueen (Clerk of Session) |
| Jacob Marshall (Senior Elder) |
| W. Cecil Brownlee |
| Desmond A. McMurray |
| George Martin |
| John F. Beggs |
| W.E. Cliff Gordon |
| David T. Johnston |
The
Congregation is represented at the following by the Minister, Rev. Philip
McKelvey and / or
the Representative Elder, James
MacQueen.
Presbytery
of Armagh,
Synod
of Armagh & Down
General
Assembly of The Presbyterian Church in Ireland,
General
Assembly Board of Communications
Congregational
Peace and Peacemaking Agent,
Armagh Presbytery Commission for Consultation in Armagh Road Presbyterian Church, Portadown.
Kirk
Session congratulate their Senior Ruling Elder, Jacob Marshall on attaining
We
are also pleased to attach an appreciation of our former Clerk of Session, Mr
William Lavery who contributed so much to the Kirk Session and the life of the
congregation as a whole.
The
Minister:
Rev. Philip McKelvey
5 Keelmount Grange, Portadown, Craigavon. BT62 1UE
Telephone: 02838 352314
e-mail: philipmckelvey@utvinternet.com
The Clerk of Session
James G MacQueen
Telephone:
028 38 334642
e-mail:
jamesmacqueen@tiscali.co.uk
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An Appreciation of the life of Jacob Marshall The Kirk Session of Loughgall Presbyterian Church Jacob was born on the third of February 1904. His life spanned many and varied historical events. He has lived through these events that have all been part of God in human and political history. As one has read
many historical books and has also been tutored under the intellect and
expertise of many a distinguished historian, there are events in the
historical limelight within our own land and society and even further a
field that we would have loved to have lived through for various
reasons. Yet,
when one thinks about it Jacob
has lived through many of
them, whether as a boy, young man or indeed as an experienced veteran.
I am writing about one who had to face up to the rigours of two
world wars, the problems of our own epitomised in the 1916 Easter
Rising, the 1920 –22 War of Independence, the saga of the Home Rule
Bill and then of course the birth of 'Partition'.
This colourful, momentous and yet tragic historical montage is
something that suggests someone who has had experience of an earlier
time bringing meaning and
reality as to the why and the wherefore of the present day.
One hundred years indicates, but as A. Huxley points out,
"experience is not what happens to you, it’s what you do with
what happens to you." At
an early stage in his life, when he was sixteen years of age, Jacob
was confronted with the claims of Christ and the Lord, by His Sovereign
Grace, enabled him to see his lost estate and his sinfulness and by the
gracious overtures of His Spirit effectually called Jacob
and enabled him to repent of his sin and believe the Gospel of Devine
Grace.
Here is a man celebrating one hundred years but who has had an
experience of the living God. It was Vance Havner who said, "one man with a glorious
experience of God is worth a library full of arguments." Throughout
the years, Jacob’s
life has influenced and impacted many lives for the Saviour.
Whilst the Jacob of the Bible was a schemer and a dreamer, the Jacob
of the early 1900’s is a man of prayer.
He married May Walker from Co Tyrone and together they lived a
very happy, contented and
fulfilled life. Jacob
enjoyed life with his wife and children just as much as he enjoyed the
bonds of love with his own brothers and sisters.
Jacob
and May sought to bring up their family in the nurture and admonition of
God -
their desire was to see them converted.
Throughout his life he gave of his time, and still continues to
do so, to Loughgall Presbyterian Church. He is an Elder and though not
as active as he once was he still comes to worship and we all know that
we can rely on him at the place of prayer interceding on behalf of this
congregation currently celebrating three hundred years of Gospel and
Presbyterian witness. To be part of one hundred years is indeed a
remarkable physical feat as well as, in the Sovereignty and Mercy of
God, a significant milestone.
When one visited Jacob
during the years he would often remark that life was good to him. Even
now he seeks to give all the Glory and thanks to God for all the
blessings lavished upon his life. Within
the context of disappointment and the sadness of loss through
bereavement, the loss of
his wife May, sisters and brothers one has been impressed by the
philosophy of life by a spirituality based upon the truth of the living
God and His Word and perhaps this has been so evident in his constant
use of the term, adequately summing up the weakness of humanity,
'frail children of dust.'
Jacob
also gave of his time and energy to maintain the witness of Derryhubbert
Mission Hall. Each Sunday evening Jacob
and May would have been regulars at the meeting. One
hundred years and only a sore knee. I know, and we all realise
that you want to give all the Glory to Almighty God.
God has blessed you with the crucial experience of saving grace,
but as Sinclair Ferguson has said, "many spiritual experiences are
possible which do not in and of themselves produce maturity, rather it
is our response to experience which will determine our progress in
maturity."
Jacob,
we in Cloveneden salute you and we are glad to be part of the
celebration uniting in the chorus 'Happy Birthday' and may God continue
to richly bless for the days lying ahead within the context of His
Sovereign will, design and plan for your life. BA Small, 2004
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An appreciation of the life of Bill Lavery 2nd October 1919 - 15th November 2004
It is a joy, and a privilege, to be afforded this opportunity to
write an appreciation of a life, a life such as that of Bill
Lavery who went to be with
his Saviour on 15th November 2004.
He was not a man who was given to praise and adulation directed
solely to himself but obviously it must put on record certain things
that everyone knows to be true. Bill was foremost a Christian man. Many years ago, because of a sense of sin and his lost condition, he came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour and friend. Throughout
his life he sought to bring all the glory to God. His profound
realisation of his nothingness before a holy God and God’s grace and
mercy lavished upon his life meant that he exuded a Godly humility in
life and living, something which anyone who met him would be conscious of.
It
is only a Christian man, in the Biblical sense who can then be a
consistent and thorough churchman.
His faithfulness in Loughgall Presbyterian Church, in many ways,
has been unequalled in past years. There are many, especially his fellow
brethren on Kirk Session, who have spoken with accuracy and admiration
about his tenacity and enthusiasm for the work and witness of Loughgall.
His personal desire and aspiration for this corner of the
spiritual orchard, so dear to his heart, was exemplified in his
faithful tenure as Sunday School Superintendent and Clerk of Kirk
Session. Bill’s
desire was to see the name of the Saviour magnified and
glorified by the salvation of souls under care in Loughgall. It is a
desire we want to see reflected in our own lives.
As a churchman he
went beyond the local church and as a committed Presbyterian
served, with zeal and consistency, the cause and work of Presbytery. His name
is known and embedded upon many minds within these two higher courts of
the Presbyterian Church and, in a sense, we in Loughgall are proud of
that fact. His
church concern was fairly broad in that he embraced and
supported the work of the Faith Mission and the Acre Gospel Mission. He
had a deep love for the work of the Faith Mission here in Ireland and
was a stalwart in the work and witness of Derrycrew Mission Hall
through the vehicles of the Prayer Union and Missionary enterprises down
the years. His
interest in the work of the Acre Gospel Mission reflected his
evangelistic concern for the work of spreading the Good News to distant
lands and they enjoyed his timely advice, help and
council on their Committee for a number of years.
Bill
was also an extremely compassionate man. His life manifested a
powerful propensity and dimension for giving and self-sacrifice.
Much of his care and giving is unknown and probably will remain
that way until the annals of eternity will reveal it all.
His lavish unstinting generosity from the heart of his orchards
around the community and throughout the Province has been noted and
remarked upon by various people. His
compassion for those in need and in trouble has been of vital
importance, sometimes to the extent of being absolutely pivotal in
setting a life on the right direction both materially and spiritually. There
is a lovely sense of inspiration in penning an appreciation of Bill
Lavery, a man whom
we all respected. There are few like him today. The spiritual, social
and caring dimensions to his character present to each of us an ideal
and a blueprint in life and living - and that is good.
There
will never be another Bill
Lavery but then in his own
humble words he would have said, "Would you want him?"
His sincere self-effacement would direct you to his Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ and he would
have encouraged you to look to Him and close
with Him in evangelical repentance and saving faith. We as a church family saluted
Bill as a person, recognising what he meant to so many people. In relation to
his Saviour, to this congregation
of Cloveneden and the wider Church, his home and family circle and to
us, we are so thankful for what he has said, what he has done and what
he has achieved, all in the name of Jesus Christ. Many of those whose life he touched can look forward to that day when they meet him again in Glory. What a day that will be!
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