connect



Your guide to what’s going
on in Waringstown

Feb ‘18 - May ‘18

Edition 8

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Welcome to the eighth
edition of our Community Newsletter!  I
am writing this at the beginning of a new
year, a time when we are often drawn to
consider resolutions, goals and changes.
That is particularly apt for me as I prepare
to move on from my role as Community
Pastor for Waringstown Presbyterian
Church at the end of January, having
accepted a position with the Presbyterian
Church in Ireland.
As much as I am excited about this opportunity, I am also sad to leave a job I
love and the people who have made it so enjoyable over the last 11 years. That
said, we are not leaving Waringstown and will continue to be deeply committed
to our church family and our community!
I believe CONNECT has been greatly appreciated within our village and would
hope that, with the support of volunteers, it can continue to be a fixture through
your door in the future. However, currently that is uncertain so please be patient!
This edition is packed full of information on what’s going on in our village as well
as some interesting articles. Some of the highlights are the feature on Weavers
Cancer Support Group, a fantastic help for those affected by cancer (pg 16). For
an insight into a life journey from Terrace View to Tuum in North Kenya, read the
beautiful account by Angelina Cowan on page 14.
With Spring on the horizon can I draw your attention to our joint church services
during Holy Week and Easter services at Waringstown
Presbyterian. Full details can be found on page 5.
So as you grab a cuppa and read this magazine can
I ask you to ponder what groups or programmes grab
your attention and then consider going along to
something new this year! Who knows, maybe you will
make new friends or re-connect with old ones.
Please do send through any feedback using the
contact details on page 20.

Neil Harrison
Waringstown Presbyterian Church

…let your light shine before others, that they may see

your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven

2 Welcome
The View from the Pew
It’s hard to imagine a world without social
media. We can be instantly up to date with
family and friends, take and send photos and
videos and keep on top of local and world news
with one click. The immediacy is wonderful.
However, rather surprisingly, we now learn that
Facebook, Twitter and the whole host of social
media are problematic. They can increase our
sense of loneliness, lack of belonging and isolation and can cause many difficulties,
including bullying, for our young people.

The church is a place of genuine community in a digital and sometimes impersonal age.
We are to model the love of Christ to one another. The Bible says ‘Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self. Isn't always ‘me first'. Doesn't keep score of the
sins of others. Always looks for the best. Never looks back’ (1 Corinthians 13). However,
this isn’t love in a vacuum. Eugene Petersen has said, ‘Love is worked out in the lives of
intimacy and care among people in our families, communities and workplaces'. This is
the challenge!

In Waringstown PC we seek to live out loving and faithful lives in all of life's circumstances
– in the good times and in times of anxiety, loss, job insecurity, stress, doubt, health or
family issues or relationship worries.

We are a diverse collection of people. Someone in the next seat may have had an
entirely different life experience and may have entirely different hopes and aspirations.
And yet, as sinners forgiven by God, seeking to live by his
grace, we are all equal. There's no hierarchy.

It is in this equality and unity that we can open our arms

wide to one another and the wider community. We can
embrace those, who for whatever reason, feel isolated or
excluded. We can model acceptance, compassion and
love and receive them from others in our own times of need.
This indeed is good news!

Maureen Thompson

Maureen is married to Robert. They have 4 adult children and 4

grandchildren. She enjoys spending time with family. She also likes
walking, cycling, gardening and catching up with friends. She has
been a member of WPC for 35 years.

3
 
Ted’s Story
Sometimes in life we come across people
who make us want to be better versions
of ourselves, and when Ted Harrison
shared his story online for WPC mission
week, it was clear that he is one such
person.

Ted (or perhaps more appropriately,

“SuperTed”) is a sort of Christian hero, and his tireless efforts for a range of missions/
ministries are nothing short of inspirational.

Ted has faced challenges and sadness in life, including the

passing of his wife in 2001, and the tragic loss of a young
son some years later. However, in the midst of these dark
times, Ted’s Christian faith was a light to guide his way, and
he admits that it was at these most challenging of times
that God was “extra real”. The strength that it takes to
“meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two
impostors just the same” (in the words of Kipling) cannot
be underestimated, and it was Ted’s steadfast devotion to
Christ that enabled him to navigate these difficult times
and come out the other side still praising a “wonderful
God”. Ted Harrison

Throughout his life, Ted (together with his wife)

Ted helped with Love for Life’s recent
refurbishment.
had been a shining beacon for Christian
principles, and his work with children’s ministry
has sown the seeds of God’s message for
generations to come (including through the
Christian faith of his own children). Following his
retirement, Ted saw his free time as a gift, and
he used this to engage in various types of
mission work, from his involvement with the
Samaritans’ Purse shoebox appeal, to Spud
Bear ministries, to Leprosy and Aviation
Fellowship Mission, and collecting toys and
clothes for mission in Africa and Romania.

4 Church Life
Above all, as Ted tells his story, the thing that strikes me most about him is his humility, in
spite of all his great work. Where others might revel in their own achievements and
applaud themselves for their own efforts, Ted
continues to acknowledge his own failures, and all
the while, shows his gratitude to a God who still
forgives him, still loves him and still keeps him going.

The fruits of the Holy Spirit are

so clear in the way that Ted
has lived, and continues to
live, his life for Christ. Above
all, Ted does more than profess to being a Christian. Rather, he
lives the Christian values in practice, and embodies Christ’s love
in every single selfless act of kindness. Ted is an example to us all,
and should inspire us to share the blessings that have been so
freely given. As the New Year begins, let’s all resolve to be more
like Ted in 2018!
Article by Jillian Derby

5
WPC Bowling Fellowship
Let me introduce you to one of the best kept secrets in Waringstown Presbyterian!
Every Tuesday morning (Sept-March) from 10am-12noon, a rowdy bunch of otherwise
very responsible adults, descend upon the church hall, for the Bowling Fellowship! This
diverse group of men are mainly retired, but others are there who are unemployed or
unable to work through illness or disability.
Some are from our church, but many are
not.
I’m not sure whether its the coffee and
biscuits at 10.30am, or the suppressed
competitive energy, but once the
‘friendly’ matches between each other
commence, the decibels increase with a
blend of encouragement, laughter and of
course the odd argument over points!
The group, established over 10 years ago,
is well attended with around 25 members
and matches are occasionally organised
between neighbouring church clubs.
In the midst of the competition and craic, great
friendships are formed that are a support for
the members through times of illness, grief and
loneliness. Melvyn Hamilton, group organiser
comments that “for some members, that will be
the only experience of a warm and welcoming
fellowship they will have, outside their home.”
The Bowling Fellowship is a thriving initiative in
our village and is open to anyone who is able
to come along on Tuesdays! Whilst the group
was initially formed for men, women are very
welcome to join! Many members had never
bowled before joining, so no experience is
required, although be prepared to become
‘hooked’ on what has been humourously
described as a ‘mysterious and ancient
game  played by people old enough to know
better, using balls that are carefully designed to
go in the wrong direction’!

Article by Neil Harrison

6 Church Life
7
Giving

 Up and Taking Up - Lent 2018
Keen eyed observers of the church calendar may already have noticed that Lent in
2018 will start on 14 February and run through to 1 April. That being the case it may be
best to check your Valentine’s Lenten plans before rushing out
and buying them that extra special box of chocolates.
Such a suggestion plays to the stereotype many of us have of
Lent: that it’s about denial; giving up good things; that it has a
certain joyless quality. But there’s more to Lent than that.
Lent for the first Christians originally began in the Epiphany
period that immediately follows Christmas, but early in the
church moved to a 40 day period in the run up to Easter.
Easter was traditionally the time when new members were
baptised and welcomed into the church and Lent was a
period of reflection and special preparation for such Jesus
Colin Neill
followers.
Lent may have lost its link to baptism, but a healthy mix of self-denial and the adoption
of some additional Christian disciplines in the run up to Easter is surely helpful for all of us
to pursue. We might say a good Lent involves giving something up and taking
something up. We’re all familiar with the obvious things that people deny themselves
during Lent, such as biscuits, chocolates, crisps and alcohol. But are there ways we can
go further? What about giving up take-away coffee or even foregoing caffeine
altogether? What about eating no meat for the period of Lent?
Or, adopting a more contemporary mindset, in an age when social media is so
pervasive, what about foregoing Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, or abstaining for 40
days from online gaming or boxed-sets, Netflix or Amazon Prime?
Fans of Father Ted may recall the episode when the priests from
Craggy Island challenged their clerical adversaries on Rugged
Island that they could do better at abstinence: asked to explain
what they were doing, Ted told Dougal that “Lent is a giving-
things-up-competition.” To view it that way is a stunning missing of
the point. The truth, rather, is that Jesus denied himself for us to the
point of giving up his own life, and it’s good for us as his followers to
imitate some of his self-denial, particularly given our prosperity as
first world people. But as well as giving things up, what can we
take up? How can we devotionally strive and stir ourselves to in
some way go deeper in our relationship with God over the 40 days
of Lent? A host of resources are available.
In recent years, Christian Aid have made their ‘Count your Blessings’ app available -
see www.caid.org.uk/lent. A series of challenges and spiritual exercises prompts us to
make donations to those in need in proportion to the blessings we ourselves have
received.

8 Church Life
Tear Fund run a series of Lent reflections you can have emailed to you daily - check out
www.tearfund.org/lent - and during Lent 2017 also encouraged people to take up their
Mean Bean challenge, eating just plain rice and beans for five days. Another site to
check out is www.40acts.org.uk, which features 40 reflections and 40 challenges to
make a Lent difference.
Each year the Archbishop of Canterbury commissions a special collection of Lent
devotions: for 2018 it is a prayer focused book entitled Say it to God by Luigi Gioia.
Other Lent / Easter resources include: Lent for Everyone (Tom Wright); The Final Days of
Jesus (Andreas Kostenberger and Justin Taylor); The Longest Week (Nick Page); Lentwise
(Paula Goodier); and Love Life, Live Lent (again by Paula Goodier).
But you don’t need special resources to go further in Lent. One Waringstown
Presbyterian couple shared with me their experience of slowly reading a different
passage of Scripture each morning, and praying together for their family, a practice
that has blessed them richly.
So this is your challenge for Lent 2018. Big or small, whatever is most meaningful for you
in terms of habits you want to challenge and ways you want to go further with God,
what are you going to give up and what are you going to take up? Pray and ponder
and you’ll be blessed by what God might do through meaningful shifts over 40 days.
Colin Neill has been a member of Waringstown Presbyterian Church for around 15
years.

9
 Monday Tuesday
9am-1pm 10am-1pm
Church Office Open 
 Church Office Open
Contact: Pamela 02838882654 Contact: Pamela 02838882654

11am-2pm (WPC Hall) 10am-12pm (WPC Hall)

Luncheon Club (Senior Citizens Lunch) Retired Men’s Fellowship (Bowls & Coffee)
Contact: Melvyn 07854 875170 Contact: Melvyn 07854 875170

6.45pm-7.45pm (WPC Hall) 6-7pm or 7-8pm (C of I Halls)

Rainbows (Girl Guiding for Ages 4-7) Anchor Boys (BB for p2-p4, places limited)
Contact Joanne: 07709 393200
7-8.30pm (C of I Halls)
6.30pm-8pm (C of I Halls) Junior Section (BB for p5-p7)
Brownies ((Girl Guiding for Ages 7-10)
Contact Trudy: 07769 977343 7.30-9.30pm (WPC Hall & C of I Halls)
Company & Senior Sections (BB for yr8+)
8pm-9pm (WPC Hall) Contact: Joe 07970 555303
Guides (Girl Guiding for Ages 10-14)
or waringstownbb@live.co.uk
Contact: Lynn 07761 902767
or ‘Waringstown BB’ Facebook Page
8pm-9pm (WPC Hall)
Senior Section (Girl Guiding Ages 14-26)
Contact Joanne: 07709 393200

8-10pm (WPC Hall)

Banner Making
Contact: Barbara 07525 265665

Friday Saturday
9am-1pm 8.30-11am (Polypipe Factory, Dromore Rd.)
Church Office Open WPC Wheelers (Men’s Cycling Club)
Contact: Pamela 02838882654 Contact: Richard 07878 327196
or richardpatterson101@tiscali.co.uk
7-9pm (WPC Hall) *weather dependent.
Friday Fun Club (Youth Club for p5-p7’s)
Fortnightly. Contact: Suzie 07706 797647

7.30-9.30pm
Harbour Nights (Youth Fellowship for Ages 11-17)
Fortnightly in WPC Hall
Anchor Groups (Small Groups for Ages 11-17)
Fortnightly in various local homes
Contact: Mark 07903 614370

10 Weekly Diary
Wednesday Thursday
9am-1pm 9am-1pm
Church Office Open Church Office Open
Contact: Pamela 02838882654 Contact: Pamela 02838882654

6.30pm-7.30pm (C of I Halls) 10.30am-12pm (WPC Hall)

Rainbows (Girl Guiding for Ages 4-7)
Contact Judith: 07548 526339
6.45pm-8.15pm (C of I Halls)
Brownies ((Girl Guiding for Ages 7-10)
Contact Zoe: 07715 346853
7.45pm-9.30pm (C of I Halls)
Guides (Girl Guiding for Ages 10-14)
Contact Jill: 07730 952238
8-9.30pm (WPC Hall)
First Wednesday (Mid-week Bible study)
First Wednesday each month
8-9pm (WPC Hall)
Central Prayer Gathering
Third Wednesday each month
Little Lambs (Baby & Toddler group)
Contact: Ruth 07879 665308
Facebook: ‘Little Lambs Parent & Toddler
Group’
7pm-10pm (WPC Church)
Music Practice (For Sunday worship)
Contact: Sam 07976 369668
7.30-10pm (The Basement, Connect 61)
The Basement Youth Centre
Youth centre for ages 11-18 offering a range of
programmes and projects during the year.
Come along and see what you think!
Contact: Neil 07745 534886

Sunday
9.30-10.45am (WPC Church)
Morning Worship
10.45-11.30am (WPC Hall)
Coffee Time between services

11.30am-12.45pm (WPC Church)

Morning Worship
6.30-7.30pm (WPC Church)
Evening Worship

11
 Couch

 to 5k
Absolutely not. No way. Never. I can't , I couldn't.
Everyone will laugh at me. I'm unfit, I'll fail. These were
my first reactions when Debbie Cairns and Sue Small
tried to convince me to join the Waringstown Couch to
5k. Two glasses of wine later....well ok, sure why not.
Yeah I guess I could try it. It will be a laugh, and I can
always stop when I want.
Fast forward 10 months, and I now run 4-6k, three times
a week. I actually still can’t believe I’ve come this far! Orla Lauder
To put my previous level of “fitness” into perspective, just
walking up stairs was a struggle. I have been suffering with fibromyalgia for many
years now and aside from the pain and tiredness, the associated anxiety stopped
me joining any public fitness club.
Naturally I was nervous starting, but when I saw such
a mix of people, all shapes and sizes, ages, and
abilities it gave me hope, that maybe, just maybe,
the goal was possible. It was important not to get
ahead of myself. I still thought I’d never be able to
achieve my goal, but I started to enjoy the
adrenaline after each run. Without realising running
became a habit, up to 3 times a week. I started to
lose weight. What a bonus that was! My fitness
improved weekly. I could now even run around
with my boys. I was now eating more healthily
ue to W PS and feeling good both physically and mentally.
ting a cheq
C25K presen Running was giving me the opportunity to have a
more positive outlook on life.
The best result though, was the friendships. I have connected with such wonderful
and inspiring people. We will be friends for life. Now, we support each other through
life's journey, not just the running.
It’s still hard though. I still get tired, and sometimes I need to walk but I’m still
moving. I’m off the couch and I love it! It sounds ridiculous but The Waringstown
Couch to 5k initiative has really turned my life around and I would encourage
anyone who wants to “get off the couch” to just give it a go.

*Full details of Waringstown’s Couch to 5k programme can be found on page 13!

Article by Orla Lauder

12 Community News
13
From Terrace View to Tuum!
As a little girl, the excitement of jumping out of the school bus at 18 Terrace
View, Nana’s home, grabbing 2 buckets from the back kitchen, racing up to
the village pump and splashing them full of water, has never quite
disappeared. It was a foretaste of my first years in the remote village of Tuum,
Northern Kenya. Since then the water situation has greatly improved but
baking for family and visitors still fills the early morning hours.
Every day the ‘long’ journey from my New Line home to school in Lurgan gave
me ample time to revise my spellings but even if my journey had been to the
farthest reaches of Ireland nothing
would have prepared me for the
school run of between 15 to 20 hours
taken every third week to boarding
school for my own children.
While attending Waringstown
Presbyterian church in my childhood I
often whittled away the minutes by
counting rosettes edging the high
ceiling. Despite my inattention,
faithful Bible teachers opened up
God’s answers to my silent, inward
questioning. I still struggle to sit The Cowan Family
through the 3 hour Sunday morning
service in the little church fellowship at Tuum.  Nesting birds in the rafters are an
interesting alternative to static rosettes and I smile, perhaps in complicity, when
children and an occasional goat escape through the back door.
Africa rises up effortlessly to fill every day. Even simple housework is less
effective with wind blowing in leaves and new desert before the first brushing is
complete. Having guest accommodation for 10 people means that some days
can be full of frantic preparation for expected visitors or teams from Ireland
and Kenya. Providing clean, welcoming spaces on a shoestring, requires
creativity but seeing the surprised pleasure on tired faces after a two-day
journey from Nairobi makes the effort worthwhile. Spending time together with
visitors is both entertaining and stimulating with conversations thought-
provoking and challenging. Teams look after the hundreds of children and
young people who attend Bible teaching camps while I attempt to look after
the teams.

14
Community News
For me, no day is ever the same. It can be interspersed by children bringing eggs
for me to buy or women pleading with me to purchase charcoal. One of these
ladies works hard. Her health is poor, her alcoholic addiction demanding and her
family ever growing. We have shared many conversations, but I feel she is counting
imaginary rosettes. On a good day I smile at the little face peering around her
mother’s dusty shoulders. We all laugh, and I tickle the tiny toes. On a bad day I
give her paracetamol for her aching body, resist wiping the green gunge from her
child’s nose and say, “Thank you” for another bag of charcoal!
In the relative coolness of the evening, a
spectacular sunset colours the landscape and
invites time for relaxation and a cup of 'chai'.
Even with solar power we still tend to live from
dawn to dark. Despite donkeys braying and
hyenas howling, sleep comes quickly.
I pray in God’s grace it has been a day lived
with integrity through His Love and enabling.

by Angelina Cowan

15
 Our Local
Working alongside Macmillan
Cancer Support, Weavers Cancer
Support Group is an initiative of

Waringstown Presbyterian Church which
aims to provide a safe place for those
affected by cancer to come together
and share their experiences.
Welcome to both men and women and carers as well as cancer patients, the group
meets together bi-monthly at 7pm in Eden Café Waringstown. The group allows
members to openly share their worries and relate to
each other. This is a tremendous help as cancer
can be a lonely journey, which nobody should
face alone.
The group was established in February 2015 by
Barbara Bailie. Barbara explained what inspired this
decision, ‘I myself felt isolated and lonely during my
cancer journey and after treatment. We cared for
our son John during his treatment until his passing.
My family were extremely supportive. However,
they couldn’t fully understand the emotions and
loneliness that is felt while on the treatment and Coffee Morning for Macmillan

while recovering afterwards.’ Barbara thus created

the cancer support group to help other carers or patients who felt lonely or helpless
during challenging treatments.
Meetings have involved informal chats, professional speakers as well as food and
makeup demonstrations. A Fashion show and Twilight Tea is planned for the 8th
March at Edenmore Golf and Country Club to raise funds for the group and the
magnificent work of Macmillan. As a community we can help by donating preloved
clothes and accessories for the fashion show or by volunteering.
Lastly, if you know of anyone who feels alone with their cancer experience, please
point them in the direction of the group where they can receive support through
sharing experiences. Barbara shared hers to us, ‘What helped me get through was
my strong faith. God is very important to me. I could not have got through my son’s
passing nor my cancer journey without Him. Many people don’t think about God
until they are diagnosed with a critical illness. Being connected to WPC provides
another means of support: spiritual, and we are always pleased and privileged to
offer this to anyone who feels it would be beneficial.’
If anyone would like to support the group or would like to talk to Barbara, contact her
on 07808705732.
Article by Rebecca McNeill

16 Community
Article by Jillian Derby

17
Our Local Poet



18 Community News
Competition Results! Our colouring in
competition in our last edition received a lot of
entries! It was a tough decision for our judge,
Annabelle Cockroft (the artist for the drawing), but
the worthy winner was Zoe Stewart who received a
£10 voucher for Eden Coffee House! Some other
worthy entries are posted below!

This editions competition can be found on page 20!

19
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Church Office
Waringstown Presbyterian
028 3888 2654
info@waringstownpresbyterian.com

Facebook Page:
Waringstown Presbyterian Church
www.waringstownpresbyterian.com

20 Competition