STRAID Congregational Church was packed on Saturday evening for the induction service of the new minister Rev Paul Bradley and his wife Jacki.
Friends and family from Rev Bradley's home country of South Africa joined the Straid congregation for the occasion, along with a large contingent from Lisburn Congregational Church where he had previously been assistant minister.
Following a welcom
e by chairman for the evening, John Herron, and an opening prayer by John McKinty, a Scripture reading by David Hilditch from Romans 1, told of Paul being called to be an apostle.
Chairman of the Congregational Union of Ireland, Trevor Crothers, performed the act of induction, after which Straid church secretary Uel McIlwrath read a statement on behalf of the congregation outlining how Rev Bradley came to be called.
Rev Bradley, in turn, explained that as a young man, he had become aware of his responsibility to serve God. He had been working in electronics, in a job he very much enjoyed, but when he lost the love for that work he began to think there was something else he was meant to do with his life.
"While serving in a little Baptist church, I felt the pull towards some kind of ministry and it brought me to a crossroads in my life," he said.
Rev Bradley enrolled in the Faith Mission Bible College in Edinburgh, where he met his wife Jacki from Lisburn and they then served in South Africa for nine years, firstly as missionaries and then at Dundee Baptist Church.
"During that time, the pastoral ministry came to focus in our lives. God was preparing us for what lay ahead, but we did not know it was Straid Congregational Church," he said.
When the time came for the couple to leave South Africa, they got in touch with Lisburn Congregational Church, which had fully supported them during their time overseas, and offered their services to the congregation.
"Four years beforehand we had been at Straid at a deputation meeting and there was something about Straid that struck in our hearts. There was an affinity towards Straid even then," Rev Bradley said.
He spoke of the delight he and his wife had to be approached by the congregation as the potential new minister, but stressed that it was not "engineering on man's part; circumstances were at the Lord's discretion".
The prayer of induction was led by Rev Jim Moore, after which the deacons offered the new minister the right hand of fellowship and the choir sang the Aaronic Blessing.
Robin Moscrop of the Faith Mission then gave the charge to the minister and congregation, speaking of Paul the apostle's sacred calling.
Presentations of a shepherd's crook and a floral bouquet were then made to Rev and Mrs Bradley by Robert Blair and Margaret Caldwell.
Greetings were extended from Straid's previous minister Rev Noel Darrah and his wife Olive; from Rev Robert McCullough of Woodburn and Loughmorne Presbyterian; from Lisburn and Ballymena Congregational churches and from Dundee Baptist Church in South Africa.
Following the benediction by Rev Bradley, tea was served in the church hall.
